CBN2A1M.FC6526
TAG Heuer Boutique / Oxford Street, London 13th May 2023
When this one came out back in early February, it seemed just a little bit underwhelming. At first glance it was a bit of an 'oh yes, just like the yellow one they did before... but orange' kinda deal; but seeing it in person for the first time was a whole different story. Wow, this one is pretty amazing. Now granted I never actually got to see the yellow one in person, the closest I came was being told they had it out the back in reserve for someone (that was in the Derby TAG Heuer boutique - but it was my first time there and they didn't offer to get it out of the safe for me), and if I had maybe this would have had less impact, but even so this is quite a special Carrera.
The render is typically underwhelming (why do TAG Heuer's renders all look slightly out of focus these days?) and does nothing to excite you for the real thing, which is big, bold, colourful and shiny. I loved it. The funny thing was though I was looking at it for a minute or so before I noticed the Porsche logo on the bezel and remembered it was a Porsche Special Edition. I mean I knew it was, but just picking it up it doesn't scream 'PORSCHE' in your face, which makes me think maybe, just maybe I could get away with owning one without owning a Porsche.
When this came out much was made about the number of circles on the dial and how it was too much etc etc, but in person it all works so well, It's 44mm in diameter (based on the Carrera Sport) but due to the short lugs it doesn't feel massive on the wrist. The strap is very cool too, though I wonder how long it would take for the orange stitching to get grubby... and knowing TAG Heuer the replacements are probably £250+ a pop!
If you aren't keen on big, shiny watches then this definitely isn't one for you... and it's hard to get across just how bright and shiny this really is. Even now looking at the pictures I'm kind of remembering how much I liked it and thinking if maybe I should splurge my hard earned savings, but there's still a nagging doubt over it being a 'Porsche' edition. Okay, I'm not dead set on the idea that you need to own an actual Porsche to wear a 'Porsche' branded watch, but equally I feel like you ought to at least be something of a Porsche fan boy, and I'm really not.
I like the old Carrera 911 Turbos with the tea-tray spoiler (I'm sure we used to call that a duck-bill spoiler back in the 1980s) and the original 928 was really neat, but apart from that I couldn't really tell you much about the company at all, never mind it's racing achievements. But then again I'm not a massive Ayrton Senna fan either and I have a Senna Formula 1 quartz in my collection...
Looking at the TAG Heuer website again though it's a bit over my budget at £6150, which is a crying shame because when I tried it on I really didn't want to give it back. The glossy black ceramic bezel gives it such impact, it's hard to ignore it in the cabinet and you really feel like a boss with it on your wrist. I've always liked the lumed 'minute' markers on the dial (although it's a shame they couldn't fit them all on), perhaps I could sell my titanium CV2A80 to make up the shortfall?
Either way I shall definitely be giving this a very high score when it comes to the end of the year ratings: I think I scored it a 7.5 based on the renders and it will definitely be going up at least one point over that. It might even be my 'Watch of the Year'. Yeah, it really is that good!
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