TAG Heuer Boutique / Harrods, London 19th March 2026
The TAG Heuer 'boutique' in the Harrods department store is like no other that I've ever been in. In fact it doesn't really feel like you're in a TAG Heuer boutique at all because it lacks most of the usual stylings of other TH boutiques: the Monaco wall clock, the Steve McQueen pictures, the racing helmets and books, etc. Additionally, unlike the flashy AP, Rolex, Vacheron and Hublot boutiques found nearby it shares a small room with other brands such as Zenith, Tudor and (gasp) Bremont! And oddly, even though it was redone recently, it still feels kind of temporary somehow. Which is weird; like a store cupboard that's been turned into additional retail space or something...
Anyway, I hadn't actually planned to go to Harrods today, but I found myself with a couple of hours to kill between appointments and decided to head there as it was near where I had lunch (The Scarsdale Tavern in Edwardes Square, not bad at all and ideally situated if you happen to be visiting the Design Museum). At first I didn't really see anything very interesting, certainly nothing like the array of treats you generally find in the 'flagship' Oxford Street store, but then I caught sight of the new 'beige' Seafarer (not for me, that one) and much more interestingly the Harrods Limited Edition Carrera that I wrote about last year.
In that post I mentioned how the watch had actually come out at the end of 2024, but that I hadn't found out about it until one had appeared on the Watchfinder website, which gave me the part number and lead to some digging on the internet - producing a listing on some random Indonesian website called 'Luxehouze' (something that is all the stranger in hindsight, given what I'm about to tell you...).
My post was pretty positive and I said the watch was the best of the three Harrods editions so far (the previous two being the white dial 'Autavia' and the solid gold cased Carrera with the green dial) and seeing it person certainly didn't change that view (though to be fair so far I haven't, and probably never will, seen the gold one), in fact I really liked it on the wrist (despite the slightly gloomy feel in that particular room, which could partly be the low ceiling*).
*Interestingly I was talking about my visit with a friend and he said he felt the same when he went there a few years ago.
As you can see from these pictures, this one really exemplifies the 'Harrods' feeling, with the luxurious green and gold really working with the base silver dial. It makes so much more sense than the previous two models which didn't really convey the 'Harrods' look at all in my opinion, and this is probably neck and neck for me with the Tudor Black Bay 'Harrods' Edition in that regard (although naturally I prefer this one because it's a TAG Heuer not a Tudor).
In fact given that only fifty of these have been manufactured, it's rather surprising that eighteen months down the line they still have about twenty left. Or it would be if it wasn't for the fact that for some reason this release is considered (whisper it) 'TOP SECRET!' Oh, you didn't know that either, huh? Well now you do...
Y'see, when I spotted the LE in the cabinet I pointed it out to my wife and was immediately 'challenged' as to how I knew about it? I know, 'challenged' sounds a bit strong doesn't it? But 'challenged' I was, which seemed rather odd to me... like, why would you not want me to know about a watch that's for sale? Makes zero sense to me...
Well it transpires that part of the agreement between TAG Heuer and Harrods was that this watch wouldn't be advertised, which strikes me as a bit odd and a little hard to understand really. I mean I can't see why TAG Heuer wouldn't want to advertise it, so presumably this stipulation was made by Harrods themselves. Perhaps this is a standard thing when they collaborate with brands? But I certainly knew about the Harrods Black Bay before I went to Harrods, so that doesn't seem to hold water.
So then if we assume that to be the case and you were 'restricted' from advertising a product and then someone came into the store who already knew about it, wouldn't that be seen as a good thing? Like, ooh a potential customer here? Someone who already knows about this secret watch that we're struggling to find customers for?
Well I would have thought so, but apparently not. Which kinda makes me wonder why they even put it in the cabinet, because if you really want to keep it a secret, just leave it in the safe and wait for someone to come in and ask for it. Which of course, they won't because no one's supposed to know it exists!
Have you ever heard anything so bloody daft?
So you may be thinking that this is one of those watches that you can only buy if you 'know' and if you have a relationship with the AD. But no, not at all, they were perfectly happy for me to try it on and to buy it, they just didn't appreciate that I walked in knowing about it. I mean, I am the TAG Heuer Enthusiast so of course I bloody know about it! I really need to get a T-shirt or something with 'TAG Heuer Enthusiast' printed on it or something, and maybe some business cards... just so I can leave them on the counter as I leave. 🤣
Come to think of it, when I posted about the previous (gold) Carrera on this blog, 'someone' left a comment asking 'Where did you get these pictures?', which now seems even more oddly abrasive than it did at the time....
Anyway, the Harrods Limited Edition Carrera is quite a lovely watch and will probably be available for quite some time given the amount of promotion it's getting. So if you're reading this in 2027 don't despair, it's probably still in stock. Current price is £6500, incidentally.
And when they ask how you know about it, tell them you saw it here. 🤣
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