TAG Heuer had offered a heritage themed “Golden Hours” collection in the mid-1980s, but these were niche watches that were a long way from the glory days of the innovative chronographs of the 1960s and 70s. The TAG Heuer Monaco disappeared first back in 1975, with the Carrera and Autavia soldiered on during the quartz crisis of the 1970s, before being quietly discontinued in the early 1980s. Given the prominence of the TAG Heuer Carrera, Monaco and Autavia in today’s TAG Heuer range, it’s hard to imagine that back in 1996, all three of these series were a distant memory. It was a watch from another era, one that would also offer a glimpse of TAG Heuer’s future. Jack was there to relaunch a 1960s Carrera featuring a hand-wound mechanical movement.
And the watch that he was launching, or more accurately relaunching, could not have been more out of place with the TAG Heuer range of the day, which at that time was dominated by quartz-powered steel sports watches- the 2000, 4000, 6000 and S/el series. Since leaving Heuer SA in 1982, Jack had kept his distance from the company that bore his family’s name, but here he was attending his first watch launch since the Heuer 2000 in 1982.
Heuer had sponsored the Ferrari F1 team during the 1970s, and so the location made sense, but one can still image the sense of discomfort that TAG Heuer director and McLaren F1 team boss Ron Dennis felt being deep in “enemy” territory.īut despite a guest list that included Clay Regazzoni and Jackie Stewart, the most intriguing name on the list was the horological star of the show, Jack Heuer.
Monza is always a highlight of the Formula 1 season, with its sense of history, its high-speed track and of course the throngs of passionate Ferrari tifosi, but that evening’s proceedings were taken over by TAG Heuer, which had invited a number of legendary drivers to attend.
Few of the VIP guests gathered near the Ferrari garage at Monza back in the late summer of 1996 would have realised the significance of the watch launch that they were attending.
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