TAG Heuer are really doubling down on the Extreme Carreras aren't they? Clearly, someone, somewhere must be buying them... and so after the splendidly exotic 'Lucha Libre' limited edition launched a couple of weeks ago, we now have this 'F1 75 Anniversary' tourbillon. Oddly, my first thought was, doesn't it look like a Connected? And my second thought...? It looks way better than that terrible white ceramic Monaco Ratrapante with 'Lights Out and Away We Go' on the dial.
Surely there's no arguing with that, is there?
And yet, true to form the Council of Considered Opinion are laying into this one as well. It's funny, it seems that they are prepared to accept a certain amount of tomfoolery when it comes to Monacos; they might not really like it, but they'll let it slide a bit, but when it comes to Carreras... that's a different story. Because after all, Jack Heuer's original idea was to make a chronograph that was supremely legible on the wrist even when fishtailing through the Parabolica, and that's as relevant today as it was in 1963. Suuuuuuuuuuuure it is. 🤣
Being that my first Carrera was the dreaded 45mm Heuer 01 skeleton, otherwise known as the 'TAG Hublot' (not really, I literally just made that up), I simply don't share these irritations... but even so this one is only moderately successful for me. I liked the Mexican LE because it was SO bonkers, SO colourful and SO offensive, by comparison this one just feels a bit.... gaudy, perhaps?
Again I'm not too sure how many of these are expected to be 'sold' and how many are to be 'presented' to various members of the FIA as part of the whole F1 sponsorship deal, but they are 'for sale' with a price tag of £34,900 (albeit showing 'out of stock' online... which is nothing unusual, probably means they aren't actually available yet).
The dial has yellow gold plated elements while the bezel is solid 18k 3N yellow gold, with the '75' on the tachymetre scale highlighted in white. That looks a little bit odd to me and I wondered if it was lumed, but as there's no 'lume shot' on the TH website and it isn't mentioned, I presume not.
On the reverse we find a novel idea from TAG Heuer which is kinda cool, but at the same time... I'm not so sure. What they've done is rather than issue each of the 75 pieces with an individual number they've assigned each piece a 'year', so as we can see here this one is 1988/75... which, of course, makes no sense unless you understand the concept. It's a fun idea, but I can't help think that certain years are going to be more desirable than others, surely?
For example, Ayrton Senna's championship years will surely be in demand for those Brazilians with deep enough pockets, and likewise for Schumacher and Hamilton perhaps, but 2016? Does anyone REALLY want that... apart from Nico himself perhaps? It's not even anyone's birth year (well anyone old enough to care I mean), unless someone buys it with the thought of giving it to their child in 10 years time...
That said, I'm giving this a 6.5/10, which unfortunately is one of the higher scores we'll see today. Surprisingly this has fared less well than the Mexican LE, primarily because while it's scored exactly the same number of 1's (five), it hasn't picked up a score higher than 7, where the 'Lucha Libre' scored several 9's and even a 9.5! And no, I'm not joking!
Okay let's find out what the Council really thinks of this one and why it's scored so very badly...
4/10: "This one isn't working for me, too much going on and doesn't look cohesive to my eye.
It doesn't really say F1 to me, it shouts bling rather than motorsport. I quite like the subdial hands but they are not very legible against whatever that shape behind them is supposed to be. To me it looks like a watch where five designers have crowded round a desk each shouting let me add a bit!"
2/10: "I really just don’t like TAG’s skeleton dials. This reminds me of something that would come in a cereal box."
7/10: "There's a lot going on here, and the price is eye-watering! The gold and black colourway is very pleasing so I'll score it a solid 7."
3/10: "I'd take the F1 50th Anniversary 6000 over this 75th Anniversary any day."
8.5/10: "I do like these new Extreme’s. A bit gimmicky and rather expensive, but still giving it an 8.5 as it’s a bit cool like."
3/10: "Because there is gold involved a solid."
1/10: "I think this is a model that is likely to be well received in China."
7/10: "I like the concept here and think it's done well. Certainly the black gold and grey all compliment each other. A fitting F1 champions watch.
1/10: "Gaudy, expensive and tacky. And not fit to wear the Carrera name with that legibility."
1/10: "I cannot say it any better than that."
1/10: "I don’t even have the words left to mock this. I would assume this was a $15 p.o.s. from a market stall if I saw it on someone’s wrist."
6/10: "Not too bad, Mr. Beaver would be proud. Reminds me of a working class Hublot, in a good way. It allows for middle class scum to get a taste of the life enjoyed by the rich and beautiful."
6.5/10: "I like the “1988/75” idea, giving a year and not a number to each watch, and also the F1 logo on the bezel. And I like some of this new Carrera Extreme Sport versions (like the 963, or the dark ones)… but this combo is not my favourite one, so it’s just a 6.5/10"
1/10: "...if it keeps good time."
2/10: "Another silly display case fixture. Maybe they can FOMO a couple people into buying one but..."
5/10: "You know what. after seeing the live picture, I think all of these Carrera(s) are a miss."
5/10: "I still wear it if somebody give it to me for free but I wouldn't like it to begin with."
2/10: "Swing and a miss... "
2/10: "This is garish, overpriced, oversized and comes on a cheap rubber strap."
3/10: "Points reduced due to the exorbitant price."
1/10: "Hate it !!!!"
No comments:
Post a Comment