In-Depth: The Stunning Origins Of TAG Heuer’s Formulation 1 Watches

I used to be born in Neuchâtel in 1954 and raised in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the cradle of Swiss watchmaking. Each of my mother and father labored within the watch trade, my father labored in watchmaking provides, and my mom was a setter working at house on the workbench.  My mom’s father was additionally within the trade, as he stamped watch instances.

Having grown up on this area and on this household, it was pure for me to envisage a profession within the watchmaking trade. After highschool, I enrolled within the College of Utilized Arts, the place I realized jewellery making. At the moment, there was no faculty that supplied watch design. I additionally realized inventive drawing, sculpture, pure creation, and analysis into authentic kinds, which includes pure creation round a given theme, for instance, making a desk clock with no constraints. However after all, it was solely pure that I’d develop into focused on watch design.

I graduated from artwork faculty within the Spring of 1973 and shortly turned to watchmaking, doing varied internships in watch case factories to create designs and prototypes. I used to be most focused on studying concerning the manufacturing course of and the “secrets and techniques” of producing.  

I noticed that in designing watches, the designer should be pragmatic and know what will be produced profitably for industrialized watches. I felt that innovation and proposing new concepts was necessary, however this needed to be throughout the limits of what could possibly be produced. I am certain that we are going to get to this once we focus on the design of TAG Heuer’s Formulation 1 watches.

I held a collection of jobs within the watch trade. I labored as a designer for Nepro Watch in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Certina in Granges, and Buler in Longeau earlier than becoming a member of Roventa-Henex in 1980. Positioned in Tavannes and Biel/Bienne, Roventa-Henex was a specialist in watch design and growth, in addition to manufacturing watches on a private-label foundation, and I labored as a designer for all the brand new watch developments for the corporate’s prospects.  

This coated a variety of types, from very female and fancy watches like Gucci and Fendi to sporty watches like TAG Heuer, in addition to extra standard strains.

Though I’ve at all times loved designing all types of watch, I feel I’ve at all times had a smooth spot for sporty watches like TAG Heuer.

Heuer was an enormous buyer of Roventa-Henex, and in 1982, as a Roventa-Henex worker, I designed their new Heuer 2000 Collection watch. The design temporary for this new assortment was comparatively easy. Within the late Seventies, Heuer began out with conventional diving watches (just like the Rolex Submariner), and so they did nicely with these watches, however they wished one thing bolder and extra trendy. That they had no explicit standards for aesthetics, however insisted on approach, water-resistance, consolation on the wrist, and the grip of the rotating bezel.

That is once I determined to create protuberances on the bezel in order that when carrying diving gloves, you’d have a greater grip. Nevertheless it wasn’t simple as a result of, on the time, we did not know tips on how to create aid by stamping; stamping was very fundamental. It, due to this fact, took a number of makes an attempt to attain the specified outcome. The 2000 Collection was manufactured by Roventa-Henex for TAG Heuer and was very profitable, with Heuer providing a full vary of watches and chronographs. The 2000 Collection was a revolutionary assortment for TAG Heuer and stays of their catalog to at the present time, renamed because the “Aquaracer” over 20 years in the past.

The 3000 Collection was launched in 1984 and it additionally got here from a comparatively easy design temporary. The brand new collection was not speculated to compete with the 2000 collection however to supply higher alternative for the model. I took a special strategy, with a dodecagonal (12-sided) rotating bezel and a barely extra aggressive however thinner case. 

The Govt, launched the next 12 months, was designed with the exact purpose of constructing a diver’s watch flatter than standard, with a extra elegant look. We achieved a flatter stack by making a rotating bezel “sandwiched” between the case and an higher bezel. Neither the 3000 Collection nor the Govt assortment matched the success of the 2000 Collection, however they have been novel designs. 

In 1984, Heuer launched the Tremendous Skilled, which was a whole updating of its “deep dive” watches. This new watch was impressed by the bezel of the 2000 assortment — with the protuberances on high — nevertheless it was way more imposing and strong. The case is of monocoque building, housing large seals, with a socket on high to make sure water-resistance to 1000 meters. Discover that the highest and backside areas of the case cowl the ends of the bracelet, to supply further safety, as we’d see on the long run Formulation 1. 

Roventa-Henex assembled all these watches for TAG Heuer — the 2000 Collection, the 3000 Collection, the Govt, the Tremendous Skilled, and later the Formulation 1.

To grasp the temporary for the Formulation 1 design, it is necessary to grasp Heuer’s catalog and the market that Heuer wished to focus on with its new watch. With the 1000, 2000, and 3000, Heuer had a pleasant vary of watches for diving and different sports activities, however one thing was lacking – coloration!!  

With the Formulation 1, we have been attempting to create a brand new type of watches for American surfers, divers, and different younger people heading for the seashore. They have been carrying large Casios, with digital shows, plenty of buttons, and complex modes. Whereas a lot of the Casios for watersports have been black or chrome steel, Casio was including coloration to many of those waterproof fashions.

So the temporary from Heuer, in Spring 1985, was to create a brand new watch that was enjoyable, colourful, and younger. Consider the intense surfboards and the garments that the surfers have been carrying. However, after all, Heuer was robust in dive watches and the brand new watch additionally needed to have the requisite diver capabilities – good water-resistance, notched unidirectional rotating bezel, and legible fingers, even within the water or brilliant solar. Affordability was additionally necessary, particularly in competing with the Casio fashions for younger patrons.

Constructing such a watch in 1986 wasn’t so simple as it might sound. To get the colours, the case needed to be artificial, however making a diver’s watch from artificial supplies on the time and providing water resistance to 200 meters was merely exceptional. It was a enjoyable watch but additionally a revolutionary watch!

Roventa-Henex could be accountable for the design and growth of the brand new watch and would additionally manufacture it, so I used to be tasked with discovering the correct companions to make it. I enlisted two firms for the mission: MRP SA and R. Montavon.

MRP SA had produced the instances for a lot of of Heuer’s early dive watches (1000 Collection) and I had labored with them on the 2000 Collection and 3000 Collection, as nicely. MRP would deal with the chrome steel parts of the case and make sure the required water-resistance.

Maybe the third companion, R. Montavon, had probably the most difficult function of the three. That they had experience in plastic and rubber injection and overmolding, and so they have been accountable for what could be distinctive parts of the Formulation 1 — the artificial instances and bezels.

The three companies met to sort out crucial manufacturing points to provide a completely new type of casing that might meet the necessities of the temporary. We added fiberglass to the plastic base materials to extend its hardness and stability, and we included a separate metal container to accommodate the motion and assure watertightness of 200 meters. The artificial a part of the case could be overmolded on the chrome steel container, with TAG Heuer advertising this as its “twin mixture” case.  

The artificial rotating bezel proved to be significantly difficult. There could be notched tooth contained in the artificial bezel, however the essential query was whether or not to make use of a metal spring, which could trigger fast put on on the tooth or to develop an artificial spring. Giancarlo Dal Busco, the technical director of R. Montavon, prompt that the spring must also be made from artificial materials to keep away from put on and tear on the mechanism; nevertheless, there was nonetheless the query of what sound the bezel would make when turned. Mr Dal Busco took out his comb and ran a fingernail over the tooth, and it was clear that the sound was good!  It is humorous how one thing so simple as the sound of working a fingernail over the tooth of a comb may lead to an answer for what we hunted for this bezel motion.    

On the time, it was a fantastic first to create a case comprising a spherical metal container with a screw-down case again, crown tube and crystal, and a 25% fiberglass-reinforced artificial coating enabling many brilliant colours to be realized, with an all-synthetic, notched, unidirectional turning bezel. The Swiss watch trade had by no means seen something just like the Formulation, a brilliant, colourful dive watch.

Clearly, the Formulation 1 watch needed to be attractively priced, nevertheless it needed to be a historically manufactured watch with a repairable and detachable motion, which was not the case with the Swatch. Even the suggestion that Swatch affected the colours did not enter into the equation, because the purpose was to compete with Casio with the youthful viewers, so the Swatch actually did not have an effect on the design temporary for the Formulation 1. Maybe the Swatch confirmed that folks wished lighter, colourful watches, that have been enjoyable to put on, however TAG Heuer wished a completely completely different kind of watch.

Formulation 1 was a severe timepiece that could possibly be worn within the water or on the seashore; this was very completely different from the Swatch, which was not supposed to be usedas a look ahead to watersports. It’s nice to see so many Formulation 1 watches nonetheless trying good and working nicely in 2025.

Sorry, however that is one other piece of fiction! We started engaged on the brand new watch in Spring 1985, and if my reminiscence is appropriate, we referred to as this mission the “diving look ahead to younger folks.” The design temporary didn’t point out racing or Formulation 1, however the identify was added to the watch through the design and growth course of.

The identify Formulation 1 was added in aid on the backside of the case, within the space that covers the strap. In my sketches from 1985, you may see that the underside of the case is marked “location for model identify.” In fact, by the point the watch was launched, TAG Heuer had entered the racing world, and “Formulation 1” was the right identify for it.

The brilliant colours and sturdy building would attraction to younger divers and drivers, so, what started as a colourful dive watch was quickly marketed as a sporty racing watch.

On the time, Tag-Heuer’s dive watch (Plongeur) assortment was made up of the “traditional” Collection 1000 assortment and the more moderen 2000 Collection assortment with its raised lugs on the rotating bezel. For me, it was essential to innovate on the Formulation 1 watch and produce a special look to the watch to convey out the colour in one of the best ways potential, whereas incorporating the important qualities of a diver’s watch.

After a couple of sketches, I made a decision to go for a case with lug covers, hiding the ends of the bracelet at 6 and 12 o’clock, making the case extra engaging and giving it higher energy. As we mentioned, we had to make use of an artificial materials to get the colourful instances we wished, and this new form could be stronger than a case with conventional lugs.

The homogenous floor of the bezel highlighted the robust colours, whereas the slight depressions gave the bezel a sure rhythm. The dial, with its minute monitor encapsulated in a coloured zone and four-quarter inlaid indexes recalling the TAG Heuer emblem, additionally added graphic innovation and celebrated the start of TAG Heuer.

As for the fingers, we made no aesthetic change from Heuer’s lineup of dive watches, persevering with with the type utilized in Heuer’s different dive watch collections. These fingers supplied wonderful legibility and have been acquainted to divers and surfers.

The straps have been made from injected PVC and at all times matched the colour of the bezel.  We made them additional lengthy in order that surfers and divers may put on the Formulation 1 watches with moist fits, however they have been marked with V-shaped grooves in order that they might simply be minimize to an ordinary size for put on on the wrist.

These V-shaped grooves resembled the bottom of the TAG Heuer emblem,, and the “keeper” additionally mirrored the emblem’s form. TAG Heuer was very pleased with its new emblem, so we included its form throughout the dial and strap.

On the time, watches have been typically smaller than at present, and the Formulation 1 was no exception. The scale of the unique mannequin was 35mm on the horizontal axis and 40mm on the vertical axis (lug-to-lug), whereas the bezel had a diameter of 34.5mm. We additionally supplied a 28-millimeter model for feminine divers and swimmers, however even these smaller watches supplied the identical building and efficiency.

The Formulation 1 watch was a fantastic success from the beginning, being particularly standard amongst younger women and men. Many of the preliminary advertising was in the US, and the success unfold from there. With the success of the preliminary assortment, we shortly moved on to extra artificial and all-steel variations and the primary chronographs, and I designed all these fashions.

The motion fitted to the primary Formulation 1 “chronographs” was produced by Roventa-Henex. It was, the truth is, a pseudo chronograph, as its base motion was the ETA 902.101, with a three-hand watch surrounded by a chrono module developed by Conseil Rey in La Chaux-de-Fonds. On most conventional chronographs, the chronograph seconds hand is mounted on a middle pinion, and the “working” seconds hand is on a smaller recorder. On the motion that Roventa-Henex developed for the Formulation 1 chronograph, the central seconds hand is a part of the bottom motion and was, due to this fact, not a part of the chrono. The chronograph seconds are counted in one of many small counters.

This explains why the primary Formulation 1 chronographs have been geared up with two batteries, one for the bottom watch motion and one for the chronograph module. This motion was not very dependable, however its use was chosen for value causes and the shortage of availability of correct chronograph actions at ETA, which was the one producer of quartz chronograph actions on the time.

It was a pleasing shock for me to see the unique Formulation 1 watches supplied once more by TAG Heuer, and these watches introduced again many good recollections. It was fascinating that these Kith collaboration watches used the identical tooling as the unique watches, with a comparatively small measurement.

It could have been a good looking evolution to have seen a bigger diameter tailored to at present’s tastes. I feel the Formulation 1 design may work nicely in a bigger measurement, between 38 and 42mm, so long as it retains its freshness and a gorgeous value, which was additionally an purpose of the unique fashions.

It was additionally satisfying to see the passion of at present’s collectors for this watch as if it not had that youthful freshness. I loved the truth that 40 years later, this design was particularly interesting to youthful lovers, the identical crowd that we have been concentrating on again in 1986.

I met Barry Cohen in 1994, shortly after he launched Luminox, a watch model geared up with gentle sources primarily based on a brand new approach. He was in search of a designer to conceive and enhance the aesthetics of this watch. I started creating watch designs for Luminox, leading to a protracted collaboration because the model introduced its specialised illumination expertise to the patron market and have become a fantastic business success. This was additionally the start of a fantastic friendship that continues to at the present time. 

The story continues at present with my design work for Barry’s new ProTek model, which nonetheless makes use of tritium gentle supply lume expertise. We collaborated to create the aesthetics for ProTek watches, taking over a number of the previous codes I had developed for Heuer on the 2000 line however giving the brand new model a special character, extra in step with the very tactile model. A brand new journey begins, a friendship endures, and it seems like that is only the start.

This interview has been edited for size and readability.