There’s no shortage of classic, collectible references throughout the more than 60-year history of the TAG Heuer Carrera, but some of the most distinctive and sought-after examples are the Carrera Dato models. With their unique asymmetrical layout featuring a single 3 o’clock subdial and an unusual 9 o’clock date window, Carrera Datos have long been celebrated for their quirky, pared-back ethos, and as part of its LVMH Watch Week 2024 novelties, TAG Heuer revives this classic silhouette in deep, charismatic teal green. In addition to this new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Dato in green, the brand also brings this same dial hue to a dramatic new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon (which we were sadly unable to photograph ahead of press time).

The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Dato is certainly the more novel of the pair, and starts out with the contemporary 39mm wide “Glassbox” Carrera case in stainless steel. Since its introduction in 2023, the “Glassbox” has quickly become the de facto standard case design for any modern Carrera, and this retro-futuristic bezel-less form continues to make other cases in the series feel dated by comparison. The crisp inwardly beveled angular lugs are pure classic Carrera, but the stout pump pushers and spectacular bezel-less domed sapphire crystal make this an eye-catching blend of old and new. On the wrist, it’s both timelessly compact and futuristically airy, with a balanced stance that flatters a wide variety of wrist sizes. Like other contemporary Carreras, the Carrera Chronograph Dato is capped with a sapphire display caseback and offers a solidly sporty 100 meters of water resistance.

Of course, the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Dato’s dial is the real main attraction here. While most of this design is familiar modern Carrera – the radially brushed dial surface, raised outer subdial scale, striped baton handset, contoured applied indices, and instantly recognizable dune-shaped double-sided chapter ring are all series staples at this point – the new elements TAG Heuer brings to this formula markedly reshape the overall experience on the wrist. At first glance, the “one-eyed” single-subdial layout is likely going to divide enthusiast opinions. Without the symmetry of the standard Carrera chronographs, it may come off as unbalanced to some, but without the sharp lateral balance of its siblings the Carrera Chronograph Dato is forced to cultivate a more distinct character of its own. After a while on the wrist, this pared-back asymmetry comes off as jaunty and stylish, like a loosened necktie or carefully coiffed flyaway hair – the sort of thing fashion people used to call sprezzatura. In practice, it barely affects functionality as well. After all, when is the last time you really needed more than 30 minutes of recording time or a dedicated running seconds on a chronograph? Either way, the other side of this asymmetrical coin is the 9 o’clock date window. While it slots deftly into place alongside the rest of the hours indices, this is likely to be the true point of contention for this dial. Given the insistent enthusiast demands for dial-matching date wheels in recent years, the traditional white date display is likely to be met with rancor from some corners of the watch community. With that said, I’d personally argue that a teal green date display would create a more unbalanced dial layout (essentially creating a visual hole at the 9 o’clock position at a glance), while also moving the watch further away from the ‘60s Carrera Datos it’s aiming to emulate.

This brings us neatly to the dial color itself. When coupled to the radially brushed dial finish, it’s a rich, deeply charismatic blue-green, with a strong dynamic range between its lowlights and highlights. On the wrist, it’s certainly on the greener side of teal, and perhaps a hair’s breadth away from Aston Martin’s blue-forward take on British racing green, adding a touch of both modernity and classic British sporting charm to the design. TAG Heuer has added a broad spectrum of colors to the Carrera in recent years, but few can match this teal green for sheer personality.

TAG Heuer powers the Carrera Chronograph Dato with its in-house TH20-07 automatic chronograph movement. Like the rest of the TH20 movement family, the TH20-07 is an evolution of the Heuer 02 platform, updated here for the Carrera Chronograph Dato’s one-register layout. In performance terms, it’s broadly the same as the rest of its stablemates, boasting a hefty 80 hour power reserve and 28,800 bph beat rate alongside a column wheel and vertical clutch chronograph actuation system. On the finishing side, the TH20-07 is modern, but unspectacular, with Côtes de Genève for the skeleton bridges, matte blasting on the balance cock, and a layered TAG Heuer shield-shaped skeleton rotor featuring both matte blasting and sharp vertical brushing.

By contrast, the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon announced for LVMH Watch Week 2024 is much more familiar, essentially standing as a new colorway for the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon launched at Watches and Wonders 2023. Like that previous model, this uses the 42mm wide variant of the stainless steel “Glassbox” case. Although the elements of this case might be the same as the 39mm models, the larger, more open proportions of the 42mm version push it into more futuristic visual territory, rather than the vintage/modern split of the smaller version. That said, it’s still a strong, eye-catching design at this beefier size, with arguably even more visual drama as the domed sapphire crystal takes up greater real estate. Like its siblings, this case offers a sapphire display caseback and 100 meters of water resistance.

Like previous iterations, this new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon’s dial succeeds through both its generous use of negative space and the integration of its 6 o’clock tourbillon window. Most of the dial is standard “Glassbox” Carrera fare (with greater surface area for a more open, minimal look), but this wild, luxurious escapement is a natural highlight. While it’s framed with a brightly polished accent ring, the overall presentation of this tourbillon is focused and lacking in ostentation. The three-armed tourbillon cage is simple and sportier than most, opting for crisp brushing rather than the hand-polished extravagance of many pricier tourbillons. Where this new model differs from previous Carrera Chronograph tourbillons, of course, is its color palette. Rather than the racy blue with orange accents of the first iteration, the refined, mature teal green used here gives the design a more upscale feel while refocusing attention squarely on the tourbillon itself.

Inside the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon beats the brand’s in-house TH20-09 automatic tourbillon chronograph movement. Despite the unique escapement, it sports the same 80-hour power reserve and 28,800 bph frequency as its siblings. Interestingly, while previous models equipped with the TH20-09 were marked as COSC-certified chronometers for accuracy, TAG Heuer makes no mention of chronometer ratings for this specific model. Movement finishing is largely shared with the rest of the TH20 line, as well. TAG Heuer fits both of these new releases with semi-gloss black alligator leather deployant straps to complete the look.

Among the TAG Heuer faithful, the Carrera Dato family hides some of the rarest and most intriguing vintage treasures. Bringing this uniquely charming layout back is not an easy feat, but the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Dato sticks the landing with an eye-catching colorway and carefully considered details. When applying this same colorway to the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon, the brand creates arguably its most intelligent, refined tourbillon model to date, with impressive appointments for its price range. The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Dato is available now through authorized dealers, while the new teal green TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon will arrive at authorized dealers in May 2024. MSRP for these two watches stand at USD 6,550 and USD 24,050, respectively. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.