TAG Heuer teams with Porsche to launch the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche, the latest Carrera model that merges design elements from both brands.
The seventh joint launch since TAG Heuer and Porsche officially partnered in 2021, the new 42mm watch is a vision in silver and red, with red details highlighting references to the 1970s Porsche 911 dashboard design.
The new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche. A rose-gold-cased version is also available.
Beyond the dial accents, TAG Heuer has also built into the new watch a special version of its new TH20 automatic movement, which debuted this past March during Watches and Wonders.
The new reference here, the TH20-08 movement, features a chronograph seconds hand meant to echo Porsche 911’s ability to reach the 100 km/h in just 9.1 seconds.
Here, the central hand accelerates faster than usual at the start of the chronograph activation thanks to a clever use of a two snail-shaped wheels, which also create a decelerating motion for the central hand after sixty seconds. TAG Heuer makes the wheels using the so-called LiGA lithographic etching process.
On the dial, TAG Heuer continues to reference the Porsche 911.
At 6 o’clock for example you’ll find a subdial that directly recalls the area around 50 km/h that was often highlighted to indicate the recommended speed in urban areas.
The red portion of the 9 o’clock subdial is meant to be a reminder of the ‘critical engine limit.’ TAG Heuer opts to place the red line at 6.8 hours, a nice reference to that 6,800 RPM limit. Red lines on the flange recall the Porsche 911’s ability to reach the 100 km/h in just 9.1 seconds, a clear reference to the very first Porsche 911.
Look for a steel and a gold version of the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche, each featuring the same retro-inspired double glassbox sapphire crystal seen on Carrera debuts earlier this year.
These domed and curved crystals echo similarly domed hesalite crystal designs from the 1970s, but here have been revamped to add a curve that flows over the tachymeter scale and blends into the case.
From the clear caseback TAG Heuer designs a rotor to replicate the famed Porsche three-spoke steering wheel.
TAG Heuer will launch the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche watches with a calfskin leather strap, in brown for the gold edition and in black for the steel edition, each with an embossed number “911” on the strap.
Within its LVMH Watch Week 2023 debut collection, TAG Heuer celebrates the six-decade anniversary of its Carrera with the new Carrera Chronograph 60th Anniversary, a 600-piece edition with a retro black and silver ‘panda’ dial.
The new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 60th Anniversary
In addition, the Le Locle watchmaker launchesa colorful Monza Flyback Chronometer ($13,850), reprises its light-powered TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph ($3,050) and expands its Connected smartwatch collection.
The new light-powered TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph.
The new TAG Heuer Monza Flyback Chronometer.
Below, we’ll look at the new Carrera celebratory debut. Look to upcoming posts for details about the new Monza Flyback, the Aquaracer Solargraph and the Connected debuts.
New Carrera
Since its debut in 1963, the Carrera has been a Heuer and TAG Heuer mainstay, representing the watchmaker’s deep connections to auto racing. By the late 1960s, Heuer offered the stylish Carrera reference 2447 SN with a either a silvered dial and black subdials, or the other way around, a design known respectively as ‘panda’ and ‘reverse panda’.
To celebrate Carrera’s sixty-year history, TAG Heuer’s new Carrera Chronograph 60th Anniversary reinterprets the original ‘panda’ version of the watch with a limited edition that mimics the original in faithful detail.
The colors on the new edition are the same as the original, as are the black stripes down the central hands and hour markers, the double stops at 12, and the black counters with high-contrast white markings. Retro-fans will enjoy the vintage Heuer logowith the Carrera monicker above it. Even the counter at 6 o’clock features the ‘Swiss’ rather than the modern ‘Swiss Made’.
Differences on the dial can be seen in the 60-minute and 12-hour counters, which here are reversed. In addition, you’ll not find the tritium indication (the letter T) on the dial for obvious reasons.
TAG Heuer has protected the dial with a 39mm polished steel case and a glass box sapphire crystal. This retro style is underscored by the watch’s vintage pushers, beige luminescence and thin tension ring around the dial’s outer edge.
Inside, TAG Heuer fits its excellent Heuer 02, an in-house automatic chronograph caliber with a column-wheel and an eighty-hour power reserve. The modern caliber is also displayed in a contemporary manner with a clear sapphire caseback that reveals a special Carrera 60th Anniversary rotor.
TAG Heuer notes that this Carrera Chronograph 60th Anniversary is the first watch in planned series of releases to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Carrera.
TAG Heuer and Porsche this week celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 with two new watches that highlight that famed sports car’s colors and features.
The Red Edition TAG Heuer Carrera x Porsche RS 2.7 chronograph.
The new Blue Edition and Red Edition TAG Heuer Carrera x Porsche RS 2.7 chronographs represent the fourth watch design to debut as a result of the partnership between TAG Heuer and Porsche, which commenced officially in 2021.
The Blue Edition TAG Heuer Carrera x Porsche RS 2.7 chronograph.
These two new limited edition models pay tribute to the first 911 to bear the Carrera name: the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7.
Designed for racing, the Carrera RS was the first Porsche 911 dedicated to motorsports and was nicknamed “Carrera.” This name inspired Jack Heuer when he prepared to design the 1963 watch destined to become the Heuer Carrera.
Porsche produced the car in white with twenty-seven color accent options and in a two-tone design with a solid color line along the side. TAG Heuer chose two of the most popular colors to enliven its new watch while retaining the two-tone design of the cars.
Thus, the dial on each model is white, with a blue or red accent the on the dial, flange, case side, and strap. On both watches, the right sub-counter design echoes the look of the car’s rims.
Based on the existing 42mm TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph with tri-compax layout, (namely, theminutes and hour chronograph counters at 3 and 9 o’clock), the new watch is powered by in-house manufactured automatic Caliber Heuer 02 with its superior eighty-hour power reserve.
The Carrera two-tone coloring also appears on the back of the watch. TAG Heuer has customized the rotor to echo the look of the Porsche three-spoke steering wheel. The rotor also hosts both the TAG Heuer and Porsche name.
TAG Heuer is offering the Blue Edition as a steel-cased limited edition of 500 pieces. Here, TAG Heuer has placed blue lacquer on the chronograph and central hands, the push buttons and shield logo on the crown.
The Blue edition TAG Heuer Carrera x Porsche RS 2.7 will arrive with both a sporty fabric strap with the Porsche logo and Carrera markings and a steel bracelet with H-shaped links.
Red Edition
The more luxurious Red Edition TAG Heuer Carrera x Porsche RS 2.7 chronograph is cased in polished rose gold and limited to 250 pieces. Its white dial is framed with a red circular line and features rose-gold-colored applied indexes, permanent second indicator, and hour and minute hands.
Like the Blue Edition, the Red Edition also features engraved caseback and rotor. Here, however, the strap is more luxurious, offered in red alligator with a solid rose gold pin buckle.
Both watches are being shipped with co-branded TAG Heuer × Porsche packaging withcolorful inserts. Prices: $7,750 (steel with blue accents) an $23,550 (rose gold with red accents).
TAG Heuer this week adds a teal-green-dialed beauty to its Carrera collection with the Carrera Green Special Edition, an eye-catching ode to the brand’s famed 1963 original.
The new TAG Heuer Carrera Green Special Edition.
While the shimmering, sunray-finished blue-green color is new for Carrera, the watch’s signature lugs, polished steel case and pushers recall the original with purist accuracy, though the case now measures 39mm in diameter rather than 36mm for the original.
The enviable dial retains the same Heuer tri-compax layout (minute chronograph at 3 o’clock, hour chronograph at 9 o’clock and permanent second indicator at 6 o’clock) found on the original.
The watch’s nicely faceted hands, domed glass box crystal and Heuer logo thoughtfully extend the commemoration. In fact, the vintage-hued SuperLuminova seems to amplify the apparent depth of the dial, a visual effect already strengthened by the crystal’s curves.
TAG Heuer extends the dial’s teal color to the movement, where thanks to the transparent caseback you’ll see the color on the movement’s column wheel and in the Calibre Heuer 02 and Swiss Made inscriptions on the rotor.
Inside the Carrera Green Special Edition TAG Heuer fits its superior Caliber Heuer 02 manufacture movement that utilizes a column wheel and vertical clutch and boasts an impressive 80-hour power reserve. Finally, TAG Heuer attaches the watch to your wrist with a black alligator leather strap with a folding clasp and two safety push buttons.
TAG Heuer now offers the 500-piece limited edition chronograph on its e-commerce websites and at TAG Heuer boutiques. Price: $6,650.
Specifications: TAG Heuer Carrera Green Special Edition
Reference: CBK221F.FC6479 (Limited Edition of 500)
Movement: TAG Heuer Calibre Heuer 02 Automatic manufacture movement. Chronograph with minute and hour hands, permanent second, hour and minute indicators, center seconds hand.
Case: 39mm polished stainless-steel case and fixed bezel, domed sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective treatment, polished stainless-steel crown with push buttons at 2 and 4 o’clock. Water-resistant to 100 meters, SPECIAL EDITION engraved on the caseback
Dial: Teal sunray brushed dial and flange with three snailed subdials. Permanent seconds indicator, polished and rhodium-plated hour and minute hands coated with SuperlumiNova.
Strap: Black alligator leather strap featuring a polished stainless-steel folding clasp with two safety push buttons.
We know Jeff Stein as a leading collector of vintage Heuer chronographs, who occasionally dabbles in the newer TAG Heuer models.It caught our eye when, twelve hours after he received his Fragment Design Heuer 02 chronograph in July, Jeff posted on Instagram that this watch was his “favorite TAG Heuer chronograph, ever . . . and even though you won’t see the name on the watch, the best looking Autavia-inspired chronograph, ever.”
Below, Jeff tells us more about his infatuation with this very interesting watch.
The new TAG Heuer Fragment Design Heuer 02 chronograph.
Can you give us the “elevator version” of the Fragment Design Heuer 02 chronograph?
The watch was designed by Hiroshi Fujiwara, a god in the world of streetwear and the creator of Fragment Design. Fujiwara has designed all sorts of interesting things such as guitars for Eric Clapton, sneakers for Nike and Converse, and headphones for Beats. In the watch world, he has designed watches for Rolex and Zenith, as well as a Carrera for TAG Heuer, in November 2018.
On the Heuer 02 chronograph, Fujiwara incorporated the design language of a 1970s Heuer Autavia into a TAG Heuer Formula 1 chronograph case, with the watch powered by the Heuer 02 movement.
Why has the Fragment Design Formula 1 chronograph been controversial among the vintage Heuer enthusiasts?
Much of the controversy probably arises from the fact that the watch was inspired by the 1970s Autavias, but resides in the modern case that TAG Heuer uses for its Formula 1 chronographs.There is no model name on the dial, neither “Autavia” nor “Formula 1,” so some traditionalists might see the watch as something of a Franken, which may be lacking the pure pedigree of either model.
Hiroshi Fujiwara
So how do you come to terms with these issues?
For years, I have listened to the debates about what is and is not properly identified as an Autavia, a Carrera or a Formula 1.Some traditionalists say that an Autavia has to be a chronograph, rather than a three-handed watch, or that a Carrera cannot have an outer bezel, because these were the rules when the models were launched in the 1960s.
I have pretty well gotten over these hard-and-fast rules.If Jack Heuer had felt constrained by such rules in the 1960s, the Autavia would have never made it from a dashboard timer to a chronograph and we might never have seen Heuer’s automatic chronographs.Right now, I am more impressed with a brand making great looking, high quality watches and less concerned about the model name on the dial.
Perhaps there is no requirement for watch models to be binary, so that the brands can incorporate elements of one model into another one.We saw this recently when TAG Heuer incorporated the colors and style of the 1970s Montreal chronograph into a 1960s-based Carrera, and people liked the result.
The Successor – The last version of the Autavia produced by Heuer in the mid-1980s (Reference 11063, at left) and the Fragment Design Heuer 02 Limited Edition, introduced by TAG Heuer in June 2020.
As a physical object, what are your favorite elements of the Fragment Formula 1 chronograph?
I am a big fan of minimalist design, in general, and like the matte black and charcoal gray tones.This is a great look in cars and Fujiwara has followed a similar approach with the new Formula 1, using a matte black dial.
The hands and bezel are taken directly from the 1970s Autavias, but Fujiwara has deleted the elements that made those watches busier — the contrasting white registers, the concentric ridges in the registers and the frame around the date window.
This is like deleting the chrome on a blacked-out car, and it makes the expanses of black more dramatic.The red and white accents on the dial are the final touches that give the watch its pop. For several years, the Formula 1 chronographs have been housed in a case with geometry that is very close to the c-shape cases of the 1970s Autavias, so this Autavia color scheme from the 1970s looks right in the Formula 1 case.
And what are the intangibles that you enjoy with the new Fragment Design Formula 1 chronograph?
The Autavias of the 1960s and 1970s were the chronographs worn by the top drivers in motorsports.We see them on the wrists of Mario Andretti, Jo Siffert, Graham Hill, Derek Bell and many other racers.Beyond the top professionals, Autavias were popular among the amateurs and club racers, particularly with the Viceroy promotion, which offered a $200 Autavia for $88 with proof of purchase of ten packs of Viceroy cigarettes.
The tachymeter bezel is the symbol of a racing watch, whether on the Autavia, or the Rolex Daytona or the Omega Speedmaster.TAG Heuer is positioning the Formula 1 collection as the brand’s racing watches, and there is no better flagship for that collection than a watch that incorporates the design elements of the Autavia, the ultimate racing watch of the 1960s and 1970s.
People in the watch world may think of the Formula 1 as TAG Heuer’s “entry level” model. How do you reconcile that with the $6,150 price tag on this model?
Essentially, this watch, and a couple of other Formula 1 models recently released by TAG Heuer, serve as a clear statement that the TAG Heuer collections will no longer follow a price hierarchy.There is no entry-level collection or high-end collection.Instead, the collections are defined by their aesthetics and purposes.
The Formula 1 is TAG Heuer’s racing watch and the Autavia will be positioned as the watch for adventure.To me, this is a much more sensible way to position the collections than just based on their price ranges.TAG Heuer now offers its in-house Heuer 02 movement in four of its six collections, confirming that no model is relegated to “entry-level” status.
How do you compare the new Fragment Formula 1 with the other Autavias that have been re-issued by TAG Heuer?
With the arrival of this Fragment Design chronograph, there are basically three series of Autavia re-issues.
The TAG Heuer Fragment Design Heuer 02 Limited Edition flanked by the first of the automatic Autavias, Reference 1163 (circa 1970), and the last one produced by Heuer, Reference 11063 (circa 1983).
In 2003, TAG Heuer offered two versions of a cushion-cased Autavia, one with the black / orange colors and the other with the white / black / blue Siffert colors.
In 2017, TAG Heuer offered a new Autavia, modeled after the Rindt model from the late 1960s.After the initial model with the black dial and white registers, we have seen several limited editions, incorporating other color schemes into this same case.
I like these watches, but the case lacks the real connection to either the manual wind models of the 1960s or the automatic models of the 1970s.
Every collector will have their own favorite, but to my eye, the Fragment Formula 1 captures the spirit of the 1970s Autavias, with the color scheme, the hands and bezel, and the case geometry. There’s no “Autavia” on the dial, but there’s no doubt about the origins of this watch.
How is the watch on your wrist?
It’s a big watch at 44 millimeters, and I have a small wrist, but it’s a great fit.The more important measurement might be the thickness, and TAG Heuer has shaved the case to 14.4 millimeters.That’s not exactly thin, but it makes the 44 millimeter case very wearable.The bracelet is entirely new, and is relatively thin with a butterfly clasp, which also makes the watch wear smaller.
TAG Heuer has created a new style bracelet for the Fragment Formula 1 chronograph. It’s a five-row stainless steel bracelet, with a folding butterfly clasp.
Why does this watch have the TAG Heuer logo on the dial rather than the Heuer shield?
I believe that TAG Heuer is reserving the “Heuer” shield for re-issues of the heritage models, like the Carrera 160 Years models that we saw earlier in the year.This Formula 1 is not a re-issue of a heritage model, but a new creation for TAG Heuer.So it gets the TAG Heuer shield rather than the Heuer shield.What are your personal preferences, as far as the re-issues that so many brands seem to be offering in the year 2020?
In recent years, there has probably been more hand-to-hand combat in the vintage community on the subject of re-issues, re-editions, homages, tributes and the like than on any other single topic.We see everything from one-to-one recreations of some of the classics, like Breitling and Omega have done with great success, to watches that carry the name, but bear no resemblance to the original models.
I really like the approach of the two Fragment Design models: take an iconic model, boil it down to find the essence of the design, then punch up the elements that provide the style and feel of the original period.
Echoing the TAG Heuer Fragment Carrera, Fujiwara also places thunderbolts at the center of the case back and the word “Fragment” between 4 and 5 o’clock.
On the Fragment Carrera, we see the power of the oversized registers; on the Fragment Formula 1, we see the dramatic black paint and the red accents, with the distinctive hands and bezel.These elements defined the racers chronograph in 1970 and, fifty years later they continue to capture the excitement of racing.To me, capturing this timelessness is the ultimate success of a re-edition.
Other than the Fragment Design models, which are your favorite of TAG Heuer’s heritage-inspired models?
The Skipper captured the colors and spirit of one of the Heuer grails, the original Skipper from 1967, but took some liberties (for example, having a 30-minute register rather than the 15-minute count-down register).
The Carrera Montreal took even more liberties, incorporating the colors and vibe of a wild-looking 1972 Montreal chronograph into a Carrera case. Once again, the traditionalists may frown, but if you like the look of these watches and enjoy the connection with the Heuer heritage, these are fun watches.
If you could only have one of the Fragment models, the Carrera or the Formula 1, which would it be?
My first instinct is to dodge the question. The same way that the 1960s Carreras were different from the 1970s Autavias, the choice between the two Fragment models comes down to a matter of the mood and look that you want on a given day.
Fragment Design has developed two limited edition chronographs for TAG Heuer, the new Heuer 02, which draws from the Formula 1 and Autavia models, and the Carrera Heuer 02, from November 2018.
The quiet elegance of the Carrera is very different from the loud excitement of the 1970s Autavias.Looking at my collection of vintage Heuers, I probably have four times as many 1970s Autavias as 1960s Carreras, so the Fragment probably gets the nod.
If there will be a third Fragment Design chronograph for TAG Heuer, what are you hoping for?
Fujiwara has done a Carrera and an Autavia, so his third model will have to be a Monaco.It would be fantastic to see what he would do with the extra-large canvas of the Monaco.
(Click here to read Jeff Stein’s “On the Dash” post about the TAG Heuer Fragment Design Heuer 02 Limited Edition.)
The Blue edition TAG Heuer Carrera x Porsche RS 2.7 will arrive with 
What are your personal preferences, as far as the re-issues that so many brands seem to be offering in the year 2020?
