THE HOME OF WATCH CULTURE

The TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition is the teal deal The TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition is the teal deal

The TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition is the teal deal

Zach Blass

Green. We all know it’s become the colour of the year, dominating the novelties across brands at Watches & Wonders last month. If 2020 was a sea of blue dials, it is now looking like a field of green. But with TAG Heuer’s latest release they have strategically presented a new novelty that offers consumers a chance to buy an iconic watch design from their rich heritage with a modern toned dial that blends the big colours of 2020 and 2021. The new TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition, limited to 500 pieces, pairs the classic Carrera case with a very intriguing blue-green dial that separates itself from the homogenized herd.

TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition

The case

TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition

The stainless-steel case has been enlarged from the classic 36mm origins to a more modern 39mm diameter. With long lugs the watch will command quite a stance across the wrist, but their sloped cambered form conforms the watch around the wrist well. The sharp faceted case is entirely polished, exuding Riviera elegance through and through. The domed sapphire crystal, with double AR coating, adds a bit of height to the watch, but is a fair trade-off in an effort to create vintage vibes.

The dial

TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition

Just look at that dial color, it really is the star of the show in this offering. Deep and rich in tone, TAG Heuer refers to this distinct shade as sun-ray brushed teal. In my opinion it really captures the essence of the Sua Ocean Trench in Samoa, where as the water escapes the sun it begins to darken beneath the cover of the trench. I really dig when historical watch manufacturers leverage new faces in familiar frameworks, blending old and new in a way that speaks to both the modern consumer as well as the convention and tradition of the brand.

In terms of its layout, the TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition retains the familiar applied faceted hour markers each paired with a luminous pip to evoke the older tritium dials. The central hours and minutes hands are also luminous, and share the same creamy hue as the pips paired with each hour marker. Framing the entire dial is a stepped outer minutes track, the printed hashmarks surrounding the circumference of the inner bezel.

TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition

Here we get close to the three-register layout, comprised of a 12-hour elapsed hour register at 9′, running seconds register at 6′, and a 30 minute elapsed minutes register at 3′. What’s neat about the 9′ and 3′ sub-dials is that they do not eliminate the ninth and third hour markers, instead sitting adjacent to a shorter applied marker. This also means that in low light settings you still have luminous material to display both hours. The stepped registers provide interesting contrast in texture to the rich sunray brush of the main dial with a concentric guilloche that makes the registers easier to discern for the eye.

The strap

TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition

Comfortably situated within the sporty elegance category, the stainless steel TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition is outfitted on a black alligator strap secured by a stainless-steel TAG Heuer signed twin trigger deployant clasp that ensures it will not accidentally pop open. With the watch being water-resistant to 100 metres, there is certainly room for exploration in terms of strap material, and I suspect a teal rubber strap would be a worthwhile chase for the lucky 500 owners.

The movement

TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition

Inside the TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition is the manufacture caliber Heuer 02, a self-winding chronograph movement with a lot for horology fans to like. First it is a column wheel chronograph, which eliminates the stutter of the central seconds hand when activating the chronograph and creates an extremely pleasant crisp and butter-smooth sensation when actuating the start/stop and reset pushers. The movement also has 80 hours of power reserve, allowing you to leave the watch of your wrist for three and a third days without needing another wind.

That being said, this watch really did just arrive right on time for the northern hemisphere summer and will surely get a good amount of wear time. The machine decoration is executed nicely, with Côtes de Genève embellishments to the bridges and openworked rotor. Eagle-eyed collectors will also notice that the typical red engraving on the rotor has been rendered in a dial-matching teal, and if you look even closer you will notice the column wheel has also joined in on the makeover fun. Don’t let the industriously pretty movement fool you thought, it is also a highly regulated COSC-certified chronometer chronograph movement – so you can expect a high degree of accuracy in its timekeeping.

TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition

TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition price and availability:

The TAG Heuer Green Carrera Special Edition is AUD$9650 and is limited to 500 pieces worldwide. For more details, visit TAG Heuer right here.

Made in partnership with TAG Heuer. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with our Editorial Policy.