ON THE WRIST: Carrera Calibre 16 Black Titanium Chrono

CV2A84.FC6394

Ernest Jones / Manchester 10th March 2017

I'd almost forgotten about this one, and then looking in the window of Ernest Jones in the Trafford Centre on Friday morning... there it was, standing out like a sore thumb with it's brown leather strap and striking dial. I must admit, if anything I was expecting to find the new Mancester United watches in the Trafford Centre, but I didn't see either of them, I'm guessing they haven't quite been released yet...

The most surprising thing for me with this one is that it looks smaller than I expected. This seems to be a thing with black watches, it seems to knock a millimetre or more of the perceived case size. It wasn't even like I was wearing a big watch when I went in, I was wearing my trusty Formula One WAH1110-0, which is only 40mm in diameter, but this still struck me as smaller than anticipated once it was on the wrist.

The sales-lady was keen to point out the 'vintage' aesthetic, but I'm afraid I really don't see it. To me, the only thing that is particularly 'vintage' about this is the brown leather strap, which is you know I abhor. I do really like this one as it is something 'different', but that strap would have to go. It would be interesting to know what options are available to switch out the strap and keep the black coated buckle (which is fine and looks just like a smaller version of the one on the Heuer 01 Carrera incidentally). Some kind of black leather would look good, but I'm really thinking tyre tread rubber all the way, definitely worth thinking about.

I'm not saying the brown strap doesn't work, it does - although it's actually quite an odd match. In this instance it's just personal taste. I have it and the person who put them together doesn't - HAHAHAHA!

But seriously, this is a nice watch. The dial is so striking and looks fantastic. Legibility is optimal over pretty much any other Carrera I can think of and the black treatment on the movement looks pretty cool too (although I'm not entirely sure why they did that really). I've always liked the Carreras with the 'minute' markings on the dial, but often they are mirrored finish and seem to reflect only dark surfaces and so disappear into the dial, but here the beige lume stands out well, and is probably a nicer option than a pure white would have been (for example check out the difference between a standard Tudor Pelagos and the LHD version).

I really like this one, and it makes me think that TAG have some good ideas for the future (something the Manchester United watches cast doubt upon), but at £3800 it seems a little steep for me to buy, especially when I know I'm going to want to spend another £150 or so on a replacement strap. Having said that, this could be a nice second hand purchase in a few years, or maybe one day in the distant future if it could turn up at the outlets with a hefty discount it may be worth a punt.

As a matter of interest, I just checked on Iconic Watches website (where I bought my Heuer 01) and they are only offering £200 discount on this one at the moment, which seems rather low considering I got my Carrera Skeleton for £3200.