TAG Heuer Carrera Tourbillon Nanograph

Video

TAG HEUER CARRERA, CALIBRE HEUER 02 TOURBILLON NANOGRAPH

IN SHORT

First chronograph tourbillon chronometer certified equipped with a carbon composite hairspring. TAG Heuer exclusive

In-house movement Heuer02T, with a regulating tourbillon, chronometer certified ISO-3159

Refined and contemporary design with the hexagonal pattern of the carbon nanotubes pattern

A world first: a carbon composite balance-spring produced using chemical reactions involving carbon in its gas phase and superseding the traditional metal or silicon-based balance-spring. Years in development, its effect is to improve the performance and accuracy of mechanical watches.

Invented, patented and produced by a team made up of mathematicians, physicists and chemists working at the TAG Heuer Institute in La Chaux-de-Fonds. This new balance-spring can be found in the Heuer 02-T manufacture movement, which is equipped with an ISO-3159 chronometer certified tourbillon regulator. This development demonstrates TAG Heuer's ability to deploy its capacity for innovation and expertise in designing exceptional movements that meet the requirements of the very strictest standards and norms.

ORIGINS

For the first time in watchmaking history, a manufacture has created a new material to improve on the principle of the Huygens balance-spring, unveiled in 1675. Elinvar, a metal alloy invented in the early 20th century by the Swiss winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Charles-Edouard Guillaume, and its variants are the materials most commonly used in mechanical watches.

More recently, the techniques of deep engraving and temperature compensation – long-established and used by electronics engineers – have been employed to produce silicon-based balance-springs.
Neither the Elinvar family nor the various silicon structures are able to resolve all of the issues that may arise during normal use of a mechanical watch. This material, invented and patented by TAG Heuer, opens up new possibilities in terms of performance and industrial production.

CARBON COMPOSITE HAIRSPRING

Considered an essential component of a mechanical watch, the balance-spring is the most complex part to master and produce due to its extremely narrow dimensional and geometric tolerances. These have a direct and immediate effect on the watch's timekeeping.

This carbon composite balance-spring not only subverts traditional watchmaking expertise, but also improves the performance, assembly and setting of pieces equipped with this technology.

ADVANTAGES OF A SPRUNG BALANCE-WITH A CARBON COMPOSITE HAIRSPRING

‒    This ultra-flat, ultra-lightweight balance-spring is virtually resistant to gravity, which provides considerable benefits when adjusting in the dial-up and pendant-up positions.

‒    Its strength to density ratio gives it excellent shock resistance, particularly in case of repeated shocks.

‒    The calculation of a non-symmetrical geometry enables formal conditions to be defined to keep the centres of mass and rotation in the same plane. This confers a unique dynamic signature that results in perfectly concentric oscillations. The original isochronism of the balance-spring is timed prior to assembly and setting.

‒    The collet (central mounting point) is integral with the balance-spring to prevent dimensional displacement during assembly. The production precision means that the collet can be customised as desired.

‒    The carbon composite balance-spring is non magnetic, independently of an induced field. The owner need no longer worry about the watch being demagnetised (a very common occurrence nowadays).

‒    Thermal compensation of the balance-spring is optimal thanks to the particular choice of material used to produce the balance, in this case aluminium-based – a break with watchmaking tradition. The combination of a carbon composite balance-spring and a balance in a different type of metal alloy opens up a vast array of possibilities in the geometric definition of balances, specifically in terms of the viscous friction of air.

‒    Assembly is simplified since no geometric modification is required (deformation of the terminal curve or plane correction). Production meets all requirements of the ISO-3159 chronometer standard.

MOVEMENT AND FUNCTIONS

The Heuer-02T Tourbillon is a manufacture chronograph movement.

‒    4 Hz chronometer tourbillon chronograph. (28,800 vib/h) with hour and minute counters at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock and large central chronograph hand.

‒    The tourbillon at 6 o'clock rotates at 1 rpm, eliminating the need for a small second.

‒    Carbon composite balance-spring produced by the manufacture in Switzerland.

‒    Heuer 02-T automatic manufacture calibre with COSC chronometer certification in accordance with ISO-3156

‒    Decorated with a hexagonal pattern on the main plate and the oscillating weight, echoing the hexagonal parietal atomic structure of the carbon nanotubes.
Column wheel and vertical clutch

DESIGN

The nanoscopic hexagonal structure (one million times smaller than a millimetre) of the carbon nanotubes that form the initial framework of the carbon composite is a recurring motif of the piece's design, giving it a modern, sporty look characteristic of the brand. These elegant proportions have been the signature of the collection for over fifty years.

The skeletonised design reveals the sandblasted and satin-finished hexagons of the main plate, which are visible through the openworked dial and the oscillating weight with a black PVD coating.

The aluminium alloy used for the balance is adorned with white gold inserts and SuperLuminova® markers, rendering the regulating organ visible at night.

CASE

45 mm diameter, case and lugs in black PVD titanium, bezel in carbon with tachymeter scale, sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective coating on both sides, water resistant to 100 metres (10 atmospheres).

DIAL

Openworked dial with hexagonal cut-out, black with 60-second scale, black gold-plated chronograph hour and minute counters and tourbillon cage, rhodium-plated indexes and hands with SuperLuminova® coating, hexagonal pattern decoration

STRAP

Black calf leather and rubber strap, carbon clasp with black PVD-coated titanium folding buckle