In 1860, Edouard Heuer founded a watch company in Switzerland, with the idea of becoming the first person to patent the chronograph. Of course, he did this in 1882, making him the leader in innovative technologies. The “oscillating pinion” is still in use today by major watchmakers. But this was not enough-in 1911, he also patented the first “Time Trip”; a clock made for dashboards in automobiles. The first set of hands were set to tell time like an ordinary clock, but a second set of hands were designed to track the duration of the trip. A driver could set the timer, then stop when they reached their destination. Mr. Heuer was a man before his time in innovation and ideas.

1914 saw the first wrist watch/chronograph combo, which let the owner start and stop time in a “stopwatch” fashion. This is where the stopwatch idea originated, which is still in use today. During the 1930′s and ’40′s, Tag Heuer manufactured timepieces for aircraft and automobiles to contribute to the war effort. Many chronographs were made to include a calendar function as well.

Once the war was over, the company began creating watches for Abercrombie and Fitch that had special dials to track high low tides, as well as moon phases. These were the “Seafarer” watches, popular with sailors and other boating lovers. However, it was later discovered that the dials could be rotated a certain way, so that golfers could use it to track their scores.

When the first dashboard timers/clocks appeared in 1911, they were a great novelty. But by the late 1950′s, a new line of clocks/timers came onto the scene. 1958 saw greater innovations and more features never before seen, such as an 8-day clock, a 12-hour stopwatch, full chronograph, and many more. For its day, these dashboard timers were cutting edge, and were manufactured through the mid-1980′s when they were discontinued. But during the time, Heuer produced other timers for sporting and racing events, including the prestigious Formula One.

and precision of the watches, racers used these to keep accurate records of their accomplishments.