WORLDTEMPUS - 24 March 2011
Miguel Seabra
“One small step for man, one giant step for human kind”: the first man to set foot on the moon was Neil Armstrong in 1969, who won the space race against the Soviet Union for the United States. One might think it shouldn't take another 42 years for humankind to get to the next planet, but as of yet no human has landed on Mars. Tag Heuer's own space odyssey was much faster: on 17 January, the La Chaux-de-Fonds-based watchmaker introduced the Mikrograph, the first mechanical wristwatch to measure 1/100th of a second via a central chronograph hand. A mere 66 days later, TAG Heuer seemingly pulled the next step out of its pocket: an astonishing evolution of the Mikrotimer, capable of 1/1000th second accuracy.
This feat, dubbed the Apollo project, was the answer to TAG Heuer's own question “Can we go from the Moon to Mars?” – and announced on an extremely well attended press conference on the first day of Baselworld, which was also streamed live through the brand's official Facebook page as well as right here on Worldtempus. The dignitaries introducing the incredible concept watch included Jack Heuer, the brand's honorary chairman who himself was involved in the “race” for the first automatic chronograph the same year man first landed on the moon; the always-enthusiastic CEO Jean Christophe Babin, prouder than ever; and vice-president for research & development Guy Semon – a top-notch engineer who came from the aeronautical industry to set new standards in the watch industry.
Like Messi or Ronaldo
TAG Heuer hiring rocket scientist and problem solver Guy Semon is the equivalent of a football club signing Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. Semon led the team that transformed the V4 from problematic concept into reality and has set new high-frequency goals: first with the Mikrograph (50 hz), already on the market; and now making an even bigger quantum leap with the Mikrotimer Flying 1000, whose frequency measures 500 hz, which is 3.6 million vph; the hand makes ten dial rotations per second.
The movement capitalizes on the design of the integrated Mikrograph caliber and is equipped with two escapements; it boasts 354 components as well as a 43 hour-power reserve for the watch and 150 seconds for the chronograph. The most interesting technical element is the lack of a balance wheel: instead it boasts a brake system controlled by a column wheel made possible thanks to the increased rigidity of the balance spring. Pushing start launches it by putting it in solid contact with the radial escapement; pushing stop radially pushes the launcher onto the hub, instantly stopping the movement of the spring.
The time is measured by two central chronograph hands: the main yellow hand measures the 1/100th and 1/1000th of a second on the external scale, the smaller second hand indicates elapsed minutes and 1/12th of a minute; time is read by adding the 1/10th of a second from the subdial at 6 o'clock to the 1/100th and 1/1000th read from the central hand on the external dial.
TAG Heuer's team was only sure the Mikrotimer prototype would actually work fourteen days before the presentation. It boasts 12 patents that cover the titanium carbide case design and the movement, but perhaps even more impressive is the fact that Guy Semon's crew had another concept watch up its sleeve to introduce at Baselworld if the Mikrotimer were not working properly.
