TAG Heuer’s new 100% in-house designed caliber 1887… OUCH!
Posted by Robert-Jan in Watchlinks, tags: Caliber 1887, In-house, Seiko, Tag HeuerPioneering Swiss watchmaking for 150 years. According to the official TAG Heuer website that is, because there is some discussion around the ‘pioneering’ part. Their latest in-house manufactured caliber 1887 movement seems to be based on a Seiko movement. Nothing necessarily wrong with that,?Ǭ however, TAG Heuer’s press release stated that this caliber 1887 is a ‘designed 100% in-house’ movement. Even according to TAG Heuer’s CEO J. Babin, it is clearly not designed in-house, as the CEO himself is posting messages on several TAG Heuer forums to give an explanation to all TAG Heuer fans. His post on WatchUseek starts like this: “Hi, I’m J.C. Babin the CEO of TAG Heuer, and YES, the new Caliber 1887 is based on a SII (Seiko Instruments Inc.) TC78 platform developped and patented in 1997 (filing) and eversince produced in very limited quantities, apparently for Junghans and Seiko watches in Japan.”
I would have guessed he just would have send another press release, fire the marketing dude who came up with the one-liner and get a communication/PR professional to fix things with the heated forum crowd. Perhaps they’ve already done that, or would it be a coincidence that TAG Heuer’s website is not available right now? (Service Unavailable error)
TAG Heuer’s Caliber 1887 movement
Kyle Stults of Perpetuelle did a very nice job on describing the whole matter in a blog post on his website. Click here for Kyle’s article, “TAG Heuer shoots itself in the foot on Tag Heuer Caliber 1887 launch”. Also check-out TAG Heuer devote website Calibre11.com.
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I’ve followed this issue over the various watch blogs and no doubt this is a case of marketing strategy gone terribly wrong. TAG will emerge with their reputation intact.
Don’t miss also the article of E.Doerr that gives good perspectives about this story:
http://www.worldtempus.com/en/news/top-news/detail/article/1260288841-tag-heuer-caliber-1887/
Frankly I am very disappointed with tyhe finishing of my TAG HEUER Link Chronograph watch : the bezel is positioned at a crooked angle (the 12 Hrs mark doesnt match the 12 cypher above, nor the 6 one below). Futhermore the upper right hand “teeters” or to the left or to the right side of the 12 mark. My Antwerp dealer cannot remediate it at all (???). A pity, since the watch is very accurate and has quite a sentimental value (anniversary gift from my wife). O yeah, the crown also needed already a replacement, although I am extremely careful with all my watches. And now Seiko movements ? One more fine “Swiss” brand on a downward slope, apparently…
Interesting post RJ. Looks like someone from the design team didn’t prrof read the press release. I’d be firing him, not PR ! However, I don’t think of TAG as a ‘pioneering’ company anyway, more a fashion watch company. Don’t get me wrong, I like my TAGs. I have four, one is on my wrist most days and, as you know, I have plans to buy another one soon. But I buy them because they are inespensive (for a quality watch) and look nice, not because they are pioneering.