BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Carrera. What does that word mean to you? I’d imagine that the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that word is Porsche’s iconic sports car. Maybe you’re into motorsports, and for you, it relates to La Carrera Panamericana. Or, if you’re a watchaholic, perhaps you associated this name with a range of racing-themed watches made by TAG Heuer.
The Carrera we’re looking at today is inspired by the motor racing of the mid to late 20th century, as is evidenced by, well, everything really. There’s no way you’d associate this appearance with a watch of today, it’s nowhere near gaudy enough. The sizing is classical too. At 39mm, it’s restrained, although not dainty. Given the number of comments on many of our articles that read “should have been XX diameter” without anything else, this should hopefully satisfy most folks. Crafted from stainless steel and with 100m of water resistance, the case looks smart with its polishing and long lugs, which should be comfortable for wrists of most sizes.
The red dial is the star of the show. It’s a classical chronograph layout, with subdials at 3, 6 & 9. Applied markers stand above the dial, adding depth, while dots of SuperLumiNova make the watch readable in the dark. There’s no date window on the dial of this watch as there’s no date. Thankfully, TAG Heuer saw sense and left this function off. It’s of no consequence as we all have the date on our phones and computers anyway.
Powering this watch is TAG Heuer’s Calibre 02. It’s a self-winding movement with a lengthy 80-hour power reserve. It also has a column wheel and vertical clutch, it’s nearly at the hat trick of chronographs, but it misses out on a flyback function. The vertical clutch, however, is likely to be more beneficial as it means the chronograph can be left running continuously without causing damage, as can happen with a lateral clutch. It also runs at 4Hz and has some pretty striping to it for decoration. I also like the black rotor, which is unusual in a watch.
As with most watches these days, this is a limited edition. It’s available from TAG Heuer only, either via their e-boutique or their physical ones, and is limited to 600 examples only. The price is set at $6750 or $6400.
Visit TAG Heuer here.
