CBS2213.FN6002
While of course it's refreshing to see any new TAG Heuer product garnering favourable comments in the wider watch community, the honest truth is that the new 39mm Carrera Glassboxes are by far my least favourite watches in the current TAG Heuer line-up (in fact I'm struggling to come up with much from the last 37 years I dislike more...). If anything these new so-called 'glassboxes' have made me realise how much better the older ones were than I ever gave them credit for. So, every cloud.... right?
But I realise that once again I am out of step with the the collective thinking and with that in mind I didn't really see the value in my writing a third post telling you why I don't like them. So instead I called on our good friend and devoted glassbox enthusiast Charlie M (also known as Imagwai on the THF Forum), to provide a much fairer and less antagonistic opinion.
CHARLIE M: As someone who clearly favours both smaller and more traditional watches, I was delighted to be asked by Rob to put together my first impressions on Tag Heuer’s latest release, the 39mm Carrera Skipper. Tag have released a lot of new watches this year, but aside from the Carrera Panda, this was the one I was most looking forward to. Let’s take a closer look.
The Carrera Skipper uses the same case design as the other recently-released 39mm Carreras. The key difference here is the dial and this is really what the Skipper is all about. The shade of blue appears deep with just the right amount of shine and brushing to make it sparkle in the right light. You don’t often see radial brushing on a dial, and this definitely adds a unique element to the watch.
The subdials utilise the distinctive Skipper colour palette of red, teal and mint (although the mint appears to be a lighter, more wishy-washy shade than the original). I won’t pretend to know anything about yachting and neither will most owners of this watch I suspect, but it looks cool and I think it’s nice that Tag are putting some elements of their history into a modern watch as part of their standard line-up.
The addition of the 6 o’clock date as well as the seconds subdial probably won’t go down as well with vintage enthusiasts, but at a distance, these do not significantly spoil the watch and are useful additions in the context of being a modern watch. Indeed, I actually quite like the design touch of the seconds subdial markers in orange and white. Some may also complain about the background to the date being in white, but this makes sense to fit in with the silver applied markers and helps balance the dial. I absolutely love the orange tips to the polished silver hands and the orange timing hand suits the colour scheme well.
Like many others, I am not a fan of the curved outer chapter ring which sits under the crystal on these new 39mm Carreras. It spoils the sharp simplicity of the Carrera for me. But at least on the Skipper it’s slightly less obvious.
The watch comes on a dark blue sailcloth strap that I think suits the watch really well. I can see the watch working well on many different straps, however, including NATOs and leather. For extra points, TAG could have put it on a beads of rice, but then again perhaps this risks taking it too far in the vintage reissue direction?
I think the way to think about this watch is as a modern Tag Heuer (not Heuer heritage) which borrows some design elements from Heuer’s illustrious history. It’s not a reissue – they’ve already done one of those for the Skipper. This is different and refreshing and takes a great design from the past into a modern watch that I think is hopefully good enough to hold its own in the marketplace without having to rely solely on "vintage-inspired" sales to enthusiasts.
So, it’s clear I love this watch. But will I be buying one? That’s a maybe with a big “if”. I don’t actually own many watches (I have a self-imposed limit of 8), and I already have two Carreras in the collection including my beloved Panda, which isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Having said that, I would really like this one in my collection. But the problem is price.
Tag is selling this for £5900 in the UK. That’s a shade less than the Panda cost me, granted, but I still maintain that was hideously overpriced for what it was. £6k can buy you a hell of a lot of watch from many other respected brands, so I think this will be a tough sell. If TAG had priced this nearer the £3-3500 mark, then they’d possibly have a mega hit on their hands to rival Tudor. I would certainly consider picking one up on the second-hand market if it ever reaches this price point.
Despite the price, though, this is my second favourite Tag Heuer release of the year, and I give it a highly creditable 8.5 out of 10. That’s a very good score for me (I never give 10s!).
In-house Calibre TH20-06 movement.
Well, a BIG thanks to Charlie for his insightful comments, I'm sure that was a much better read than me typing 'I loathe it' three hundred times like a deranged Jack Torrance. Okay, 'loathe' is a bit strong, this 'Skipper' version of the watch is definitely an improvement over the plain blue model for sure, and crushes to dust the woeful black/fauxtina abomination that is the CBS2210!
And so we come to the Council of Considered Opinion. I honestly thought this one was going to score a lot higher than it has (I was expecting mid to high 'sevens' for sure... based on the scores of the Heuer branded 'glassboxes') but it seems I'm not the only one who has reservations.
9/10: "Would have been an 11/10 if they had left the running seconds off. But as-is it's such a well-executed design and a wonderful modernization of the Skipper. The detail work on this watch, such as the polished outer subdial rings and the orange accents on the hands and dial markers are just to a whole new level I've not seen yet from TAG. Add to that the update to the 15-minute countdown timer and the special sailcloth / waterproof leather strap and you have a truly special watch. The TAG of just a couple years ago would have just slapped Skipper colors on a standard Carrera and called it a day, and I think we've really turned a corner here. Can't wait to see what the next couple years brings!"
7/10: "Lost points for the patchy dial."
4/10: "Had been waiting to see if it would be eligible for purchase since the rumours started, but this half-baked spec left me in doubt and I decided not to buy it. It's a really half-hearted homage compared to the Skipparera. If possible, I want to make the bezel ring colour white, remove the small second, and replace Tag Heuer logo with the Heuer one."
7/10: "Full disclosure: The 39mm modern glassboxes feel too small for me and I still think that their designer tried to fix problems that no-one had in the first place... as a result, I am not convinced that these will necessarily age overly well. But time will tell. I also just realized that I have not been a COCO member when the first two 39mm glassbox models from W&W were rated. But the Skipper is still the best of the three and therefore I give it a 7/10 (as I would have rated the other two around 6-ish)."
6/10: "Not a fan of the new glass box anyway so it’s already on the back foot. Strangely enough, although I have been anti the running seconds on other watches , I don’t mind this iteration. Love the colours but it is completely crying out for the Heuer logo and so with all of this considered I give it a 6/10."
3/10: "It would be better without the subdials to be honest. I like the orange accents though."
4.5/10: "To be honest, I want to like this. It's different and interesting, sort of. However it's not good in my opinion. The mint green sub dial colour does not look right and just looks odd to me. I don't know what it is but it's not nice. Also I would have preferred it with just the two sub dials. The 6 o'clock one looks out of place, a bit like the whole watch."
9/10: "This is a very attractive reinterpretation. The strap is also beautiful. It even has its own movement with a 15 minute subdial. I would have expected a higher price tag on this watch. I also like that this one was not made as a limited edition. All in all it's pretty much what you can get for the money here in my view."
6.5/10: "I like that they are bringing a Skipper model to the table, but I am still not sold on the new glassbox models. The running seconds is not to my liking on this one (and that stems from the classic Skipper design). Having said that, the overall package looks nice."
7.5/10: "This is tricky because I like the colour scheme but not a fan of this model generally. As I gave the Blue one a 7/10, I am therefore obliged to give a 7.5/10 for this."
7/10: "I’m just not feeling it. I appreciate the effort but I think I prefer the milky ring of the previous version as opposed to the new glassbox version."
8/10: "Really like the look of it all round. Strap is a bit of a no from me but otherwise really good."
5.5/10: "The Skipper colours don't really do it for me. I didn't like the previous Skipper (was that Hod-wankee special?). I don't like the 39mm glassbox. The strap is, at least, unique and appropriate. It looks like sail cloth."
8/10: "As with the two previous 39mm new glassboxes, I don't quite like that internal bezel in Connected E4 (42mm) style, and I also don't like that protruding outer ring of the subdials, but this Skipper is my favourite of the three and a nice watch anyway."
7.5/10: "I'm quite happy that TAG Heuer made another Skipper and I really wanted to love this watch. But the reality is I just like it, don't love it. There's something about the new glassbox Carreras in general that do not translate into "must have" types of watches for me. But there's enough going for the new Skipper that I might end up getting one in a year or two, or three, or four... or never."
4.5/10: "The new glassboxes are horrendous, this one looks slightly less so but it would still be a cold day in hell before I bought one."
8/10: "Haven't seen it yet but having tried on all other glassboxes this one will be a treat. Yes Carrera on dial, weird Skipper position, white date wheel, running seconds, silver hands and markers etc. but still a very cool piece. Best design of the new glassboxes so far. I like the strap, it's very suitable for a regatta watch and looks great. A nice summer watch I would love to own at some point. But 6.850 euro is higher than I'd be willing to spend. However I don't believe these will come down much, regular line-up or not. I expect there will be waitlist moving forward."
6/10: "It’s a bit busy, would a yachtsman have time to study this in the midst of a race and ‘weather?’ Really a fans dream but not for me, getting old and grumpy now I prefer function over fashion and value for money, so, 6/10."
9/10: "The best Tag Heuer for some time. Don't see it beating the Panda for WOTY."
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