Singapore, LVMH Watch Week 2023. Let’s kick off the celebrations with the new limited edition TAG Heuer Carrera 60th Anniversary. This year one of the brand’s flagship models turns 60 by taking up the vintage style.
The history of the Carrera chronograph and the Panamericana
In 1962 Jack Heuer was in Mexico, to witness the most dangerous race ever created (as well as the one with the shortest history), namely the Carrera Panamericana.
From there he took inspiration for the name of a chronograph, then launched in 1963: the Carrera. An easy-to-read chronograph, simple, with three contrasting counters (the so-called panda dial) and a case with lugs that fall perfectly towards the wrist.
The inspiration reference is the 2447 SN, a cult for vintage collectors, which is rediscovering its success in recent years even among kids like us.
(In November 2022, TAG celebrated together with Porsche the 50th Anniversary of the Carrera RS 2.7 in Paris. The car that made the Carrera name famous for the Porsche brand. We told you about it here).
The new TAG Heuer Carrera 60th Anniversary
Pure elegance in a 39mm case. The new Carrera 60th Anniversary in a limited edition of 600 pieces faithfully reproduces all the characteristics of the first 1963 model: Heuer logo with “Carrera” writing at 6 o’clock, faceted hour markers, luminescence, push buttons, crown and strap buckle marked “Heuer “. The only thing it lacks is 60 years of use on your wrist, but that will be up to you to make them.
Inside this case beats the Caliber 02, the TAG Heuer-manufactured movement equipped in most of the brand’s modern watches. The sapphire case back allows you to see the mechanism and the “Carrera 60th Anniversary” branded rotor.
80 hours of power reserve, column wheel and côtes de genève decoration, this is the only super modern side compared to the 2447 SN from which it is inspired.
The panda dial design and the first manual caliber
The silver dial with contrasting counters has become one of the most coveted in the vintage world. The second series of the Carrera 2447 was equipped with this typology, which could be panda or reverse-panda, i.e. with a black background and white counters.
The first series, on the other hand, had a solid color dial with the option of a tachymeter or pulsometric scale (in very few models, the rarest).
The presence of this panda – dial is underlined by the reference 2447 SN, where the two letters stand for “Silver” and “Noir”. The indexes were faceted with a black stripe in the center to maximize legibility, while there were 2 at 12 o’clock to give the wearer confidence that the chronograph was correctly reset.
The caliber used was a manually wound Valjoux 72 caliber, marked Heuer-Leonidas.
Details that make the difference: “Heuer” buckle and crown
In the new modern edition to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Carrera, we find some details that will undoubtedly appeal to collectors: the crown and strap buckle marked “Heuer”.
Since the brand was bought by the TAG Group in 1985, the Heuer name alone disappeared. From then on, the brand was called TAG Heuer. For this reason, it is impossible to find watches after 1985 with only the name “Heuer”, with the exception of some celebratory limited series like this one.
Price and availability to the public
The new TAG Heuer Carrera 60th Anniversary presented at LVMH Watch Week in Singapore will be limited to just 600 pieces worldwide and will have a retail price of €7,100. Available from January 2023.
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