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The Heuer Carrera, the prototypical racing chronograph, celebrated its 60th anniversary last year. Redesigned with a fresh case and dial, the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph “Glassbox” is a thing of beauty, updating the classic profile of the midcentury original for the modern wearer. Simple tweaks—foremost among them a curved flange that houses the tachymeter scale, plus the inclusion of the automatic Heuer Calibre 02 movement—ensure that the Carrera is recognizable to diehard fans but still appealing to younger buyers.
TAG Heuer has been on a roll with the “Glassbox” since its relatively recent debut, reimagining notable vintage Carrera models in the guise of the modern 39mm case. The newest reference to receive such a treatment, the 7753 SN is also one of the most important references—a member of the second generation of Carrera models from the late 1960s, “SN” describes a silver-dialed watch with black subdials, known to modern collectors as a “panda” dial. Beloved today for its aesthetics, the original had a clear purpose: to improve dial legibility.
The new reference CBS2216.BA0041 likewise offers a spin on the “panda” concept—in this case, a brushed, silver sunray dial outfitted with dual black “azure” chronograph totalizers, a silvered running seconds display, and a black flange with a tachymeter scale. However, it also adds certain modern touches: colorful accents in the form of red chronograph hands, for example, as well as a red-tipped central seconds hand and a red 1/5th-seconds track. Furthermore, the watch is fitted to the modern Carrera Chronograph’s first stainless steel bracelet, which features three-row construction and a double-folding safety clasp with a push-button closure.
But maybe all this makes for a watch too subdued for your adventurous taste. Perhaps you revel in something a bit more colorful—a bit more…gold? In that case, feast your eyes upon the newest iteration of the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Skipper. A take on the original Skipper from 1968—which celebrated the victory of the New York Yacht Club’s Intrepid over New Zealand’s Dame Pattie in the 1967 America’s Cup—it boasts 18K 5N rose gold construction, a circular-brushed blue dial, and colorful subdials: a 12-hour counter in Intrepid Teal and a 15-minute regatta timer in Lagoon Green, Intrepid Teal, and Regatta Orange. Paired to a blue fabric strap water resistant to 100m, it’s the summer watch you didn’t know you needed.
And that’s not all TAG Heuer has up its sleeve this year for Watches & Wonders: Three fresh takes on the Carrera Date 36MM await the wrist primed for a more elegant tool watch that delivers captivating looks while still maintaining adequate water resistance (50m) for summertime fun. Your first option is a mother-of-pearl dial with 18K 5N rose gold-plated applied indices and hands, plus a flange set with 76 diamonds fitted to a stainless steel case and bracelet; next up is a two-tone option with a copper dial, 18K 5N rose gold-plated applied indices and hands, a rose gold bezel, and a matching, two-tone bracelet; and finally, there’s a sort of melding of the two previous watches: mother-of-pearl dial, flange with 76 diamonds, 11 diamond indices, rose gold-plated hands, a rose gold bezel, and two-tone, steel-and-rose-gold case. What’s more—each of these babies clocks in well under $10,000.
Finally, we have TAG Heuer’s pièce de resistance for the year—or, rather, for this part of the year: The new Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph. Taking the Steve McQueen-approved, automatic chronograph from 1969 as its basis, the watch adds split-seconds functionality for timing two events simultaneously courtesy of the new TH81-00 automatic movement. Manufactured by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier from titanium, its checkerboard-pattern center bridge and balance wheel are visible via a sapphire caseback on the watch’s titanium case. DLC-brushed and paired to a clear sapphire dial with red or blue accents, this 41mm, extraordinary version of the Monaco is meant for serious brand devotees. (Jeff Stein, are you out there?) Representing the culmination of more than a century developing complicated timepieces, it can be yours for a cool $138,000.