DAMAN^AUGUST/SEPTEMBER2019175“It has a good adventurous, outdoor quality to it
that suits my lifestyle.”
On that note, the Autavia collection also
comes with quite a bit of variety—all the better
to suit the individual style of potential wearers.
At the launch event, Hemsworth was seen
wearing a TAG Heuer Autavia with a steel case,
a blue dial and a brown leather strap. There are
also black and gray dials, as well as steel bracelet
and NATO strap options. That being said,
what really grabbed people’s attention—since
Baselworld and up to the launch event—were
the two TAG Heuer Autavia variants sporting
bronze cases. The one with the brown dial was
a definite crowd favorite, and trying to take a
picture with the green dial model was incredibly
difficult as everybody was clamoring to get their
hands on it.
More than just stunning timepieces, however,
the newly-launched TAG Heuer Autavia
watches truly live up to the Techniques d’Avant
Garde part of the brand. The original Autavias
were already lauded for making the most of
innovative watchmaking technology of their era;
the new ones, meanwhile, take it a step further.
Beating at the heart of each Autavia watch is
TAG Heuer’s chronometer-certified Automatic
Calibre 5 movement featuring a new in-house
developed Isograph hairspring.
In short, the movement boasts the world’s first
carbon-composite hairspring. This reinvented
hairspring—known as the literal heart of a
watch—is virtually unaffected by gravity and the
shock of physical impact. It is also completely
antimagnetic, therefore resistant to magnetic
fields produced by electronics and heavy
equipment or even sound systems and the motor
of electric and hybrid cars. And, to be perfectly
honest, that is just scratching the surface of what
TAG Heuer’s isograph technology actually does.
Still, while it is definitely a mechanical watch
for the future, the new Autavia remains rooted
in its heritage, as signified by the propeller and
tire etched into the caseback.An Invitation to Adventure
After the watches were properly introduced
and following Hemsworth’s departure, guests
at the launch event for the new TAG Heuer
Autavia were treated to one more delight. In
line with the new collection’s spirit of adventure,
attendees were invited next door to the Sydney
Seaplanes office and take off for a ride over
Sydney Harbour. Traffic jams aside—apparently,
seaplanes are supposed to give way to leisure
boats and other ships—the flights added the
perfect twist to an afternoon spent celebrating a
legend in timekeeping, unprecedented advances
in watchmaking and the spirit of adventure
driving both.A seaplane ride closed the launch
event for the Autavia
Opposite page Chris Hemsworth
chatting about his relationship with
TAG Heuer