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 strikingly colored watch launched in the mid-80s that marked the first contact with luxury watchmaking for many current collectors and fans. It is a special reissue, with 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.
It was the first watch to carry the TAG Heuer logo on its dial as its launch coincided with the purchase of Heuer by Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG), a Luxembourg technology company. At that time she was focused on the world of Formula 1 with her 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 the Swiss watchmaking of the moment and follow in the wake of Swatch, the popular plastic watch launched three years earlier and which was already a success around the world.
The Formula 1 was an accessible watch, launched at a price of around 18,000 pesetas at the 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 2004, although 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 brand, in whose establishments some of the versions made of this new Formula 1 are sold. In total there 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 arnite, a variety of high-quality plastic, stands out.
