TAG Heuer dresses up the new Carrera Chronographs

More tantalising options for the brand’s 160th birthday.

Fans of TAG Heuer’s racing-inspired Carrera collection have tough decisions to make this year. The brand is celebrating its 160th anniversary with a relentless roll-out of Carrera models since the start of 2020, beginning with an homage to the original Carrera (160 Years Silver Limited Edition), a colourful vintage-inspired mash-up (160 Years Montreal Limited Edition) and a modern testosterone-charged new line-up, christened simply, Carrera Sport Chronograph.

Now, collectors can add more options to their lists – a quartet of dressy Carrera Chronographs that promises to lend a touch of sportive elegance to any get-up. Like the other Carrera commemorative editions issued this year, the new additions run on the Calibre Heuer 02, an automatic chronograph movement with vertical clutch and column wheel, which offers 80 hours of power reserve. And, just as it is with its limited edition siblings, the new Carrera Chronograph looks to propose a different style and vibe that showcases another facet of the iconic collection.

Aesthetically a closer sibling to original Carrera from 1963 than the newly furbished sports editions, the new Carrera Chronograph reverts to a slimmer bezel on a 42mm case, as opposed to the Sport Chronograph’s thick bezel with tachymeter scale on a slightly larger 44mm case.

Meantime, the seconds sub-dial and chronograph totalisers have been redesigned for a cleaner look, which gives the illusion of a bi-compax layout. Here, the totalisers at three and nine o’clock feature more elegantly styled numerals and markers, while the seconds counter at six o’clock is simply marked out by lines at the quarters.

TAG Heuer’s designers probably had the words ‘Keep It Classy’ writ large on their design brief, as dial options are kept to a fail-safe palette of black opaline, silver opaline, blue and anthracite with sunray finish. Housed in 42mm steel cases with matching H-shaped link bracelets or leather straps, we feel that the latter does a better job at expressing this line-up’s modish intent. But that’s us and, like we said, it is not an easy choice to make.

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