Feature: Rolex Vs TAG Heuer
Rolex and TAG Heuer have given us some of the world’s most legendary watches, from the Submariner to the Carrera. Once considered equals, their history has much in common—at one point they even considered a merger. But how do these two Swiss titans fare against each other today? We find out in an intriguing head-to-head...
Rolex
History
It’s easy to forget that Rolex is a relative watch-industry newbie. Founded in 1908, almost half a century after TAG Heuer (then known simply as Heuer), it emerged at a time when the wristwatch was poised to take over from the pocket watch as the gentleman’s timepiece of choice. Indeed, two years later, in 1910, Cartier began commercial production of its Santos wristwatch—sounding the death knell for the more cumbersome pocket watch.
Hans Wilsdorf saw that the future of the watch was on the wrist, not a fob chain
Rolex co-founder Hans Wilsdorf was among the first to see this change on the horizon, and it enabled the fledgling brand to steal a march on its competitors. Wilsdorf sourced the smallest pocket watch movement from the Swiss company Aegler and had it successfully tested at a Swiss observatory as a chronometer—a movement that has undergone stringent testing for precision and accuracy. He then fitted this smaller movement into a wristwatch, which became the first in the world to receive a prestigious chronometer certificate.
While Rolex hedged its bets, not shunning pocket watches completely (it produced them in small numbers right up until the early 1950s), it focused mostly on the wristwatch, which between World War I and II became de rigeur for young men, as well as women.
The waterproof Rolex Oyster was a game changer for the fledgling brand
Two decades after it was founded, Rolex was outsmarting its competitors even further, both in its pioneering technology and savvy marketing campaigns. Its first water-resistant wristwatch, the Oyster, was worn by the endurance swimmer Mercedes Gleitze, the first woman to swim the English Channel.
Rolex promptly took out a full-page, front-cover newspaper advert to broadcast the feat and promote its new product—setting the tone for future advertising campaigns which have relied heavily on high-profile ambassadors from the worlds of sport, culture and beyond.
The Daily Mail advert promoting the Oyster watch and its water resistance
Throughout the 20th century Rolex was renowned for its relentless innovation, but the years between 1945 and 1955 were particularly fruitful. This was the golden era that spawned everything from the Submariner to the GMT-Master—watches that are still among its most popular models today. In contrast, Heuer was a bit of a one-trick pony during this time, churning out endless varieties of steel chronographs.
The Submariner. One of several Rolex stalwarts launched in the 1950s. Image courtesy of Bonhams
In recent decades, a chasm of desirability has opened up between these two industry titans.
On one side is Rolex, apparently inching ever further away from its humble tool watch origins, releasing its most water-resistant dive watches in 18k gold and putting its customers on waiting lists the length of communist-era breadlines just to get their favourite model.
Meanwhile, far across the ravine stands TAG Heuer, still accessible, still relatively affordable and scratching its head in bafflement at its former rival's elevation to almost divine status.
Cool factor
Few brands can compete with Rolex when it comes to cool factor, partly due to the endless roll-call of cultural and sporting deities that have worn its watches.
We’re talking gold-standard actors like Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford, musicians like Rihanna and Eric Clapton, as well as sporting greats, from Bjorn Borg to David Beckham, who is now fronting Rolex’s sister company Tudor. And let’s not forget the amount of times Rolex has been name-checked in hip-hop lyrics by everyone from Jay-Z to Warren G.
Paul Newman's Daytona sold for a staggering sum at auction. Image courtesy of Phillips
Whether fully paid-up official ambassadors or Rolex wearers of their own free volition, all have reinforced Rolex’s seemingly impenetrable aura of cool.
Icon status
The brand’s crown logo is as iconic as they come. However, as one famous Rolex advert put it: "A Rolex will never change the world. We leave that to the people that wear them."
These people famously include everyone from the Dalai Lama to Che Guevara, plus countless record-breaking pioneers who have ventured to some of the planet’s most unforgiving environments, from the depths of the Ocean to the summit of Everest.
Rolex supplied watches to the successful Everest expedition of 1953
Even its fictional wearers are exceptional people. James Bond wore a Rolex in many of Ian Fleming’s novels, and several of the subsequent film adaptations—further cementing the watchmaker’s icon status.
Omega may have bought its way into the Bond franchise in the 1990s but to many, especially the older generation, James Bond is as inseparable from his Submariner as from his Walter PPK pistol.
Quality
The fact that Rolex makes everything in-house is no mean feat. Before a watch can be called “Swiss-made”, at least 60 per cent of it needs to be made in Switzerland. Every part of a Rolex, however, is not only Swiss-made but made in one of several Rolex production facilities in and around Geneva and Bienne. This ensures every single watch that leaves its factories meets the company’s stringent demands on quality.
Rolex even has its own gold foundry
Much to the envy of other brands, Rolex has its own foundry in order to produce its own 18k gold and platinum alloys from the raw materials. Even its proprietary steel—known as 904L—is tougher than the industry-standard 316L steel used by most other watch companies, including TAG Heuer.
Rolex uses a stainless steel that's superior to the industry standard 316L
As for its movements, all contemporary Rolex models bear the words “Superlative Chronometer” on the dial, which means they are certified for accuracy first by the external company COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètre) and then by Rolex itself.
The Caliber 4132 is the latest Superlative Chronometer movement to power the Daytona
This results in watches that are accurate to -2/+2 seconds a day—at least twice as accurate as a standard COSC-certified chronometer. Rolex, by a significant margin, submits the largest number of movements to COSC, followed by Omega and Tudor.
With so much being done internally, Rolex has almost total control over every single aspect of the watchmaking process.
Value
For anyone buying a luxury watch, Rolex ticks most of the necessary boxes, but whether they offer good value is a debate that rages on. After all, a mechanical watch can only ever achieve a certain level of accuracy, and for all Rolex’s boasts about using a superior steel—one of its USPs—is it really necessary unless you wear it in extreme conditions?
Is it justified in charging several thousand pounds more for a time-only watch than a similar model from Omega, Breitling or, indeed, TAG Heuer? As with so many luxury brands, you’re paying a premium for one of the hottest names in the industry—although let’s not forget that a Rolex is likely to hold its value better than the majority of its rivals, including most TAG Heuer models.
TAG Heuer
History
TAG Heuer has had a hand in a several pivotal watchmaking moments since 1860 when 20-year-old watchmaker Edouard Heuer opened a watch workshop in the Swiss municipality of St Imier. By 1860 the workshop was serially producing chronograph watches, and by the time Edouard passed away in 1892 its metier had been firmly established.
Heuer’s two sons took over the business in the early 20th century and quickly proved they were just as capable as their father. Chronographs featuring a pulsometer scale for doctors were launched, as well as the ground-breaking Micrograph stopwatch which could measure time to a hundredth of a second. It was the latter that paved the way for Heuer to take on official time-keeping duties at several Olympic games. The last time it did this was at the 1980 Moscow Olympics before the baton was passed to rival, Omega.
Heuer's high-precision stopwatches helped forge the brand's reputation. Image courtesy of Bonhams
The brand’s very first wristwatches were introduced as early as 1913. While these were ladies’ models, they were followed a year later by men’s models—even if the latter were basically modified pocket watches, with the crown at the 12 o’clock position and soldered-on lugs.
By the early 1930s, the sport of motor-racing was expanding and Heuer was supplying dashboard timers to rally cars while still forging a glowing reputation for its chronograph wristwatches. Following Rolex’s example, it was also exploring water-resistant cases with screw-down casebacks.
A 1930s Heuer chronograph, a complication it excelled in. Image courtesy of Bonhams
All this time, the business stayed within the Heuer family, with Edouard’s great grandson Jack becoming the majority shareholder in the early 1960s. It was Jack himself who designed the Carrera model in 1963, one of the most iconic chronographs ever, and he later oversaw the launch of equally iconic Heuer chronographs like the square-cased Monaco. Incidentally, this watch was equipped with the milestone Calibre 11, one of the very first self-winding chronograph movements and the first to feature a micro-rotor.
The Monaco remains one of the brand's most visible and best-loved models. Image courtesy of Bonhams
It would take Rolex another twenty years to equip its own chronograph, the Daytona, with an automatic movement—and even then it would be one outsourced from Swiss rival Zenith. Suffice it to say, when it comes to chronographs, Heuer had the upper hand over Rolex in the 1970s.
It had the superior technology, a wealth of choice—with several collections compared to the paltry one that Rolex offered—and no small amount of kudos thanks to a number of high-profile fans (more on this below).
Like Rolex, Heuer produced a Daytona racing chronograph. Image courtesy of Bonhams
Heuer forced rival brand Leonidas into a merger in 1964, and the brand was briefly known as Heuer-Leonidas. But in the early 1970s it was hit with a perfect storm comprising the dollar crisis, oil crisis and the quartz revolution. On its knees by the end of the decade, Heuer itself was bought by another rival, Lemania, plus several other stock owners, including Piaget.
Incredibly, Jack Heuer recalls in his autobiography The Times of My Life a meeting that took place during this time with Rolex’s CEO Andre Heiniger about selling Heuer-Leonidas to Rolex—effectively a Rolex-Heuer merger.
With quartz technology’s domination of the industry looking increasingly inevitable, Rolex expressed an interest in acquiring Heuer-Leonidas’ electronic expertise, which was far more advanced than that of Rolex. Heiniger, however, ultimately decided that Rolex watches should remain mostly mechanical, and the meeting came to nothing.
Jack Heuer, great-grandson of the company's founder, Edouard
“As much as I regretted his decision,” wrote Heuer, “I must, with the benefit of hindsight, compliment Mr Heiniger on his vision. He was probably one of the very few Swiss watchmakers at this time who was convinced that mechanical watches would survive and indeed flourish.”
By 1982 Jack Heuer was ousted from the company entirely, returning in 2002 for a 12-year stint as honorary president and unofficial brand historian. And by 1985 it had been acquired by the French company Techniques d’Avant Garde, the abbreviation of which—TAG—now prefixed Heuer as the brand’s official name.
Heuer became TAG Heuer in 1985 when it merged with the French technology company
A 1999 buy-out by the LVMH group saw it become a stablemate of Zenith and, later, Hublot and Bulgari, yet there is little doubt that TAG Heuer is the “hero” brand of this formidable line-up.
Thanks to LVMH’s financial muscle, TAG Heuer is once again at the vanguard of horological innovation, producing fantastical and ultra-high-precision concept watches like the Mikrogirder and Mikrotimer, as well as high-tech versions of the Monaco such as the V4.
The futuristic Monaco V4. Image courtesy of Phillips
It’s also more visible than ever before thanks to high-profile collaborations and A-list ambassadors.
And with TAG Heuer poised to take over Formula One time-keeping duties from Rolex—a role it has held previously—it’ll raise its profile even further.
Cool factor
Scroll through Instagram or look on YouTube and you’ll find plenty of love among collectors for vintage Heuer.
Chronograph models from the 1960s and 1970s offer some of the coolest designs the industry has ever seen, and TAG Heuer recognises this, offering a number of classic re-issues alongside more modern-looking versions.
A modern re-issue of the classic Carrera
But it would be unfair to accuse TAG Heuer of relying on past glories to appeal to today’s audience. It’s been pro-actively courting younger customers of late, thanks to collaborations with the Barbie film and the lifestyle brand Kith. It’s even brought out several Super Mario versions of its Formula 1 family, and it took the bold move in 2015 of becoming the first luxury brand to introduce a smartwatch made in collaboration with Google and Intel.
The brand showed its lighter side with this Formula 1 x Mario Kart Chronograph Tourbillon
Although the Connected smartwatch isn’t to everyone’s taste, TAG Heuer warmly welcomed it into its lineup, even offering customers the choice of exchanging it for a brand-new mechanical watch when the technology became outdated.
The Connected was the first smart watch from a luxury watch brand
Of course, the fact that its watches have been worn by everyone from Mick Jagger to Steve McQueen, Bruce Springsteen to Stanley Kubrick, doesn’t do its cool factor any harm either.
When it comes to its celebrity clientele, TAG Heuer can more than hold its own with Rolex.
Icon status
It goes without saying that TAG Heuer has produced some iconic chronographs, especially those dedicated to motorsport, such as the Monaco, Carrera and Formula 1. The former was worn by the “King of Cool”, late actor, Steve McQueen, in 1971 film Le Mans, cementing it as an all-time classic timepiece. It was also the world’s first water-resistant chronograph with a square case.
Steve McQueen wore Rolex watches, but he's synonymous with the Monaco
Like Rolex, TAG Heuer can also claim an association with the James Bond franchise. A TAG Heuer watch featured in 1987 film The Living Daylights, as worn by former-Bond, Timothy Dalton. (The model is believed to be a Night Diver 980.031 with its luminous dial.)
And as every aficionado knows, no brand specialising in tough sports watches can be truly iconic unless it’s been adopted by the military.
The Bundeswehr - cool and hugely collectible. Image courtesy of Bonhams
Heuer’s legendary Bundeswehr chronographs were issued to German and Italian air forces in the 1960s and 1970s and many of these all-black rugged-looking timepieces have aged like an antique leather armchair—the scratches and scars enhancing their charm.
Quality
Granted, TAG Heuer has never been a top-tier luxury watch brand, vying with the likes of Patek Philippe to make complication-packed, finely engraved timepieces in platinum and gold. But when it comes to precision sports timing, the brand has always been a highly regarded contender. And, as its name suggests, it prides itself in being at the vanguard of horological innovation.
In contrast to conservative Rolex, TAG Heuer has always been a maverick in this regard, using unconventional materials for its cases and forging ahead with dynamic contemporary looks for its key collections like the Monaco and Carrera.
A skeletonised Monaco with a dynamic 21st-century colour scheme
But for as long as it relies on external parts, it can never have the same tight grip on the reins of quality control in the way that Rolex can.
Although some of its movements are now made in-house, TAG Heuer still outsources many from the usual Swiss suspects, such as Sellita and ETA. By coincidence, its Calibre 36, found in some of its chronographs, is a modified Zenith El Primero—the movement that powered the Rolex Daytona for twelve years.
TAG Heuer also doesn’t make it into the list of top chronometer producers, although a few of its movements are now COSC-certified, such as the Caliber 5 and the aforementioned Calibre 36.
Modern TAG Heuer movements are either in house or bought from the likes of Sellita
Notably, none of the brand’s dive watches are chronometers, whereas all of Rolex’s are.
There have been a few red flags. It was heavily criticised by the watch community in 2012 for not being completely transparent about its use of Japanese-designed movements. After using a calibre patented by Seiko, the then TAG Heuer CEO Christophe Babin was forced to go on the defensive when some people suggested the brand was trying to hoodwink its customers. It wasn’t TAG Heuer’s finest moment, but it’s weathered the storm.
Value
Considering its incredible heritage, TAG Heuer generally offers good value, with prices that are more on a par with Tudor than Rolex. However, it really depends on the model. Some chronograph models, such as a standard steel Carrera, are priced higher than a steel Black Bay Chrono, which seems a little strange given the Black Bay is COSC-certified while the standard Carrera isn’t.
Models like the Aqua Racer Professional 300 do come with a COSC-rated movement, but it’s not in-house. It is, however, priced several thousand pounds less than a Rolex Submariner (which it equals for water resistance) and slightly less than a Black Bay. As mid-priced dive watches go, the Aqua Racer is a solid purchase.
The Aqua Racer dive watch offers good value for money
We’ll leave you to be the judge of whether a steel Monaco offers good value at £7,050 when it’s equipped with a bought-in Sellita movement.
As for re-sale value, TAG Heuer can’t compete with Rolex, but certain vintage pieces hold their value very well.
Conclusion
Rolex edges TAG Heuer in most departments—including quality. Ruthlessly self-reliant, having now acquired all the external companies that once supplied it with parts, Rolex is master of its own destiny. It’s hard to compete with a brand that even has its own gold foundry and an unrivalled network of service centres around the world.
Then there’s the 904L steel that trumps the 316L steel used by almost everybody else, the fact that it sits at the top of the chronometer stats table, that unwavering, obsessive commitment to doing the simple things brilliantly… the list goes on.
But whereas TAG Heuer lags behind in quality, it definitely gives as good as it gets in a few other departments. Like Rolex, it has a rich and fascinating history that any filmmaker would struggle to squeeze into a six-part docuseries (are you listening, Netflix?).
Whole episodes would be needed to cover the brand’s motorsport glory days, its timing of several Olympic games, and the turbulent 1970s where Edouard Heuer heroically navigated the brand through one crisis after another.
And it definitely has—as the kids of today might put it— horological “rizz”.
The likes of Steve McQueen and Mick Jagger can attest to that.
