TAG Heuer is world renowned for its innovations, and at this year’s Baselworld – held in April – the award-winning Swiss watchmaker proved, once again, that it remains at the forefront of watch technology with the release of two new watches in its motorsport-inspired Carrera series.
The watches have achieved two world firsts: the TAG Heuer Carrera MikroPendulum is the first ever magnet-drived 100th of a second chronograph, while the TAG Heuer Carrera MikroPendulumS is the only 100th of a second concept watch with a double magnetic tourbillon.
Three years in the making, TAG Heuer originally presented the Pendulum as a concept watch back in 2010, with the first magnetic oscillator for telling the time. Just one of TAG’s many patented technologies, the magnetic oscillator replaced the need for a traditional hairspring. Exciting and innovative, this new technology had a number of problems, however. The generated magnetic field was still affected by temperature changes, which hindered the watch’s ability to keep time precisely.
Years of hard work by a team of 25 scientists, engineers and designers and the Carrera MikroPendulum was finally ready to be unveiled to the world, transformed from a groundbreaking idea to a usable watch. TAG’s new invisible magnet-driven spiral drives the balance wheel at a low amplitude and high frequency, ensuring perfect accuracy. The magnetic oscillator almost matches the performance of the highest-quality hairspring, with the added bonus of being much easier to manufacture. It is also unaffected by shock, gravity or geometric deformations.
This innovative timepiece follows a number of other TAG models in the Mikro series, including the 2011 TAG Heuer Carrera Mikrotimer Flying 1000, which is capable of 1/1000th accuracy, as well as the 2012 TAG Heuer Carrera Mikrogirder, the only chronograph precise to 5/10,000th of a second.
Next in line to be developed, and hopefully released, is the MikroPendulumS. This concept watch was also unveiled at Baselworld and is designed to include the first ever double magnetic tourbillon. Utilising the double tourbillon layout first seen in the 2012 MikroTourbillonS, which currently is the fastest and most accurate tourbillon ever made, TAG has also incorporated its latest version of the magnetic pendulum system into the watch. Though still only at the concept stage, the MikroPendulumS is yet another cutting-edge development that seals TAG’s place as one of the most exciting and avant-garde watch creators in the world.
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The TAG Heuer Carrera MikroPendulumS is composed of 454 working components.
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The back of the TAG Heuer Carrera MikroPendulumS reveals the complicated inner workings of the watch.
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Two magnetic pendulums replace a traditional hairspring in the TAG Heuer Carrera MikroPendulumS; one for telling the time and one for timekeeping.
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The TAG Heuer Carrera MikroPendulumS has a brushed anthracite dial featuring two counters: the chronograph minutes counter and chronograph second counter. The two tourbillon pendulums, with solid rose gold bridges, are also visible from the front.
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The TAG Heuer Carrera MikroPendulumS is part of the motorsport-inspired Carrera series, with a large 45mm case composed of a revolutionary new material made from chrome and cobalt.
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The TAG Heuer Carrera MikroPendulum is the world’s first high frequency chronograph regulated by magnets. The first-ever magnetic oscillator, which removes the need for a traditional hairspring, is visible at 9 o’clock.
