VIDEO: TAG Heuer 6000 Series Ladies Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

FEATURE: Is My Watch a Fake and How Can You Tell?

Over at the 'Calibre 11 Forum' we get quite a lot of instances where someone joins the forum solely to post one simple question, 'Is my watch a fake and how can you tell?'. Regrettably, more often than not the answer to the first part is a resounding 'yes', but as to the second part of the question... well that's a little more difficult to pin down.

If you have spent any amount of time looking at watches and TAG Heuer watches in particular, I'm hoping that you would be able to spot the 'Link' above as a fake without having to look too hard at it. It's not a very good fake, but to be fair it's probably good enough to fool quite a lot of people who aren't as engrossed in the subject as I am.

Though I wouldn't consider myself an 'expert', if you immerse yourself in a subject long enough certain things become second nature to you and you can spot some fakes without even going into detail; they just look 'wrong'. But if not, when it comes to Links and S/ELs the first thing I would look at would be the bracelet. Fakers are always wanting to cut corners and make things as cheaply as possible to maximise their profit, so they generally tend to make the bracelet links for these watches as one piece rather than two 'side by side' pieces. That's a dead giveaway.

Often times you see watches listed on eBay where they don't show you pictures of the backplate. While that doesn't necessarily mean the watch is fake, you should always look at the backplate if you are unsure about a watch's authenticity as it can often provide vital clues.

Looking at the backplate for this watch we can immediately see that this has a large 'Heuer' badge right in the middle where the dial is branded 'TAG Heuer'. This is an obvious red flag, but there are instances where you will find mixed branding on TAG Heuer watches. For example 'TAG Heuer' branded watches from the mid 1980s often used leftover parts such as 'Heuer' branded clasps and a lot of resin Formula 1s from the same period have 'Heuer' stamped on the crown. Even today, if you bought a 'Heuer' Autavia Heuer 02 with a glass display back, the movement is stamped 'TAG Heuer' so again, it's not cut and dried.

Often you will find misspellings on the backplates of fake watches, with 'chronometer' and 'stainless steel' among the most common mistakes. The fact that the watches in question are not in fact 'chronometer' certified is rather irrelevant in this context, but if someone is trying to sell you a Swiss made 'chronometer' for a relatively small sum of money then that in itself is worthy of caution.

This particular watch scores another own goal with the inclusion of the part number CR2111. If you Google CR2111 you will find that what comes up is actually a TAG Heuer Monza, rather than a Link, another major red flag. Sure there are occasions where genuine watches end up with the wrong backplate, but they are few and far between. This is a simple test, and while not conclusive on it's own, you'd be surprised how often the fakers get it completely wrong and the results should definitely not be ignored.

Image selected by Mr Orange

Because this watch doesn't even have the correct part number, it doesn't give us the enjoyment of pulling up an image of the real watch and comparing the two, but thanks to Mr Orange at the Calibre 11 Forum, we have this one as a comparison.

While a direct comparison is slightly pointless given the possible variances in genuine Link models, this does show immediately that the subdial layout is wrong. If both watches contain the Calibre 36 movement then they would definitely match, as you can see on the original the running seconds is at the '9' position on the real watch and '6' on the fake (more on that in a moment).

And while different pieces could have different hand set styles, the ones on the fake are clearly way too short for the watch dial.

While Googling for this post I believe I have come across a source (actually several, it's not at all difficult) for this particular fake... albeit they are showing it with a different (but still incorrect) caseback. This model is selling for $103 (£81), whereas the genuine article would be approximately £1800 pre-owned (judging by Watchfinder's website) and £3000+ when new, but then again the real thing contains a high quality 'El Primero' movement and this fake contains a Japanese quartz.

Unfortunately this is one of the easier fakes to spot, modern fakes are getting better and better all the time and it's now to the point where I and many other members of the Calibre 11 Forum simply wouldn't buy a modern Aquaracer from eBay under any circumstances. Older models are less likely to be faked, and older fakes are easier to spot because they just aren't very good... but if you want a modern TAG Heuer it really is best to stick to boutiques or authorised dealers. You might be able to save 20% going to a grey market dealer but are you actually getting the watch you are paying for? Judging by some of the photos I've seen, unless you are able to take the watch apart and compare it with the genuine article you wouldn't even know.

Surprisingly though, it's not usually those relatively expensive fakes that we get asked about, it's mostly the 'middling' ones like the example used here. Admittedly the forumites can be a bit harsh and abrasive when it comes to these posts, but generally these people have paid very small amounts for the watches they are asking about and they surely know deep down that they've bought a fake. Alternatively they could be fakers themselves looking for tips and advice on how to improve their craft..

If you are looking to purchase a watch on eBay, please visit this page which lists sellers known to have listed fake TAG Heuer watches previously:

http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/p/blacklist.html

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 3000 Series Quartz Watch

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco Gulf 50th Anniversary by Bruce Williams

FEATURE: Not Sure Where to Go From Here...

WL111G

It is now almost six months since I have bought a watch and actually, I'm kinda okay with it! This is the longest I have gone without buying a watch since 2017 and while it is certainly partly to do with the Coronavirus and financial security, it's also because I have already 'collected' a lot of the watches I wanted to get. 

The last watch I bought was my steel 3000 Series quartz and that was the last watch that I really wanted, I mean obviously I could give you a long list of watches I'd 'like' to add to my collection, but that was the last one that I was absolutely certain I wanted, even the fabled green dial Aquaracer was dependant on me having seen it first.

Sure the new carbon dial Formula 1 is nice and the 'Batman' Aquaracer is really nice too, but right now I really don't feel comfortable spending that kind of money on something I really don't need. And really, I'm not even 100% sure which way I want to go in future... there's a limit to how many £1-3000+ watches I can purchase and honestly I get an awful lot of pleasure out of my £3-500 quartz pieces and part of me would like to keep expanding that side.

WAY201T.BA0927

I wouldn't mind a green dial S/EL if I could find one for sensible money, a leather strap S/EL would be cool too, as would a leather strap 6000 Series. I don't have a 3000 Chronograph, that would be nice... and then there's the Kirium.

I am endlessly drawn to the Kirium, there's just something about it. Clearly eight years of only having a Kirium made an enduring impression on me and sure enough over this last weekend I have been browsing eBay for Kiriums. There always seems to be a nice selection available, and they aren't too expensive either (as long as you want a blue or black dial).

I could actually quite happily build a little Kirium collection, I already have two; my original 2005 F1 Kirium and my blue dial quartz chronograph, the only problem is that the ones that spring to mind as possible additions are the more expensive ones. I'd really like to snag a plum dial quartz Chronograph, but I've never seen one of those for less than £1300 and the gold bezel Kiriums tend to be £600 or more.

I almost bid on a very dark blue Kirium today, but in the end I held off and it went for just over £300. Part of me regrets letting it go, but part of me doesn't - because those kind of Kiriums are pretty easy to find really, and I wonder if I really wanted it or am I just itching to buy 'something'?

WL5113

There's a very nice looking Kirium chronometer on eBay too, which has caught my eye, but that's just ended and it went for nearly £500... which is probably fair enough, but I rather want my Kirium's to be a little more affordable.

So I'll probably end up with a blue or black dial sooner or later, there's a black dial Kirium that looks in good condition on eBay right now with a starting price of £300, that would look nice in my cabinet. But then again, I probably won't... I mean, what if I buy three or four Kiriums and then TAG Heuer release another green Aquaracer - that would suck!

So no, I'll probably sit on my hands for the time being and wait for things to slowly get back to normal. Maybe 2020 will be the year I didn't buy a single watch? Sounds crazy, but it's June already...

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 2000 Exclusive Quartz Watch

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer WAY201A: Real or Fake? by Random Tinkerer

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer / Bamford Badger Works Coffee Dial Carrera Calibre 5 Watch

When a watch company releases a 'carbon dial' watch, quite often it's actually a 'carbon effect' material (or even a badly printed approximation), but when Bamford say this watch has a 'coffee' dial that's literally what they mean! 

According to the Bamford website, the inspiration for this watch came from the vintage world and in particular the expensive and desirable 'tropical' dial watches. These are dials which started out black, but aged by the sun the pigment in them deteriorated over time and they turned an uneven brown/red colour.

The website doesn't explain how they made the leap from genuine 'tropical' dials to forming Carrera dials out of actual coffee, I guess you just have to roll with that one... and to be honest I didn't even realise they had until I'd seen the watch about five times, I just (naturally) assumed it was a coffee 'effect' dial - I mean that makes sense, right?

Unfortunately, more often than not when a new Bamford / TAG Heuer turns up on the internet, it's a case of shaking one's head and then getting on with one's day. Not always, they do sometimes get it right; the carbon Monaco was pretty cool (although I wasn't sure about the blue subdials) and they did a gorgeous Monza with yellow highlights not too long ago that really blew me away.

But for every beautifully detailed Monza there seems to be at least three Carrera's with a badly drawn basketball dial and actually this watch shares some similarities with that particular horror, but thankfully they've seemingly learned from some of their past mistakes. 

As with that watch, Bamford have stripped the dial of hour markers, but here they've gone even further and removed the day/date function (which I assume means there'll be a ghost position on the crown since this watch carries a Sellita SW220-1 movement which has a day/date wheel). For me this is an excellent move since without the hour markers the windows would have looked odd, and this gives the dial an exceptionally clean aesthetic, which I actually think looks rather smart. 

I still think they could have pushed the text and TAG Heuer logo away from the centre of the watch a little bit, to compensate for the lack of hour batons, but on the plus side making the logo and text gold was an excellent move as it stands out magnificently against the brown dial. The case is polished, but has also been treated with a light grey (military grade) titanium coating and the watch is presented on a brown calfskin strap with cream stitching and a steel folding clasp.

But what about that 'coffee' dial then? Well apparently designer James Thompson (of the company Black Badger, who produce lots of items using luminous material and carbon fibre) came up with the idea. The special 'Badgerworks' coffee was roasted by Cafe da Mattao before being cast in resin to form the dial blanks for the watches. This was then hand finished to bring out the natural 'lustre' of the coffee. Not too sure what that means, but I suspect it might mean a process to ensure the longevity of the dial colour, since coffee is a natural material and could itself fade in sunlight perhaps? 

All in all this appears to be one of the better Bamford TAG Heuer's of late and if you are some kind of 'coffee-obsessive' then maybe this could be no less than your dream watch... but if so, you'll need to be quick and you'll need to have relatively deep pockets as this one is limited to just 20 pieces with a rather eye-watering list price of £5500 (which seems rather high for a 41mm Carrera with no complications, but then I guess part of what you are paying for is the 'exclusivity'.)

If we leave the 'coffee' thing aside for a moment and view this as a brown granite dial instead (think 1500 Series pieces from the 1990s...) then suddenly it seems a lot more 'sensible' and actually rather attractive.

https://www.bamfordwatchdepartment.com/?product=limited-edition-bwd-x-blackbadger-coffee-dial-tag-heuer-carrera-calibre-5

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Pilot Quartz Chronograph

VIDEO: Heuer Calculator 110.613 Review by Craft and Tailored

UPDATE: TAG Heuer Bicester Village to Re-Open Very Soon!

Good news; the TAG Heuer outlet store at Bicester Village is finally looking to re-open to the public on the 15th of June 2020. The entire village has been closed for many weeks now, but with the government relaxing the restrictions on non-essential shopping, it's now time to get the village up and running again. Obviously there will have to be restrictions in place to ensure the store complies with the government safety guidelines and initially there will be appointments offered to facilitate this. The store is investigating ways to work that would facilitate more interaction, but for now this is the way it has to be and presumably this will apply to most of the other shops in the village as well.

I will keep you updated with any further news and hopefully it won't be too much longer before we can all pay the store a visit at our leisure. I'm certainly looking forward to visiting and getting my repaired watches back home again!

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Alter Ego Ladies Quartz Watch

WP1413.BA0754

The Alter Ego was introduced into the TAG Heuer catalogue in the 2000 catalogue, but there is a lack of clarity about when that catalogue was actually released, so either the Alter Ego was the first new watch after the takeover by the new owners 'LVMH' (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey) or it was last watch released before the takeover. Either way, the watch was clearly designed before LVMH came on the scene. 

Aimed solely at the ladies market, the Alter Ego was unapologetically feminine and glamorous, with it's integrated bracelet and exotic design. There were many variations available, including two case sizes and a choice of brushed or polished finishes and several with gold centre links. There were also plenty of options when it came to diamonds, ranging from six simple hour markers, through diamond bezels, bezels and lugs right up to the full 'River of Diamonds' setting which features diamonds on the centre links and outer links of the bracelet as well as around the bezel and dial. 

But even in it's most basic form the Alter Ego is still an alluring piece, take this simple black dial version for example. Stripped of everything bar black 'block' hour markers which are barely visible in these photographs, the watch has an elegant simplicity which focuses attention on the Alter Ego's biggest selling points; the bracelet and case.

This one looks to be in fantastic condition, but if you are buying used it's worth noting that the bracelets can become stretched and when they do they look a bit of a mess. Not too sure how repairable they are either, and even sizing them is a bit of a nightmare due to some extremely tiny screws holding the links together.

The size you opt for will depend on personal taste and (no doubt) the size of your wrist, but the biggest compromise with these watches will probably be do you go for the polished finish (which looks stunning) or the brushed finish, which looks a little bit dull in comparison, but will certainly be a lot easier to keep looking good.

The other route is to go for the leather strap versions, but these are much harder to find and for me the strap always looks like an after-thought. Sadly TAG Heuer didn't do anything unique with the leather straps (unlike say the quilted edges of the 6000 Series straps) although you can get them in a variety of colours.

My wife owns a pale pink dial version which she managed to find in a 'Cash Converters' a couple of years ago, but for me the standout go-to model in this range is the blue dial WP1313.BA0751, of which there are usually several on eBay at any one time (often in need of a new battery for some bizarre reason).

My least favourite thing about the Alter Ego is easy to pinpoint though, it's the crown. I don't know why they put it where they put it, but it's very difficult to access and while giving it a smooth polished finish might be a first class design choice, on a practical level it's nothing less than an epic fail! 

Click the link below to visit the TAG Heuer Enthusiast Gallery and see the full range of Alter Ego watches for yourself.

http://tagheuerenthusiastgallery.blogspot.com/search/label/Alter%20Ego?view=snapshot

APOLOGIES FOR THE LACK OF POSTS...

Apologies for the lack of new posts yesterday and today, due to a small domestic problem (a failed bath seal and the resulting mess resulting from it) I have not had time available to write anything for you. Hopefully things will return to normal in a day or so. 

In the meantime I do have one small piece of good news for anyone like me who has a watch back at the TAG Heuer service centre, apparently they have now reopened and so hopefully my blue dial 2000 Exclusive and my black dial S/EL chronograph will be back with me in the not too distant future.

Regards
Rob

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 Watch

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 50th Anniversary Calibre 11 Limited Edition Chronograph

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Ladies Quartz Watch

373.508

Regular readers might remember that my wife finally got herself a classic Formula 1 on a bracelet last year. After much back and forth over colourways, she eventually settled on the black and green over the pink and black and she's been very happy with it ever since. Even so, those brightly coloured versions with the resin straps keep coming up and a few weeks ago she nearly puled the trigger on a black and yellow model for £349.

She bailed at the last minute, citing the price and the yellow strap as her stumblng blocks and I can understand why. £349 does seem a lot for a watch that originally cost much less, but these primary coloured watches are very popular and the good ones do seem to fetch big money. Or perhaps more accurately, people seem to ask big money, whether they actually ever get it is another matter.

Her other worry (about the yellow strap) is understandable too - keeping that free from grubiness would be a nightmare and she also said something about it not suiting her (extremely pale) skin tone. Don't ask me chaps!

So then this 373.508 appeared on eBay with a much more reasonable asking price of £175, admittedly not in the same condition as the black/yellow one - but equally almost half the price. The seller was inviting offers too, although since it was an auction I rather suspect he was hoping for higher offers to finish the listing early.

So with less than an hour to go and with no bids on the board, I put in an offer of £165 - nothing ventured, etc... however no response was forthcoming and the auction ended without a buyer. The next day I got an email offering to sell the watch to me at the starting price, and my wife decided to go for it.

The watch has recently had a new movement, the date wheel moves crisply and the action of the crown in general is superb. The crystal does have one noticeable mark and three or four other marks, but you can't really see them unless you turn the glass so that the light is shining on it. The noticeable mark (the only one you'll see in these pictures) is near the '55' marking on the bezel.

The bezel itself is in excellent condition and also turns crisply, while the case is virtually unmarked. There are some marks to the caseback, probably where the watch has been removed over a ringed hand. The dial and hands also look great and while the lume is pretty weak in normal circumstances under a UV light it's plainly still there, as is the lume pip in the bezel.

While it doesn't really show up in these pictures (or the eBay photos), the orange strap is a little grubby around the edges, but I've seen a lot worse. I think it's fine but if my wife does decide to get a new one I've already found a place on the internet selling them for £62. Obviously before paying that I would check with TAG Heuer directly as you always should - eBay prices are sometimes hilariously over the top - see my Aquagraph rubber strap which was half the price quoted by some sellers!

I wouldn't be surprised if eventually my wife decides to replace the strap and the crystal, and if we assume a total cost of say £120, then she'll have a pretty mint watch with a brand new movement in it for under £300. Currently there's another 373.508 on eBay for £399, so that seems like a reasonable investment, not that I think she'll ever sell it.

Another option she could take would be to switch the bracelet from her green/black model onto this one and get a black strap for that one. At least grubiness wouldn't be an issue, although it would diminish the overall impact of this watch not having a coloured strap. That's one of the joys of these old F1s though, the ability to mix and match. There's also a light grey strap available which would work well with the dial, but again I really think she wants this one to be bright and who can blame her? I wouldn't mind a man-size version of one of these myself!

Link to replacement strap from 'The Watch Dealer'

https://www.thewatchdealer.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=209

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 & Aquaracer Calibre S Chronographs

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Calibre 6 by Christian Taylor

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer 2009-2010 Dealer Catalogue , Price List & Monaco V4 Book

In stark contrast to 2018/19, 'Buying Experience' posts for 2020 have been pretty thin on the ground, indeed as it stands I am yet to buy a watch this year. Regular readers will know that last year I bought at least one a month, so this is a pretty big turnaround and the uncertainty of Coronavirus isn't exactly making me feel like splashing the cash at the moment either. But still, there's other (less expensive) things to be bought and bargains to be had if you look hard enough and this one was far too good an opportunity to pass up.

You might remember last year I bought five dealer catalogues spanning 2004-2011 (barring 2009/2010), and I paid £25 for each one. That seemed like a good deal considering the rarity of these things and the prices being asked for more recent editions. So when I came across a 2009/10 dealer catalogue on eBay with a price of just £8.50 I didn't need to think about it much!

Not only that, but the sale also promised an additional 'Monaco' book, though there was no further description or photographs to show exactly what that was. Could it possibly be the Monaco book that I got last year....? It seemed extremely unlikely but what other Monaco book was there? I had no idea, but I wanted it whatever it was... and if it did turn out to be the same one, I knew I would be able to dispose of it via the Calibre11 forum.

Sure enough, the package arrived and... it wasn't the same Monaco book, which was good - because I don't need another one and instead I got a nice little book about the Monaco V4. Truth be told I'd have been more than happy to pay £8.50 for the Monaco book alone - probably double that even, so this deal was pretty damned sweet if you ask me.

Like in some of the older S/EL and 2000 Series catalogues, TAG Heuer used some 'tissue paper' pages to add to the experience, in particular in the first of these three pictures you can see how they've used it to show detail in the movement. Very cool.

The only slight disappointment is a little bit of damage to the cover (something has dented the front near the spine as you can see in the top picture) and there was obviously a DVD included with the catalogue as there is a foam circle in the back cover. Still, I can't exactly complain can I?

I must admit I was surprised how much difference there was between the 2008/09-2009/10-2010/11 catalogues, not so much in the watches, although there were definitely comings and goings... but all the index pages were redesigned with ambassadors moving between ranges (Lewis Hamilton represents the Carrera in this one), which seems unnecessary given that this was just for the dealers to look at, but still, I guess if you've got a marketing department you might as well give them something to do.

The first thing I noticed though was that in the 2009/10 catalogue the Formula 1 WAH1110 was a baton dial, whereas in the 2010/11 edition it had changed to the oversized Arabics. I still don't know why they did that and kept the same part number, such an odd decision as it looks completely different.

As you can probably tell I'm super happy with my ridiculously small investment and how lucky is it that this was the only one I was missing from 2004-2011? I'm still smarting over losing that ring bound 1988 catalogue last year though.... 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer S/EL Quartz Chronograph

FEATURE: The Weight Issue

I've been meaning to do a post about 'weights' for a long time, but never quite got around to it... and then someone asked me what the weight of one particular watch was so I thought, right - let's get it done. Now obviously I don't expect everyone to be fascinated by what each of my watches weighs, but it could be useful if you are looking to buy something 'similar' to one of my watches and actually some of the results came as a bit of a surprise one way or the other.

According to YouTube watch guru Jody (at 'Just One More Watch', a channel I view regularly even though most of the watches are 'micro-brand fluff') the sweet spot for wristwatches is 150g. So I've decided to divide the watches into three categories, the lightweights (0-100gm), the light-middleweights (101-130gm), the middleweights (131-160gm) and the heavyweights (161gm+).

THE LIGHTWEIGHTS

Five of the twenty five watches I have available at the moment (3 of my watches are stuck in TAG Heuer limbo for the forseeable future) fall into the lightweight category.

01. Classic Formula 1 quartz with a resin case on a resin strap (35g)

02. 2000 Series Multigraph quartz on a rubber strap (72g)

03. 3000 Series quartz Steel on a bracelet (92g)

04. 3000 Series quartz Two-Tone on a bracelet (92g)

05. Aquaracer PVD Titanium Calibre 5 on a textile strap (95g)

THE LIGHT-MIDDLEWEIGHTS

06. 4000 Series quartz on a bracelet (105g)

07. Microtimer quartz on a rubber strap (106g)

08. S/EL quartz watch on a bracelet (108g)

09. Carrera Titanium Calibre 16 chronograph on a textile strap (110g)

10. Aquaracer Calibre S quartz chronograph on a rubber strap (113g)

11. 6000 Series quartz on a bracelet (115g)

12. 1500 GMT quartz on a bracelet (116g)

13. Classic Aquaracer quartz on a bracelet (123g)

14. S/EL Two-Tone quartz chronograph on a bracelet (125g)

THE MIDDLEWEIGHTS

15. 2000 Exclusive quartz on a bracelet (131g)

16. Aquagraph Calibre 60 chronograph on a rubber strap (133g)*

17. Pilot quartz chronograph on a bracelet (136g)

18. 6000 Series quartz chronograph on a bracelet (140g)

19. 2000 Exclusive quartz chronograph on a bracelet (143g)

20. Carrera Heuer 01 chronograph on a rubber strap (150g)

21. Kirium quartz chronograph on a bracelet (154g)

22. F1 Kirium quartz chronograph on a bracelet (156g)

THE HEAVYWEIGHTS

23. Link Searacer quartz chronograph on a bracelet (167g)

24. Aquaracer Chronotimer quartz chronograph on a bracelet (176g)

25. Aquaracer 500M quartz on a bracelet (189g)


*My Aquagraph is currently living on a rubber strap and accordingly weighs in at a relatively light 133g, but on the bracelet it would easily have been the heaviest watch here weighing in at a startling 225g, 50% up on the 150g 'sweet spot'.

I hope this post is useful to some of you and particularly to the person who asked about the Link Searacer - thanks for your interest.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 6000 Series Quartz Chronograph

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph Review by My Casio for Your Sub

FEATURE: Are TAG Heuer 'Milking' the Carrera?

Carreras one and all...

I received an email the other day, with a suggestion for a post (I like emails like that, since I'm always on the lookout for ideas - so thank you!), it said something like...

"I recently read a post on a blog about a watch company milking a model line (for example AP with the Royal Oak , or Omega with the Speedmaster') and I wondered if you thought TAG Heuer were milking the Carrera?"

The short answer to that is, of course, yes. But what I found more interesting is the reasoning behind it.

You only have to visit the Calibre 11 forum to see that the Carrera means different things to different people, on the one hand you have those who only value the '60s' style Carreras, with some ardent traditionalists refusing to accept the modern Carrera as a Carrera at all since it no longer meets the original design criteria (legibility over everything). On the other you have the more modern Carreras like the one featured below, and then of course we have the much more recent 'modular' Carrera with its skeletonised dial, multitude of finishes and even (at the higher end) tourbillons.

On top of that we have the Connected Smartwatch which is (somewhat unnecessarily in my view) designated as a Carrera. I have to say I think that is a bit of a nonsense as it really is its own entity and doesn't need to be nor should it be lumped in with the Carrera history... and yet, fitted with its Calibre 16 chronograph module what else would you call it? Hmm, tricky eh?

So sure, TAG Heuer are guilty as charged of 'milking' the Carrera name for all it's worth... but, honestly can you blame them?

Firstly, the watch industry is now in a state of MASSIVE conservatism. For nigh on ten years the companies have looked backwards and spewed out a constant stream of re-issues, anniversary pieces and heritage models. This is all well and good, but where in the past this was a small part of a more forward looking business now the roles have reversed to the point where even the watch magazines are starting to roll their eyes in frustration.

And those that do try to do something genuinely new have found it heavy going, the obvious example being Audemars Piquet and their tragically badly named 'Code 11:59' (whatever that is supposed to mean). I mean, in light of that particular debacle I cannot honestly blame AP for folding their arms and saying 'Fine, you want Royal Oaks, you can have as many as you like - but don't tell us we never try anything new.'

It's not that the 'Code 11:59' was a great watch, it certainly wasn't - but such was the glee with which the watch community ripped the thing to shreds and threw it back in APs face that the other watch companies must have watched in absolute horror and cast glances over their shoulders at their own R&D departments. And if they had any 'new' model ranges in the works, at best they would have wanted to give some serious thought as to whether it was wise to push ahead or not.

Watch companies (and indeed many other kinds of companies) are very keen on pushing their history as a sign of quality and reassurance. For instance this year TAG Heuer are celebrating their 160th anniversary, some other watch companies can claim a similar vintage and some even longer (Breguet, since 1775), but really it's only the last sixty years that has any real relevance.

If we look back to the 1980s, TAG Heuer's model line-up was made up almost entirely of new ranges. This was the time of the S/EL, the Kirium, the 4000 and 6000 Series, yes the 2000 survived from the Heuer days, right up until the 2000s when it was rebranded as the Aquaracer. Many forget that the Monaco and Carrera lines were discontinued before TAG bought the Heuer watch company and they weren't brought back until almost ten years had passed, and even then it was as a niche model with a very limited model range.

Soon the Carrera range expanded to include new models, most of which seem to have proved acceptable to the traditionalists, but all that changed at the 2015 Bazelworld watch fair when TAG Heuer (under the stewardship of Jean Claude Biver) announced a new kind of Carrera altogether.

I was spellbound and instantly resolved to buy the Heuer 01 Carrera for myself, but others were not so keen and this is an argument that has splintered the Calibre 11 forum ever since as TAG Heuer have announced more and more Carreras in ever less 'traditional' designs. Nowadays you can buy 'Phantom' Carreras, models which pile black on black on black until actually being able to read the time is secondary to the overall aesthetic. In the process becoming the absolute antithesis of what makes a 'Carrera' a 'Carrera'.

Part of me truly thinks that the Heuer 01 Carrera should have been given a new name, but I can see why they didn't go that route. Yes the model range is confused as hell with watches that look nothing like each other sharing the same name, but from a marketing point of view and from a 'risk' point of view it made total sense to call these new watches 'Carreras' and to tap into the Carrera heritage buzz. I bet in hindsight Audemars Piguet kinda wish they had called the 'Code 11:59' the Royal Oak Supernova... or something, anything that meant it couldn't be simply dismissed out of hand. 

Besides, it's become 'the norm' now that watch companies have to keep things simple for the consumer, so having two racing chronograph lines was a no-no. I mean that's why the Autavia is now being pitched more as a pilot's watch than it ever was before, and also why we have the new 'Autavias' that have little to do with the Autavias of old.

So yes, sure, TAG Heuer are milking the Carrera for all it's worth, but all they're really doing is keeping their heads down, trying to make a crust and trying not to do what Audemars Piguet did, because while putting out skeletonised, phantom Carreras might annoy a few people, it doesn't lead to the mass lynching you can expect if you try to launch a genuinely new model range in 2020.

Besides, watch companies are businesses. As much as people want them to be something else, that's what they are and while some companies (Rolex, Patek Phillipe) enjoy the luxury of waiting lists and stagnant / consistent (depending on your point of view) model ranges, some... and TAG Heuer in particular (perhaps because they are on the entry-level end of things and perhaps because part of their brand message is that they are 'avant garde'...) need to constantly bring out new variations of existing models to keep the public interested.

How much is too much though? Well, I guess if you look at the Carrera as a whole then yes it looks like a lot of watches. But if you look at each subset of the Carrera individually it's not outrageous, and actually I think perhaps it looks a lot worse than it really is at the moment as TAG Heuer are replacing the Heuer 01 Carreras with the new Heuer 02 movement seemingly across the board.

Sure there are a lot of Carreras, but it strikes me that people only moan about 'too many' Carreras when there's too many Carreras that they don't actually like. And generally speaking it seems like it's fans of older models moaning about the vast array of 'modular' Carrreras rather than the other way around.

Y.T.I.N.M.T: Your Testarossa is not my Testarossa!

So actually, given that the Carrera name represents quite a large range of watches that could easily have at least three different names, it isn't all that bad... and I for one don't really see the problem with it. 

Besides, let's face it, the Carrera 'battle' is long lost...  realistically, nowadays 'Carrera' is just an umbrella term for TAG Heuer Racing Chronograph, just as Aquaracer is a blanket term for TAG Heuer Dive Watch. I get that that statement will infuriate some, but I don't think there's anything unusual in that. I don't think too many watch companies have competing model lines, do they? Right or wrong that's what it is, and I'm afraid until the watch industry starts looking forwards again (if it ever does) that's how it's going to be.

See, back in the 80s it was much easier, TAG Heuer had chronographs in the 2000, 3000, 6000, S/EL, and Kirium lines. Watches weren't obsessively defined by 'brand message' and put into boxes like they are now. So whereas you used to have several different models with different case shapes, now you get three different watches sold as Carreras and multiple versions of each.

I think everyone would be happier if a Carrera was allowed to be a Carrera again... I'd much rather see new model lines with different case shapes, but it's not going to happen. 'TAG Heuer launches new Carrera' has so much more impact on social media than 'TAG Heuer launches new Quantum Biscuit'. And yes, I'm afraid social media has to be brought up because it is the root of the problem.

The AP 'Royal Oak' was not an instant success, but without social media to rip it to pieces it was able to grow into the icon that it is. Yes, Facebook and Twitter allow watch companies to get their message out to their customers, but it also means new products are instantly hailed or damned (there's rarely anything in between) and so we return to the problem of 'conservatism'.

I don't know the answer, I'm not even sure there is one... but the watch companies can't trade on the past forever, because people get old and die. Sooner or later they need to start creating new 'icons' because why on Earth should a twenty year old kid care about Steve McQueen and the Monaco? But then, when was the last time you heard someone say 'I wish (insert watch company here) would release a 'new' watch'? No, you only hear 'I wish (insert watch company here) would re-issue such and such watch'.

Maybe the reality is that the time of the wristwatch is running out and all there's left to do is recycle the past?