We’ve barely completed one calendar month of 2024 and TAG Heuer (like every year) is already in pole position. Down at Miami FL, the LVMH Watch Week is playing out to be an absolute horlogerie fiesta. Amidst Hublot’s maestro-machinas and Zenith’s retro-revivals, it’s almost as if TAG Heuer’s unofficial, Pantone ‘watch colour of the year’ is Teal Green. With four mechanical releases and two new Connected Calibre models, this prevalent, rusty emerald hue proves to be an icon on arrival.
Under TAG Heuer’s spotlight this year, we’re seeing a sixties Carrera Dato come back to life, a smaller and more sensible Solargraph, and a yellow-diamond treat – courtesy of TAG’s Diamant d’Avant-Garde’s recent progress. Here’s everything you need to know about them.
TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph ‘Dato’
Rewinding the clocks to the adrenaline-infused, speedy sixties, the mighty Carrera debuted in 1963 as a sporty chronograph, bred for performance and precision. Designed by Jack Heuer – a man of engineering design, it strived for effortless time-telling and utility. Furthering this emotion, three years later, the Carrera received a date window at twelve o’clock, dubbed Dato Carreras. However, in 1968, who would’ve thought such a tiny change would mark a pivotal shift – Heuer simply relocated the date window from twelve to nine o’clock, creating the iconic ‘Dato’ layout. With a mono sub-dial and a Dato window, it earned the nickname “Cyclop”.
For 2023, three Carreras arrived with date window variants at three, six, and twelve o’clock, and at LVMH Watch Week 2024, TAG once again moved this feat to nine o’clock, continuing the Dato heritage. Arriving in a domed sapphire Glassbox, echoing designs from the 70s, its stainless-steel case measures 39 millimetres with a polished and brushed finish. The gorgeous teal-green dial is graced with rhodium, Super-LumiNova indexes, an “azuré” minute chronograph counter at three o’clock, and a date window at nine. Inside, the chronograph calibre TH02-07 winds automatic, offering an 80-hour power reserve. All of this is strapped in black leather featuring double safety push buttons.
TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon
Completing this release, TAG Heuer sets another high with the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon in Teal Green. Slating in at 42 millimetres with a thickness of 14.33 millimetres, it shows off a brushed and polished finish which only further accentuates the Carrera’s signature silhouette. It’s almost as if the domed ‘Glassbox’ is spilling over the case’s edges. However, despite the curves, it delivers an uninterrupted view of the tourbillon below.
The teal-green dial features two sub-dials at three and nine o’clock with the former indicating minutes, and the latter, hours. The indexes and hands are rhodium-plated and dipped in SLN. Down at six, we have the ever-graceful tourbillon, showing off the beating heart of the Calibre TH-20-09. Developed in-house and COSC-chronometer-certified, it runs automatically delivering a 65-hour power reserve. This arrives with a black leather strap with a steel folding clasp and push buttons.
TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph
TAG has a stellar track record of building ‘everyday’ professional gear – here’s them adding another star to the board. Meet the new solar-powered 200 Solargraph, proudly carving a path for itself as an exceptional tool designed for long-lasting performance on land or undersea. Arriving in 34 millimetres after shaving off six millimetres from previous editions, it stretches 40.6, lug-to-lug. Cased in stainless steel with water resistance of 200 meters, you can choose between three dial options – Blue, Polar Blue (green), and MOP. While the former two boast rhodium markers with Super-LumiNova, the MOP is enriched with diamond markers.
Much like previous Solargraphs, these use an in-house, La Joux-Perret-developed solar movement called the TH50-01. Telling time with three hands and a date window at three o’clock, it offers a power reserve of up to 10 months. This is strapped in stainless steel with comfort link extensions.
TAG Heuer Carrera Date Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde
TAG’s obsession with lab-grown diamonds has transformed their sporty Carrera dial into a sea of shimmer and substance. Like most Swiss maisons with a century-long heritage, TAG too embraced its roots of automobile racing and Olympic timekeeping. However, in recent years, things have changed. TAG has turned their famed silhouettes into canvases of limitlessness. Their departure from sporty chronographs has led them onto a bejewelled path, with a dedicated Diamant d’Avant-Garde division developing a taste for lab-grown diamonds.
At W&W ‘23, a pink-diamond-studded Carrera Date Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde made a shiny statement. Now, less than a year later, TAG continues this pioneering stride with its yellow-hued sibling. Extending their Diamant d’Avant-Garde lineup, the new yellow-diamond TAG Heuer Carrera Date Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde slates in with a 36-millimetre white gold case. At its crown, we see a 1.30-carat, yellow lab-grown diamond, cut precisely in dimensions of a stock Carrera crown. The same carries on the dial, taking form of the signature TAG shield. This rests upon a 2.9-carat sea of polycrystalline diamonds, which is further enriched by 12 white baguette-cut lab-grown diamonds of 0.5 carats. Tallying all precious cargo on board, we get 4.8 carats. This is strapped on in white leather.
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