FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Gold' Glassbox TH20-00 Chronograph

 

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Back in May I visited London to meet up with my good friend Jim Dollares and together we spent a pleasant hour in the TAG Heuer boutique trying on lots of watches. One of the watches we tried on was last year's 42mm solid gold reverse Panda - the one we all thought was going to be for Jack Heuer's 90th birthday but ended up just being a regular gold R.P. Jim and I really liked that watch and my Swedish buddy suggested I should start saving for it for my 60th birthday (thankfully not until 2029 I hasten to add - but I'd still need to put away over £3000 a year!).

During that visit Jim and I also tried on the then newly released 39mm Glassbox Carreras and we both agreed that they were inferior in every way to the previous versions. But for some bizarre reason the rest of the watch community (having seemingly stumbled on a huge bag of acid) have collectively hailed these new watches as the saviours of TAG Heuer and the best thing to come out of Switzerland since Jean Claude Biver!*

*Apparently Mr Biver was born in Luxembourg but I couldn't think of anything better sorry... 

And since then of course we've had the Skipper, which again had the watch community in a froth and now this re-imagining of the classic gold 1158CHN Carrera, which is practically guaranteed to get collectors falling over themselves given the historical importance of that particular model (as I'm sure you will be aware given that every article and video on the subject will be parroting the same message - Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Jack Heuer etc).

And it's not like this wasn't telegraphed months ago, Hodinkee hailing the 1158CHN as one of the best Carreras ever on their website when the first Glassboxes (or possibly the Skipper) came out - no surprise really given they would have been well aware that this was coming out at the end of the year. A great bit of pre-emptive marketing there, sowing the seeds and ramping up the hype. Go Hodinkee!

And now it's here, I'd have to agree that it is probably the best looking of the new Glassbox Carreras, but that said, I still don't like it. In fact I still struggle to score it more than a 5. By contrast I would give last year's reverse Panda a strong 9... maybe it will look better in person, but having seen the others I doubt it.

And one of the main reasons for that is the dreadful printed running seconds counter. Ever since TAG Heuer launched the Heuer 02 Monaco people have been moaning about the 'crosshair' running seconds on those models, but they never bothered me to be honest. With these new Glassboxes though came the new style of printed running seconds counter and I think it looks absolutely awful. Slightly less awful here since it's in black rather than in two colours as on the Skipper, but it still looks tacky and worst of all 'cheap'. All the more annoying really given that the watch this watch wants to be didn't even have a running seconds... now that would have been an improvement.

Can we also talk about that date wheel? Why is it white? Yes, some 1158CHN's have white date wheels, but I'm told by people who know about these things that some also had black wheels and it would have looked so much better in black - or gold perhaps? But not white. Again it looks cheap and like it just hasn't been thought about

But if I haven't managed to put you off, let's also talk price. The CBS2240 is currently for sale for £18750, which is exactly the same price as the stunning and superior 42mm Carrera I mentioned earlier. Even more interestingly though, a quick check on Chrono 24 suggests that you can buy an original, 1970s 1158CHN (with a black date wheel) for just £22,153... so wouldn't that be a better way to go if you really want that dream retro Carrera? 

I think honestly, no matter what they do, TAG Heuer aren't going to persuade me to like these 39mm Glassboxes and that's just the way it's going to be, but I was surprised the C.O.C.O. wasn't more gushing in it's praise. 

Oh, and before I go, remember what I said about Hodinkee earlier, and how they 'predict' future releases with their 'articles'... I seem to remember they were banging on about how TAG Heuer should bring back the original Formula 1 a little while back.

Just sayin'...

9/10: Best looking of the new TAG branded glassboxes. If ever I was to buy a 18k gold TAG Heuer, this would be the one. Having said that, the original 1158CHN is still my grail and the one I'd stretch for if spending upwards of $20k for a watch.

7/10: There are historical details that I like, as it is a tribute to the Carrera Peterson, I also like the chosen strap, but the more time passes, the less I like the bezel of these new glassboxes, and neither do their protruding subdials, so I can't give it more than a 7/10

6/10:.I would suggest to Tag Heuer that they separate their collections for the masses from those for their core fans. Do we need a running second for this gold Carrera? I don't think so, and I don't need the TAG logo.

6.5/10: Don't like the date wheel or the nasty sub seconds display

9/10: The rendered pictures does not do justice. The brushed dial is actually good looking in this watch.  Just wished that the movement could be gold or rose gold as well consider this already will cost arms and legs anyway.

8.5/10: The running seconds keeps it from a solid ten. I wish they would’ve left it off or given it a matching black subdial and black date. But still, it’s a nice conclusion to the year’s festivities.

7/10: The gold somehow hides the weird bezel-under-glass bulge, but still with the running seconds? Plus being a H02 it’s probably about 4ft thick

8/10: I really should take my time in the near future to have a look at one of the new glassboxes to check out how this works. And yes, I would love to see that golden gem in the metal. I love the combination of gold and black and this seems to be a great example. Did you even notice it has a PIN BUCKLE!!! Well, they could have used the vintage logo and a black datewheel to be a bit more close to the beacon. But apart from this (and don't mention the ugly price tag) it's an awesome watch.

7/10: This would have been so much better in 42mm and without the new glassbox-bezel.

8.5/10: The most favourite, out of reach, watch of 2023 for me. The vertically brushed dial is beautiful! (would be 9.5/10 with a gold datewheel)

4/10: I like it, but I find it hard to get excited about a watch costing £18.5k. I have to take that into account, and the fact that I actually prefer the other 39mm glassboxes anyway.

7/10: Needs to be seen in the metal to either appreciate it or puke I would say.

4.75/10: I don't even want to see it in the metal. Still trying to be fair, though...

4/10: Wow. I had decided—before looking at everyone’s scores—that I was going 4/10 for this gold-plated new glassbox. Plus, I just don’t like the new glassbox design.

4 / 10: Gold ✅ Black Subdials ✅ Cool Racing Strap ✅ ✅ White Date Wheel ❌ Size ❌ Modern Glassbox❌ Price!!! ❌❌❌ It’s a definite no from me. 

5/10: Would have been a 9 if it didn't have the running seconds, and cost a couple thousand less. 10 if it also had a black date wheel. As is it's too expensive, and just too lazy with the details in that price category to properly compete. Anything from Zenith or Omega in that price bracket is streets ahead in terms of quality and detail work.

9/10: Truly wow! If only I can splurge and buy this! I love how the gold finish remarkably resembles the Carrera 1158 CHN . If I would buy a modern day Ferrari, this will definitely be my chronograph (with B+ etched at the back).