ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Extreme Sports GMT Chrono & Lilac 36mm and 41mm Day/Date Carreras

 

TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield 31st October 2025

A few weeks ago I stopped in at the Meadowhall boutique on the way to a concert in Sheffield, it's always nice to visit as the staff are great and there's a surprising amount of pieces in there that you don't find in AD's or most other TAG Heuer boutiques that I've been in! Sometimes things show up ages after you've forgotten they've come out and sometimes they surprise you with something that you only found out about a few days beforehand. One such example being the new Carrera Extreme Sports GMT in green and black pictured below.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm Which Colour? by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 36mm 'Coloured Dials' Calibre 5 Watches

 

Three new 36mm Calibre 5 Aquaracers for you today, and while I wouldn't dream of labelling them 'ladies' watches, they definitely tend to fall into that general category due to sizing, diamond hour markers and general colour choices. I must admit when I first saw them the one that caught my eye was the purple dial, but the more I look at it the more I'm unsure how successful it actually is. I applaud TAG Heuer for embracing a new colour in this range and maybe it looks fantastic in person, but as of right now I'm definitely on the fence.

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Kirium Chronometer

Well I guess this had an air of inevitability about it didn't it? Delighted as I was with my last purchase (my Aquaracer Regatta Calibre S, way back in... January) it clearly also reignited a desire in me to finally pick up that WL511A Kirium chronometer I've wanted for I don't know how long. But of course, I couldn't find one and the ones I did find with 'SOLD' on them seemed to go for more than I really wanted to pay... considering, you know, I already have three Kiriums. So, deeply disappointed, I saved my eBay search and waited for the email. 

Well I didn't have to wait long, just a week or two passed and then there it was, looking mighty fine and starting cheap at £199, which would have been awesome, but highly unlikely. So I debated... should I place a bid at £199 to stop anyone using the £400 'BUY IT NOW' feature, or should I just buy it now myself?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 6000 Series Copper Dial Chronometer by Birth Year Watches

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Diamond Dial Carreras

And so we come to the final four watches that were released at the '2025 LVMH Watch Week'. We've already looked at the five new Formula 1 Calibre 16 chronographs, the latest iterations of the Porsche Chronosprint glassbox and most recently the purple glass box chronograph and tourbillon, so now it's the turn of these four, umm... Carreras.

Now, some time ago I gave the illustrious 'Council' the choice to opt 'in' or 'out' of voting on women's watches, because I noticed that some members routinely gave everything a four (unless it was truly heinous) and I just thought it was better to give them the option to 'ignore' them rather than drag the scores down because they just weren't interested.

But the problem is you see, with women's watches getting bigger, and men's watches getting smaller, it's getting harder and harder to define what is a man's watch and what is a woman's watch. In the past it was clear; 27mm with diamonds and a mother of pearl dial, clearly for ladies... 43mm with a rubber strap that looks like a tyre tread; clearly for men. Simples!

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Barbie' by Jim Dollares

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm Calibre 7 with Diamond Hour Markers

 

One of the more unexpected success stories of recent times seems to have been the pink 36mm Carrera (otherwise known as 'The Barbie'). This model has found favour with men and women alike despite it's diminutive size and indeed our Swedish correspondent Jim Dollares has recently taken delivery of one himself (Buying Experience for that incoming...). 

Ever since the launch Jim was waiting to see if TAG Heuer brought the watch out in a larger size, say 39mm, but eventually he started to worry that the 36mm might be discontinued and he took the plunge. Literally one day after he picked up his new watch TAG Heuer released the same watch with diamond hour markers - which, while annoying for Jim, probably means they aren't about to release it in 39mm.

VIDEO: Which TAG Heuer 36mm Carrera by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Pink' Calibre 7 Watch

 

I think it goes without saying that this Carrera was never going to receive the same warm welcome as the very recent 'Ice Blue' version of the same watch from the decidedly male-dominated Council of Considered Opinion. I mean not only does it have a pink second hand, outer dial ring and strap, but it also has every girl's worst nightmare - a Mother of Pearl dial and a diamond inner bezel! 

The horror.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Ice Blue' Calibre 7 Watch

The 36mm Carrera seems to be the chosen range for TAG Heuer to experiment with bright colours and finishes and while this kinda makes sense given it appeals to women and also men with smaller wrists I can't help feeling that us men with larger wrists are being somewhat left out in the cold.

Sure, we've had the pale blue / lilac / call it what you will Aquaracer chronograph... a model with a life slightly longer than a butterfly it seems, but aside from that there's not much in the way of unusual colours floating around in the larger sizes.

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm Two Tone Calibre 7 Watch

 

Until relatively recently TAG Heuer have never made a watch that looks like this in a size which could possibly be considered 'unisex' but this is 2024 and 'Men's' watches are undoubtedly shrinking while 'Women's' watches get bigger by the week (I still don't understand why it's desirable for women to wear watches which are oversized while for men it is the height of poor judgement - but that's fashion for you. Thankfully I care not much for fashion, so I will continue to wear my 45mm H01 thanks all the same).

So when the opportunity to try this on arose I thought 'why not'. Truth be told in the not so distant past anything that was even close to being wearable for a man would have come with a deployant bracelet insufficient to breach my enormous man-hands, and so it was tremendously surprising to find that the watch slipped over my hand with ease and fitted more than comfortably around my 7.1/2" wrist. So presumably we must conclude that this is indeed a 'Unisex' watch, because I don't know about you but I don't know many women with 8" wrists.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 6000 Series Copper Dial Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm Calibre 7 Automatic Ladies Watches

 

It's always hard to write about new ladies pieces because they regularly elicit the exact same responses from the C.O.C.O.: ('Isn't this already in the catalogue', 'No more diamonds', 'Urgh, Mother of Pearl', etc, etc), but actually TAG Heuer are quick to point out that these 36mm Carreras should not be considered solely 'ladies' pieces because they can just as easily be worn by a man or a woman. Well, technically that's true. But until I see a guy wearing one of these I think I'll stick to my old fashioned ways and call these 'womens' watches thanks very much. The blue, green and pink 36mm Carreras yes, okay maybe you can make an argument for those, but these.. really?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Pink/Green 36mm by Perth Watch Girl

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Peach Dial' Calibre 7 Automatic by Brent Miller Time

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Collection by Random Rob

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Date Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde

 

At last year's Watches and Wonders TAG Heuer released two new Carrera Plasma models: one was an even more blingy version of the previously released 44mm Carrera that overstepped the line where good taste ends and just kept on running... at the same time they released a much less gauche Carrera in 36mm, which featured a pink lab-grown diamond crown and a pink lab-grown TAG Heuer shield on the (lab grown diamond) dial.

It was pretty cool actually, and this year they've given it a make over by switching out the pink elements for yellow and putting it on a white alligator strap. Unlike Beaverbrooks while I can't honestly say I'm 'obsessed' with the 1.3 carat diamond crown, it is undeniably cool. The white strap I'm not so sure about and like most of the Council of Considered Opinion I think overall this looks 'nice' but perhaps slightly less 'nice' than the previous version. Or perhaps it just doesn't have the same impact second time around?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Mint Green Dial' Calibre 7 by Brent Miller Time

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm 'Pink Dial' Calibre 7 by Brent Miller Time