FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer x Hodinkee Carrera 'Seafarer' Calibre TH20-13 Limited Edition

I've never been much of a gambler, probably cos I'm too tight to risk losing my money... but if I was going to place a bet on which watch was likely to be the 2024 COCO 'Watch of the Year' then this would be the obvious choice. 

FACT - The COCO loves Heuer watches first and foremost. 

FACT - The COCO loves Carreras above Monacos. 

FACT - There's no 'Heuer' branded Carrera this year (as far as I know).

FACT - There isn't really another credible contender at this point in time. 

All of which leads me to the inevitable conclusion that this will indeed secure enough votes to take the crown.... which is kind of a shame honestly, because I was rather looking forward to an unpredictable battle between several other competitors. Oh well, I guess that's why we vote for second and third these days...

Of course it's also a collab with 'Hodinkee'; once a highly respected authority on timepieces and now, since the launch of their ridiculous travel clock and their ignominious downfall into fashion-led nonsense.... well, not so much. Honestly if it hadn't been that the brand has recently held its hands up and promised to right themselves henceforth, the 'Hodinkee' branding could actually have hurt this release more than helped it!

Which would have been a shame, because despite not being my favourite watch so far this year (indeed far from it) and despite the fact that it's going to ruin the WOTY competition, I actually don't hate it. In fact in the photos I actually think it looks quite cool. First of all, it's in the 42mm case so that's an immediate 'plus', and secondly it doesn't have the God-awful pinky-orange fauxtina that blights the 39mm reverse-panda.

There's no getting away from the fact that the 'TIDE' button is rather large and looks slightly ridiculous, or that the function itself is rather pointless. But since until recently I owned not one but two Regatta chronographs I can hardly point fingers with impunity. Let's face it, most functions on watches are superfluous to requirements... I mean how many people actually need a GMT for travel vs how many people just like a dual colour bezel?

Similarly I'm sure most people will be drawn to this not because of the watch's ability to display tides but because the subdials look 'cool', and I honestly don't have a problem with that. The sub-dial surrounds are slightly obnoxious though and I feel like it's a little odd that they've brought this out with a black dial when the most recognisable 1960s version of this watch featured a beige/grey dial... perhaps they're already teeing that up for 2025?

Speaking of the original 'Abercrombie and Fitch' model, this one is meant to be a homage to the 1968 version - hence the limited run of 968 pieces. Yeah, I really don't know why watch brands do that, if you're looking for a limited number that means something then either do it properly or if it's too many watches to actually sell then choose another number. Cos '968' actually means nothing. 

Price is $7950 with the first 125 numbered pieces being sold exclusively through the Hodinkee webstore.... by the time you read this I imagine they will have sold out, but TAG Heuer will be following on and releasing their stock so no need to panic. 

Kudos to TAG for creating a new movement incorporating a moonphase (a tide indicator is basically the same thing since the tides are influenced by the phases of the moon), perhaps this means we can expect to see some classy looking Carreras with moonphases in the future, something that's been absent from the range since the late 1980s (on the Heuer 'Golden Hours' watches).

Okay, I guess it's now time to let the COCO have their say. You might expect me to be petulant and score this down because the members crucified my favourite watch of the year last month. But I'm a bigger man than that, and so I've decided to give this one a thoroughly credible 6.5/10.

Well this is interesting! So interesting in fact that I had to 'triple check' my adding up... because despite scoring five 9s and a 10 the Seafarer still didn't manage to make it into the high 7s (although to be honest it's still one of the very few watches released this year to actually make it into the 7s so it's still doing well). Even so with six council members scoring it very highly and presumably looking to vote for it at the year's end, this is definitely the one to beat so far... 

For the sake of clarity on this occasion I will show the full scores: 

6.5  4  4.5  5  8  6  7.5  6  7  7  6  8  9  7  9  9  8.5  10  9  3  9  7.5 = 156.5 / 22 = 7.1

 

As you can see out of 28 members there were 6 abstentions / failures to respond.

9/10: "I think they did a pretty good job translating this to the Carrera glassbox case. The tide indicator is a unique complication and will be a good conversation starter."

8/10: "I really hate the connection with hodinkee, I have zero respect for that fashion magazine. The watch alone though, a great looking chronograph at a nice size with a funky moonphase complication dressed up as a tide function. Strong 8/10 from me."

7/10: "This is the best executed of the new glassboxes, it works nicely in that size. I’m still not convinced by the bezel-thing and the tide button seems ridiculously oversized, but overall I like this.  Would be a solid 9/10 in the old glassbox case or the carrera elegant case."

4/10: "The best thing about this piece is the strap."

10/10: "Three real subdials - finally! And no-date to boot. This would have been a winner even as a standard model, but I think it’s a beautiful take on the Seafarer. Bringing back the tidal indicator functionality is really cool; the TAG of just a few years ago would’ve just made this a colorway edition. And I’m excited for it in the 42mm glassbox case, since I think the rehaut and dial proportions work a bit better in the larger case. Yeah, I’m gonna do it, this one’s a 10. There are no weird design drawbacks like vestigial running seconds or weirdly sized subdials on this one and I truly think this is a high point for TAG - I can’t wait to get mine next week and can’t wait to see the future lineup of 42mm glassboxes."

4.5/10: "I neither love it or hate it and it's clearly not one for me. That said, I do appreciate what TAG is doing here but it just feels all too forced."

9/10: " This has been an amazing release in my eyes. I’m a sucker for unusual complications, and the new glass box, so I’m eating this at 9/10. I can’t afford one, and even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to afford the service costs. I love TAG but this is just begging for factory repair 

9/10: "I'm curious about the tide complication. I think it's cool."

7.5/10: "Leaving myself some margin for a putative white dial version."

6/10: ""I wasn't overly impressed with the renders, but the real life photos make it look much better. I like the vibrant flash of pale blue. And no fauxtina is a plus. Overall, I still don't like this generation glassbox style as much as the previous one, though. It's too much vintage style in a modern style case that jars for me. And I still think the curved chapter ring underneath the crystal is a bit odd. This is probably the second best of the new glassbox models, though. After the Skipper."

3/10: "This really doesn't do much for me and anything to do with Hood-wankee loses points straight away."

9/10: "The original was an Abercrombie and Fitch collab and is very sought after. I like that they pay homage to their past. Hodinkee doesn't bother me. The result looks great in my view. And the tide-/moonphase indicator are a beautiful addition."

8/10: "I haven't decided whether to buy this watch or not, but I think it's cool."

5/10: "I find this one a bit busy….5/10 for me."

7/10: "Not the WOTY for me… because I really don’t like the bezel design of these new glassboxes, although I prefer them in 42mm than in 39mm. Being the steel Chronosprint (x Porsche) still my favourite among them, this Seafarer is a 7/10."

6/10: "Looks ok, but not for me since I’m not gonna be on a yacht etc, mates would point and laugh “you bought that why?”

7/10: "I like it, but not crazy about it. Not my WOTY. I like the Swiss Alps Tourbillon and Glassbox Panda (silver dial) more in terms of looks. Also, whether you love it or hate it, the KITH F1 collab was arguably TAG's biggest release in terms of grabbing attention this year so far."

9/10: "I'm giving it a 9/10 1 point missing due to it being a 42mm rather than a 39mm. That's just my preference. Maybe they do the White dial in 39mm?"

8.5/10: "I'm getting mine next week as well. For me it's an 8.5. Minus point for the metallic subdials."

7.5/10: "Overall, nicely done and aesthetically pleasing. The tide pusher is too large and would look better had it been the same as the chronograph pushers. Subdials look nice and symmetric, and the colors pop. Score would be higher if the watch had a bezel as I still dislike the new glassbox design. As is, it is a 7.5/10."

6/10: "Decent size for a change, with a nice colour scheme and eye catching design. Still hate this glassbox design with the terrible curved chapter ring though. Let’s not get started on the Tide complication which is never going to be accurate with that ugly arsed massive Tide button destined to be clicked by mistake or with idle fingers. Of course, it won’t ever be used for what it was designed for, I guess. Silly price for a collab which clearly hasn’t got the right hype to sell even the minute 125 allocation on day 1. Difficult to score, as it’s obviously better than the 39mm glassbox models, but still not great. A generous 6/10."