TAG Heuer

TAG Heuer is Now a Luxury Phone Maker

2009-12-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

Since 1860 TAG Heuer has been making luxury watches, specifically sporty looking chronographs, but lately it seems as though this Swiss company is making more luxury cellular phones than it is men's and women's watches.

In September of this year TAG released the Meridiist to not so rave reviews. There is a huge variety of cell phones to choose from and when it came to basic specs, the Meridiist didn't go above and beyond (except of course in looks and price tag). It came with a 1.9" QVGA main screen, monochrome OLED on its outer rim, 2-megapixel camera, MP3/AAC/MPEG-4 playback, and 7 hours of battery time, which is standard in most phones. It's made of corrosion-resistant, watch-making steel and comes with a back of crocodile, leather or rubber; all reflective of that fact that it is branded: TAG Heuer, as these are common materials used in the bands and straps of luxury watches. Who came up with the price of $5,300 to $6,100 is the question?

There are many TAG watches that are available for less than this. In fact, practically every TAG collection of men's and women's watches has pieces for way under $5,000. Check out the TAG Heuer Aquaracer, Carrera, Grand Carrera and Formula 1 collections to see what I mean.

Soon after releasing the Meridiist, TAG came up with a way to make it better, fancier, more exclusive; basically to add some bling and jack up the price tag. The same phone which was selling for $5,000 and up is now going for between $10,000 and $30,000. What?! It's common knowledge that luxury watches can sell for this amount, but who's heard of a cell phone entering this price range. Called the Meridiist Diamant, the phones are available in two styles; one with 208 diamonds or the "imperial regalia of mobile phones" and one with 1232 diamonds. TAG Heuer admitted that these phones would be marketed toward women. And to make this phone seem like a piece of coveted jewelry, TAG was placing each Meridiist Diamant in a wooden jewelry box, "in which to preserve and store your investment for future generations." Saving diamonds is one thing, but come on; the idea of saving a cell phone for the next generation is ridiculous being that the technology changes and gets constantly upgraded.

So, now fast forward almost two months later and TAG Heuer launches yet another version of its Meridiist cell phone, this time really upping the ante (aka the price tag) by partnering with Italian luxury automobile brand Lamborghini.

Called the TAG Heuer MERIDIIST Automobili Lamborghini, only 1,963 of these quad-band Bluetooth phones will be sold worldwide. The number is a tribute to the year that Lamborghini was founded.

The inspiration for the phone's design comes from the Murcielago (which means "bat") by Lamborghini; one of its sleekest, fastest and most exclusive cars. The phone measures about 4.5 inches by 1.8 inches, has an above-average battery life: seven hours of talk time or 28 days of standby power. Standard cell phone features include a WAP 2.0 Web browser, a 2-megapixel camera, and 2GB of internal memory.

The handset is made from "black titanium carbide coated 316L stainless steel" and has the Murcielago signature on the battery cover, which is similar to the one seen on this car's LP 640's V12 engine block. The case is made from brushed stainless steel (a metal often used in TAG watches) and has a "backlit mechanical stainless steel keypad customized with Automobili Lamborghini's trademark Taurus bull on the steel central button." The display is made from scratch resistant sapphire crystal, another common feature of luxury watches. The phone is built by ModeLabs.

As of now, you can reserve one of these new phones through select TAG Heuer and Lamborghini retail locations. It comes in different colors of real leather or alligator skin, but so far there is no price listed. Hopefully, it's closer in price range to a TAG Heuer watch than a Lamborghini!

You can learn more about all the Meridiist phones on the official TAG Heuer website.

Luxury brands regularly partner up to create limited edition collections which attract attention and draw in new customers. Learn all about Tag-Heuer and other luxury brands including Breitling, Movado, Tissot and more at www.watchesonnet.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patrick_C_Bedford http://EzineArticles.com/?TAG-Heuer-is-Now-a-Luxury-Phone-Maker&id=3277829

TAG Heuer Watches - A Brief History of an Iconic Brand

2009-12-01T03:55:00.000-08:00

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What is today TAG Heuer Watches was originally founded in 1860 by Edouard Heuer and his two sons Jules-Edouard and Charles-Auguste. Although they only introduced their first 'wrist chronographs' in 1914, they already had a widely recognised reputation for the production of chronographs and sports timing equipment, such as stopwatches, split-second timers and timing systems.

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The foundations on which TAG Heuer has built its strength over the last hundred and forty or so years were in place very early on. Entrepreneurship, innovation and an obsession with ultimate precision are qualities that the three Heuer men introduced that have come to be synonymous with TAG Heuer still today. For this reason TAG Heuer watches are quite often at the forefront of watch-making technology, and have been since early on. For example, as far back as 1916 the oscillating pinion added to the Mikrograph made this model the World's first mechanical stopwatch that has proven to be accurate to one hundredth of a second.

Heuer watch-makers always offered an extensive range of chronographs and watches. In the 1930s they launched a range of chronographs for pilots. The triple calendar chronographs were introduced in the 1940s, and more rugged and robust watches in the 1950s, including dashboard timepieces that were very popular amongst many leading rally teams.

In 1969 Heuer broke with tradition and created the first square-cased, water-resistant watch: the Monaco. This watch is also widely accepted to be the World's first automatic chronograph. This claim has been contested, as a number of watch makers were working to produce an automatic watch around the same time. But, it was Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton-Buren that were the first manufacturers to produce and distribute automatic watches, the Monaco for Heuer, for markets around the world.

The Monaco is definitely one of their most iconic models. This particular model became an instant hit when in 1970 the Hollywood actor Steve McQueen wore a Monaco watch in the classic car racing film, Le Mans.

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Like most of the prestigious Swiss Manufactures Heuer was hit by the quartz-boom and the cheaper 'Japanese watch invasion'. In 1984 the Heuer company was sold to the Akram Ojjeh TAG-Group and the brand name changed to TAG-Heuer. Heuer models were replaced with new ones, and TAG-Heuer changed from being from a manufacturer that specialised in chronographs, stopwatches and sporting events timing, to a luxury watch manufacturer with an emphasis on 'avante garde' design; hence the name 'Techniques d'Avante Garde'.
In 2009 TAG Heuer celebrates the fortieth anniversary of the iconic Monaco watch with a new watch. TAG Heuer have produced the first watch to be belt driven, and as a homage to the original Monaco timepiece they have named it the Monaco Linear System. This newer model draws on the company's longstanding traditions and retains many of the original Monaco features, such as the once groundbreaking square case. This new Monaco model demonstrates unequivocally that TAG Heuer watches are still at the forefront of innovative and record breaking watch-making.

By Thomas Dowson

About the author of this article:

Thomas Dowson is freelance writer, writing here about luxury watches for The Watch Gallery, their London-based shop can be visited online at http://www.thewatchgallery.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Dowson http://EzineArticles.com/?TAG-Heuer-Watches---A-Brief-History-of-an-Iconic-Brand&id=3300134

Tag Heuer

2009-11-19T05:44:00.005-08:00

Tag Heuer Commercial

2009-11-19T05:44:00.003-08:00

Tag Heuer Maria Sharapova 2008

2009-11-19T05:44:00.001-08:00