FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Carrera Heuer 01 Chronograph Titanium and 18K Rose Gold

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Jean Claude Biver's influence on TAG Heuer's new watches has been evident right from the release of the prototype pictures of the Carrera Heuer 01, with many moved to comment that TAG were re-positioning themselves as a mini Hublot, and it has to be said, that by releasing this watch (with it's Rose Gold and Titanium case) TAG are justifying those comments more than a little. Still, let's not dwell on that too much...

In general I'm not really a fan of gold watches (I know, I don't like much do I!), but the ones I do like tend to be black and gold ones (the Rolex Yacht Master 37 springs to mind, though I was tremendously underwhelmed when I actually got to see one in the metal). This one definitely appeals to me, even though I'll never buy one. Owning a standard Carrera Heuer 01 (which I love) there's no way I would fork out £7250 for the same watch with a gold case, besides for that money I could have the Monaco 24Hr.

The Carrera Heuer 01 is a terribly difficult watch to photograph it seems. Every time I see a straight on shot like the one above I can't help but think how badly that angle represents the watch. 

Well, that's a bit better, admittedly not a great photo still, but it does give a much better representation. The gold really compliments the black and the gold markers and hands definitely have better legibility than the standard model and that crown looks really nice with the gold. The crucial question I suppose is, if I hadn't already bought the standard version would I have invested another £3250 to get the gold version?

I really don't think so. As gorgeous as it is, and it is gorgeous... personally I couldn't justify the extra cash for the sake of some gold parts. I'm afraid until such time as I become a lot wealthier these kind of watches are a bit beyond me financially, in as much as I could buy one, but I'd rather buy one watch every eighteen months or so, than one expensive watch every four years. 

Still, you never know. It is a lovely piece, and well worth six CR7's any day.