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September 10th, 2013

TAG Heuer Partner with Makers of Major New Movie

The highly anticipated film ‘Rush’, directed by Academy Award Winning director Ron Howard, is set to be the most authentically researched Hollywood picture dealing with Formula 1 since the classic 1970 film ‘Le Mans’. The film retells the story of British racing driver James Hunt and his fierce rival Niki Lauda, as both men struggled to attain the 1976 World Championship following a crash that nearly proved fatal for Lauda.

Shot on location in the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria, the film conveys the complex relationship between the renowned ‘playboy’ character of Hunt and the clinically calculating Lauda, majoring in particular on the horrifying Nurburgring incident that left Lauda fighting third degree burns and near terminal lung damage. Set against the painstakingly realised backdrop of the golden age of Formula 1, the distinctive lives of both rivals are played out as they strove to master a sport that claimed the lives of 2 competitors each year; constituting a 20% chance of death for each driver every time they raced.

The development of Rush has been conducted in partnership with the official Ferrari timekeepers throughout the 1970s, TAG Heuer. Historically TAG Heuer, then simply Heuer, agreed to the world’s first non-automotive endorsement within Formula 1 when they associated themselves with Jo Siffert in 1968. The Calibre 11 was the product of this relationship; an affiliation that is still upheld today through collections of luxury timepieces like the TAG Heuer Monaco range. Following this success, Jack Heuer cemented his brand’s legacy with motor racing by equipping Ferrari drivers with an efficient electronic timekeeping system for their races. Throughout the 1970s, the Heuer colours and chronograph wristwatches were proudly displayed by every Ferrari driver; a detail that is faithfully recreated in the big screen adaptation.

Jack Heuer, due to step down from his chairmanship at TAG Heuer later this year, was actually present with his team at every motor race documented in Rush, allowing their involvement in the film to be far more integral than that of a simple sponsor. During the film Lauda, played by the German Daniel Brühl, is seen wearing the now famous Heuer Silverstone watch, whilst Hunt, portrayed by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, is resplendent in the lavish gold Heuer Carrera chronograph. Both of these iconic pieces of TAG Heuer history have now been returned to their display cases at the La-Chaux-des-Fonds museum in Switzerland, although modern collections and limited editions that celebrate these wristwatches, such as TAG Heuer Carrera watches, are still available from specially registered TAG Heuer stockists to this day.

At Banks Lyon, we are proud to stock a comprehensive range of TAG Heuer timepieces documenting their years of extensive association with the sport of Formula 1, including many current models that were directly inspired by Heuer’s initial experiences in the world of motor racing. In a sport where precision and reliability are of paramount importance, it is little wonder that the collaboration between Formula 1 and TAG Heuer has proved to be so successful, and so long enduring. Rush opens in cinemas in the UK on the 13th of September, and here at Banks Lyon we await the release date with much anticipation.

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