TAG Heuer Introduces Lady’s Ceramic Bezel, Bracelet….Men’s watches next?

Below is a first look at some pics of the new TAG Heuer F1 Lady series watches with ceramic bezel and bracelet components that will be officially unveiled at Baselworld 2010.  This is TAG Heuer’s first foray into the use of ceramic in its bezels and bracelets and I expect this to generate a lot of enthusiasm from TAG Heuer fans and watch fans in general.  More importantly, it is all but certain that TAG Heuer will also soon introduce ceramic into its men’s watches as well.  TAG Heuer follows other popular brands such as Rado, Chanel, Rolex, and most recently Omega (check out the new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal here) to integrate ceramic bezel and bracelet components.

This is to me a positive move by TAG Heuer in what is shaping up to be a crazy year of “highs” and “lows” for the brand (a beautiful Silverstone reissue, the Caliber 1887 movement snafu, a leaked then retracted Carrerra 1887 model, dealing with a tainted Ambassador named Tiger Woods here, here and here….and oh I can’t miss mentioning the absurd $360 “luxury” 8Gb flash memory thumb drive).

As for the watch, the only downside for me – and this is purely a matter of preference if this sort of thing matters to you – is that the F1 lady ceramic the watches will have quartz movements in them.  A far cry from, for example, the Audemars Piguet-base mechanical automatic movements as used in the Chanel J12 Series.  On the plus side, the price will actually be affordable.  And I do think that the watches look nice – very clean and sharp looking.  So all in all, I’ll give TAG Heuer a “thumbs up” on this one.

BASELWORLD 2010 is coming soon. You can see all the hot new pre-releases on Perpetuelle.com’s Official Baselworld 2010 Forum right now! And many many more when the event starts on March 18th. Just click here!

The first recipient of TAG Heuer’s New Caliber 1887

[at the request of TAG Heuer, information regarding this watch will be temporarily withheld.  word travels fast around the 'Net, though and I suspect it may be difficult to get this one back completely under wraps...but it has been done before]

The new TAG Heuer Caliber 1887 (announced December 2009)

BASELWORLD 2010 is coming soon.  You can see all the hot new pre-releases on Perpetuelle.com’s Official Baselworld 2010 Forum, and many many more when the event starts on March 18th.  Just click here!

Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words?

TAG issued this official news release on its website over the weekend:

TAG Heuer Stands by Brand Ambassador Tiger Woods

They just don’t want his name or likeness on any of their ads in the U.S. or Australia, that’s all.

I continue to see mixed messages in TAG Heuer’s approach to managing this crisis.  A phrase comes to mind:  “Actions Speak Louder than Words”.  Do they not?

I admit this is a tough situation for many sponsors who have invested HEAVILY in Tiger Woods and stand to lose a lot.  TAG Heuer seems to be sitting on the fence, trying to have it both ways – ie. “standing by him” but at the same time moving swiftly to disassociate with him.  I’m no PR expert, but I think that in the long run it will be difficult for TAG to continue to play both sides of the Tiger Woods saga.  We shall see!

First Australia, now the U.S……

LINK:  Tiger Woods Dropped by Tag Heuer

As we surmised 4 days ago, it now seems even more likely that that Tiger’s affiliation with TAG Heuer is probably just a few ticks of the chronograph counter’s hand away from being pulled…..permanently.

First In Watches Sees Mixed Signals

Lot of reports flying around on the status of Tiger Wood’s sponsors and whether or not they will stick with him.  Our interest here at First In Watches being of course his affiliation with global luxury watch brand TAG Heuer.    Although we are not as close to the story as we would like, I have been following the headlines and felt it appropriate to weigh in with a quick take.

Although the news out this morning from the UK Guardian is that TAG Heuer will be standing by Tiger and that his personal life is “not our business“, it seems that TAG Heuer has also carefully hedged its position as reports late last week from Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald indicated that the brand had pulled placards and other Tiger-related advertising materials from the marketplace.

First In Watches believes that these mixed signals do not bode well for the future Tiger Woods/TAG Heuer relationship.  Further, with another equally high profile sponsor like Accenture finally announcing that it is dropping Tiger, the pressure upon other sponsors such as TAG Heuer to drop Tiger will continue to mount.  It seems likely to me that Tiger’s affiliation with TAG Heuer is probably just a few ticks of the chronograph counter’s hand away from being pulled. 

Photograph: David McNew/Getty Images

Well here’s something from Tag Heuer I can praise (unlike their obsccenely overpriced flash memory sticks and mobile phones)!  To mark its 150th anniversary, TAG Heuer will re-issue the Silverstone Chronograph in February 2010 as a limited edition piece.   While I’m not a Tag Heuer history expert, I understand that the Silverstone was originally introduced in 1974 with its signature “cushion” shaped case, and is named for the famous racing circuit in England.  It also bears some resemblance to another iconic Tag Heuer watch, the Monaco.  The original Silverstone housed the Chronomatic Caliber 11, the first self-winding automatic chronograph with micro-rotor, and the tribute pieces will remain true to spirit with an updated version of the Caliber 11.  Actually, if you want to get the real scoop on this watch, I highly recommend you jump on over to Calibre 11, probably the best vintage Tag Heuer watch site/blog on the ‘net.  To be made in 2 colors – only 1,500 pieces per color – for about $6,500.

One funny thing about this whole deal is that there is another popular watch blog that I am a fan of called Watchismo – and about 2 years ago (May 2007) he was pining for exactly this – check out Watchismo – Reissue Wish – 1974 Heuer Silverstone.  Can you believe it?!? Does Watchismo know that his “reissue wish” has finally come true? Consider him told! 

Hat tip:  Acquire via Digital Trends.

“You have got to be kidding me.”  These were my first words upon seeing a couple of the items in Tag Heuer’s new accessory e-boutique.  Are my eyes playing tricks on me?  Has TAG Heuer lost its mind?  Or is TAG Heuer just trying to insult our intelligence.  Let me list the absurdities:

• 8 GB usb storage keychain fob – $360!!!!!!
• 30 GB usb storage – “avant gard credit card size” – $700!!!!!!

And let me then add:

• The belief that your watch brand can sell anything at any price?  Priceless.

See for yourself at http://www.tagheuereboutique.com/.  No one in their right mind would pay such money for items like this that will a) be completed outdated in about 6 months (if you are lucky), and b) can be had for a fraction of the cost today – literally (see below).   

This is reall too bad, because there are actually some cool items in Tag’s eboutique – for example a nice Heur Monaco leather jacket, which oddly enough can be had for about the same price as the USB memory card ($700).  Too bad TAG Heuer has completely ruined the perception of value of all the good items in its store by pricing these “IT devices” like they are the last bits and bytes of memory on Earth.

I guess the bigger question is, why does Tag Heuer keep trying to extend its brand into areas that it obviously has NO CLUE as to what it is doing and what the key drivers of value are? 

8 gigabyte “Tag Heuer” branded USB stick

Yours for only $360.00!!

I’m sure it is soooo much more functional than this 8gb flash stick offered by Sandisk – $19:

30 gigabyte “Tag Heuer” branded USB card

Yours for $700.00 – what a steal!

If I were TAG Heuer I would quickly drop a ‘0′ off the end of those prices and say that it was just a typo.

As with prior years, a few luxury watchmakers have issued special watches to commemorate the Singapore Grand Prix this year, and I thought it only appropriate and timely to share those with you now, as these are some special and exclusive (ie very pricey) watches.  If you did not know, the only night race on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship circuit is at the Marina Bay track in Singapore.  In 2008, the first year of the “night race”, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa (wearer of all things Richard Mille) had the pole position, but it was Renault’s Fernando Alonso who took the victory.  This year, it is McLaren-Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (wearer of all things Tag Heuer) who has the pole position but the winner is yet to be determined!

Franck Muller Conquistador Singapore Grand Prix 2009 Racing Chronograph

80 pieces in titanium, 80 in rose gold and titanium, and 6 exclusive models in pink gold with blackened titanium bezel (shown below in this order)

(photo credits: Horomundi)

2009 Chopard Classic Racing Chrono F1 Singapore Edition (Unique Piece)

18-carat rose gold, 45mm case, COSC-certified, 1960s Dunlop racing tyre-tread motif black rubber strap, with logo and commemorative mention of the 2009 F1 Singapore race featured on the back-case

Auctioned at the President’s Charity Challenge Luncheon for $35,000!

TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 Day Date Chronograph (Singapore Limited Edition)

(photo credit: puristspro)

If I missed any please let me know!

TAG Heuer “Authorized E-Tailers” Now Number 8, a 4-fold Increase Since the Program’s Inception

This is “Part 1″ of a 2 Part Series.  Today I will give an overview of TAG Heuer’s growing “Authorized E-commerce” program, and then I will share further analysis and insight in a follow up post.

First, the genesis of this discussion.  Browsing TAG Heuer’s website a few days ago I noticed a significant increase in its “Authorized E-Tailers” list.  Although I would consider it still to be a “pilot program”, TAG Heuer now has EIGHT (8) “Authorized E-Tailers” – quadruple the number it had less than a year ago when it began its e-commerce pilot program with Tourneau and Barmakian Jewelers (as I covered here).  Interesting, eh?!

The current lineup of TAG Heuer Authorized E-Tailers

The way that TAG Heuer’s authorized e-commerce program works is that, basically, TAG Heuer allows some of its Authorized Retailers to set up storefronts on a Tag Heuer-hosted website, and each “E-Tailer’s” website is identical except for the swap out of the the name, logo, and contact info.  There is also a link to the retailer’s actual website.  Now what’s not clear is which of TAG Heuer’s authorize dealers are allowed to participate in the program, but more on that later.  Here is an example “authorized” storefront:

While its entire “Authorized E-Commerce” program is an interesting strategy by TAG Heuer, and in fact probably prompted its close rival Raymond Weil to consider online sales (as we uncovered several months ago), I do see a few inconsistencies and oddities with TAG Heuer’s approach.

But, as I am hoping to get a few questions answered and some clarification from TAG Heuer, I will reserve additional comments for a follow-up post.

Would you spend more on a TAG Heuer mobile phone than you would on a TAG Heuer Watch?

Didn’t think so.

Going…….down?

So I am reading an email I received a few weeks ago from Tag Heuer which announced the availability of its new Meridiist mobile phone, and I can’t help but thinking, “This thing is dead on arrival – with capital D-O-A!!!”  I mean, when a key selling point for a mobile phone is “Did you know that the MERIDIIST is made of stainless steel and unscratchable sapphire crystal, the same materials which are used on TAG Heuer watches?” (a statement from the aforementioned email I received), and the starting suggested retail price is $4,950 (WOW! This is more than most TAG Heuer watches), how can TAG Heuer ever expect to sell enough phones to justify the enormous amount of money it surely sunk into the development of this device?

It seems to me that TAG Heuer seems to have over-assessed the value of its brand on this one.   Their positioning and marketing emphasis is all about the phones design features, with seemingly just a few passing thoughts given to the actual functionality of the device.  Imagine – for $5+ grand you could have a phone made from the same materials of lesser priced luxury watches but will do nothing more than a phone you could get for free with a 2-year contract with Verizon Wireless (except maybe you look “cooler”)!  Ooh – where do I sign up?

You see, marketing hype can only sell so many overpriced mobile phones (just ask Vertu or Bang & Olufsen, or even Motorola or LG).  First In Watches thus predicts:  TAG Heuer will (quietly) kill the Meridiist program sometime in 2010.  Will time prove us right?

Photo from Luxist.