Horological Meandering

From the product information, the total build for this automatic Belt-driven transmission watch is 150 pieces, to commemorate TAG Heuer 150th Anniversary (and Monaco 40th Anniversary too) and scheduled for delivery in two batches. First batch of 75 pieces, to be delivered from November 2009 and the second batch from this June.

Met up with the TAG Heuer team in Singapore a couple of weeks ago to view the prototype and grabbed some more pictures of this head-turner.  (Amanico has previously covered it in details,  please click here to access )

The response over here is very promising with seven pieces being ordered, 10% of the first batch.

Looks like a good start and a case of  V Four Victory!

 


Polished Platinum case of size 40.5mm with double-sided anti-reflective beveled and slight convex sapphire crystal which is marvelous for clear see-through with little or no glare.

The seven pieces of bridges were brushed finished on the top surface and beautifully hand-beveled.

The screws, indexes, gears and balance wheel are highly polished (evident as some components are 'black'  when viewed at a direct angle)



Now for more close-up pics followed by several wrist-shots for how well it wears on the wrist   ...





The notched transmission belts are of  0.25mm width and 0.07mm cross-section, about the thickness of a single strand of human-hair, are made from polyether block amide or PEBA, thermoplastic elastomer. 


Blued hour, minute and small-second hands.








Crown is of polished white gold.




Small second  ...










Not sure how to use the small second.  Perhaps it may be feasible to print or etch the sub-dial with markers on the second
surface of the crystal.







Two pairs of barrels providing power reserve of 52 hours.


12 grams Linear-weight instead of rotor, made of  Tungsten.








 


Paired with blue alligator strap with blue stitching and a quick-adjustable Platinum deployant buckle.



The V4 wears well on an average size wrist and its versatile piece suitable for both formal and casual occasions. 


It definitely looks sophisticated  without appearing to be too 'gimmicky'.
It could be more stunning if the bridges could be of  more contrasting grey shades.



Thanks to TAG Heuer Singapore for the photo session.

Kong






This message has been edited by MTF on 2010-02-22 08:51:34

I've just for some reason never rated Tag but this v4 definitely does not look to be what I know as the run of the mill tag.  I may just have to put this on the wrist.  The belt is interesting (to me) and some parts look like an old cassette tape.

Which tag boutique is this at?

a piece at the TAG Heuer ION.

Try it on and let us know your impression.

Kong

hi Kong,

i remember it correctly, i saw this V4 concept at one SWA talk in 2008. WOW which impressed me at the time, this V4 has finally been on production. would be good to see the real piece again.

by the way, thanks for the nice photos again.

stefan

I loved it for the first time back in 2000 or 2001 at the Basel fair, it was one of my fav pieces. The actual model is not as spectacular as that one but I guess it's all about reliability.

I love different things and this watch is definitely different.

 

Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed your post.

 

 

Vte

Sorry, guys, I just don't get this one.

The finish of the watch as shown in the photos is awful.  Worse than second rate.  I would not accept this finish in a $10K timepiece, much less a $100K watch.  The balance wheel has a crude looking rackette.  Ok so it has cool belts--which I am not convinced accomplish anything except being different from gears.  Not better than gears, mind you, just different.  To me an innovation produces something better; different for difference sake is not interesting. 

Further I am not convinced TAG even builds this watch.  They just have someone else build it for them--which at this price level should not happen.  But what the heck, this is a watch company that sells mobile phones that somebody else makes for them too, so I guess they have a lot of practice being an OEM.  I personally would never buy an OEM'd $100K watch.

So for me this is a case of the Emperor's New Clothes.  I look and I see nothing there.

Jeff

I understand where you are coming from, Jeff.  I'd be curious to read the replies to your points.

Cheers,

TM

Hi Jeff,

 

Overall I like the industrial look to the watch and the design of the plates and bridges. Whether it is worth the money is another, more personal, issue and we have touched on perceived ‘value’ in many previous discussions. All I will say is that it won’t be in my watch box at that price.

 

And I also like watch manufactures to be open and upfront about who is designing and manufacturing their watches. I realise this has not, historically, been the ‘norm’, but I do appreciate it now. Provided that the best people in the business are making the parts, it doesn’t detract too much from the finished product for me - provided I know what I am buying.

 

Perhaps the magic is in the movement, but at one extreme Dufour and Voutilainen outsource their dials and cases and I trust that they find the best and have ultimate say in the finished product.

 

Andrew

Hi, Andrew,

Kari now turns his own dials.

Dufour helped "trouble shoot" the V-4. I know..ask me in private when we meet if you are curious how I know; I was put upon because of that...

The original "concept" was a Jean-Francois Ruchonnet idea, like so many "crazy" ideas have been...including the Cabestan.

Cheers,

TM

... was another watch that kicked around for a long time. I won't pretend to know the whole history of the development of that watch, but the few tidbits that come out are interesting.

Andrew

Mr. Vianney Halter...

What are we going to do with all these useless little trivia notes?!?

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I couldn't resist.

- SJX

And I'm sure the belts are worse than just different, I'm sure they're worse.

... I guess a new development has to be at least as good as existing 'technology'. We wouldn't want our mechanical watches performing chronometrically worse than they already do.

But intrinsically we are not against doing things in different ways, are we? If the belts work, I think its cool from an engineering perspective. If they don't, then it's nothing more than a (expensive) wind up toy.

Come to think of it, they're all toys!

Playfully ...

Andrew

Jeff,

I'd take it further. I cannot see how belts are in any way even equivalent to gears. The friction involved on torque transmission has to be far far greater than gears, I can't see a way to get around this - compare the proto belts to the final product.... So while interesting, they are inefficient and must account for significant losses. Not something to crow about, as you wrote, different but not innovative.

So that leaves you with aesthetics.

While everyone has different sensibilities, I'm with you. What's with the strange finish (with all the automotive references, find me an engine that features a similar grain anywhere???) and the terrible regulator right in your face? So for me it fails that test, too.

 

 

 

 

 

thank you for the great post with many quality photos!

It really shows what a stunning and revolutionary achievement this timepiece represents.

Best,

Filip

i dont see 100k firstly       then i would be concerned about how reliable this would be being new  yes it looks good although the case back looks boring to me it has yet to be proven for reliabilty  not worth the money for me but im sure someone will find a reason to throw 100k away  just MO

When I think about long evolution I think of Opus 3 and this TAG V4. It seems like an age since the first prototypes were shown and until working watches were available. There are probably many watches, particularly from the large manufacturers, that do not see the light of day until they are nearing market, but these publicly anounced ones stick in my mind.

 

Can you think of other watches that have had this 5+ year public gestation?

 

Andrew

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Thanks.

From my perspective the Concord Gravity caught me by surprise last year. I wasn't aware of a long development time.

Granted, the watch hasn't come to market yet (?true?) and may not for several years.

Do you have more information about the development of this watch?

Andrew

it may never come to market.

(sigh)

TM

BNB model for me was interesting. They represented a path for a lot of companies that did not have the in-house talent to bring to market some high end technology. As such they were "commoditizing" high end technology. We can argue whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. But it seemed like an excellent team of engineers and watch makers. It is hard to build good teams like that and it is sad to see them go.

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the powering mechanism & those blue hands r my favor part of this concept piece! hope they make it into mainstream models

another enticing patches of photos as always kong~

cheers,
ed~

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eyes open and brain stimulated for a while longer.

I must say that the V4 watch is much more engaging when seen in person. I think that the finishing is much better in real life. No it is not to the standards of KV or Dufour but I wouldn't want it to be. It is a watch designed to mimic a car engine. Would we expect a car engine to be finished in a fashion similar to a Kari watch? Okay, maybe it would be something to see but it would kind of defeat the whole idea and be out of the world expensive. It is somewhat industrial in appearance but it is fitting the bill. As far as the belts, I think that if we tour the Patek museum, we will see that there is very little stuff in watches that is new but you won't see any belt driven watches, chain driven yes but rubber, no. There is a lot made out of chain driven watches (fusee - ?sp.) so why not rubber? Do the multi-axis tourbillions really make the measurement of time that much better to justify their wild prices? Does the novelty of the Opus 3 or Claret's tractor mechanism truly add to the world of horology? I don't think so but they are fun and they are artistically fascinating. This is what makes this hobby so much fun. How many watches truly change the world of horology?

All that said, is the V4 unique? Yes. Is it fun to look at and watch the belts? Absolutely. Is it for everyone? Absolutely no. Is it worth the price? I have seen pieces of art by "top artists" that I wouldn't give a plug nickel for but others would drop tons of money in a heart beat. If we all liked the same watches wouldn't this be all so boring?

Just some late night musings.

Cheers

Mitch

I really don't have strong feelings on this watch or the more abstract issue of frivolous developments and their psycho-dynamic justifications in the minds of aficionados (well, actually, I do, but that's another discussion...) but I do hope points made are mindful of substantive issues.

When you've bought 5 pairs of Adidas Grand Prix tennis shoes because you loved their look and "technology" (insertable rods of differing densities to customize the shoe's sole for the court surface you are going to be playing on) or the Forest Hills ("lightest tennis shoe ever made" with special "breathing technology") and then, 10 years later, a new, unworn pair starts to shed large chunks of the sole on the tennis court because the sole material wasn't designed to age, you'll know what I mean.

I suppose I was an uncouth barbarian - how dare I wear the Grand Prix onto the tennis court! They are works of art, intended to push the boundaries of tennis shoe technology; they're not meant to actually be worn on a court of battle!!!

Cheers,

TM

 

  i love the watch, and also i agree some contrast in grey degrees on bridges would add desirable effects on the dial.

 

 Thanks.

 

 Faisal

...but for whatever reason I'm still not convinced by this watch.  I love that Tag is choosing to present something out of the ordinary, but I can't seem to get overly excited about this timepiece.  I'm not sure why.  I generally do enjoy seeing concepts get up off the page and turn into an actual working model.    I LOVE your pictures though, so I'll thank the V4 for existing so I could see your photos of it!

Cheers,

Daos