The Story Behind The First Big Swiss Watch ‘Retro’ Re-Edition
Did Some Finance Bros Really Save Classic Watch Design?
The year was 1995. TAG Heuer owned the market with their very-90s quartz and automatic sports watches. The decision was made to take the company public with an IPO. Before the public offering occurred, 40% of the company was sold to a private equity firm, which of course investigated how they were gonna maximize cash for everyone involved.
But their advisors immediately found a problem with TAG Heuer; they were basically just a marketing and design firm masquerading as a watch company! TAG Heuer didn’t design or build watch movements at the time.
They didn’t own lots of factories or giant amounts of tangible assets. What they were was a crew of guys who designed watches that were fashionable at the time, and then contracted others to make them.
In the eyes of these consultants, this was bad.
If their designs ever fell out of fashion, the company would be screwed. To the finance bros, a roomful of industrial designers wasn’t worth as much as a company with tangible assets and heritage.
So how to increase the value of the company, quickly and easily?
The decision was made to bring back one of the old watch models, to connect the new company with the old and also reclaim a bit of the heritage and intellectual property of Heuer. The ‘soul’ of Heuer, if you will.
TAG Heuer then recreated, re-manufactured, and re-released one of their old watch models; the Carrera chronograph from the 60s.
It was made to the exact same specifications, in almost the exact same way as the old ones. The size of the case was 36mm. The movement inside was a manual-wound Lemania, exactly like the classic Heuers. Dial, strap, case shape, pushers; everything mirrored the classic models. The decision was even made to write ‘Heuer’ on the top of the dial instead of TAG Heuer.
In an astonishing bit of restraint and minimalism, the only design decision different from the classic pieces was the removal of the ‘Carrera’ lettering from the dial, leaving only the brand name at the 12 o’clock position.
(Attention Swiss watch companies: THIS IS THE FORMULA, BRAH. Vintage sizing. Mirror-image reproduction of a classic piece. Historic movement inside. Maybe a little bit of minimalism and reduction. No fake aging. THAT’S IT. I’ll be in touch in the future about consulting fees and royalty payments. Thanks.)
The business model and formula worked.
TAG Heuer was eventually bought up by the luxury conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton, and they continue to make both modern and vintage-inspired watches to this day.
Both ‘vintage-inspired’ and straight-up re-releases of classic watches are insanely popular today.
And it all came from some 90’s finance bros trynna maximize gainz.
Thanks for reading, and if anyone knows of any other info on the TAG Heuer design process, let us know!
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