ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 Watches

WAR215E.BD0783     WAR215C.FC6336     WAR215C.BD0784

TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 19th September 2019

This selection of 39mm Carreras caught my eye on my last visit to the boutique, admittedly they aren't really the kind of watch I am likely to put my hand in my pocket for, but I can appreciate a nice watch regardless of that. The most noticeable difference between the watches is the dial, which is flat on the WAR215E and sunburst on the WAR215C. I kinda like both dials if I'm honest, but the matt dial of the WAR215E contrasts nicely with the gold bezel and gives a solid background to the gold hands, making the watch surprisingly legible.

WAR215C.FC6336 

Bicester have the sunburst dial version on a bracelet or a leather strap, but at present they only have the WAR215E on a bracelet. Besides the dial the other main difference between these two Calibre 5 Carreras is that the WAR215C is yellow gold whereas the WAR215E is rose gold. This is abundantly clear on the renders shown above and below, but in all honesty I really struggled to tell the difference in the lights of the boutique. I mean really struggled. It might be different in daylight of course, but from what I could tell there isn't that much to choose between them, so it will probably come down to your preference on dial finish. Incidentally, talking of dial finish, I'm glad I managed to get some photographs of these as you can see from the wristshots that the dial is much lighter than it appears in the renders.

WAR215E.BD0784

Personally I'd definitely go with the rose gold / flat dial combination and definitely on a bracelet. The leather straps these come on are super-thin and appear rather delicate for a big chap like me, though they do have a deployment clasp (in steel) which should extend their life, I wouldn't fancy their chances too long against a pin and buckle, but maybe they are harder wearing than they look..?

WAR215C.FC6336

(Yellow Gold / Sunburst Dial / Leather Strap) 

List Price - £2850

Bicester Village Price - £1995

WAR215C.BD0783 

(Yellow Gold / Sunburst Dial / Two Tone Bracelet)

List Price - £3350

Bicester Village Price - £2345

WAR215E.BD0784

(Rose Gold / Matt Dial / Two Tone Bracelet)

List Price - £3350

Bicester Village Price - £2345

While these probably aren't something I would buy, I definitely enjoyed trying them on and can appreciate the overall design. I do like the fact that the bracelets aren't too over the top; they only have gold on alternate centre links rather than a solid gold middle and the links that are gold are also smaller than the steel ones. Less is definitely more I feel and it works very well here for me.

As always I don't know how many of these Carreras they have, but they estimated they had enough to last a few weeks so they should still have one or two available if you're keen. Give them a call on 01869 249008.