WatchTime - August 2012

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TAG Heuer Carrera Mikrograph 1/100
n 1916, Heuer Watch Co. introduced a
hand-held stopwatch that represented a
quantum leap in mechanical watch accuracy.
At a time when the most precise
chronograph measured 1/5 seconds, the
Heuer Mikrograph measured intervals of
1/100 seconds. The Mikrograph established
Heuer as the world’s leading producer
of chronograph watches. Heuer’s
Mikrograph stopwatches were the official
timekeeper for the Olympic Games
from 1920 to 1928. These stopwatches,
which had 57-mm-diameter cases, continued
to be built nearly unchanged, with
or without split-seconds hands, until the
mid-1960s.
Last year TAG Heuer introduced a fitting
successor to the original Mikrograph.
The new Carrera Mikrograph
1/100 is the first mechanical wristwatch
that uses a central sweep-seconds hand to
measure 1/100-second increments. The
Mikrograph is not the first mechanical
watch to time to the 1/100-second. That
honor belongs to TAG’s Calibre 360
watch, introduced in 2006. For all its innovation
(its chronograph module was
made by La Joux-Perret and then added
to an ETA 2892-2 movement), the rap on
the Calibre 360 was that it was difficult
to use due to the size of the display:
1/100s of a second are hard to read on the
approximately 8-mm-wide subdial at 6
o’clock. Although this model was not de-
62 WatchTime August 2012
signed for practical use, such as timing
sporting events, it proved that a mechanical
chronograph could measure 1/100s
of a second. It was only a matter of time
before TAG Heuer made a more practical
model. The search for the Calibre 360’s
successor led to an entirely new construction
that took five years to develop.
The man behind the watch is the
physicist Guy Sémon. Formerly employed
in the aerospace industry, Sémon
is currently vice president of Sciences &
Engineering at TAG Heuer and the director
of its research division in La Chauxde-Fonds,
Switzerland. Together with
watchmaker Denis Badin and engineer
Janick Chatelain, Sémon constructed an
integrated chronograph. This new movement
powers the Mikrograph 1/100. A
major feature of this watch is its two different
balance wheels, with separate escapements
and transmission systems that
A second model
with a gray dial
is also produced in
a limited series of
150 watches.
SPECS
TAG HEUER CARRERA MIKROGRAPH 1/100
Manufacturer: TAG Heuer SA, 6A rue
Louis-Joseph Chevrolet, 2300 La Chaux
de Fonds, Switzerland
Reference number: CAR5040.FC8177
Functions: Hours, minutes, small
seconds, 1/100-second central
chronograph, counters for 60 elapsed
seconds and 30 elapsed minutes,
power-reserve display for the chronograph,
date display
Movement: In-house Mikrograph automatic
movement; 28,800 vph (4 Hz) for
the watch, 360,000 vph (50 Hz) for the
chronograph; 62 jewels; Incabloc shock
absorber; flat Nivarox hairspring,
Glucydur balance for the watch,
Atokalpa balance for the chronograph;
42-hour power reserve for the watch,
90-minute power reserve for the
chronograph; COSC-certified
chronometer; diameter = 35.8 mm;
height = 7.9 mm
Case: Rose-gold case; sapphire crystal;
water resistant to 100 meters
Strap and clasp: Alligator strap with
rose-gold pronged buckle
Dimensions: Diameter = 43 mm;
height = 16.41 mm
Variations: Version with gray dial and
gray leather strap, limited to 150
watches
Price: $50,000