TAG Heuer was founded in 1860 by Edouard Heuer who founded Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer in Switzerland. The first chronograph that was patented by Heuer was in 1882. In 1887, Heuer also patented an oscillating pinion that can still be found in many mechanical chronographs. In 1911, the first dashboard chronograph called ‘Time of Trip’ was patented. This chronograph was created for aircrafts and automobiles. It features 2 big hands that were attached to a center pinion. This indicated the time just like a traditional clock. The pair of small hands showed the duration of the trip. The user could also set the time with a top-mounted crown and there was a button on the crown to reset, stop and start the trip duration timer.

The first wrist chronograph from Heuer was introduced in 1914 and the crown was at the 12:00 position because they were created based on the design of pocket chronographs. The Heuer Micrograph was introduced in 1916 and it was the first stopwatch that had an accuracy of 1/100 of a second. The next stopwatch that was launched was the Semikograph and it had a 1/50 of a second accuracy along with a split-second function.

The Autavia was introduced by Heuer in 1933 as a dashboard timer for aviation and automobiles. The Hervue companion was a clock that had the ability to run for 8 consecutive days without the need to be wound.  Between 1935 and 1940, Heuer created chronographs called Flieger which were for pilots. Early versions of these chronographs had a hinged-back case as well as a pusher for reset, stop and start. The later version had a snap-back case and another pusher was added for the time-out and time-in functions. All of the Flieger chronographs have two-registers with a 30 minute capacity.

By the middle of the 1940s, the line of chronographs manufactured by Heuer expanded. This expansion included three-register and two-register models along with a three-register chronograph that had a complete calendar. The most significant development for Heuer during this time was the triple calendar chronographs. These were available in 14, 18 or 22 carat gold cases as well as stainless steel. The dial colors were copper, black or white. The company TAG acquired Heuer in 1985 and the modern TAG Heuer brand of watches was born.