Jewellery & Watch News
TAG Heuer’s best-selling Carrera collection goes back to basics with the release of a stunning series of three-hand watches. The result retains the sporty aesthetic of its heritage but with a new innate elegance found within a total of 13 designs including a Carrera Day Date 41mm, the Carrera Twin-Time Date 41mm, the Carrera Date 39mm and the Carrera Date 29mm.
The History of the TAG Heuer Carrera
The TAG Heuer Carrera has been the ultimate showcase of the Swiss watch brand’s motor racing heritage ever since it was first introduced in 1963. It was launched under the creative direction and leadership of Jack Heuer who wanted to create a streamlined chronograph that was both uncluttered and perfectly harmonious with the brand’s already celebrated sports DNA. With the design in mind, he needed a name. That was when he heard about the famous Carrera Panamericana car race, one of the most dangerous in the world. Translating to road, race and career, Carrera became the easy option and so the TAG Heuer Carrera was born.
“Legend has it that TAG Heuer’s obsession with readability started in 1958 when Jack Heuer dropped from first to third in a Swiss rally he was competing in because he was unable to read the dashboard timer correctly. After that, Jack decided to focus on and improve this specific pain point, and he embraced his love of modern design to create an incredibly legible watch.” explains Nicholas Biebuyck Heritage Director at TAG Heuer. “This is the reason why the Carrera launched in 1963 looks already radically different from any other watches the company had produced before. You can see in the Carrera a focus on the typography and the desire to explore the purest form possible. Its design language is so clear and minimal that there are only three lines of text on the watch dial: Carrera – Heuer – Swiss Made - removing any risk of getting confused or distracted by superfluous decorations.”
The TAG Heuer Carrera Three Hands Collection
Under the very same premise as the original TAG Heuer, the new Carrera Three Hands watch collection abides by its rule of perfect readability for drivers. There is almost too much choice when it comes from picking from the new generation. There are a total of 13 reference within four sub-collections offering sizes from 29mm to 41mm, all engineered from stainless steel and available in choice of black, blue, white, and silver dials featuring the new Carrera logo. All but one design also reveals the brand-new H-shaped links of the TAG Heuer stainless steel bracelet, a design promising an even more ergonomic and comfortable fit on the wrist.
Let’s start with the largest of the series, the TAG Heuer Carrera Day Date 41mm. There are four designs under this name, two with a black sunray dial (one with rhodium plated hardware and one with rose gold), a third with a blue dial and a fourth in silver. All measure to 41mm with a steel case, 100 metre water resistant rating and the Calibre 5 automatic winding movement at its core. With a 38 hour power reserve, the movement delivers hours, minutes, seconds and a double day and date window at 3 o’clock. While three of the designs introduce the new H-shaped link bracelet, the silver dial opts for a brown alligator leather strap.
The TAG Heuer Carrera Date 39mm retains almost the exact same specifications as the 41mm models above. There are four styles again with two black dials, one silver and one blue, all equipped with steel cases, 100 metre water resistance ratings and the Calibre 5 movement. The main differences lie in its smaller size and in the removing of the day and date window at 3 o’clock. Instead, the mechanical movement powers hours, minutes, seconds and a singular date window at 6 o’clock. All four designs also elect a stainless steel bracelet, 38 hour power reserve, and sunray brushed centrepieces.
A lone ranger in its own sub-collection, the TAG Heuer Carrera Twin-Time Date 41mm watch is one of the more “complicated” watches in the TAG Heuer Three Hands series. It’s elegant and sporty design presents a blue sunray-brushed dial with a unique silver and blue flange for indicating the day and night as well as a bold red-tipped fourth hand for indicating a second time zone. Powering the GMT function is the Calibre 7 automatic movement with a 50 hour power reserve and a handsome rose-gold coloured oscillating rotor apparent through the sapphire crystal case back.
Lastly, we have the TAG Heuer Carrera Date 29mm, a series of four ladies watches beautifully adorned in a choice of diamonds and mother of pearl. There are two mother of pearl dials, one with and one without diamonds and similarly two blue displays offering the same choice of diamond indexes. All four measure to 29mm in stainless steel with the H-shaped bracelet, 100 metre water resistance and the Calibre 9 automatic movement. This Swiss made calibre provides a 40 hour power reserve and an integrated date window at 6 o’clock.
If you’d like to shop the TAG Heuer Carrera Three Hand collection for yourself, head over to the C W Sellors website here. Alternatively, get in touch with the team by calling 01335 453453 or send us a message at sales@cwsellors.com.
