Thursday 27 July 2023

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

CBN201E.BA0642                                CBN201E.FC6544

Here we go again people, but thankfully we've nearly caught up with TAG Heuer's ridiculous release schedule and as of right this second I only have two more watches to tell you about. Well, two plus three more now I come to think about it!

So today I want to tell you about this new Japanese limited edition 42mm Carrera which you will no doubt have noticed comes with a mother of pearl dial. Yes really. And while you might think that's a little bit strange, believe it or not this is by no means the first time we've seen a mother of pearl dial on a modern Carrera. In fact, if you look back to 2004, TAG Heuer released two MOP dial Carreras (one with a diamond bezel) as part of their 40th Anniversary celebrations for the Carrera. 

Now I know what you're thinking... how can it have been '40 years' in 2004 when it's 60 years in 2023? Yeah, well... somehow everyone forgot what year the Carrera came out and they celebrated it a year late. I know, how does that even happen? 


Now I'm sure mother of pearl dials aren't to everyone's tastes, but Japan does have form in this department. Oddly enough a new member joined the THF Forum last week and posted a photo of their CV201K Carrera which features a black mother of pearl dial and a Calibre 16 chronograph movement. This was also a Japanese limited edition of 600 pieces and actually I remember trying one on in the Bicester Village TAG Heuer outlet about 4 years ago. 

The new model is slightly odd in that it is limited to 300 pieces on the bracelet and 50 pieces on the blue leather strap. I'm not so sure how that works really... the render on the Japanese TH website shows the back of the watch marked 'Special Edition' but in the text it says the watches are individually numbered out of 300 and 50.


I don't quite get that... since the watch is the same, surely it would have made more sense to mark them individually out of 350, but supply 50 on the strap and 300 on the bracelet if that's what they wanted to do. Or better yet, supply 350 on the bracelet and include the blue strap as a bonus - hey, call me crazy! 

Now usually I would post a link to the Japanese website so you could go and check these out yourselves, but the it seems I am no longer allowed to post links to the TAG Heuer website because Blogger (Google) does not like it. You may have seen the other day that Charlie's post about the Skipper got flagged as spam and taken down because of the 'commercial' link I included. So I can't do that no more...

But maybe if I don't actually post the link text it will be okay? Let's give it a try... if it gets taken down I will remove the links and repost.


Okay, time to bring in the Council, I fear this won't garner the same levels of approval as the Chronotempvs Carrera did... personally I don't mind it, but I must admit I'm not crazy about it either. I'd like to see a black mother of pearl dial Carrera with a DLC case though, I think that would be pretty cool!






Bracelet 7/10  Strap 7.5/10: "A very elegant watch with a stunning mother of pearl dial. I love the finishing and colour of the subdials too. Just slightly concerned it's not going to look as good in the real world. I often prefer watches on bracelets but I just feel the leather strap offers more warmth with that icy dial. Still looks stunning regardless."

Bracelet 5.5/10  Strap 6.5/10: "Hmm. I probably get what they were going for, but I think that a unisex three-hander would have lent itself better to that exercise than a sports chrono…"

Bracelet 5/10  Strap 4/10: "Too big for a unisex watch IMHO. Only 4 for the leather as it looks very 'cheap'."

Bracelet 5/10  Strap 5.5/10: "Not terrible but not for me."

Bracelet 7/10  Strap 7/10: "Perhaps a bit darker 'blue MOP' could be more exciting. Certainly not bad."

Bracelet 6.5/10  Strap 6.5/10: "Would love to see a video, as this may be a bit too much in real life."

Bracelet 6/10  Strap 5/10: "Not the most exciting, but not bad considering they’re mother of pearl. 5/10 for the strap as it’s beyond boring!"

Bracelet 6.5/10  Strap 6.5/10: "The dial is nice and a bit different but not really exciting overall."

Bracelet 4/10  Strap 6/10: "I don’t like MOP on the dial. I'll give it 6/10 on the strap, because I like the strap and it’s limited to just 50 pcs."

Bracelet 4/10  Strap 4/10: "MOP ruins this watch."

Bracelet 5.5/10  Strap 5.5/10: "The dial isn't stirring my juices."

Bracelet 7/10  Strap 7/10: "Could be another case of better in person than in picture?"

Bracelet 6.5/10  Strap 6/10: "The smooth strap in the render doesn’t do much for me."

Bracelet 5/10  Strap 5/10: "Not my cup of tea. Way too rainbow like for me."

Bracelet 4/10  Strap 4/10: "I don't really like either of them."

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