In early 2012, TAG Heuer’s award-winning team of engineers and watch masters made a radical decision: to start from a blank page, forgetting the hairspring and the balance wheel to repeat, using mechanistic theory, Christian Huygens’ extraordinary accomplishment of 1657— the total reinvention of mechanical watch regulation.
The MIKROGIRDER represents a complete departure from the conventional, 3-centuries-old system, which today still reigns over the mechanical watch industry. Instead of a spiral shape in a classical hairspring, it uses a coupling blade/girder and excitatory blade/girder system working with a linear oscillator.
The Mikrogirder system vibrates isochronously at a very small angle, as opposed to a traditional watch, which vibrates at an angle of up to 320 degrees. The advantages are numerous. In a classic spiral hairspring system, the effect of gravity due to mass is a dominant issue.
With the MIKROGIRDER, the problem no longer exists. There is no loss of amplitude and the movement’s frequency can be modulated on a very large spectrum of frequency without overburdening the power supply. The result is a significant increase in precision (division of time) and performance (frequency accuracy and stability).
The MIKROGIRDER energy performance will enable TAG Heuer chronographs to attain ultra-high frequencies never before dreamed possible. Ten patents are pending on this breakthrough. The statistics are nothing short of astounding: 1,000 Hz = 1/2000th = 5/10,000th of a second = 7,200,000 beats per hour. In comparison, a regular watch functions at 4Hz, or only 28,800 beats per hour. The MIKROGIRDER is 250 times faster.
True to its “Technology and Design” DNA, TAG Heuer has embedded this mechanical engineering masterpiece in a new stunning asymmetric chronograph case design.
Though the placement of the crown at 12 o’clock is inspired by the 1/100th-of-a-second Heuer stopwatches of the 1920s, the overall design is decisively avant-garde. The unconventional shape and wide opening makes for easier reading, while the dial design allows one to see the blade/girder regulator system “at work”.
Technical details
Model: TAG Heuer MIKROGIRDER Concept
Movement
339 components
46 jewels
Total diameter: 35.8 mm (15 3/4’’’)
Total height: 7.96mm
5/10’000th of a second chronograph function
1 balance wheel on the watch
1 linear oscillator on the chronograph
Automatic bi-directional rewinding movement
Frequency of the watch: 28’800 vibrations per hour/ 4 hertz
Frequency of the chronograph 1 linear oscillator: 7’200’000 vibrations per hour/ 1000 hertz
Power reserve of the watch: 42 hours
Power reserve of the chronograph: 3 minutes
Functions
Hours and minutes
Central hand 5/10’000th of a second chronograph
1/100th of a second chronograph at 3 o’clock
Chronograph second at 12 o’clock
Dial
Anthracite and silver dial with 2 counters
1/100th of a second chronograph counter at 3 o’clock
Chronograph second counter at 12 o’clock
1 linear oscillator visible from the front
Black Arabic numerals and blue hand-applied “10000” at 12 o’clock
Polished hour and minute hands with luminescent markers
Blue central 5/10’000th of a second chronograph hand
Solid rose gold (18k 5n) chronograph hands (1/100th of a second
Chronograph counter at 3 o’clock and chronograph second at 12 o’clock)
Solid rose gold (18k 5n) hand applied Tag Heuer logo
5/10’000th scale on the silver flange
Case
Case diameter: 45mm
Specific stop watch inspired case constructed in 2 parts
Polished and fine-brushed black titanium carbide coated steel case
Polished, fine-brushed and sandblasted steel cage
Double anti-reflective curved sapphire crystal
Black titanium carbide coated steel push buttons at 11 & 1 o’clock
Polished steel crown over-molded with rubber at 12 o’clock
Black titanium carbide coated steel curved sapphire case back
Water-resistance: 50 meters
Strap
Hand-sewn anthracite high-tech soft touch alligator
Black titanium carbide coated steel folding clasp with Tag Heuer logo
