2023 has already proven to be a banner year for TAG Heuer’s flagship Carrera family. As this year marks the 60th anniversary of the line, the Swiss brand has a full year of unique commemorative novelties lined up to celebrate the occasion, but the centerpiece of this year of celebrations was recently announced as part of the brand’s Watches and Wonders 2023 novelties. The new “Glassbox” case concept aims to reinterpret the warmth and charisma of a vintage domed acrylic crystal through a thoroughly modern lens, rather than simply mirroring the look of the original Carreras of the ‘60s. With this in mind, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 39mm “Glassbox” achieves something almost wholly unique in the broad, diverse Carrera catalog: It bridges the visual gap between the truly vintage-styled, Heuer-branded side of the series and the sharp, modern TAG Heuer-marked executions, all while introducing a newly revised generation of in-house movements in the process. The new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 39mm “Glassbox” is a balanced, stylish, and smoothly futuristic bellwether for the future of TAG Heuer’s longest-running chronograph line, with a look that straddles a difficult line between classically subtle and eye-catchingly different.

The moment you strap on the 39mm-wide stainless steel case of the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 39mm “Glassbox,” you’re treated to a wearing experience that feels at once both intimately familiar and strikingly fresh. The underlying case design — the sharply angled lugs, the stout pump pushers, and the sleek brushed case sides — is familiar visual territory for the modern Carrera, with a footprint on the wrist that nearly matches the brand’s current 39mm-wide Heuer-stamped “reissue” Carreras. Of course, that’s not the impression this watch gives at first glance, thanks to its bombastic, deeply domed, wall-to-wall sapphire crystal. There’s zero bezel at all here, and the arc of the crystal extends down nearly all the way to the vertical plane of the case sides. It gives the familiar Carrera outline an airy, retrofuturistic feel — if George Jetson were a TAG Heuer man, this would have been on his wrist. At the same time, it’s not outlandish or overbearing, and barring a few concerns around bumping the edge of the crystal into things, this still delivers a familiar Carrera feel on the wrist. In one way, the “Glassbox” actually adds a touch of utility to the platform, as the tachymeter scale can now be read at a nearly 90-degree angle. This might prove useful while gripping the wheel of your speeding Porsche, but in real-world terms, it serves to add a layer of visual drama and intrigue.

As with the case, the dial of the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 39mm “Glassbox” blends classic series staples with light, avant-garde new elements. Each iteration of this design takes its dial in a markedly different direction, and the “Panda” colorway seen here is by far the most vintage-inspired. The radially brushed black dial surface, striped baton hands, and khaki fauxtina lume fill certainly set the stage for a vintage-style design, but TAG Heuer tempers this old-school look with more modern inclusions. The silver azurage subdials, for example, use raised outer rings for greater visual depth. The split-baton applied indices have a gently curved profile, echoing the curvature of the crystal above and introducing a truly striking set of reflections at various angles. Naturally, the largest change comes to the outer chapter ring. Calling this broad, complex element “curved” is an oversimplification — like a wave or a sand dune, this outer ring is concave on its inner side and bulges outward to meet the crystal on the other. It’s an organic, impressively sculptural visual shift that immediately moves the “Glassbox” away from the standard Carrera formula on the wrist. Around the inner side of the ring, TAG Heuer prints the chronograph seconds scale, while the outer side receives the Carrera’s classic tachymeter scale.

The other major visual shift for this new model comes at 12 o’clock, where TAG Heuer includes a bright, contrasting white date window. This 12 o’clock date display is unique to the “Panda” dial option, and isn’t totally without precedent in the Carrera line, as several early references including the ‘60s-era Heuer Carrera Date 12 ref. 3147 used this unorthodox date placement. With that said, it’s more or less unheard of in the modern watchmaking landscape, and while it does provide a visually balanced layout it does require more than a little mental adjustment. More than once during my short time with the sample, I found myself subconsciously glancing at 6 o’clock and 3 o’clock before remembering the 12 o’clock date display placement.

The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 39mm “Glassbox” is more than just a visual overhaul of the series, however. This model also serves as the debut for the second generation of the in-house Heuer 02 automatic chronograph movement, now referred to as the TH20-00. Admittedly, from the specifications, there’s little to separate the TH20-00 from the already-excellent Heuer 02, with a hefty 80-hour power reserve, a 28,800 bph beat rate, and a column wheel. However, the TH20-00 does introduce bidirectional winding into the platform, which should improve power reserve efficiency somewhat. On the visual side, the changes are more immediately apparent. The Heuer 02 is a fairly skeletonized design, with a narrow web of bridges exposing a large portion of the overall gear train. By contrast, the TH20-00 used here appears much more robustly built, with fewer cutouts and a broad plate covered in Côtes de Genève. The overall finishing is clean and sporty, consisting mostly of striping across plates and bridges, along with the new shield-motif cutout rotor. This new rotor offers a simpler, more graphic look than the brand’s previous wheel-spoke design, with a raised brushed segment outlined by a lower matte blasted layer. Although so much of the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 39mm “Glassbox” reinterprets the Carrera formula, the rally-style perforated black leather deployant strap is purely traditional Carrera fare. However, this more traditional element meshes well with the rest of the design, and helps to prevent it from feeling too radical on the wrist.

Although it forms only a part of a full year of 60th-anniversary celebrations for the series, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 39mm “Glassbox” is the first to offer what feels like an honest glimpse into the future of the series, combining familiar classic elements with a strikingly simple, futuristic new sheen to create something that presents itself as a natural evolution of the core design. The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 39mm “Glassbox” is available now through authorized dealers, and MSRP for this model stands at $6,450 USD as of press time. For more details, please visit the brand’s website.