Heuer Stainless Steel Chronograph Wristwatch Ref 333, circa 1940s

Esteemed brand TAG Heuer embodies the rich and innovative spirit of Swiss watchmaking and has played a prominent role in the long history between motorsports and luxury watches. 

TAG Heuer’s beginnings were humble. The company was initially called Heuer Watchmaking Inc. and originated in the small town of St-Imier in Switzerland, where Edouard Heuer began making silver pocket watches on his family farm in 1860. Heuer registered his first patent as Edouard Heuer & Compagnie in 1869 for the oscillating pinion, a keyless winding mechanism that revolutionized the chronograph and became the standard for all modern watches. 

Heuer’s interest in sports led to further innovations in watchmaking, as the company produced pocket chronographs for the crowds that gathered at horse races and greyhound races during the 1880s. The watchmaker made timepieces for the medical profession and precision chronographs for the dashboards of airplanes and motor vehicles in the years that followed. It supplied stopwatches to the Olympics during the early 20th century, not long after Edouard’s son, Charles-Auguste Heuer was installed as head of the company. Its chronograph technology eventually migrated to wrists. 

Motor racing and luxury watches have long been intertwined — Rolex, for example, was named the official timekeeper of the Daytona International Speedway in 1962, and its Daytona would appear soon afterward. Heuer’s lofty position in the sport was cemented by then — racers widely preferred Heuer chronographs, and the first iteration of the popular Heuer Autavia was a dashboard timer. The brand’s recognition continued to grow in the 1960s — the first Swiss timepiece to travel into space was the Heuer strapped to astronaut John Glenn during his historic 1962 orbit around the Earth, and the company’s association with Formula 1 also took shape during the decade. 

In 1969 — the year that Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton collectively debuted their revolutionary automatic chronographs at Basel Watch Fair — Porsche driver Jo Siffert became Heuer’s official brand ambassador — the first personal sponsorship in F1 history that was non-automotive.

The Heuer Autavia chronograph reference 1163T, also known as the “Siffert” in Formula 1 circles, reached legendary status among racing fans, along with the Monaco and Heuer Carrera chronographs. The latter was designed by Edouard’s great-grandson Jack Heuer, while the now-internationally renowned square-shaped Monaco earned the spotlight when Steve McQueen wore one in the 1970s movie Le Mans. The model was later lovingly dubbed the “McQueen Monaco.”

TAG is an acronym for "Techniques d'Avant Garde" — it comes from the name of the TAG Group, a private holding company based in Luxembourg that acquired the watchmaker in 1985. TAG Heuer continues to produce high-quality luxury watches that use innovative materials, such as titanium, carbon fiber and lab-grown diamonds, underlining the brand’s commitment to sustainability. After four generations of Heuer family leadership, the company now operates under LVMH. 

TAG Heuer continues to embrace the new, offering a range of smartwatches, such as its Connected model, that merge traditional craftsmanship with modern features like fitness tracking and smartphone notifications. In 2023, the TAG Heuer Carrera was named the “hottest watch” of the year by GQ magazine.

Find Heuer wristwatches on 1stDibs.