FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Carrera Calibre 16 Chronograph Senna Special Edition

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After that horror of a watch (the CR7) I thought I should do another special edition with a logo on the dial just to prove that TAG can get it right when they want to. Incidentally, in case you are wondering what the difference between a Special Edition and a Limited Edition are, I'm guessing 'Limited' means we are only making XXXX many and that's it, whereas 'Special' means we'll keep making them until the demand drops or (in the case of the Senna) until we bring another one out.

Senna of course is a legendary figure and I can quite believe they'll still be making Senna Special Editions long after I'm in the ground, but the fact that there are so many 'Special Edition' Senna models out there does make me wonder if this isn't one cash cow that isn't getting milked a little too hard. As it is TAG currently have a Carrera and a Formula One model with Senna's name on it...

Of the two, this is the much nicer watch (though the F1 version is quite acceptable if someone wants to treat me for Christmas) and might well be something that I need to add to my list of possible next purchases. Look at those red and white markings and how well they contrast the black case, bezel and dial, that is exactly how a Senna special edition should look. After all the iconic Senna image is of the great Brazilian driving the McLaren with the Marlboro sponsorship, is it not?

Maybe, if I'm being picky, they could have put the slightest dab of yellow on the tip of the second hand, just to complete the picture, but maybe that would have been a step too far. Yes I definitely need to have a closer look at one of these sometime in the near future, although I'm not too sure about that strap. I really like rubber straps but those ones with the tread pattern on always struck me as a good idea that looks a bit like it's trying too hard in practice. Still, if any watch should have a tyre tread rubber strap then I guess this is it, albeit Senna's career in F1 was conducted entirely on slicks. Just sayin...

It's 44mm which is big, but no too big for me (the black will probably make it look slightly smaller anyway) and it's listed on the TAG Heuer website at £3500 so it will probably be available for around £3000 online. It's a lot of money, but it's not prohibitive, and crucially it's not close enough to the £6000 I need for the Monaco 24Hrs to put me off.