CBN201C.FC6542 CBN201D.FC6543 CBS5010.FC6543
More than a month on and we're still trawling through the watches that TAG Heuer dropped on us at Watches & Wonders 2023, unbelievable! Still, this is the last of the W&W23 related 'First Impressions' posts and to be honest it's taken so long to get here that I've actually already tried on one of these watches. But we might as well stick with the format, besides we want to hear what the Council of Considered Opinion have to say don't we?
Okay, so for the sake of our sanity, most of all mine, I decided to group these three 42mm Carreras together although I perhaps should have grouped the tourbillon in with the 39mm Carreras seeing that they have more similarities in design (although two of these watches do share the same boring strap). Nevertheless these three are all 42mm and indeed this marks the first time that TAG Heuer have put their Swiss made Heuer 02 tourbillon into a case smaller than 45mm.
The thing is though, as Jim and I mentioned in our Watches & Wonders Waffle a few weeks ago, considering the momentousness of this it doesn't really seem to have made much impact. I don't know why that should be but to be honest, while this is larger in scale this shares the problems that I had with it's 39mm siblings - although I must say I like it a little more than those, but it's not exactly exciting.
Now to be fair, this is obviously an anti-dote to the previous large scale and in many cases skeletonised dial models, so perhaps calling it unexciting is perhaps a bit unfair. It's obviously designed with a different customer in mind, but honestly looking at this it really doesn't inspire any feelings in me whatsoever.
Still, it's an interesting new take on the multi-faceted Carrera and as I said it definitely shares more in common design wise with the new 39mm Glassbox Carreras than the rather flashy watches I've paired it with. I kinda like the orange second hand, although having said that even that seems slightly incongruous with the whole idea of a scaled down / less in your face tourbillon. And again this is giving me massive 'Ressence' vibes with that all encompassing domed crystal.
Incidentally, if you are thinking that this 42mm watch looks huge on this guy's wrist, I think he must have a tiny wrist, because on the same web-page I also found a photo of him wearing the as yet un-announced 39mm Skipper Carrera and that also looks huge on him and those are anything but huge.
Fortunately I have quite a different feeling when I look at the other two 42mm Carrera Chronographs released at Watches & Wonders. And, before I go on, I should clarify something for you. Ever since the 42mm Carrera was released in 2020 I have been referring to them as the Carrera 'Elegants', but I was recently told that the 'Elegant' part of the name was dropped two weeks after the launch. Well no one told me thank you very much, they just let me carry on making a fool of myself didn't they?
So now they are officially called the Carrera Chronographs, because... well that's obvious right. Don't know how that name works when they also make Carrera Chronographs in 39mm, 43mm, 44mm and 45mm, but I guess there's no point arguing with the Swiss!
Funnily enough I did think at the time that calling a watch 'Elegant' was a bit strange as it basically ties you down to only making variations that look 'Elegant' which I don't think anyone would think these two are. Cool and funky sure, but not particularly elegant. But are they too funky for the style of watch? I rather like them, but the dials seem slightly at odds with the old style pushers.
I do applaud TAG Heuer for bringing something new to the table though, I can't remember ever seeing a watch (certainly no TAG Heuer) with this kind of dial treatment. And to be honest recently I've come to the conclusion that the very fact that TAG Heuer are regularly making watches that are throwing me off, and yet somehow appealing to me later in the life cycle shows me that they aren't playing it safe and that can only be a good thing.
As I mentioned earlier I have already tried on (the black dial version of) this watch, but for now let's find out what the Council of Considered Opinion have to say about these, I'd say it was tricky to predict a score for these so I would imagine it will even out to around a middle '6'... personally I'd give the black a 7.5 and the blue a 7, as for the tourbillon, I'm probably going to score it a 5, mainly because of the domed crystal.
Black: 5/10. Blue: 6/10. Tourbillon: 6/10 - Not too impressed with any of these. It's nice to see a Tourbillon offered in a smaller size. But I still haven't warmed up to the new glassbox treatment and the high price of any H02T is something I can't justify.
Black: 8.5/10 - I think this dial colour works really well with fire track around the outside. Would score higher if the diameter of the Elegant sub-models had not been increased from 41mm. Blue dial: 7/10 - It's nice and the blue dial is off the chart, which is one of TAG Heuer's strengths, however the fire track looks gimmicky on such a gorgeous dial. Tourbillon: 6.5/10 - Strangely (well for me anyway), I think the skeleton tourbillon models look better. That might be because the size of the cage works better on the larger diameter dial. In this model, the tourbillon cage looks oversized and reminds of those crappy "open heart" models that some brands indulge themselves in. Otherwise, the dial colour and orange (red?) accents looks great. I haven't checked AU pricing since I would likely score it significantly lower if I did.
Black: 4/10. Blue: 4/10 - Sensory overload. Would have worked better with matte dials instead of sunray, with all the colors going around. Tourbillon: 1/10 - Looks great (if this had a third subdial instead of the tourbillon, it'd be a 9/10) but tourbillons are just not what TAG should be doing. These will be display-case queens for quite some time I bet.
Black: 9/10 - Love it! Blue: 7/10 - I think it's a weird combination but I guess many would like this one. Different strokes for different folk. Tourbillon: 8/10 - Again with the blue and orange but the orange is not as pronounced as the non tourbie one so yeah i think its better.
Black: 9/10 - Near perfection. Blue: 7.5/10 - Because of the non-effort re. the date. Tourbillon: 5/10 - I just don’t see the point of this complication on a wristwatch. It’s like 4WD on a Vespa…
Black: 7.5/10 - For some reason I prefer this one over the blue dial version. Like the negative date display, just the strap again is a bit boring but easily sorted out. Blue: 7/10 - Sun ray blue dial looks lovely. I also like the orange to red ring framing it, adds a nice extra interest to it. Strap looks a bit boring though. Tourbillon: 6/10 - It's a nice watch but doesn't excite me. The groove around the edge of the dial is interesting and the sub dials look good, but not too fussed for what it costs.
Black: 7/10. Blue 7/10 - The blue seems nicer than the black. Tourbillon 6/10: - I debated a failing grade, but settled on a 6/10. Too many design compromises.
Black: 5/10. Blue: 5/10 - These models are ambitious, including sporting color rings, but something seems half-baked. And the biggest question is that the movement update didn't come in. Tourbillon: 8/10 - I would have liked it to be tucked into a 39mm case if possible, but the structure of the movement makes it difficult. This one has an updated movement too.
Black: 7/10. Blue: 7/10 - Had the opportunity to try on the Elegant blue/black some months ago before they were released. Was left with a feeling of 'it's Ok but nothing to write home about'. I applaud TH trying to add colour, doing something different, but it feels execution was left lacking. Tourbillon 7.5/10.
Black: 5/10. Blue 6/10 - The blue jumps out much more than the slightly dull black, but the amber-red ring seems gimmicky. Tourbillon: 8/10 - A no date Carrera?! Really? Awesome! Also that tourbillon thing is pretty neat. Shame the price has crept so far from the 'affordable tourbillon' Jean Claude Biver launched.
Black: 8.5/10. Blue 8.5/10 - I like the new 42mm watches and can't wait to check them out in the AD. I like the more sport oriented direction they seem to be taking the elegant model. Swap out the plain strap for a nice racing strap or the bracelet and its a 9 all day for me in either color. Tourbillon: 7.5/10 - Tourb is nice but third place out of the three.
Black: 7.5/10. Blue: 6.5/10. Tourbillon - 5.5/10 - Pretty classy and I like the flash or colour. It lifts these watches above ordinary, especially the anthracite version. Not overly keen on the straps. Size is a problem for me personally as usual. Kind of wish the 39mm Carreras looked more like this. Nothing to dislike here and the tourbillon is the best that TAG has done to date (still wouldn't buy it though).
Black: 6/10. Blue: 7/10. Tourbillion 8/10 - These Carreras are so elegant
Black: 5/10. Blue: 6/10. Tourbillon: 6.5/10 - Straps looking extremely boring. Dials not the most inspiring for me either. Blue is better than the Black, but not for me. Tourbillon looks classier, but again not for me.
Black: 7/10. Blue: 8/10. Tourbillon: 7/10 - Beautiful watches. Especially the blue version. And indeed, boring straps.. The advantage of this is that creativity is stimulated to find better ones.
Black: 7/10. Blue: 7/10. Tourbillon: 7:10 - Would rate the tourbillon an 8 if not for the tourbillon!
LINK TO THE BLACK DIAL CARRERA CHRONOGRAPH ON THE TH WEBSITE:
LINK TO THE BLUE DIAL CARRERA CHRONOGRAPH ON THE TH WEBSITE:
LINK TO THE BLUE DIAL CARRERA TOURBILLON ON THE TH WEBSITE:
What side did you find the photo of the 39mm Skipper that you mention in the post?
ReplyDeleteMy dealer mentioned that the Skipper is releasing in July