One of the most globally well known luxury watch makers is TAG Heuer – a Swiss based company established in 1860. The company is best known for manufacturing high quality chronograph and sports watches. In fact, TAG Heuer was largely involved in the development of the world’s first automatic chronograph wristwatch in the 1960’s. This feat was achieved in partnership with Breitling and Hamilton. Some of the most famous TAG Heuer collections include the Aquaracer, Link and Grand Carrera. Vintage TAG Heuer watches include the Chronosplit and Monaco.

History

The TAG Heuer watch making company was first established in 1860 by Edourard Heuer. Heuer patented his first chronograph in 1882 and also pioneered the “oscillating pinion” which has been part of many famous watches ever since. During the 1930s and 40s TAG Heuer continued to develop a number of “dashboard” clocks which could be used in both cars and planes. Wrist watches didn’t become a large part of the business until later on.

During the 1950s TAG Heuer manufactured watches for Abercrombie and Fitch. These included the Auto Graph and Seafarer watches – the latter could show the tides as well as track the phases of the moon. Vintage TAG Heuer Seafarer watches can be difficult to buy.

The 1960s was the decade when TAG Heuer began to produce some of its most famous chronograph watches including the Autavia and Carrera. These watches mostly used the Valijoux 72 and 92 movement. The 92 was used for 30 or 45 minute chronograph watches.

TAG Heuer Autavia

The TAG Heuer Autavia chronograph watch was a popular choice when it was first released in the early 1960s. It features a bezel which could be rotated and a decimal minutes measurement system. Some models also came with a tachymeter scale. Vintage TAG Heuer Autavia watches which were produced during the early 1960s only came with a black dial and white chronograph dials.

Today, vintage TAG Heuer Autavia watches for sale can be found in a number of different places including auction websites such as eBay. They can sell for more than $3000 in some cases depending on what condition the watch is in as well as what model it is. For example, to buy Vintage TAG Heuer Autavia 11630 watches could cost several thousand pounds.

TAG Heuer Carrera

The TAG Heuer Carrera line of watches is simpler in design compared to other watches with similar functions. This is achieved by the use of only markers and registers on the dial with no extra decorations. The inner bezel is fixed. Unlike the Autavia, TAG Heuer Carrera watches for sale can be bought in a number of different colors – even the first produced versions could be bought in a variety of styles.

Some of the other vintage TAG Heuer watches for sale which you may be able to find include the Monaco, Chronosplit and Grand Carrera. TAG Heuer is known across the world for their high quality watches so although the timepieces aren’t cheap they come with a level of prestige which can’t be matched by many other companies.