Much like a car manufacturer does when it designs a brand new engine, TAG Heuer are making sure that their flagship self-winding chronograph movement, the Calibre Heuer 02, finds its way into every chrono they’ve released this year.
And just days after letting us know that their three in-demand limited edition chronographs equipped with the accomplished movement are still available for pre-order, the La Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaker has gone and dropped more bombshells in the shape of not one, but four entirely new Carreras. Called the Carrera Chrono Sport, these steely racers have scored a host of completely novel features and yes, you guessed it – the Calibre Heuer 02 powers them all.
The case
The redesigned polished stainless steel cases of the Chronos are not for the faint of heart or slight of wrist – they measure 44mm across and approximately 16mm thick. However, thanks to shorter, lyre-style lugs, according to the watchmaker, these timepieces wear comfortably on the wrist. Anyone who’s familiar with modern TAGs will instantly recognise the familiar pump-style pushers and large multifaceted crown (hewn from 18k rose gold in the Ref.CBN2A5A model), and we’re quite glad TAG has stuck with this combo, as they have been a joy to interact with in the past. All four of the new Carreras will be sandwiched in sapphire crystal, with the front-facing glass scoring an anti-reflective coating.
The dial
Three different dial colours make up the four new Chronos – an inky sunburst Deep Blue, arresting sunburst Olive Green or uniform sunburst Black. All the dials have been given a concentric finish that harmonises well with the three similarly patterned sub-dials, which display a 30-minute totaliser at three o’clock, running seconds at six o’clock, and a 12-hour totaliser at nine o’clock. Like so many other models that sport the Calibre Heuer 02, the new Carreras feature a diminutive date aperture at six o’clock.
Highly polished baton-style indices and matching handset adorn the dials, with the blue, green and plain black iterations being finished in stainless steel. However, arguably the best-looking variant, the sunburst black model with rose gold accents Ref.CBN2A5A, has rather obviously been bestowed with indices and a handset that match the precious metal. All of the watches also score a polished ceramic bezel that matches the colour of the different dials and has a tachymeter scale etched into its surface.
The movement
Performance wise, the Calibre Heuer 02 offers up exactly what it has in other models unveiled this year. That means an impressive spec sheet that includes a column-wheel chronograph complication with vertical clutch, 33 jewels, an operating frequency of 28,800 vph (4Hz) and 80 hours of power reserve. And, as a result of the aforementioned sapphire crystal display caseback, owners can admire the neatly finished movement, which is especially good-looking on the black and rose gold model, as it features a black PVD-coated brass oscillating weight with a rose gold printing.
Strap options
The Chrono Sport is being offered from TAG with either a tri-link tapered stainless steel bracelet with brushed and polished elements or, for the black and rose gold model, a black alligator leather band.
TAG Heuer Chrono Sport pricing and availability
Prices for the blue, green and black steel variants are $8300 AUD, and the black and rose gold model is $9500 AUD. Praise be, these are also regular production models from TAG and not more limited editions, so you can actually sit and think for a second about the prospect of ownership, rather than having to hit the “add to cart” button faster than Max Verstappen trying to purple sector at the Styrian Grand Prix.
