ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Calibre 8 Watches

WAR5011.FC6291

TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 19th September 2019

From pictures and photographs I have seen in the past I've never really been that interested in this particular style of Carrera, but following a bit of prompting from manager Tom, I was persuaded to get them on the wrist and have a closer look at both the silver dial and black dial variants. Admittedly they aren't really my style, but I definitely feel more favourable towards them now than I did before.

Having owned a Calibre 8 Grand Carrera before, I was familiar with the layout; grand date at the top GMT at the bottom, but where the Grand Carrera uses a rotating disc system, on this Carrera TAG Heuer have decided instead to use a sub dial featuring hour and minute hands to display the second time zone. It's an interesting idea, but it still doesn't address the problem I had with my Grand Carrera which was that a 12 hour GMT doesn't indicate night and day and so is of limited use if you stray far from home. That said, I guess most trips abroad are probably within a few hours, so most people will find it perfectly adequate (if they use it at all).

You might be surprised to learn that the watch is only 41mm in diameter, I say surprised because looking at these pictures on my 7.3/4" wrist you could be forgiven for assuming it was somewhat bigger. I think this is a common thing with watches which don't have a bezel, as the dial is obviously larger and thus gives the impression of a greater diameter overall.

That minor quibble aside I think these watches are quite good looking, I think the silver dial is slightly more interesting than the black dial, perhaps because the white chapter ring lifts the overall design and gives it a bit of that Calibre 17 Carrera desirability. I'm undecided about the white 'grand date' on the black dial, it looks a bit too much of a contrast, but then again I don't think this particular watch needs any more black and I don't know what else they could have done; at least it's clearly visible this way I suppose.

Not that anyone's going to want to go swimming with these on those alligator straps, but these watches are water resistant to 100M, so at least you don't have to worry about them getting splashed while washing your hands or being out in the rain, and of course if you changed the strap you 'could' go for a swim if you wanted to (though maybe avoid diving in!).

I feel like I'm being slightly more negative than I really wanted to be, but it seems like it's one of those watches that you can like, but when you start looking at it closely the only things that stand out for comment are negatives. It's unfortunate as it makes it sound as if I don't have anything good to say about the watch.

Sadly, this theme continues because anytime you move the shield away from the 12 position, you make things complicated for yourself as far as symmetry goes and this watch has the same challenges as my Grand Carrera, that being the balance of the lettering on the left and the shield on the right. I think it looks better here than on my watch, but I can still see that it might not appeal to everyone.

Indeed I think this is the sort of watch that will sit for a while and then someone will see it and absolutely love it, it's definitely not a 'shop window' watch; by that I mean it's not one that a high street jeweller would likely stock, it's more of an enthusiasts piece... and perhaps one for the genuine traveller rather than for the person who just wants a 'Pepsi' bezel.

If you are one of those people, or if you just like the watches, both of these watches are currently available for the Bicester Village outlet for £2310, a £990 saving off the list price of £3300.