“We’re the one [watch] model that may speak about motorsport so far as we’re involved,” TAG Heuer’s Nicholas Biebuyck tells me. Because the model’s Heritage Director, Biebuyck oversees some of the in depth archives in horology. However immediately, the subject isn’t simply System 1 or TAG Heuer’s decades-long relationship with motorsport; it’s Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian racing legend, broadly thought to be one of many biggest drivers of all time, is the topic of the brand new six-episode Netflix miniseries dramatizing his tragically brief life and enduring legacy. For TAG Heuer, Senna isn’t simply an envoy — their partnership is stitched into the material of the model. So when the manufacturing workforce behind “Senna” requested Biebuyck to mortgage them genuine ‘80s items for the present, he was very happy to ship in spades.
“We despatched 28 watches,” Biebuyck says, together with a number of two-tone S/EL Chronograph fashions that had been favored by Senna, for actor Gabriel Leone to put on. The collaboration went even deeper when the workforce revealed a key — fictionalized — plot line within the present centered on Senna’s father gifting him a classic gold chronograph. “They approached us and mentioned, ‘We need to embody this as a serious plot level. What would you recommend? Perhaps one thing form of treasured?’” he recalled. Biebuyck, who has sourced watches for blockbusters like “Barbie” and “Ferrari,” landed on a strong gold, pre-Carrera piece from 1955 that resembled a watch Senna’s father might have worn. “There’s lots of stuff that I’ve acquired over time particularly for these form of functions,” he defined, referring to the 3500-strong assortment he manages within the firm’s Switzerland headquarters. “So it’s nice to see it in use.”
Ayrton Senna, TAG Heuer
Photograph by: TAG Heuer
Ayrton Senna, TAG Heuer
Photograph by: TAG Heuer
To coincide with the premiere of the sequence final month, TAG Heuer launched a restricted version Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon x Senna timepiece. The late driver’s nieces, Bianca and Lalalli, stay closely concerned within the partnership greater than 30 years after their uncle handed away. “They don’t seem to be simply sitting again and letting us do what we would like. They need to have a seat on the desk and be a part of that dialog — it’s improbable,” Biebuyck tells me. “It is one among our most vital partnerships that we have put collectively.”
Ayrton Senna, TAG Heuer
Photograph by: TAG Heuer
In reality, Senna stays TAG Heuer’s longest-running ambassador. The connection started in 1988 when he joined McLaren, a workforce deeply intertwined with the watchmaker. “It was a match made in heaven,” Biebuyck says. “It was the start of the MP4/4 [era] which might go on to turn into some of the lovely System 1 vehicles of all time. Senna had this magnetism from the very starting: not solely is he an idol in southern and central America, however he is additionally worshiped in Japan. The extent of expertise and skill that the man had clearly resonated very properly with TAG on the time [because] it was simply earlier than we launched these very iconic campaigns ‘do not crack underneath strain’ and ‘success is a thoughts recreation.’”
There was additionally a “duality” to Senna, Biebuyck says, highlighting a few of the traits that made him greater than only a sporting hero on observe. “I used to be fortunate to spend various time along with his household this 12 months and on Senna’s different facet [away from the track] he was massively charitable, he was massively giving. He was a person of nice conviction, a person of nice religion, and had a extremely robust sense of justice. It’s actually vital that … if we can assist to share these beliefs, and possibly embrace them a bit extra intently throughout the enterprise, it helps us do one thing higher total.”
Gabriel Leone as Ayrton Senna
Photograph by: Netflix
Because it seems, Senna’s generosity seemingly prolonged to his wristwear. Once I ask Biebuyck if the athlete was identified for gifting away timepieces, he laughed, “I’m 99.9% positive.” He went on, “Now we have all these photos of him on his aircraft along with his briefcase open, and he is acquired like, three watches inside. So I do suppose he was simply giving them out, left, proper and middle. He was at all times very eager to current the model in the very best means, and he was actually skilled and devoted to us.”
When Senna headed to Williams in 1993, TAG Heuer broke protocol with a purpose to preserve its relationship with him. “He was so vital to us that we determined to do a person direct deal, which is, the truth is, very uncommon on the planet of System 1 sponsorship, notably for watch manufacturers,” Biebuyck says. The collaboration resulted within the first limited-edition Senna watch, launched posthumously in 1994, after his tragic accident at Imola earlier that 12 months. Since then, TAG Heuer has created 29 watches impressed by the motorsport legend throughout 19 collections, making certain that his legacy lives on not solely within the F1 historical past books, but additionally on the wrists of these seeking to embody the legend’s spirit.
On this article
Emily Selleck
System 1
Tradition
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