TAG Heuer and Oracle Racing have announced a partnership that will see the Oracle Racing crew outfitted with TAG Heuer watches and eyewear during the America’s Cup World Series and the 34th America’s Cup, the finals of which will take place on San Francisco Bay in September, 2013.

The partnership was announced in San Diego during the third round of the America’s Cup World Series. On hand for the announcement were TAG Heuer President and CEO Jean-Christophe Babin, Oracle Racing CEO and afterguard Russell Coutts, and the team’s skipper Jimmy Spithill. At the 33rd America’s Cup Match in Valencia, Spain in February, 2010, Coutts and Spithill led their Oracle Racing team to a convincing 2-0 victory over the Swiss defender, Alinghi — thus returning the oldest trophy in international sports to the United States for the first time in 15 years.

“We’re proud to be back on board with Oracle Racing” said Jean-Christophe Babin. TAG Heuer previously partnered Oracle Racing in the 31st America’s Cup of 2003.

“Oracle Racing is the best team in sailing,” said Babin. “It is the yachting equivalent of our motor racing partners Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in Formula One and Audi Sport for the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours. Joining the TAG Heuer prestigious team of ambassadors, Jimmy Spithill and Russell Coutts are cut from the same cloth as our driving legends Alain Prost, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Sébastien Ogier. We all share the same values: a quest for perfection, a passion for innovation, avant-garde technology and design, and a love for speed and performance.”

“Having such a prestigious world-renowned brand, famous for its involvement with top-level sporting events and personalities, join our team is not just great news for Oracle Racing but for the America’s Cup as well,” said Russell Coutts.

Below L to R, Jimmy Spithill, Jean-Christophe Babin and Russell Coutts.

Bloomberg is reporting that TAG Heuer ended its endorsement relationship with Tiger Woods when his contract expired last month. Woods’s agent Mark Steinberg confirmed in an e-mail to Bloomberg that the agreement has ended.

TAG Heuer signed Woods in 2002. In November 2009, Woods was involved in a now infamous one-car accident. In the days following that accident, several women came forward claiming to have had affairs with Woods. On December 11, 2009, Woods announced he would take an indefinite leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage. On December 13, TAG Heuer issued a statement saying that its relationship with Woods was based on his golf game, not his social life.

Woods has not won a tournament since 2009. On October 31, 2010, Woods lost his number one ranking to Lee Westwood. Woods’s golf winnings fell from $10.5 million in 2009 to $1.3 million in 2010. So far this year Woods has won $629,000.

Woods finished 37th yesterday at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational, 18 shots behind the winner, Adam Scott, who is now using Woods’s former caddie Steve Williams. Woods is currently the 30th ranked golfer in the world, his lowest ranking since 1997 when he was ranked 33rd.

TAG Heuer formally opened its first-ever USA boutique with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Crystals at CityCenter in Las Vegas on June 2. Attendees included TAG Heuer worldwide CEO Jean-Christophe Babin and Philippe Pascal, president of the LVMH Watch & Jewelry Group. WatchTime spoke with both. We look at the store, and the strategy behind it.

Nothing about this boutique opening was ordinary. This is not any brand, but TAG Heuer, an industry force. This is their first U.S. boutique. It was not just a boutique opening, but also the official launch of the new Link, one of the brand’s iconic models. The boutique is in the highest-profile shopping center in one of the country’s highest-profile cities, and as noted, the top executives were on hand.

Left to right: Farid Matraki, Alyssa Mishcon, Jean-Christophe Babin, Phillipe Pascal, and Ulrich Wohn toast the new flagship boutique.

Boutiques and the Brand Experience

Boutiques are a hot topic. Why do brands open them? Are they profitable, or simply architectural and geographic halos? What thought process and business strategies underlie them? How do they impact nearby multi-brand retailers? Do customers buy watches at full price? WatchTime’s Joe Thompson posed these questions to TAG’s top gun. Babin explained TAG’s goals for a boutique this way: “TAG Heuer is a very successful brand with a long history – we celebrated 150 years last year. We have many epic stories and legends, and all of that is part of the brand emotion and the boutique obviously showcases the brand spirit, history and character better than a multi-brand retailer, where, by definition, you have to split the space. It is difficult for a multi-brand retailer to express a brand identity, spirit and emotion, where a boutique allows you to do that because it is only your brand.”

Beyond telling the brand’s unabridged story, the boutique lets the brand present its finest products to the market. “The [independent retailer] might decide not to display some very important timepieces” said Babin. “We need to further express the brand, especially the higher end. Often they won’t carry the Grand Carrera or pieces like the Mikrograph which is coming soon at $50,000. A lot of retailers will hesitate because it is not part of the basic collection. The boutique will display this and sell this.”

The boutique does indeed present the full TAG Heuer brand experience. At 800 square feet, the shop stocks about 240 timepieces, while a multi-brand retailer might stock 60, 90, or 120. The boutique also allows TAG Heuer to control every aspect of the layout and product presentation. “The layout and the amount of space lets us highlight new products and also tell the story of different collections” said Alyssa Mishcon, vice president of strategic planning.

Designed by architect Eric Carlson, the boutique largely forgoes the standard countertop retail formula. Gone are the traditional floor-standing glass cases in which the watches on the top shelf are obscured by things sitting on the case, and watches on lower shelves can be viewed only from an uncomfortable squat. Instead, vertical cases built into the walls put watches at eye level.

The Las Vegas flagship interior.

The boutique also carries TAG Heuer lifestyle accessories such as sunglasses and leather goods including wallets, belts, tote bags, and leather racing jackets. These items are exclusive to TAG Heuer boutiques. Customers will also find the complete line of Meridiist mobile phones, which have very limited distribution in the U.S.

Boutique Exclusives

Now that the boutique is here, TAG Heuer will also offer new watches that are either boutique only, or that are available exclusively at the boutique for some period of time. The Las Vegas boutique has a worldwide exclusive on the new Link through August.

TAG Heuer’s new Link collection: exclusively in Las Vegas.

Babin said that boutique exclusives will continue to be part of TAG’s strategy. “If not boutique only, then boutique exclusive for the first three months. Even the Link which we are launching today will be a worldwide exclusive for Las Vegas through August. So, it’s not only the high end. The rose gold Monaco we started in China only in the boutiques. The Link we start in the U.S. in Las Vegas. So, whatever the price range, we tend to give to the boutique a certain amount of exclusive time.”

Higher-priced watches that can be purchased at the boutique and nowhere else are also part of the plan. Babin explained: “We are also going to develop boutique specials which will be masterpieces you find only in our boutique network, all having in common that they will be over $5000. These are price points where independent retailers are not carrying TAG Heuer, or carrying very little. So we will offer new Grand Carreras, new Monacos that will be boutique specials.”

A Stunning Location

The boutique is situated in the architecturally impressive Crystals at CityCenter. Opened in December, 2009, Crystals is home to about 40 of the finest luxury retailers, several restaurants and a nightclub. Because this is Las Vegas, Crystals is open 365 days a year until 11 p.m. weekdays, and until midnight on weekends.

Below, CityCenter architecture and Crystals interiors.

When considering where to locate its first USA boutique, TAG weighed several factors. Alyssa Mishcon told us: “We consider market research – what do consumers want? There has to be demand on the consumer side. Some people like jewelry stores, some like department stores, and we have fantastic distribution and great partners, but there is a segment of the population that really wants to shop in the brand’s store. They want that experience with the brand and with the sales people. They want the knowledge base that goes with that. We do feel the boutique serves a customer need. And when you stand with customers in the store, that’s what you get back from them.”

The Las Vegas flagship exterior.

Boutique Customers and Discounts

Babin agrees that some customers want the boutique experience, and those customers are not typically motivated by discounts. If they are, they will be disappointed. “Not all consumers are discount-driven. Some are driven by the choice, by the uniqueness of the products that you can’t get at other stores, and by the experience. They enjoy being treated like VIPs by people who are extremely knowledgeable about all facets of TAG Heuer. And also discovering categories that you cannot discover in traditional retailers, like the mobile phones, like the eyewear, and the leather goods. So there are very good reasons to come to the boutique.”

“Since we opened, the average discount has been 2%, so it is like no discount. And we have very high sales – we are above our business plan…”. TAG minimizes the sales staff’s financial incentive to discount. “Commission is always part of the compensation” said Babin, “but it is minor compared with the fixed part. The sales staff are first and foremost TAG Heuer employees.”

Effect on Local Retailers

According to Babin, multi-brand retailers remain by far TAG Heuer’s primary sales channel, and boutiques do not harm the brand’s retail partners. “In December we will have about 4000 multi-brand stores, so you can see that the multi-brand retailer remains by far our primary channel, and the boutiques are coming in as a compliment to support the image of the brand. It is interesting that since we opened here in Las Vegas, our wholesale in the U.S. has grown faster than the world average. The boutique has been open 3 months already, even though today is the official opening. It has created a substantial business without cannibalizing the business we do here in Las Vegas with our multi-brand partners. The same thing happened in Australia., We opened a huge boutique that did incredible business, beyond all expectations, and the area retailers benefited from it. So a boutique is an all-around image booster with a benefit to retailers.”

TAG’s boutique formula must work. The brand currently has 116 boutiques worldwide, with plans to reach 250 in the next three to four years. Babin said “We would not have done 116 if they were not profitable. And there is a reason they are profitable – we are obsessed with being in the right location. In Las Vegas we were patient enough to wait for Crystals, and inside Crystals we were patient enough to wait for the right spot. So we prefer to wait up to two years to make sure we have the right location…. Good location combined with strong brand image is the secret of retailing properly.”

If Babin is correct, the Las Vegas flagship boutique should do very well indeed.

Originally launched more than 20 years ago, the Link is one of TAG Heuer’s iconic collections, and now the brand is launching a new, redesigned collection that brings this brand emblem to a new level. Offered in a variety of styles, from a three-hand quartz model to an automatic chronograph, the new Link maintains the codes of the past while carving a new aesthetic. Find prices and availability inside.

The famous Link bracelet has been streamlined to a more contemporary look, though the link with the past (sorry) remains unmistakable. Available with either a black or silver dial, the Link pieces feature curved, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with double-sided anti-reflective treatment for improved readability.

The new Link is available in several flavors, priced from about $1,890 to $3,900 in the U.S. and Canada:

Link with Quartz Movement
Available with a black or silver dial with vertical streak effect, this 40mm timepiece is equipped with a hand-applied monochrome TAG Heuer logo and “LINK” and “SWISS MADE” lettering on the dial. The fine-brushed stainless steel case has a polished and fluted fixed bezel as well as a curved scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with double-sided anti-reflective treatment.

Link Calibre 6 Automatic
This dual-time watch features the Calibre 6 automatic movement as well as a second subdial at 6 o’clock. The 40mm style features a sapphire case back, as well as a polished “cushion-shaped” fixed bezel that features Arabic or Roman numbers.

Link Calibre 5 Automatic
This COSC-certified chronograph features a 42mm dial, screw-in crown, screw-in chronograph pushbuttons and angled day and date window at 6 o’clock. The dial is equipped with faceted polished rhodium-plated minute and hour hands and with either Arabic or Roman numbers.

Link Chronograph
Featuring a stainless steel 43mm case, the Calibre S quartz chronograph is equipped with 5 bi-directional engines and 230 components as well as a perpetual retrograde calendar. With a patented TAG Heuer movement, the time and chronograph display uses central hour, minute and second hands as well as the chronograph 1/100th of a second feature. With a black or silver dial, this timepiece offers subdials at 4:30 and 7:30 with rhodium-plated hands and can display either regular or chronograph time. This dial features a flange with 5 to 60 minute indication and includes a set-up instruction for hour and date initialization on the case back. With a polished “cushion-shaped” fixed bezel with black tachymeter scale, this chronograph is offered with a double safety clasp and folding buckle stainless steel bracelet.

Link Calibre 16 Automatic Chronograph
Equipped with an oversize 9 o’clock subdial and “CALIBRE 16” and “SWISS MADE” lettering on the dial, this black or silver dial timepiece includes an angled date window at 3 o’clock to improve readability. With a 43mm case, polished steel push buttons and screw in crown, this timepiece is offered with a fine-brushed stainless steel bracelet.

Link Calibre 6 Automatic
With a silver dial and steel and gold bracelet, this TAG Heuer Calibre 6 has faceted, polished and gold-plated minute and hour hands as well as hand-applied curved faceted and gold-plate indexes and a gold-plated TAG Heuer logo. With a polished solid gold cushion-shaped fixed bezel with Arabic numbers, this 40 m, water resistant chronograph, including a sapphire case back, is offered with a solid steel folding clasp with safety pushbuttons stainless steel and gold plated bracelet.

The Link series will be available exclusively at TAG Heuer’s Las Vegas flagship boutique until August 2011, after which it will launch at TAG Heuer boutiques and authorized retailers worldwide.

In 1963 Jack Heuer started work on a new chronograph designed for drivers and motor-racing enthusiasts. A life-long fan of the sport himself, he knew what it was needed: a wide-open, easy-to-read dial and a shock-resistant and waterproof case tough enough for road wear. The following year he launched the result, a mechanical, manual-wound chronograph called the Carrera.

The name derives from Carrera Pan Americana, a five-day, 2,100 mile race across Mexico. The most prestigious – and dangerous – endurance race of its day. Carerra in Spanish means “competition of the highest order”. The new chronograph was a great success and was worn by every Ferrari Scuderia driver, including Carlos Reutemann, Clay Regazzoni, Jacky Ickx, Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti, Gilles Villeneuve and Jody Scheckter.

This year, TAG Heuer launches the Carrera Heritage Collection, a time and date watch and a chronograph with classic looks rooted in the Carrera legacy. The Collection is available in a 39mm watch edition equipped with an automatic Calibre 6 movement with an azurage embossed small second counter and the date at 6 o’clock. The 41mm automatic chronograph version with the Calibre 16 movement inside and three azurage-embossed sub-counters on the dial.

Several options are offered — steel, steel and gold, and steel and rose gold, all with crystal sapphire case back. Straps are in high-grade alligator with steel folding clasp with safety push buttons; bracelets are 5-row alternate fine-brushed and polished steel. Water resistance is to 100 meters. At the top of the line is a rose gold model on strap with a rose gold pin buckle.

Prices range from $2,500 to $10,000. Look for pieces to begin arriving at retailers in September/October.

The images may be enlarged with a click.

On March 23, TAG Heuer announced “Project Apollo” – a new watch they call a game-changing new concept in very high-frequency chronograph technology. You can watch the press conference, conducted by CEO Jean-Christophe Babin, here on WatchTime.com. You can also access it in our “WT Events” navigation menu.

Babin calls the watch to be unveiled at Baselworld “TAG Heuer’s most radical, out-of-the-box, totally mind-blowing innovation to date.”

At 1:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday March 23 (press day at Baselworld 2011), TAG Heuer will announce what they are calling a game-changing new concept and a groundbreaking innovation in very high-frequency chronograph technology. The interactive press conference, to be conducted by CEO Jean-Christophe Babin, will stream live here on WatchTime.com, and it will also be available on TAG Heuer’s official Facebook page. Find links to both inside.

Jean-Christophe Babin is calling the watch to be unveiled at Baselworld “TAG Heuer’s most radical, out-of-the-box, totally mind-blowing innovation to date.”

Click here to visit the special page WatchTime has created for the Webcast. You can access the page in the “WT Events” navigation menu. The date and time again are Wednesday March 23 at 1:45 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time, 18:45 CET. You can also participate in the Webcast by sending questions if you become a TAG Heuer Fan and watch the Webcast on the brand’s official Facebook page.

“We’ve had the Apollo Project – a code name – under wraps for months,” said Jean Christophe Babin, who will field questions at the end of the conference from Facebook fans and the BaselWorld journalists in attendance. “It’s our most closely guarded secret ever. Now it’s time to take the lid off. Doing so live online gives us an opportunity for interaction with TAG Heuer watch owners, collectors and enthusiasts everywhere.”

TAG says that if this year’s commercial launch of the Heuer Carrera Mikrograph 1/100th — the first-ever mechanical chronograph to measure and display 1/100th of a second on a flying central hand — is to watchmaking what walking on the moon is to space history, then the top-secret Apollo Project is the equivalent of the first manned landing on Mars.

For the moment, we have only this “teaser” image of the secret watch…

Founded in 1860, TAG Heuer has pioneered several breakthroughs in high-frequency timing and chronographs. In 1916, Charles-August Heuer introduced the 1/100th Mikrograph stopwatch. With the Calibre 360 in 2005, TAG Heuer introduced the first-ever wrist mechanical chronograph measuring and displaying 1/100th of a second. In January 2011, TAG Heuer went one step further with the Carrera Mikrograph 1/100th of a second chronograph, the first-ever integrated wrist mechanical chronograph with a central hand displaying 1/100th of a second. The Carrera Mikrograph movement was internally designed, patented and manufactured.

TAG Heuer and Parsons The New School for Design have unveiled the winners of the “Art of Watchmaking,” a 10-week competition that challenged eight teams of Parsons product design students to reinterpret TAG Heuer’s classic Monaco chronograph.

During the review, each of the student teams showcased three concepts, and discussed their inspiration, target consumer and design philosophy. Ideas ranged from a Monaco with a rotating case to designs inspired by the New York City transportation system.

First-place honors went to the team of Yong Yi Lee, Yoav Menachem and Amit Ran, whose designs included numbers to appeal to collectors.

Second-place honors went to the team of Enrique Diaz Rato de Zabala, Michelle Organ and You Jin Sung, whose designs included a black ceramic timepiece with colorful accents.

Third-place went to the team of Yusuke Sekiguchi, Christopher Beatty and Helen Kim, whose designs included a piece with naturally grown crystals in its dial.

Each member of the three teams will receive a monetary prize and a Tag Heuer timepiece. In addition, TAG Heuer may produce one of the first-place designs as a limited-edition piece.

November 29 marked the beginning of construction at the TAG Heuer factories in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, the Swiss Avant-Garde brand signed agreements with Swiss energy distributor Viteos, and with Planair, a Swiss consulting firm specialized in environmental issues, to equip the rooftops of its four buildings with solar panels.

The decision to undertake the project came at the direction of President and CEO Jean-Christophe Babin following Leonardo DiCaprio’s visit to the TAG Heuer factory in March this year.

“Leonardo visited the factory with an eye on everything that could be done to reduce our energy consumption” said Babin. “His factory visit in La Chaux-de-Fonds turned into an inspiring and creative environmental audit. Leonardo combined his environmental mind with a highly respectful approach toward our staff, making his visit an impactful highlight of TAG Heuer’s 150th anniversary celebration.”

In reaching this decision, many aspects of the company’s sustainable development policy were discussed and several innovative ideas were proposed. Planair supported TAG Heuer in conducting feasibility studies on the various options. An agreement on the photovoltaic panels was reached at the end of September. TAG Heuer is committed to installing over 500 photovoltaic panels on the roofs of its four buildings in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Annual electricity production should reach 100,000 kWh. Construction will continue through December, and the new solar-powered electrical system should beginning supplying power this winter.

The project, which is expected to cost 750,000 Swiss francs, is co-financed by TAG Heuer and Viteos. The photovoltaic panels will be supplied by a European company in order to limit the carbon footprint of shipping the equipment. The deal also includes TAG Heuer’s commitment to local environmental treaties to reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions by 17% over the next ten years, positioning them as a contributor to Switzerland’s pursuit of Kyoto Protocol objectives.

This announcement coincides with the release of a first Leonardo DiCaprio co-designed mechanical watch, the Aquaracer 500M, which was redesigned by DiCaprio as part of an initiative to raise money in support of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Green Cross International, two of the most influential and effective environmental organizations in the world.

“TAG Heuer is a company that gets it”, declared DiCaprio in a speech in Basel earlier this year. “Because TAG Heuer understands that they have a corporate mission, but also a global mission, a mission that is bigger than all of us. TAG Heuer is a company that has taken a stand for what it believes in… And I’m proud to be here today, celebrating a company that is standing up to give back to environmental non profit organizations alongside me.”

Leonardo DiCaprio meets with CEO Jean-Christophe Babin.

Leo learns watchmaking.

One of TAG Heuer’s four buildings in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

The list of watch brands to which entire auctions have been devoted is short — Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega, and a handful of others come to mind. TAG Heuer joins that elite group this year, just in time for the brand’s 150th anniversary. WatchTime previews the sale.

On December 15, the British auction house Bonhams presents the Haslinger Collection, made up of vintage Heuer chronographs accumulated by Arno Haslinger, an automobile and motorsports enthusiast and renowned Heuer collector based in Austria. The collection was unveiled at a VIP reception in Bonham’s New York City showroom on October 18.

There will be 100 lots up for bid, which include 81 watches along with other accessories and memorabilia, all from the 1960s through the early 1980s, most from the era before Heuer became TAG Heuer. The accessories include such novel items as Heuer racing-helmet alarm clocks, with quartz-driven clocks inside miniature Formula 1 racing helmets adorned with period advertising and drivers’ names. There are also watch display boxes in the racing-helmet motif, as well as vintage catalogs, signs and brochures. Other non-watch timing devices from Heuer include one of the brand’s famous Microsplit timers from 1979, a dashboard stopwatch, and even a pedometer.

The wristwatches up for bid include, as one would expect, numerous examples of Heuer’s iconic chronograph watches, the Carrera and the Monaco, along with several examples of models from Heuer’s 1970s archives that few today, outside of serious collectors, might be aware of, most of which are also associated with auto racing.

These watches include several from the popular but now discontinued Autavia family. The Autavia was produced between 1962 and 1986, and derived its name from “automobile” and “aviation,” because it was used for timing events for both. Among the Autavias in the Haslinger Collection are an extremely rare, manual-wind GMT model (Ref. 746103) from 1974 and a 1963 chronograph (Ref. 2446, shown below) with a manual-wind Valjoux 72 movement, inscribed on its bridge with a serial number and inside its caseback with the firm’s old name, “Ed. Heuer & Co. Swiss”. The serial numbers would soon be discontinued and the company name would become Heuer-Leonidas the following year.

The popular Carrera design inspired another model, the Monza. It was released as a limited-edition watch to celebrate the Formula 1 racing title won by driver Niki Lauda in 1975. The Monza had its model name above the Heuer logo at 12 o’clock, contrasting with the Carrera’s name at 9 o’clock, and it included a tachymeter and a pulsometer scale around the dial. One of the Monzas up for auction, shown below, includes the original racing-helmet watch case in which it was packaged.

The big slide rule scale on the wide bezel is the first thing you notice about the vintage Calculator model, an eye-catching early-1970s timepiece that combined an automatic chronograph with a slide rule function. The Ref. 110633 model up for auction (shown below), outfitted with automatic Caliber 12, has an interesting feature: the crown on the left side of the case and a sealed drill-hole between the pushers on the right side, indicating that the piece could have been a test watch for a manual-wind conversion.

Another model that will be new to many modern-day TAG Heuer fans is the Montreal, a watch launched in 1972 as Heuer expanded into the Canadian market and became the official timer for the 1976 Olympic games in Montreal as well as the 1978 Montreal Grand Prix. The Montreal models were automatic chronographs with pulsometer and tachymeter scales, chrono pushers on the right and crown on the left. Both Ref. 110503 B models in the collection have big, luminous blue dials and red chronograph hands, and come with their original perforated-leather racing straps.

A Heuer Montreal ref. 110503 B

Apparently, auto racing was not the only sport that inspired the 1970s Heuer watches. The Haslinger Collection also includes two timepieces associated with yachting and sailing, the Solunar and the Skipper. The Solunar (Ref. 279603, deriving its name from “sol” for sun and “lunar” for moon – shown below) has an outer bezel with high-tide and low-tide markings and a bilingual weekday function that can be set to French or English. It is the first tides watch with an automatic movement. The 1976 model up for bid is a very rare collectors’s item. The Skipper (Ref. 7764 MHm, also below) from 1970, with its Valjoux 7730 manual-wind movement, is a “nautical stopwatch” with a large 15-minute subdial, divided into red, white, and blue segments at 3 o’clock, and a regatta minute-countdown function.

The Heuer Solunar

A Heuer Skipper

Known for its sporty-look timepieces, Heuer released the dressier Verona chronograph, with a black dial and polished steel or gold bezel, in 1978 and 1979. Not on the market very long, today it is a true rarity. The watch used automatic Caliber 12, with 30-minute and 12-hour counters, and the dial had thin, elegant hands and indices. The Verona in the auction (Ref. 110213 N, below) comes with its original leather strap and its original box and papers.

And of course, the other iconic 1970s racing watch that has recently been reissued by TAG Heuer, the Silverstone, is also represented. Known for its cushion-shaped case, the Silverstone came out in 1974. It was named for the racetrack near London that is home to the British Grand Prix and was worn by such Formula 1 stars as Clay Regazzoni and Emerson Fittipaldi. In addition to the vintage models up for bid, including a very rare blue-dial Silverstone with steel bracelet (Ref. 110313 B, below) and a similar piece with a smoky brown dial, there is a special one-of-a-kind model made by TAG Heuer this year to celebrate its 150th anniversary. The Silverstone Calibre 11 Chronograph Jack Heuer Unique Piece features the red dial last used on the Silverstone in 1977, and has a matching red leather perforated strap. At 12 o’clock, the dial shows the original Heuer logo; at 6 o’clock, above the date aperture, is the signature of Jack Heuer, great-grandson of the brand’s founder and creator of the Carrera and other famous models. An engraving on the caseback indicates the watch’s unique status. Proceeds from the sale of this piece will benefit Green Cross International, an environmental charity supported by one of TAG Heuer’s celebrity “ambassadors,” actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

More info on all 100 lots, including opening bids and details on the various Carrera references that make up the greatest share of the watches offered, are available at www.bonhams.com.