ICONIC DESIGN

            ULTIMATE MOVEMENTS

                                         TIMELESS LINK

"20 years of unrivalled sport and elegance"

To celebrate the 20 year of the legendary LINK (born S/el) saga, TAG Heuer proudly unveils the new LINK men's collection at TAG Heuer's new "SKIN" booth, the most stunning Avant Garde booth ever built for Baselworld and celebrating the union of technology and design.

ICONIC DESIGN

Unique architecture, outstanding comfort, ultimate luxury

For 20 years, TAG Heuer's LINK, born S/el (Sport/elegance) in 1987, has been the Swiss watch making world's superlative sports and elegance timepiece, and the emblematic icon of success achieved through mental strength and a sporty attitude to life . On the wrist of the world's number one golfer, Tiger Woods or a F1 racing legend such as Ayrton Senna, a Hollywood star like Matt Damon (The Bourne Supremacy), or a high-powered CEO, the LINK has become a universally recognized status symbol, with an emblematic design and precision-driven architecture unlike that of any other sports watch ever made.

The LINK bracelet , with its unique and recognizable signature S-shaped links, is a worldwide reference for its flexibility, wearer comfort, timeless aesthetics and peerless ergonomics.

First created in 1987 and called S/el for "Sports and Elegance," the benchmark design was endorsed in 1988 by Ayrton Senna , who wore it to three F1 World Championships. In 1999 , the S/el was boldly redesigned and relaunched worldwide as the LINK , with sports celebrity endorsements from great champions like Leonardo, Boris Becker, Marion Jones, Colin Jackson, or Monica Seles, to name but a few…

In 2003 , to honor golfing legend Tiger Woods , the series' new global ambassador, a prestigious new edition was launched with the legendary 1/10 of a second Link Calibre 36 mechanical chronograph as its flagship timepiece. The bracelet design was streamlined and the case, now cut from a solid steel block, was large-faced for optimum readability, but thinner and rimmed with a slender fixed bezel. While capitalizing on the inimitable strengths of its two predecessors, the luxury edition reflected more contemporary tastes for cleaner, bolder lines and economy of form.  

Today, the addition of new sports Chronographs and lady size timepieces and endorsed by dynamic personalities like golfing great Tiger Woods and superstar actress and elegance icon Uma Thurman have consolidated the series' position as the world's leading "elegant sports watch", i.e. a sophisticated yet casual timepiece, utterly elegant in an executive board room, as well as cool and comfortable on golf course.

ULTIMATE MOVEMENTS

With new mechanical complications, up-market finishes and high-end added features, the superlative timepieces in the new high-prestige LINK Series are bigger, better and more stylish than ever.

Since the second half of 19 century, Chronographs have displayed elapsed time in small, hard-to-read counters crowding dials with many kinds of information. The revolutionary, in-house developed and manufactured new Calibre S movement equipping the LINK Chronograph further enhances the pure elegance of the Link design, while providing more functions, user-friendliness and readability than ever in the high-end chronograph world. This truly revolutionary movement is a major milestone in Swiss watchmaking, outdating existing quartz and mechanical chronographs by combining the best of both technologies to offer a new standard that is unique and patented by TAG Heuer. It is to chronographs what the "Hybrid" engines have been to cars with their unique combination of the advantages of both electricity and gasoline. There will be a "before the Calibre S" and "after the Calibre S". The Calibre S heralds a revolution in Chronographs comparable to the one brought to watches in 2004 by the Monaco TAG Heuer V4 belt-driven mechanical movement.

Unlike all the other first-generation quartz chronographs marketed today, which continue to mimic the display architecture of mechanical movements, the exclusive LINK Chronograph Calibre S movement measures and displays watch and Chronograph functions with the same full-sized central hands associating the ultimate precision of a quartz beat with the unrivalled complexity of wheels and pinions of a mechanical chain.

Best-in-class readability, functionality, and 1/100 of a second accuracy

Even by TAG Heuer standards, the LINK Chronograph Calibre S is a technological marvel , combining the ultimate in quartz and mechanical innovations. A proprietary movement developed and patented by TAG Heuer, the Calibre S movement requires no fewer than 230 components and 5 high-performance bi-directional engines capable of twice the torque of conventional timepiece engines. This movement is produced and assembled by TAG Heuer both in its La Chaux-de-Fonds factory and a newly built workshop facility in Sion (Valais).

With a 42mm case and distinctive dashboard-inspired counters, the LINK Chronograph Calibre S fuses intuitive functions with a streamlined sensibility at the cutting edge of avant-garde design. Keeping and telling time has never been easier , with both Time and Chronograph display on the central hour, minute, and seconds hands. Simple and additional timing functions are available in easy-to-read displays, including split and intermediate times. Moreover, two separate times can be measured and displayed simultaneously. Another innovation: 2 semi-circular counters either display a perpetual "retrograde" calendar in the watch mode (meaning there is no need to change the date until 2099) or an exclusive 1/100 of a second accuracy in Chronograph mode.

Other iconic LINK features include: solid steel folding clasp with folding buckle; curved scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with double-sided anti-reflection; specially treated glass to optimize readability; hand-applied curved and faceted indexes; and water resistance to 200 meters. The Calibre S was first introduced in March 2007 on the Aquaracer with a special "Regatta" function as a result of the brand's collaboration with the China Team challenger for the 32 America's Cup . With the Link Calibre S, the movement goes one step further, providing 1/100 of a second chronograph accuracy and readability, encased in the most elegant sport inspired style on the luxury watch market.

LINK CALIBRE 5 DAY-DATE

Men seeking the highest expression of LINK prestige can opt for the TAG Heuer exclusive Calibre 5 Day-Date , a stylishly appealing new automatic watch with a hand-applied date window at 6 o'clock and oversized day window at 12 o'clock . A new benchmark in upscale design for the iconic LINK series, this timepiece features all the famous LINK attributes and sports a striking black and silver dial. Available in steel or steel & gold, its bracelet is an elegant, high-luxury version of the LINK's celebrated S-shaped classic.

LINK CALIBRE 5

The LINK Calibre 5 is the new LINK automatic watch in the prestige series, with TAG Heuer's exclusive, self-winding Calibre 5 movement under the hood, a diamond-angled date window at 6 o'clock, and the iconic LINK features throughout, including the classic screw-fitting caseback in sapphire crystal. Combining sport with elegance, the distinctive Calibre 5 is available with 4 dial colors: black, silver, brown and blue.

LINK CALIBRE 16 AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH TACHYMETRE

For racing-lore enthusiasts and luxury watch collectors, the all-new LINK Calibre 16 Automatic Chronograph Tachymetre for men is a must-have. Loaded with high-end refinement and all the iconic LINK features, it is especially noteworthy for the sporty tachometer scale on its fixed bezel. A new classic, available with black, silver, anthracite or blue dial, this elegant new member of the LINK family is sure to become very soon a coveted collectible.

Superlative new features for 2007 include a curved, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with anti-reflective double-sided treatment on the glass for optimum readability; and a solid-steel folding clasp with folding buckle.

TIMELESS LINK

Masterpieces of the Swiss Avant Garde for 20 years…The Saga continues.

Elegant, innovative, and an incomparable pleasure to wear , uniquely combining performance, comfort, and classic TAG Heuer style, the newly relaunched LINK Series are boldly contemporary, yet remain faithful to the unique legacy of values inherent to the original.

More an evolution than a revolution, these new editions are as timeless as their illustrious predecessors, and as high-performance as Tiger Woods and Uma Thurman , the prestigious ambassadors who wear them.

The instantly recognizable S-shaped links, the perfect ergonomic fit, the luxury refinements - the LINK Series, like the new booth at Baselworld that celebrates their 20 year in TAG Heuer's catalogue, exemplifies the Swiss watchmaking legend's essential values of power and beauty, Avant-Garde and elegance, sporting prowess and prestige with a twist of audacity and daring!

"TAG HEUER SKIN"

An extraordinary new booth for LINK's 20-year celebration at BASELWORLD 07

Basel , Switzerland , April 12, 2007 —

In 1987, TAG Heuer launched the first LINK timepiece, the famous S/el "Sports/Elegance" Chronograph , instantly recognized by its signature S-shaped bracelet links and forever associated with motor racing's most legendary driver, Ayrton Senna . One of the best-selling watch lines in TAG Heuer 147-year history, the LINK series went on to become an icon of the brand's prestige and performance, helping to establish TAG Heuer as a world leader in the high-end sports watch and chronograph market.  

Seven years later, TAG Heuer unveiled a daring new exhibition booth at Baselworld 1994. Created by Italian architect Ottavio di Blasi , the arch-shaped stand, the first building in the world with a carbon fiber structure, reflected not only the brand's commitment to avant-garde design and aesthetics, but also many of its key values, including balancing modernity with tradition, and tension with force.

Now, to mark the 20th anniversary of the LINK series, TAG Heuer has once again called upon Ottavio di Blasi to design a Baselworld booth that embodies the brand's unique vision and drive. The result is the breathtaking "TAG Heuer SKIN," an extraordinary engineering metallic achievement comprising of a 2-storey, 47-ton steel frame with an 8-ton spiraling carapace of massive aluminum triangles magically suspended on a backlit membrane of some 3,000 points of light. It represents, architecturally, TAG Heuer's unique position as the most daring and Avant-Garde luxury brand in Swiss watchmaking history.

"TAG Heuer's new booth is a new landmark at Baselworld, epitomizing the best of contemporary materials and volumes, as well as design and lighting technologies," says TAG Heuer President & CEO Jean-Christophe Babin. "Its daring aesthetics project it into the 21st century as a living testimony of architectural avant-garde, but it is above all a statement of TAG Heuer's commitment to the fusion of design and technology, mirroring the unique DNA and identity of TAG Heuer timepieces. We are launching it in 2007 to celebrate the 20th year of our iconic LINK series, as we believe our new booth's cutting-edge design perfectly embodies the tensions and elegance of the prestigious sports with which the TAG Heuer brand and its LINK series are closely associated – motor racing with Formula 1, sailing with America's Cup, professional tennis with Maria Sharapova, and golf with Tiger Woods."

With its unique architecture, the new TAG Heuer booth goes beyond the static square, becoming a moving form generated by an interior force that dramatically pushes, twists and stretches the body of the building up in a spiral to an overhanging point more than 9 meters above visitors' heads.

Made from wood, steel, and aluminum, the stand features a dramatic carapace made of triangular scales of brushed aluminum laid side by side to create a skin-like shell . The helicoidal carapace was constructed using sophisticated 3D laser technology to ensure that each triangle is laid equidistant to its neighbors in such a way that identical lines of light surround each scale. So exacting was TAG Heuer's brief that only a 2mm tolerance was allowed over a total length of 27 meters.

"TAG Heuer is a brand that loves challenges," declares the Italian architect, Ottavio di Blasi, who also designed TAG Heuer's flagship boutiques. SKIN's giant triangular shell demanded a level of precision closer to that demanded by the watch industry than the world of construction. The carapace itself is the semantic element that symbolizes the key values of TAG Heuer universe. It expresses the Avant Garde, innovation, and technology side of TAG Heuer, but at the same time, through the omnipresent light and the very sensual shape of the carapace, it captures the brand's glamorous and feminine side."

Spectacular inside and outside, SKIN is a powerful and beautiful communication tool combined with a fully functional and practical workspace. Comfortable, spacious, and equipped with a very sophisticated air-conditioning system, it will allow TAG Heuer's representatives to feel perfectly at home during the seven-day fair.

"This new booth is also a tribute to our great trade partners, who have worked with us closely for decades," concludes Jean-Christophe Babin. "We have significantly increased the working areas to provide them with more comfort and space, allowing them to better receive guests in an environment that literally exudes TAG Heuer's unique spirit of sport and glamour."

Cutting-edge and sensual, high-tech and glamorous - it is the interplay of these contrasts that make SKIN the perfect luxurious backdrop for LINK's 20-year celebration, while setting a new milestone in TAG Heuer history!

 
TAG Heuer, the leader in prestigious sports watches and chronographs since 1860, is one of the largest and fastest growing luxury Swiss watch Brands. The Swiss watch making legend draws upon its active engagement in the world of sports to create the most accurate measuring instruments and sports watches in the world.  TAG Heuer is today the first watchmaker ever to master luxurious Chronographs with an unsurpassed precision of 1/10, 1/100 and 1/1,000 of a second.  From the Olympic Games in the 1920s to its role as official timekeeper to within 1/10,000 of a second for the legendary Indy 500, TAG Heuer, in a constant quest for innovation, excellence, performance and prestige, continues  to  aim ever higher, as reflected in its partnerships with Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in Formula 1 and its two aces: Fernando Alonso, youngest ever and already two times Formula 1 world champion and Lewis Hamilton, GP2 world Champion in 2006. With two times Formula 1 world vice-champion and Scuderia Ferrari F1 driver Kimi Räikkönen,  with world number 1 golfer Tiger Woods and WTA number 1 tennis player Maria Sharapova, with Nascar idol Jeff Gordon, Champcar three times world champion Sébastien Bourdais, as well as Hollywood and Bollywood icons Brad Pitt, Uma Thurman and Shah Rukh Khan, TAG Heuer more than ever epitomizes Sport and Glamour !