While the ‘70s are rightly remembered as a pivotal era for the watch industry, this decade also stands out as a golden age for Formula 1 racing. Names like Lauda, Hunt, Stewart, Andretti, and Fittipaldi brought the sport to a broader audience than ever before in the ‘70s, while burgeoning sponsor budgets and the emerging science of aerodynamics made the cars faster, more powerful, and more visually spectacular than their predecessors. At the intersection of these two golden ages sat Heuer (nowadays known as TAG Heuer), which provided both sponsorship and equipment to drivers across the series. Though there may be more famous Heuer models that worked their way onto Formula 1 drivers’ wrists, none were more meaningful than the legendary gold-cased Calibre 11 Heuer Carrera. Brand CEO Jack Heuer made a habit of gifting particular Formula 1 race winners gold Carreras throughout the decade, in a variety of styles, and several of these distinctive gold Carreras have become the stuff of legends in the vintage Heuer community. As a capstone to its year-long 60th anniversary celebration for the Carrera line, TAG Heuer reimagines the gold reference 1158CHN Carrera gifted to the late Swedish racer Ronnie Peterson for the modern age. The new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph in 18K gold bridges the stylistic gap between the modern “Glassbox” Carrera format and the bold, funky C-cased Calibre 11 Carreras of the ‘70s, blending clean modern lines with a high-impact gold-on-black colorway and dramatic finishing.
Measuring in at 39mm wide and 13.9mm thick, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph’s case should be functionally identical to previous iterations of the current “Glassbox” generation of Carreras. However, the use of 18K yellow gold gives this familiar formula a louder disco-era punch than we’re used to seeing in photos. Yellow gold is rapidly returning to the watch industry landscape in 2023, and this bolder, more visually distinctive metal contrasts interestingly with the focused, futuristic lines of the “Glassbox” in images. The broad, sloping upper case surfaces and the Carrera’s signature inward-facing lug bevels give the case material plenty of wide polished planes for dramatic flash, but the choice to keep the case sides laterally brushed should keep some of the Carrera’s sporting spirit alive on the wrist. Although the completely bezel-less, Jetsons-esque domed sapphire crystal tends to visually dominate the modern Carrera case design in most iterations, the visual weight of gold and the matching tones of the case and dial help this element to fade into the overall mix far more than its stainless steel brethren. Although this arguably removes some of the stylistic impact of the “Glassbox” concept, the 18K gold offers a different form of impact in photos to compensate. Like all modern iterations of the Carrera, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph in 18K gold is equipped with a sapphire display caseback, and is rated for a respectable 100 meters of water resistance.
Like the case, the dial of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph leans heavily on the aesthetic power of gold, but here the brand also emphasizes deep, dramatic textures as well. It may not capture the offbeat, flamboyant energy of the ultra-wide Geneva stripe texture used for the gold dial of Ronnie Peterson’s famous Carrera, but the sharp, dynamic vertical brushing used for the new Carrera Chronograph’s gold main dial surface is nonetheless striking in initial images. TAG Heuer pairs this exaggerated brushing with a glittering grainy matte gold surface for the Carrera’s distinctive wave-shaped two-sided chapter ring, while the simple azurage on the raised black chronograph subdials helps to soften some of the dial’s visual intensity in photos. Lastly, TAG Heuer opts for classic polishing for the striped baton handset and the contoured applied indices, which should give the dial a dose of on-wrist flash to match the case’s polished sections. Although it is largely true to the look of its ’70s inspiration, the new Carrera Chronograph’s white 6 o’clock date display may ruffle some enthusiast feathers, and a black date wheel would likely blend more smoothly into the overall design.
As with much of the modern Carrera line, TAG Heuer powers the new Carrera Chronograph in 18K gold with its in-house TH20-00 automatic chronograph movement. Interestingly, TAG Heuer forgoes any sort of gold highlights on the movement for this model, even the brand’s usual dial-matching column wheel. Instead, the brand opts for a clean, straightforward all-steel approach in images, albeit with sharp finishing including Côtes de Genève for the bridges and a layered shield-motif skeleton rotor featuring both linear brushing and matte blasting. Overall performance is in line with other examples of the TH20-00, including an excellent 80-hour power reserve at a 28,800 bph beat rate. To complete the luxurious-yet-sporty look, TAG Heuer fits this new 18K gold Carrera Chronograph with a classic perforated rally strap in deep black calfskin.
The ’70s were a historic highlight for both TAG Heuer’s chronographs and Formula 1, and the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph in 18K gold celebrates the intersection of these two milestone eras with vibrant panache and a bold, luxe feel in images. The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph in 18K gold is available now through authorized dealers. MSRP for this watch stands at 21,000 CHF as of press time. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.
