Mystery Watch Spotted in Japanese Launch Video
A couple of new Japanese Special Editions have popped up on the Calibre 11 forum this week, one of them was first spotted on the wrist of a celebrity (I'm guessing...) in a video of a boutique launch by 'Hubert', but was quickly identified by 'Saibot' from a posting on Instagram.
But first, let's take a look at another new Japanese model...
CAR201D.XXXXXX
This is the Tokyo Boutique Edition, and to all intents and purposes is a 43mm Carrera with the Drive Timer numerals, a ceramic bezel and a titanium case. The unique elements with this watch are of course the red hands and red skeletonised date wheel.
I can't quite decide if I like this or not, I think the red date wheel is a neat idea, and one I could see being used again with different colours for different countries/ambassadors... but I'm just not sure if it looks quite classy enough for quite an expensive watch. I've said before that often red on watches can look a bit tacky if there's too much of it and it's too shiny (like on the hands of the Formula One Senna models) and this coming from someone with a watch with an orange chapter ring... There's something about the particular tone of red TAG seem to use lately that makes it look like plastic, and that's not really a good thing is it?
And now on to the 'Mystery Watch' shown above in that screen grab...
CAR5A8S.EB0136
This one is pretty special and is sure to get you noticed - if that's your thing... this is the 45mm white ceramic bezel Ginza Boutique Edition. Personally I think the dial on this is great, although I'm not at all sure I'd wear it myself, which is just as well because this one costs about £19,300, which is more than a little out of my budget. You could argue that the white hands on this make the watch hard to read, but I'm guessing 'design' overrules 'practicality' on this particular occasion.
This red tourbillon equipped Carrera is clearly no shrinking violet and at 45mm will be impossible to miss on the wrist, but looking at the picture below it's clearer that this model is just a little half-baked. Wouldn't it have been really nice for this watch to have gone the whole hog and utilised a white ceramic case? Or even a case and bracelet? Sure the white leather strap complements the bezel right enough, but that steel case doesn't look quite right to me. Black titanium with a red stripe would have looked great, black ceramic would have worked too, especially since the strap has a black backing. But that steel case... that feels like a great design has been squandered slightly for the sake of a few Yen.
Still, it's great to see TAG releasing these special editions and putting a little more thought into them than just slapping a badge on an existing dial.
https://forums.calibre11.com/threads/2018-carrera-heuer-02t-ginza-edition-car5a8s.74481/https://forums.calibre11.com/threads/2018-carrera-tokyo-boutique-edition-car201d.74478/
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