The TAG Heuer Formula 1 collection launched in 1986, the same year Techniques d'Avant-Garde completed its acquisition of the Swiss watchmaker Heuer. Both names ended up in the collection's identity from day one: Heuer's racing history and TAG's resources and McLaren connection were what made the watch possible in the first place.
The collection landed during the quartz crisis, a stretch through the late 1970s and early 1980s when Japanese quartz technology had pulled significant market share away from Swiss manufacturers. TAG Heuer's move was to produce a quartz-powered watch with a direct connection to motorsport, aimed at buyers who weren't already shopping for Swiss watches. The original Formula 1 wasn't positioned against the Carrera or Monaco. It was positioned against Seiko and Swatch, and in its first decade, it sold more than three million units.
How TAG & Heuer Both Got to Formula 1
Jack Heuer had spent the 1960s and 70s building motorsport partnerships, placing the Heuer shield on racing helmets, dashboards, and eventually television screens during broadcasts. That presence in Formula 1 was established well before TAG entered the picture. When TAG completed its acquisition of Heuer in January 1986, one of the few things the two companies already shared was a direct involvement with Formula 1 racing. TAG held part-ownership of the McLaren team and had engineered the turbocharged TAG-Porsche engines that powered McLaren drivers Niki Lauda and Alain Prost to consecutive World Championships in 1984 and 1985.
TAG Heuer's own catalogues from the period noted that the Formula 1 collection existed in honor of the brand's partnership with the Marlboro McLaren team. That same year, the TAG Heuer logo appeared on the McLaren MP4/2C, the car Prost drove to the 1986 title. The watch wasn't a motorsport-inspired product in the loose sense that many watches claim. It was a direct commercial output of the same industrial relationships that were winning championships on track.
The 1987 Collection: Cases, References & Construction
The original Formula 1 watches launched in 1987 with fibreglass-reinforced resin cases, quartz movements, and a color range that had no real precedent in Swiss watchmaking. The three initial men's models measured 34mm, each carrying a distinct bezel and case color combination with reference numbers in the 383, 384, and 385 series. By the 1987/88 catalogue, the range had expanded to include steel-cased references alongside the original resin construction, ladies' 28mm versions in the 360 and 370 series, and a substantially wider palette of dial colors. The first Formula 1 chronographs appeared in the 1988/89 catalogue as references 470, 471, and 472, bringing steel cases and three-register dial configurations to the collection for the first time.
The case used a pinched tonneau shape where the strap or bracelet tucked under the upper and lower lips of the case. It was a recognizable silhouette that read differently from what competitors were producing at the same price point. The movement was a Harley Ronda or ESA quartz module depending on the reference, suited to volume production and accurate for daily use. The collection ran in that format through the early 1990s, with the resin case variants gradually phased out and steel becoming the dominant construction by the mid-decade. The final first-generation references, including the WA1218 and WA1219, appeared in the 1995/96 catalogue before the line was fully redesigned for 1997.
The McLaren Years & the Senna Connection
The McLaren partnership ran from 1985 to 2015, thirty years in total, and the late 1980s represented its most widely covered period. Ayrton Senna joined McLaren in 1988 and was on TAG Heuer's wrist by 1989. Senna's association with the brand gave the Formula 1 collection visibility at the highest level of the sport, at the exact moment when Formula 1 was expanding its global television audience across new markets.
The 2025 Formula 1 Chronograph x Senna (reference CBZ2081.FT8092) is a direct acknowledgment of that period. The 44mm black DLC titanium case, forged-carbon tachymeter bezel with the "S" engraved at 12, and the yellow and green subdial accents drawn from the Brazilian flag are all specific to Senna's visual identity. The caseback carries an engraving of his eyes behind the visor. The Calibre 16 inside runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour on a Sellita SW510 base with a 42-hour power reserve. What separates this reference from a branded commemorative is that the design decisions trace back to documented details of the man, not a generalized version of his legacy.
The LVMH Years & the Four-Year Gap
LVMH acquired TAG Heuer in 1999 and under new ownership the Formula 1 collection was discontinued. It was absent from the catalogue for approximately four years while the brand repositioned at a higher price tier. The line returned in the mid-2000s and has remained in production since, but the gap reflects a recurring tension in the collection's history. It occupies a space that doesn't map cleanly onto fine watchmaking or the prestige chronograph territory of the Carrera and Monaco, and for a period, the new ownership treated that as a problem to solve by removal.
The first-generation references from 1987 to 1997 have attracted collector attention in recent years, particularly the early fibreglass resin models in the 380 and 383 series. Rarer special edition references from that era, including the Ukyo Katayama limited edition (reference 382.513K), various race-specific dial variants, and the Olympic Games editions, are now tracked alongside early Carrera and Autavia references in the same collector conversations. The quartz movement and resin construction that once positioned these watches as accessible entry points are now exactly what makes them specific to their moment.
Back on the Grid: The 2025 Chronograph Series
At LVMH Watch Week in January 2025, TAG Heuer unveiled five new automatic Formula 1 Chronograph references alongside the brand's return as Official Timekeeper of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, a role held by Rolex for the previous decade. The current lineup also includes quartz three-hand references, quartz chronographs in the CAZ series, and the solar-powered Solargraph in 38mm, giving the collection a range it hasn't had before across movements, case sizes, and price tiers.
The five new CBZ-series chronographs mark the first time the collection has used Grade 2 titanium, at 44mm wide by 14.1mm thick. Three of the five references carry a matte black DLC coating; the other two run in natural brushed titanium. The bezel uses micro-perforations referencing ventilated carbon brake discs, with an aluminium tachymeter insert colour-matched to the dial accent of each reference. A coloured ring between the case and bezel carries that accent through to the lacquered ring on the screw-down crown. The dial runs a 6-9-12 tricompax layout across all five references, and all are rated to 200 metres water resistance. The Oracle Red Bull Racing edition (CBZ2080.FT8091) adds a forged carbon bezel insert and a checkered flag-patterned blue opaline dial in the team's livery colours.
Every Era, the Same Name
The Formula 1 collection has outlasted ownership changes, a full discontinuation, and nearly a decade without a proper case update. It has been an entry-level quartz watch, a McLaren paddock fixture, a collector's fibreglass relic, and now a titanium automatic worn by the sport's current championship team. Most watch collections get one identity. This one has had several, and each version was a direct product of what the brand and the sport needed at that specific time. The 2025 CBZ series happens to be the version that exists when TAG Heuer is timing every race on the calendar.
