TAG Heuer’s Formula 1 watch rarely gets the attention it deserves, but that’s changing thanks to a collaboration with US fashion retailer Kith that recaptures the pop vitality of the 1980s original.
The Formula 1 was, along with the Swatch, the watch that saved the watch industry, it’s Memphis-inflected pop colours and motorsport sheen proving that design and desirability could offer a future for a beleaguered industry. Despite selling in vast numbers and generating the cash that underpinned TAG Heuer’s phenomenal growth in the decades since, Formula 1 has been mostly ignored as the brand looked to celebrate more respectable milestones, such as the Microtimer, the Carrera (which turned 60 with a TAG Heuer x Porsche collaboration) and the Monaco, not even getting a mention in the table-sized monograph, TAG Heuer – 150 Years.
