HOT SPRING

Lighter, tougher, and immune to magnetism, the new TAG Heuer TH-Carbonspring is the brand's groundbreaking take on one of the most crucial parts of a mechanical watch, the hairspring. We spoke to Maria Laffont, Chief Product Officer, and Emmanuel Dupas, Technical Director, TAG Heuer, about its development and challenges.

- by Somya Rauthan

Whether it is the creation of the Mikrograph in 1916, the world's first stopwatch accurate to 1/100th of a second; iconic sports chronographs like Carrera, Monaco, and Autavia; or the 2012 Mikrogirder, that could measure 1/2000th of a second, TAG Heuer has consistently pushed the boundaries of precision timing in mechanical watchmaking. However, now the brand seems to have surpassed its own legacy with the creation of the TH-Carbon Hairspring.

Over the years, the use of carbon in watchmaking has grown (read all about it in the story Carbon Matters on P.44). From lightweight cases and dials to strong forged-carbon components, the material has become ubiquitous in the industry. Now, with the TH-Carbonspring, the material has entered the most delicate part of a mechanical watch—the hairspring.

The TAG Heuer TH-Carbonspring is developed and produced entirely in-house by the brand's innovation centre, TAG Heuer Institute, now renamed TAG Heuer Lab, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Developed after a decade of experiments and trials, what sounds almost unimaginable about the TH-Carbonspring is that it is twice as thin as a human hair and comes with improved precision, strong shock resistance, and high resistance to magnetic fields, and hence better chronometric performance. It is also ultralight, which reduces inertia and hence energy loss within the movement. Combined with a balance wheel, it is redefining the oscillator, and transforming the heart of mechanical timekeeping.