Archive

April 22nd, 2024

Telegraph Time Article — “TAG Heuer’s split decision”

I authored the article, “TAG Heuer’s split decision”, that was published by Telegraph Time on April 20, 2024. In this article, I offer some background regarding TAG Heuer’s new Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph, which was introduced on April 9, 2024 at Watches and Wonders. This Monaco was TAG Heuer’s very first mechanical split-second chronograph for the wrist,

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April 9th, 2024

Introducing the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph — Of Hands, Heritage and Halos

Today, at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Switzerland, TAG Heuer has introduced its new “Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph”.  Over the period from circa 1890 into the 1970s, Heuer produced many different types of split-second mechanical chronographs, but all of them were “pocket chronographs”.  Today’s new Monaco is the first mechanical split-second chronograph that TAG Heuer has made in the form of a wristwatch. 

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February 29th, 2024

Sunray DX — The Corvettes and the Carreras

In 1953, Chevrolet introduced the Corvette, America’s first true sports car. Fourteen years later, the L-88 option package turned the Corvette into a factory-built racecar that would compete in international endurance racing. This is the story of how the Sunray DX racing team and car builder / racer Don Yenko successfully campaigned the L-88 Corvette in the 1967 / 1968 racing seasons.

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February 5th, 2024

Retrospective — The “First Generation” Glassbox Carrera Chronographs (2015 to 2023)

Over the period from March 2015 through January 2023, TAG Heuer offered 10 versions of the “Glassbox” Carrera. The first Glassbox Carrera was a “limited production” model; the next nine were all “limited editions”. We will refer to these 10 models as the “First Generation” Glassbox Carreras.

The defining feature of the Glassbox Carrera is its crystal.

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January 14th, 2024

Watching Nick Saban — The Six Watches He Wore at Alabama

On January 10, 2024, Nick Saban announced his retirement as Head Coach of the University of Alabama football team, after 17 seasons in that position.  Over his first 12 years at Alabama, Saban wore a “swag watch” that he must have received at a bowl game and two Fossil chronographs, so I decided that I was happy to watch his teams,

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January 7th, 2024

Collecting 2023 — Something Old, Something New . . . and a Sixpence in My Shoe

Before the ascendancy of Instagram and Facebook, collectors often published “Year in Review” or “State of the Collection” postings. These were often exhaustive reviews of trends in the market, the development of their own collections, and similar topics. Nowadays, many collectors will simply click a couple of buttons on Instagram to post thumbnails of their most popular postings,

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December 25th, 2023

Introducing the “AC Signature” Monaco, by Abel Court

This past week brought my favorite Heuer arrival of 2023, the customization of a 1997 Monaco created by master watchmaker Abel Court (called the “AC Signature Monaco”).  In this posting, we will show some photos of the AC Signature Monaco, describe the features of the watch that make it a favorite, and also have a look at some of the “inspirations”

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November 13th, 2023

Interview — A Deep Dive into Sylvain Berneron’s Mirage

On October 5, 2023, Sylvain Berneron, Chief Product Officer of Breitling, introduced the Mirage, the flagship model for his new “Berneron” brand. There will be two versions of the Mirage — the Sienna (with a yellow gold case) and the Prussian Blue (with a white gold case) — with annual production limited to 12 samples of each version,

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May 10th, 2023

Sotheby’s Offering Five of the Heuer Grails — May 14, 2023

Back in May 2020, I published a posting, Vintage Heuer – Chasing the Grails, that offered a definition of the “grail watch”, at least for purposes of the community of vintage Heuer collectors. While any collector may have their own personal “grail” watches, I suggested that from the perspective of the community, a vintage Heuer chronograph is considered a “grail”,

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April 18th, 2023

“C” on Caseback of Heuer Chronographs — “Cuanillon”, Heuer’s Swiss Distributor

The “C” marked on the case-back of a vintage Heuer chronograph indicates that — after the watch was produced — Heuer sold it to its Swiss distributor, “Cuanillon & Co”.  Cuanillon & Co. was located in Biel-Bienne.

We are not aware of the purpose of the marking or the meaning of the letters and numbers marked on the cases.

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March 27th, 2023

Introducing Five New TAG Heuer Carrera Chronographs for 2023

In early January 2023, TAG Heuer marked the 60th Anniversary of its Carrera chronograph with the release of a Limited Edition model in “Panda” style.  This new “60th Anniversary” Carrera represented a near one-to-one copy of one of the collectors’ favorite models — the Carrera Reference 2447 SN, from the late 1960s.  The newest Carrera was very well received by both vintage and modern chronograph enthusiasts,

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February 12th, 2023

OnTheDash 20th Anniversary — Celebrating Our Community

OnTheDash.com went live exactly 20 years ago.  That’s right, on February 12, 2003, at around 9:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time), I sent an email message to around 80 enthusiasts, with the subject, “ATTENTION Heuer Enthusiasts: New Heuer Web Site.”  It was going to be a relatively simple site, presenting most of the Heuer dashboard timers in a simple “tree”,

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