The original Formula 1 returns, which, launched in 1986, was the first watch marketed under the Tag Heuer signature. Fun, colorful and accessible, it has been made in collaboration with the urban fashion house Kith.
Good news is coming for the nostalgic. TAG Heuer has decided to reissue the first Formula 1, the brightly colored watch launched in the mid-80s which was the first contact with luxury watchmaking for many current collectors and fans. It is a special reissuewith a limited number of pieces and made in collaboration with the American urban clothing house Kith. The Formula 1 is a key watch in the history of TAG Heuer and a good example of the evolution that the industry has experienced in recent decades.
Was the first watch to carry the TAG Heuer logo on its dial as its launch on the market coincided with the purchase of Heuer by Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG), a Luxembourg technology company, at that time focused on the world of Formula 1 with its participation in the McLaren team.
Once the new brand was conceived, it was clear that automobile racing would be the recurring theme of its first collection. Also that the new collection had to adapt to the new times of Swiss watchmaking at the time and follow in the footsteps of Swatch, the popular plastic watch launched three years earlier and which was already a success around the world.
Formula 1 was an accessible watch, launched at a price of about 18,000 pesetas at that time. For this, affordable materials were used such as fiberglass for the case or plastic for the straps, which came with incisions so the customer could cut them to their liking with simple scissors. The collection was a complete success and it is estimated that more than three million units were sold, although these good results did not prevent its discontinuation in 2000. LVMH had bought TAG Heuer a year before and the French giant had other plans for it, more close to the luxury segment in which the firm has operated since then. Formula 1 returned to the TAG Heuer catalog in 2004although with a more sophisticated concept, far from the idea of a cheap plastic watch with which it was launched almost 20 years earlier.
The Kith Heuer watch
It is not a printing error. If we look closely we will see that the official logo of the watch brand has been transformed due to the collaboration with Kith. Behind this name is Aaron “Ronnie” Fieg, New York businessman and designer, founder of the Kith brandin whose establishments some of the versions made of this new Formula 1 are sold. In total they are ten variants. They all have in common their diameter of 35 millimeters, the same size as the 1986 model.
The watch maintains a fun balance between original elements and the creative and technical concessions that its makers have incorporated. Among the latter, the replacement of fiberglass with arnitea variety of high quality plastic.
Also the mineral crystal disappears (now it is sapphire) and the plastic strap has been changed to a rubber one. He movement is quartz, like the first model. All the watches have been released at a price of 1,500 euros and, given the small number of editions, you will have to be skilled to obtain a copy.
