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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Timepiece Tuesday: TAG Heuer, Charriol and a Virtual Watch

Rare TAG Heuer Fetches $75,000 at Bonhams auction
An extremely rare 1974 Monaco with black PVD coated case (pictured) from TAG Heuer sold for £48,000 ($74,872), smashing its presale estimate of £10,000-15,000 during an auction at Bonhams in London on December 15.

The watch was one of several at the auction that surpassed its estimated price and was part of the Arno Haslinger Collection of rare TAG Heuer timepieces. The collection of 81 watches included many of TAG Heuer’s most iconic models, including rare editions of the Silverstone, Autavia, Carrera, Daytona and Monaco. The auction raised £475,764 ($741,304), with only two watches failing to sell. TAG Heuer purchased several timepieces that were missing from its own collection including an extremely rare “Chronomatic” Carrera, which will be displayed at the TAG Heuer Museum in Le Chaux-de-Fonds Switzerland.

TAG Heuer created a watch for this auction, based on the newly launched Silverstone model with the dial incorporating Jack Heuer's signature. The watch sold for £12,000 ($18,706), well above its estimate of £5,000-7,000). All proceeds from the sale of this watch went to Green Cross International, an organization supported by TAG Heuer through its brand ambassador Leonardo DiCaprio. Arno Haslinger also donated his original Silverstone for this cause and Bonhams added a further 20 percent to the hammer price and an additional £5,000 ($7,792) in support of the charity. The sale was part of the TAG Heuer’s 150th anniversary celebration.


Charriol Opens Boutique in Indonesia
Luxury jewelry and timepiece maker Charriol opened a new boutique in Jakarta’s Plaza Indonesia mall on Dec. 16. The event marked a banner year for Charriol, which has opened 25 boutiques around the world in 2010 alone. “It’s been a long road since I developed the brand,” Phillippe Charriol, the creator and founder of the Charriol label, told the Jakarta Globe during the opening of the boutique. “And today, I’m honored to be in Jakarta.” The Plaza Indonesia boutique is Charriol’s 99th in the world.


Virtual Timepieces for Smart Phones
Proclaiming that “the luxury of time no longer rests upon a wrist,” a new company, Moine-Garde, has created what it calls “fine virtual timepieces” for smart phones. The company says it “crafts” each timepiece using “precise high resolution vectors” to ensure flexibility. “The vector art is then rendered into appropriate formats—result being exquisite detail, pristine looks and readability."