If you care about mechanical watches, hairsprings matter more than you might think. They’re the tiny coiled spirals at the heart of a movement, regulating time itself. And now, TAG Heuer reckons it’s cracked the next leap forward.
Enter the TH-Carbonspring oscillator – a hairspring made not from traditional alloys or even the silicon embraced by the industry in recent decades, but from carbon.
Developed entirely in-house at the TAG Heuer LAB after almost ten years of research, it’s a rethink of the most important component in mechanical watchmaking.
Why should you care? Because it solves three big problems that have dogged watchmakers for centuries. First, magnetism. Everything from your phone to your laptop bag emits magnetic fields that can throw off a watch’s accuracy. The TH-Carbonspring is amagnetic, meaning it shrugs this off.
Second, shock resistance. Every day knocks – a slammed car door, a clap, even a jog – can disrupt the balance wheel’s delicate motion. TAG’s carbon spring absorbs that energy better than its rivals.
Third, and finally, weight. Carbon is lighter than silicon, reducing inertia and boosting precision. In short: a watch with a carbon hairspring should be more accurate, more robust and more reliable for years to come.
That matters because the hairspring has barely evolved since Christian Huygens invented it in 1675. Steel gave way to exotic alloys, then silicon. Each was an improvement, but each also had limits. TAG Heuer could have played it safe and followed the industry’s silicon obsession. Instead, it spent nine years failing, fixing and testing until it had something that could carry a five-year warranty and deliver consistent performance “for thousands and thousands of hours.”
For those of you paying attention, this isn’t TAG Heuer’s first attempt at a carbon hairspring. Back in 2019, the brand launched the Autavia Isograph, the first production watch to feature the technology, but the rollout was short-lived. Production challenges meant the watches had to be quietly pulled and reissued with more ‘conventional’ movements.
Of course, the new breakthrough this big deserves a proper stage. So TAG Heuer is launching two limited-edition watches to debut the TH-Carbonspring: the Monaco Flyback Chronograph TH-Carbonspring and the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport TH-Carbonspring.
Both use forged carbon cases and dials that echo the spiral shape of the new hairspring, while packing the brand’s latest in-house movements. Only 50 of each will be made.
Priced at US$17,900 / £15,200 for the Monaco Flyback Chronograph TH-Carbonspring and US$42,100 / £35,800 for the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport TH-Carbonspring. If you’re interested in purchasing one, you’ll need to contact TAG Heuer.
The brand has filed multiple patents, and it says the TH-Carbonspring will filter down into more models over time.
As TAG’s CEO Antoine Pin put it: “Imagine spending a decade on a single idea. It’s an epic, heroic achievement. And this is just the beginning.”
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