Heuer catalogue confusion...

Yeah, they call it the "Heuer Formula 1" three times in the ad, it was obviously intentional for whatever reason. The car is the McLaren MP4/4 from the '88 season, so it's more likely an ad from 1988. Since the watches had been known as "Heuer" for over 120 years, and "TAG Heuer" at the time was still relatively very new, perhaps some felt the need to retain the Heuer identity in some of the marketing. Or maybe old habits just die hard.

Bizarre.

This confusion is exactly why people stay away or shun TAG Heuer, and keeps the flame burning for all those TH haters. Everyone has a bad history or a bad experience. Who said companies shouldn't have one? They're all governed by multiple people. And people make mistakes. If you read about JH's autobiography, people would understand and appreciate more that the struggle is a success story in the end rather than just a change in name and image in the mid 80s.

People only react to what is obvious and shallow above. True enthusiasts know what's deep down and can reflect further.

I’ve always wondered this. The acquisition by TAG didn’t happen until Match 1986- the same time that the F1 was announced. TAG announced the deal about 12 months earlier, but it’s unlikely they had anything to do with it.

It could have been developed by the old Heuer- my guess is that it was outsourced to someone like Roventa Henex (a part owner of Heuer), who are a contract manufacturer. I wonder if it was developed by a supplier like Roventa and then TAG Heuer just bought all the IP.

Might it also be possible that TAG originally thought they might keep the Heuer branding and the decision to rebrand came later?

Maybe..but I agree that this is 88-89, but which time they really did look to be “all in” on TAG Heuer as the brand.

I don’t have a good theory on why this ad used the Heuer brand

DC, have you forgotten your own article? https://www.calibre11.com/tag-heuer-advertising-strategy/

You point out that it took TAG Heuer until 1990 before the ads consistently used "TAG Heuer" instead of "Heuer".

Here are other ads from the late 80s (taken from your article) that show the TAG Heuer watches being called "Heuer".


While the 1000 was a carry over from Heuer, the S/EL (like the Formula 1) was technically TAG Heuer at birth. Nevertheless it was still called a Heuer in the late 80s.



My theory is that in the first few years that followed TAG's acquisition of Heuer, Heuer was still thought of as the "watch" part of the company and TAG (Techniques d'Avant Garde) was the parent holding company. Even though they were branding all watches TAG Heuer, I think they felt the need to keep the Heuer identity during this transition period, which may have lasted until around 1990 - as pointed out in your article.

After all, what was TAG prior to TAG Heuer? A holding company that engaged in Aviation, Motorsports, and Hospitality, they had nothing to do with watches or time keeping.

The Heuer S/EL, now that really makes me smile.