Over the next few years, TAG Heuer had to optimize the movement. The goal was to create a chronograph movement that was robust and reliable and produced at the lowest possible cost. The movement measures 31 mm in diameter and 6.5 mm in height, the same size as the El Primero produced by Zenith, one of the TAG Heuer Group’s sister brands. However, the slim design of the Calibre 1969 led to some problems. In addition to the unidirectional automatic winding mechanism, it requires a thin chronograph bridge. The winding mechanism was efficient enough, but the slender bridge could not cope with the force of the chronograph switching operation and became distorted. The new, more robust design increases the height of the movement by 0.4 mm, for an overall thickness of 6.9 mm.
Apart from the column wheel, the chronograph bridge is one of the few components that is screwed to the base plate. Other components, such as the punched levers for starting, stopping, blocking and zeroing the chronograph, and the springs for holding the parts in place or applying pressure, are either plugged or hooked. The elimination of screws shortens assembly time and reduces the total number of parts to just 233.
TAG Heuer has partnered with the specialist Atokalpa to produce the oscillation and escapement system, which has a cadence of 4 Hz. The Isograph hairspring, which premiered two years ago, has not yet been deployed. Frédéric Arnault, CEO of TAG Heuer, explains that the Isograph is still expensive to manufacture and is therefore, currently used only in high-end products. However, the traditional system also achieves good, balanced rates within the chronometer range, which is not the only case our tests have proven.
The TAG Heuer Calibre 02 made its debut in 2016 as the chronometer-certified TAG Heuer replica watches within the Carrera Calibre Heuer 02 Tourbillon. in 2017, the new manufacture movement without tourbillon appeared in the vintage model Autavia Calibre Heuer 02. in 2018, it was integrated into the Carrera collection and finally in 2019 into the Monaco collection. It has established itself as an excellent high-performance engine for motorsport-inspired timepieces.