FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 'Porsche' Limited Edition Chronograph

 
CBN2A1H.FC6512

At the end of last year someone told me that there weren't going to be any more 'Porsche' branded TAG Heuer watches and that the whole relationship was on the verge of falling apart. Well, it seems like that particular rumour was somewhat wide of the mark, because between you and I this isn't the only Porsche branded TAG Heuer we're going to be seeing this year, and while this one is really a titivated rework of last year's CBN2A1F, the next one is something else entirely.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves, what we have here is another 44mm Carrera Sports (is it me or has that name not really caught on), this time with a DLC coated case and a yellow instead of red accents. There is a little more to it than that of course, whereas last year's model had a fully textured dial this time the texture has been restricted to the chronograph hour and minute subdials leaving the dial with a clean metallic black finish.

While the strap gives the impression of a textile, it is actually made of leather. No really, I checked, and checked again... this is some Heston Blumenthal level trickery TAG Heuer are getting into here! We've had rubber straps moulded to look like alligator in the past, but this is a new variation. Maybe a cool way forward too, because I imagine a leather strap would be more resilient to wear than textile straps (and in case you're wondering, no, TAG Heuer textile straps are not cheaper than leather ones, at least not in my experience). Either way it looks great and the yellow stitching pops, though naturally I would worry about it getting grubby at some point.

The CBN2A1H again features the cool, lumed Arabic numerals previously found on the CV2A80 Calibre 16 Carrera, but like on the CBN2A1F you only get nine out of twelve markers. I said last time that this would bug me and I still don't like it if I'm honest. But overall, I really like this one. I'm a sucker for a black watch with a bright accent colour, be it yellow, red, lime green, even a brightish blue, a pity then that this is a bit out of my price range.

How much you say? Well it's a touch under £6000... £5850 to be precise, but on the upside it is limited to just 1500 pieces which reduces the likelihood of bumping into a fellow Porsche enthusiast wearing one slightly. I dunno, 1500 still sounds like quite a lot to me, but then again I guess there's a lot of wealthy Porsche owning people out there who probably also like Swiss watches. As it happens, when I went to the Nottingham TAG Heuer boutique in April they told me they had two in the safe that were reserved for buyers, and of course I'm now kicking myself that I didn't ask to see one. Bah!

But hopefully I will still get my mitts on one at some point, for now let's dangle this over the viper-pit that is the 'Council of Considered Opinion' and see if it escapes without getting bitten?

CBN2A1H.FC6512: 6.2 / 10

6.5/10 "Same aesthetic as the Senna F1, but in Carrera x Porsche form. Other than the color, it's very similar to last year's model; why not something different like a heritage Carrera x vintage 911 theme? Or even better, a Monaco Gulf-Porsche!!! The TAG Heuer x Porsche collaboration has so many possibilities, what a waste."

5.5/10 "One I might consider, but it would be against Porsche Designs offerings if that was my marque of choice."

7/10 "I like it, but I am confused... are you sure the strap is leather?"

5.5 "Yawn."

6/10 "Actually a great match to options available on the current 911, unlike the first one which only the strap and numbers matched."

6/10 "Carrera Heuer 02 Porsche Yellow S/E - I'm not a fan of the 45mm sport base model so it's always going to be hard for me to score one of these models highly. I like the colour scheme, the strap and the dial finishing though."

5/10 "Just not for me."

7/10 "Loving the dust particles they left on the dial. I actually like the watch but nothing to jump up and down over."

7/10 "Probably an attractive proposition for Porsche fans who have cars with yellow seatbelts."

6/10 "Do we give extra points because it’s better than the previous one and of the worst Carreras ever?

I like the yellow accents but there’s still nothing Porsche about this, apart from the name they so delicately slammed on the bezel."

6/10 "Nothing that stands out or really interests me, better than the old one though."

5/10 "Meeh, almost forgot about this one. Very meh."

4/10 "Genuinely thought this was the same as last years until someone pointed out the differences..."

8/10 "I like this version more than the first one."

8/10 "Credit given where credit is due, this one turned out pretty nice! The dial has a beautiful, subtle sparkle that contrasts perfectly with the restrained use of the asphalt finish, now only on the subdials. My personal dislike of TAG's watches with 60-second dial markers means this one won't be coming home with me, but I really liked it."

4/10 "Looks too familiar and not my style."