Autoblog

TAG Heuer Calibre 36 RS Concept: click to view more

Of all the watchmakers out there making automotive-inspired timepieces, TAG Heuer is arguably the leader. The Swiss company has sponsored various motorsports for decades, has been endorsed by some of racing's biggest names and continues to produce some of the most lust-worthy yet attainable driver's watches on the market. At the industry's biggest annual exposition, TAG lived up to the reputation with a whole new collection of automotive timepieces.

Among the watches TAG Heuer unveiled at the Baselworld watch expo are three new editions of its Formula 1 Chronograph: two celebrating Kimi Raikkonen's championship last year and the Indianapolis 500, and a new oversized titanium carbide-coated Grande Date Chronograph. Three new luxurious versions of the innovative Grand Carrera were also unveiled, featuring gold and diamond embellishments. But while the Mercedes SLR McLaren may be nearing its long production run, TAG's headline production timepiece was the new SLR Calibre S Laptimer. Featuring a hyper-accurate mechanism capable of timing laps down to 1/100th of a second, the final SLR chronograph will remain in the company's catalog long after the last supercar rolls off the assembly line. Meanwhile, to showcase its latest technological advancements, TAG Heuer displayed the Grand Carrera Calibre 36 RS Caliper Concept Chronograph, featuring a rotating scale mechanism and a second hand that moves in precise increments of 1/10th of a second instead of the usual full-second movements. The concept timepiece was featured on the dash of former Pininfarina, Porsche and GM design chief Ken Okuyama's KO7 Spyder, which we first caught at this year's Geneva show and was displayed alongside the 36 RS concept watch in Basel.

Follow the jump for more details on TAG Heuer's Baselworld line-up of advanced driver's chronographs, and check out the images in the image gallery by clicking on the thumbnails below.

Gallery: TAG Heuer's new chronographs at Baselworld 2008