TAG Heuer is a brand with a rich history, full of coolness, and with highly recognizable models, including two icons: the Carrera and Monaco. Even if modernized and updated, the actual collections are still playing hard on this past and offer properly interesting sports watches and chronographs, with a decent price and an interesting quality.
One of my friends from university and I have a plan: to make it to age 60 and begin racing classic cars. Frankly, we’ve both struggled to get to the point where buying, restoring, and racing a car in a race like the Mille Miglia or Carrera Panamerica is not such a crazy idea. We took our beatings when it was time to get beat-up. Currently, if you are searching for a great best watch to add to your collection, or just hunting for a high-end timepiece, then my table below can help you out.
For that risk-taker in us all, they recommend the TAG Heuer Carrera Caliber 18 Chronograph; a watch that is somewhat like a race car in its approach – stripped down of any frippery – just what you need to get the job done. If you intend to get out there and mix-it-up while wearing your watch I can assure you, a person who has spent the past 374 days wearing a Plexiglas crystal, sapphire is an upgrade. Just as with a race car, the key feature of a racing chronograph is the engine/movement. The Calibre 18 is an automatic winding, 40-hour power reserve watch with output for constant seconds at 3, date at 6, and a 30 minute counter at 9. Since there are no down-draft carburetors or velocity stacks on the Calibre 18, it does have a C? tes de Geneve oscillating mass in the event if you want to pop open the hood and show it off to your friends. For the record, the watch is rated to 100M water-resistance. And also for the record, if you want to test the water-resistance of your chronograph while racing, you have possibly failed miserably as you are UNDERWATER!
Fitted on a perforated leather racing strap, I can also see shifting this watch around on my wrist while moving from driving to navigating. Fitted with a large crown, stock pushers at 2 and 4, I can easily see using this watch with a set of racing gloves. Wind-resistance and drag are not major factors in determining which chronograph will be best for your racing needs, however, it is nice to have a slick presentation. The new Carrera Calibre 18 case is not really that new. Paying tribute to the cases Jack Heuer used 50+ years ago, the Carrera Calibre 18 is a 39mm polished stainless steel sports watch – plain and simple. If we are having a moment of brutal honesty, I’ve not been able to pull-the-trigger on any of the recent TAG line-ups. Another nice touch is the domed sapphire crystal. Racing best replica watch purists are bristling now, I just know it. You’re all sat there imagining the Captain Picard meme that says: “FFS – Why Not Plexiglas?” I can understand your agitation; Plexi IS sexy. (But only in certain settings.)
I’ve flirted with a few models, but when push came to shove, they were left standing at the altar for rolex. Conducted by its new CEO Jean-Claude Biver and that led to distinct types of watches, like the classical-inspired Carrera Calibre 01 Chronograph Telemeter or the very modern Hublot-style Calibre 18, TAG Heuer’s latest piece of news was refreshing, chronograph. Even though TAG Heuer is in fact in a transitional period with a re-positioning strategy (the difficult moments we reported seem to be part of the past now). And this year, at Basel we might just see that begin to happen. One more time, this is regardless of the very cool look and nice details of this watch.