They are together again for their third collaboration since 2018, TAG Heuer and Fragment, the creative platform of Hiroshi Fujiwara, a key figure in international street culture.

Hiroshi Fujiwara the “father” of streetwear

Hiroshi Fujiwara, born in 1964, now lives and works between Japan and the rest of the world. His career began in 1980s Tokyo as a DJ and as the designer of his first personal brand (Goodenough), then his fame expanded to such an extent that today he has a palmares of prestigious collaborations that enumerates the biggest international giants such as Apple, Nike, Off-white, Starbucks.

His creations cross the boundaries between fashion, music, design and art, testifying to a free and subversive mindset that feeds mainly on hybridizations between the past and contemporary trends. Fujiwara, who has always observed the classics to bring them back to their purest form, with Fragment transforms the archive into a territory to explore, where subtracting and simplifying is the way to arrive at a new balance. For his interpretation of the TAG Heuer Carrera, he also works on the same mechanism, looking at the 2477 as a sacred object to be preserved, seeking its essence and freeing it from the superfluous.

The case of the new Carrera is a nod to the 1970s

Those who know Fujiwara know that his approach needs no addition, because he expresses himself mostly by subtraction.

The new Carrera × Fragment echoes the Glassbox version with a 39 mm case, among the most successful in the Carrera language, created by the parent company to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Carrera Chronograph.

The steel case alternates polished and satin-finished surfaces in 13.9 mm height. The domed sapphire crystal (the glassbox), however, is not a retro affectation: it is a technical and visual reference precisely to the stylistic pattern of 1960s references, revised with judicious precision. On the wrist, the profile is slender, almost sculpted.

The dial of the new Carrera returns to minimalism

The dial is opaline black, opaque but deep, where light slips through without reflecting. The hour markers are printed, not applied. This is how Fujiwara communicates: by rejecting superfluous elements.

The white flange houses the barely visible silver tachymeter scale, a direct reference to early racing references. The three counters (minutes at 3 o’clock, hours at 9 o’clock, continuous seconds at 6 o’clock) are chromatically disciplined, tuned in a gray tone in which only the hands guide the reading. At 12 o’clock, the date window introduces an unexpected detail: two iconic Fragment lightning bolts appear in white instead of “1” and “11.”

The movement: TH20-00

The sapphire caseback repeats the Fragmentlightning bolt (along with the accompanying Victory Wreath on the case), superimposed on the skeletonized rotor. Caliber TH20-00, an integrated automatic with column wheel and vertical clutch, is an in-house movement developed designed for chronograph reliability and smooth operation: start is sharp and stop clean. It runs at 4 Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour) and provides 80 hours of autonomy.

The atypical PVD-coated beads-of-rice

The bracelet is one of the coolest elements of the new Carrera: a beads-of-rice seven-row reintroduced this year and given a contemporary twist, with polished steel side elements and a black PVD-treated center row bearing Fujiwara’s signature. For a subtle balance between classicism and street aesthetics.

TAG Heuer X FRAGMENT: the gesture of “subtraction”

The third meeting between TAG Heuer and FRGMT simplifies the Glassbox design toward radical minimalism. The case, water-resistant to 100 meters, retains the classic Carrera proportions: pump buttons, sculpted lugs, alternating polished and satin finishes, and reduced thickness. The absence of a bezel allows the domed sapphire crystal to expand beyond the tachymeter scale to the edge of the case: from certain angles, the light reflected on glass seems to amplify the purity of the dial.

There is no theatrics in this timepiece, nor the shouty aesthetic of many fashion-watch collaborations. The Carrera × Fragment demands attention to the smallest details, from the opaline roughness of the dial to the symmetry of the counters and the iconic date window.

It is an object that silently communicates a great deal: to those who know the history of the Carrera and recognize, in Fujiwara’s gestures, not a graphic signature but a way of looking at the world. For enthusiasts, it is a return to the origins of the Carrera; for those who love contemporary visual culture, a dialogue between watchmaking and urban minimalism.

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