CBK221C.FC6488
The Heuer Montreal is a long standing fan favourite and one a lot of people would like to see revived a la the Monza 40th Anniversary. The only problem is it came in a rather 'particular' case that is no longer in the range and I'm guessing it would cost quite a lot of money to resurrect it solely for one watch, so what to do? Well... as the saying goes 'if in doubt make a Carrera', and so here we have the 'Heuer Carrera Montreal'.
From the moment I clapped eyes on this one I knew it would divide opinion; not only is it going to be too colourful for some people, but some of the people who the watch is actually genuinely 'aimed' at aren't going to like it either because it isn't a proper 're-issue'. With this in mind I was actually expecting a lot more complaining on the Calibre 11 forum on release day than there actually was. I mean, there was complaining (there always is; it's too thick, it's too big, I wanted it with a panda dial in 36mm...), but only one person really commented on the fact that this was one watch's dial transplanted into another completely different watch... still, maybe that means we can have that long awaited 'Dark Lord' Carrera for the 170th Anniversary, eh? ;)
I jest of course, as this was always the closest we were ever likely to get to a genuine 're-issue' of the legendary Heuer Montreal. And yet, nowhere on the watch does it actually say 'Montreal'. It says it on the website and the marketing materials, but not on the watch itself. I think that's a shame, it could have been subtly positioned in the running seconds register instead of the text 'Swiss' or they could have put it on the backplate 'Montreal Limited Edition' instead of just 'Limited Edition'. But then again I guess everyone knows what it's supposed to be so it doesn't really matter all that much... although saying that I've already seen two people complaining about it so maybe it does!
You might think the CBK221C is garishly colourful, but looking back at the watch that inspired it, it actually looks almost like a bit of a cop-out. It's certainly incredibly 'blue' and there's still plenty of yellow on the new version, but the red has been scaled right back. You will also be forgiven for thinking that the red/blue tachymetre/pulsometer text around the dial has been left off, it has actually... but there is a very small minute track which echoes that colour scheme (I couldn't see it either, until someone pointed it out to me so you're not alone!).
I'm not quite sure why they left the date off and added in the running seconds subdial, again they could easily have gone the 'Heuer 02 Monaco' route and had a ghost subdial and the date, it would certainly have kept the design more true to the original... at least they changed those blocky subdial hands, although again apparently some people prefer them (the esteemed Mr David Chalmers for one!).
The case is an 'afficionado' pleasing 39mm, but matched with a 14.7mm thickness, which will undoubtedly make this feel a tad chunky on the wrist and predictably that was something that people on the Calibre 11 forum were complaining about.
As for accessibility, well the watch is limited to 1000 pieces as opposed to the 1860pcs of other anniversary models such as the 2010 'Silverstone' re-issue and the previously announced 'silver dial' 160th anniversary Carrera.
I think this was perhaps a wise move, as I can't quite decide if this will fly off the shelves or sit stubbornly in the shadow of the much more conservative and undeniably elegant CBK221B. Either way though I can see this one holding value well and becoming a collectible model in years to come. Personally I don't think either model is really for me, the silver dial is too conservative and this one isn't as daring as it could have been, for instance I think it's a shame they toned down the hands - but to be fair those red hands would have made this even more divisive than it already is so I can see why they didn't go that far.
Still I congratulate the TAG Heuer team for pushing it as far as they did, especially in a 'classic' Carrera case; as someone on the Calibre 11 forum ruefully pointed out 'perhaps these colours would be better on a F1'. At least they didn't just play it ultra-safe and give us another standard Panda dial. I know it's basically what people want, but it would have been a bit underwhelming. I'm slightly confused at the toning down of the red though, because red on white is the main colour of the Montreal flag, and ideally I would have liked to have seen a solid caseback with a beaver chewing a pine tree on it. But maybe that's just me being silly... :)
The Carrera 160th Anniversary 'Montreal' comes on a blue alligator strap, costs £5550, has 100M of water resistance and is available to order on the TAG Heuer website now.
https://www.tagheuer.com/gb/en/timepieces/collections/tag-heuer-carrera/39-mm-calibre-heuer02/CBK221C.FC6488.html
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