A tango of precision between two icons
TAG Heuer and Porsche have been associates for quite several years now, and their first collaboration on a watch in recent years was unveiled in 2021 with the TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph and this October, as promised the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche. They are inspired by the iconic Porsche 911 Type 901 which was first unveiled in 1964, a replacement for the Porsche 356. It was designed by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the grandson of the founder of Porsche, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and the son of the designer of Porsche 356, Ferry Porsche. You could say that talents run in the family.
Coincidently around the same time in 1963, Jack Heuer who was inspired by the Carrera Panamericana race of the 50s invented the modern-day Chronograph and named the watch Heuer Carrera after the iconic race. It was designed specifically for racing enthusiasts who could easily time themselves from start to finish easily and read it easily with the utilitarian approach. It couldn’t be more timely and appropriate to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of both the TAG Heuer Carrera collection and the Porsche 911 with a classic icon with a modern quirky interpretation of Chronograph timing of the Carrera, the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronospirit X Porsche.
The aesthetics and design of the TAG Heuer Carrera is a classic directly inspired by the 1963 model, with powerful and robust faceted lugs integrated into the body of the case, which comes in options of stainless steel or rose gold. The 60th Anniversary Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche like its predecessor has a curved silver bezel with black transfer Arabic numerals tachymeter markers. The inner bezel is decorated with the Chrono seconds' indices according to the unusual pacing of the Chrono seconds hands integrated into the silvery dial. Applique hours indices decorate the dial with SuperLumiNova coated hour, minute and chrono second hands. The Chrono hour sub-dial with red indicator is inspired by the rev counter of the 911 redlining at nine o’clock, the continuous seconds with the date window at six o’clock and the chrono minute sub-dial with red indicator at three o’clock.
The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint X Porsche, may not have four wheels but it does clock and indicate clearly the time of 9.1 seconds at whatever speed your car is speeding and then more. Drawing inspiration from the 0 to 100 km/H sprint of the Porsche 911 Type 901, the watch chronograph movement is designed, engineered and made, where the Chrono seconds hand sprints from ‘Zero’ position to four o’clock position in 9.1 seconds once the timer is engaged, commemorating the very first generation of 911 100 Km/h sprint time. Once it past the four o’clock marker and completes the 9.1 seconds the Chrono timing slows back to normal timing until it hits the 12 o’clock position or ‘Zero’ and it starts its sprint again as it hits 12 o’clock.
If we look below the dial, it’s a totally different and equally fascinating world. The heart that powers the watch is the automatic Chronograph Calibre TH20-08, and it is the two snail-shaped wheels the unique features in this movement that create the unusual antics timing. The wheels are made with the state-of-the-art LiGA process. The feature certainly presents a new challenge to the world of watchmaking. Though it may look simple, just working on the spacing of the gearings on the Chrono seconds wheel, to be able to come up with the idea is simply amazing. These unconventional Chrono seconds alone are enough to warrant it as a conversation piece and a party trick.
The marvels are housed in a choice of stainless steel which has the silvery dial with red chrono indicator hands and the rose gold edition has a beige sunburst dial with gold chrono indicator 42mm case and a ‘glassbox’ sapphire covers the dial. The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche has to be one of the best Chronographs of the year. Need I say more?
