1958 - THE FOURTH GENERATION HEUER
Jack Heuer, age 29 and representing the fourth generation of family leadership, would join the company in 1958, travel to the United States to focus on increasing the company’s market share, and become the majority owner of the shares by 1961.
1958 - focus on stopwatches and dashboard timing instruments
These years would be equally transformative in terms of the company’s catalog of products. In 1958, the line-up of dashboard timers was entirely redesigned, to improve their legibility, with Monte Carlo (with its unique jumping hour disc) taking the place of the 20 year-old Autavia dashboard timer. In 1960, the focus on legibility was extended to the company’s massive catalog of stopwatches, with the sleek looking “Century” line honoring the 100th anniversary of the company, as most existing models were replaced.
1962 - NAMES FOR CHRONOGRAPHS
The most profound change came in 1962, when Jack Heuer realized that the company needed to go beyond the redesign of the dashboard timers and stopwatches, to focus on the heart of the company’s catalog – the chronographs.
“Being at the helm of the company, I felt that we had to review our range of Chronographs. I started out in 1962 with the Autavia (we had withdrawn the Autavia Dashboard 12-hour stopwatch from the market due to the poor legibility of the dial), because the name was now free and this model enjoyed a very good response when we launched it in the fall of 1962. So we decided in the fall of 1962 to start a new series with the name Carrera, a name that I had just loved and discovered in January 62.”
Jack Heuer
THE ROMANCE OF RACING
Before exploring the development of the Carrera chronographs, we focus on the name “Carrera”. In January 1962, Jack Heuer attended the 12 Hours of Sebring race, in Florida, with Heuer suppling timing equipment for the racer organizers and some teams. Chatting in the pits, the parents of the racing Rodriguez brother described to Jack Heuer the legendary (and dangerous) races that had been run across Mexico in the early 1950s, known as the “Carrera Panamericana Mexico”. One short year later, at the 1963 Basel watch fair, Heuer would introduce its first Carrera chronograph.
Jack Heuer reflects on the moment when he heard the word that would forever make its mark on the Heuer and TAG Heuer catalogs:
“It was at Sebring . . . that I first heard the Spanish word “Carrera”. I loved not only its sexy sound but also its multiple meanings, which include “road”, “race”, “course” and “career”. All very much Heuer territory! So as soon as I got back to Switzerland I rushed to register the name under “Heuer Carrera”. As the company’s majority shareholder – and with the company’s future effectively in my hands – I was committed to developing new products and I decided that the next product I would create would be called the “Carrera“.”
Jack Heuer
the classic Carrera style
The first generation Carrera introduced the case that is still recognized by watch enthusiasts around the world as the classic Carrera style- a 36mm stainless steel case that combines strong, angular lugs with a style that is also elegant in any setting. What set the Carrera apart from other watches of the era was the clean design of the dial. By removing extraneous detail and printing the hash-marks for the seconds and 1/5 seconds on an inner bezel (tension ring), more space was created on the dial allowing the Chronograph to be easily read.
A MODERN LOOK
Adding to the dial design was the use of sunken registers, which Heuer catalogs indicated, “gives a revolutionary 3-dimensional dial reading“. The modern design was a break from the style of the day and gave the Carrera a modern look. The crown and pushers were designed for racing, oversized so that they could be operated while the driver or navigator was at speed or even wearing gloves.
1960s Carrera chronographs
The 1960s Carrera chronographs were available with either two registers (45 or 30 minute capacity) or three registers (12 hour capacity). The early success of the Carrera led to more models. Heuer’s three register, triple calendar chronograph indicating day of the week and date (month and day) which had been produced since the early 1940s, was redesigned and listed as a “Carrera 12 Dato”, and a newly designed Carrera 45 Dato was Heuer’s first chronograph to use a window and rotating disc to indicate the date.
contrasting registers
The last of the manual-winding Carrera chronographs from the 1960s added a design element that would remain in the Carrera catalog for the coming decades, contrasting registers. The Carreras with white dials were now offered with black registers (sometimes called “Panda” style) and the Carreras with black dials were offered with white registers (“Reverse Panda”).
1963
heuer CARRERA 2447
1964
heuer CARRERA 3647
1964
Heuer Carrera DATO 3147
1968
Heuer Carrera 2447 SN
1969 - first automatic chronographs
In March 1969, Heuer introduced its first automatic chronographs – the Autavia, Carrera and Monaco. To house the new Chronomatic (Calibre 11 / Calibre 12) movement, the case used for the Carrera was redesigned, using the C-Shape design. The first models of the automatic Carrera included stainless steel models either with a silver dial and black registers or with a charcoal gray dial and white registers, as well as an 18 karat gold model, with a silver / white dial.
1969
Heuer Carrera 1153 N Chronomatic
1970
Heuer Carrera 1153 S
1971
Heuer Carrera 1158 S
Heuer’s relationship with Ferrari
It began in 1971 and led to the easily-recognized Heuer “shield” being added to the nose of the Scuderia’s Formula 1 cars. In exchange, Heuer provided the Ferrari team with timing equipment and each Ferrari driver received an 18 karat gold Carrera.
CALIBRE 15
In 1972, Heuer modified the Calibre 12 movement so that it could offer more affordable chronographs. In the Calibre 15 movement, Heuer deleted the hour recorder, but added a running seconds hand at 10 o’clock, so that the dials are asymmetrical. There were two models of the Carrera powered by the Calibre 15 movement, one with a silver dial and one with a deep blue dial. Both these models had contrasting registers, and a “racing stripe” across the center of the dial.
1970's Champions
The mid-1970s saw a wide range of Carrera chronographs in the Heuer catalog, as the C-Shape cases were fitted with a variety of manual-winding Valjoux movements. Parallel to the Autavias, there were manual-winding models of the Carrera with two registers, two registers and a date and three registers. Carreras were offered with 18 karat gold cases (Calibre 12 movement), as well as gold-plated cases.
As the 1970s drew to a close, so too did production of Heuer’s mechanical movements - victims of the price war with the quartz movements and currency exchange rates that made it difficult to sell Swiss-made watches in international markets. Heuer was an early pioneer in quartz, offering both battery-powered analogue Carreras and a combination analogue-digital Carrera Twin Time.
BARREL CASE
1974- 1978After the traditional round cases of the 1960s and C-Shape cases of the early 1970s, the third case style for the Carreras came in 1974, with what collectors call the “barrel” case. Offered with either a Calibre 12 or Calibre 15 movement, the Blue, Gold and “Fume” (smoke) versions had a distinctive Cotes de Geneve dial. A black-coated version of the barrel case would come in 1977, with a matching black dial and bracelet. The barrel-shaped Carrera is a significant departure from the understated, elegant styling of the original Carrera, but reflected the bold style of the 1970s.
QUARTZ POWERED
1978- 1981Heuer was a pioneer in electronic watches, with the 1975 Microsplit stopwatch and the 1976 Chronosplit chronograph, and launched a range of quartz-powered Carreras in the late 1970s. While the design of these fourth generation cases was relatively conservative (being derived from the C-Shape cases of the early 1970s), they were the first Carrera to be a conventional three-hand watch rather than being a Chronograph. Heuer also offered a quartz Chronograph, which was a combination analogue-digital watch (traditional hands for the time of day and a digital display for the chronograph or alarm).
The Lemania-powered Carrera
The 1980s were a tumultuous time for the entire Swiss watch industry, and Heuer was no different. Jack Heuer sold the company to a consortium of investors (that included Piaget and Nouvelle Lemania) in 1982, ending his family’s direct ownership of Heuer. In 1985 Piaget/ Nouvelle Lemania sold Heuer to an investment house led by Akram Ojjeh called Techniques d’Avant Garde (“TAG”), leading to the creation of TAG Heuer. Ojjeh created TAG to invest in high-tech industries, such as aviation and Formula 1 racing. TAG owned 50% of the McLaren Formula 1 team and financed the World Championship Porsche-designed TAG Turbo engines of the mid-1980s.
With ownership by the consortium affiliated with Lemania came a new movement for the Carrera, the Lemania 5100. The Lemania-powered Carrera was available in two versions. The stainless steel model used a sunburst pattern inspired by the Barrel Carreras of the 1970s, with a flat black dial that incorporated lume strips and bright Orange detailing.
The Lemania-powered Carrera was also available in a black-coated case.