TAG Heuer’s Autavia, Renaissance of an Icon

TAG Heuer has a rich history of creating iconic watches, especially for motor sports. During the 1970s and 1980s, in the heydays of Formula One, Heuer was one of the main sponsors of the burgeoning sport.

Indeed famous Formula One drivers such as Jo Siffert, Mario Andretti, and Ayrton Sena, were sponsored by Heuer who also created a variety of chronograph watch versions with a moniker matching the race or the course’s location, e.g., Montreal.

To help celebrate this wonderful heritage and also help revive sales of its chronograph sports watches, in 2017 TAG Heuer decided to revive one of these legendary Heuer models.

However, instead of the marketing department determining the model to reissue and guess at what the current market demand would be, TAG surprisingly and intelligently decided to crowdsource the decision. Using social media, TAG Heuer ran a online contest poll to decide the model.

The people have spoken and the chosen model is the Autavia. A brilliant tri-compax chronograph that comes in either a Panda configuration (white dial with black sub-registers) or the reverse-Panda. It includes the in house Heuer 02 movement which is a descendent of CH-80 movement that TAG Heuer had intended to produced in mass but had to scrape off due to costs.

Both great looking watches and with a new movement shown via the caseback. The result is watch not just for the hip social media savvy but one that Heuer fans of the past and present would surely be happy to wear.

The TAG Heuer Autavia is sized at 42 mm and feels great on wrist. Something different than the common chronograph and with a vintage yet modern look. The brown leather strap works well, though a perforated rubber addition would give variety and increase appeal.

The re-issued Autavia is limited in production and we hope TAG Heuer will make this contest/poll a periodic affair and release the next iconic version in its storied heritage. A colorful Montreal perhaps...