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ZURICH, Switzerland — TAG Heuer will undercut rivals with the least expensive Swiss-made chronograph featuring a tourbillon as the industry lowers prices to gain market share.
The 14,900-franc ($14,700) Carrera Heuer-02T will be showcased at the March Baselworld trade fair, the watchmaker, owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, said Thursday. A tourbillon — French for “whirlwind” — is a spinning mechanism that’s one of the most complicated features of an automatic timepiece.
The industry is seeking new ways to gain clients after exports of Swiss timepieces dropped in 2015 for the first time in six years. Luxury watchmaker Greubel Forsey earlier lowered its entry-level price to 150,000 francs from 298,000 francs.
The Carrera Heuer-02T will be the cheapest such chronograph certified by COSC, a Swiss regulator that checks watches for accuracy, according to TAG Heuer. The company will also sell 250 pieces of a limited version called the Black Phantom for 19,900 francs each.
By Corinne Gretler; editors: Matthew Boyle, Thomas Mulier, Tom Lavell.
