We were in space much before Omega,” chuckled Jack Heuer, honorary chairman,
TAG Heuer, while taking us along the TAG Heuer 360 Museum. We had driven from
Basel World to the Swiss watch manufacturer’s company headquarters at La Chaux-de-Fonds on a dull and chilly April day.

Standing in front of the stop watch worn by John Glenn on February 20, 1962, when
the American astronaut piloted the Mercury–Atlas 6 ‘Friendship’ spacecraft on
the first manned US orbital mission, Jack
elaborated, “Tag Heuer was selected by
NASA due to its ability to withstand the high
G-force created by lift-off. The stop watch
was fitted with elastic bands to be secured
onto the sleeve of Glenn’s spacesuit.”

Beside Glenn’s stop watch, the Museum
houses a rare collection of precision
timepieces created by the world renowned
watchmaker over its 150-year history. The
eco-friendly architecture of the museum
allows external and natural light to filter

throughout the building from the entrance
to the roof via the elevator tubes and
the office windows. The museum’s design,
produced courtesy ‘ducks Sceno’ and with
the help of Carbondale and TAG Heuer,
presents visitors with an ultra-artistic
panoramic view.

Inaugurated in January 2008 at a ceremony
hosted by Formula One star Lewis Hamilton, the facility combines striking circular architecture with a world first 360-degree conical movie screen that uses a battery of 12 computers, processing over 1 million images, to bring visitors a unique presentation celebrating TAG Heuer’s history. From sports timekeeping to elegant wristwatches, visitors discover the technological and aesthetic innovations that have marked the history of Swiss watchmaking. Chronographs, key dates, texts, quotations and illustrations are presented, as are period documents, collector’s items and films. The objects are put in context, thanks to period documents, static images and videos. “Our aim has been to create an emotional reaction