This article was originally published in the September/October 2022 Issue of the WatchTime print magazine.

There are some watches that are loved by their fans even more than by their manufacturers. Until recently, this situation was true for the Autavia, at least for most of the 60 years since its first appearance. The face of the TAG Heuer brand has long been defined by the Carrera as well as by the Monaco. Like the Autavia, both models stand for chronographs and motorsports. Different lines filled the third place in the collection over the years, at least since the Autavia was discontinued in 1985. In the 1990s, it was the avant-garde Kirium and the Link, followed by a brief revival of the Monza shortly thereafter. Later, focus shifted to the Aquaracer dive watch and the Formula 1, which attracted younger customers. More recently, the brand has been promoting the Connected smartwatch launched in 2015. If you go to the Collections overview on the TAG Heuer website, you?ll find the Connected at the top and the Autavia in sixth place (out of a total of seven).
In 2017, the Autavia experienced a highly regarded revival as a chronograph whose design was closely based on a historical model, only to reappear in 2019 as a three-hand watch with a new and distinctive design. This caused a certain amount of confusion. But now, on its 60th anniversary, it is back as a flyback chronograph and a GMT watch, which reconciles the 2019 design with historical precedent.

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