ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Oxford Street' Limited Edition

CAR201F.FT6087

TAG Heuer Boutique / London, 5th January 2019

Technically I didn't have this 'on the wrist' (because my wife was tugging at me to go and get some lunch) but I did have it in my paws for a minute or two and I have to say this is one which definitely looks much better when you see it close up. Some watches don't come across well no matter how good the photographs seem, and this is definitely one of those watches. 

I was a bit concerned that the red date wheel would look a bit 'plastic', but it actually looks better than I expected. It definitely looks great when you adjust the date and gives the skeletonized movement more depth than on my original Heuer 01 Carrera, and again I found myself wishing my watch had the Arabic numerals... maybe I really need to start saving for a Drive Timer for my 50th birthday?

I'm still not crazy about the text on the display back, as usual I would much prefer if TAG didn't obscure the movement when they've gone to all the trouble to fit a glass back, and if they must then I wish they had done it with a bit more style - maybe instead of the just 'London' in red text they could have done a simple skyline or something? But leaving that aside, the polished ceramic bezel looks great and that combined with the red date wheel definitely conjures up a significant 'WOW' factor, which probably explains why there aren't many of these left now (this 43mm piece was limited to just 100 and has sold very well apparently).

I must admit, while it didn't completely distract me from the carbon Carrera I'd tried on a few minutes earlier, this is a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Personally I'd pay the extra and take the blue carbon model myself, but I can see why this one is selling. 

That said, it does seem a bit of a shame that it's so similar to the 'Tokyo' Carrera, I know there's some variety in the materials used, but at first sight you'd think it was the same watch. Still, there's only 100 of each so I guess it's not exactly a major problem, the chances of ever seeing either of them out of a boutique are pretty slim after all!