The calibers that run the watches are not always as exciting to look at or talk about as the watches themselves but without them there would be no watch to look at.

TAG Heuer has been in the news a lot lately, due to the drama packed Tiger Woods issue, but the company is most definitely trying to bring its focus back to what it does best: watchmaking.

Gearing up for its 150^th anniversary, TAG is making a couple of new announcements, one of which is the development of its new in-house manufactured chronograph movement; the Caliber 1887. The number has not been randomly chosen; it refers to the year during which the company (known only as Heuer) created “an oscillating pinion which would prove revolutionary to the construction of chronograph mechanisms in general.”

The Calibre 1887 has been in the works for four years and has cost TAG over 20 million Swiss Francs (the equivalent of about $19 million dollars). According to a press statement from Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of TAG Heuer , “the bridges, mainplate and other key movement parts are manufactured in TAG Heuer’s Cornol site by ultra-modern CNC machines. Complete movements are assembled in a dust-free environment in TAG Heuer’s newest manufacturing wing in La Chaux-de-Fonds, again using the benefits of the most modern technology to significantly automate the process. The resulting product promises to set an ideal balance between significant production levels, functional reliability, and superior horological quality.”

The caliber, which measures 7.1mm in height and with a diameter of 29.3 mm, is self-winding and can drive the watch from 40-50 hours. “A bridge with distinctive cutaway sections reveals the most important and technically fascinating parts of the mechanism, including the distinctive double lever and a visually dominant blued column wheel which precisely controls the start, stop and return to zero sequences.”

This new caliber will not replace the use of others that the company uses, such as those by Zenith, ETA and Dubois-Depraz, in TAG watches.