Carrera

Tag Heuer Carrera Mikrograph Watch

Brand new for 2011 is a new watch with a new in-house made movement from Tag Heuer - and it is pretty darn impressive (I hope it works). The team responsible for the ultra modern Tag Heuer Monaco V4 watch now bring the ultra retro inspired (but with modern movement) Carrera Mikrograph - resurrecting the "Mikrograph" name. During the "Heuer" only days, the Mikrograph was a stopwatch able to measure time down to 1/100th of a second. Given the partial homage nature of this watch, the logo only reads "Heuer" as Tag Heuer has been doing lately on their vintage inspired timepieces.

No matter how much history Tag Heuer would like you to think about, the new movement in this watch wasn't around anytime before 2011. Highly complex in construction, the automatic movement displays the time, date, (what looks like a power reserve indicator), and has a 30 minute chronograph. The movement is further unique for having not one, but two balance wheels. Looks like one of them is just for the 1/100th of a second hand. Before now, it was impressive for a mechanical watch to measure just 1/10th of a second.

How does it work? The chronograph function takes up three hands on the dial. First is the right subsidiary dial that counts completed minutes up to 30. There is the lower subdial with a hand that spins once each minute. This gives you the first decimal point in your measurement of time. Finally, the watch uses the large blue hand to measure the second and third decimal point. This super quick hand goes around the entire dial once each second - having the Mikrograph behave a lot like a foudroyante style timepiece.

Tag Heuer will make just 50 pieces of the limited edition Carrera Mikrograph, and it will come in an 18k rose gold case with matching brown reptile strap. Price will likely be quite high - but having done well with a few other highly complex Tag Heuer watches, the brand has proved they can demand it.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Tag Heuer Carrera Mikrograph Watch

Tags: carrera, mikrograph, Tag Heuer, watch

Then and Now: Mercedes Gullwings at the Carrera Panamericana Mexico

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Porsche may use names like Targa, Carrera and even Panamera. But these labels – all derived from the dangerous world of sportscar road rallies – didn't always belong to them and them alone.

Among the most prominent of these bygone races was the Carrera Panamericana. The event was fielded in Mexico in the early 1950s before it was disbanded. Not before Mercedes pulled off a most impressive feat, however. In 1952, a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL won the event with a spectacular one-two finish. But along the way, the first car struck a condor, damaging the car and its co-pilot. The mechanics fitted the windshield with steel bars to prevent any further damage, and those bars remain on the car today.

That very same vehicle has now left the Mercedes-Benz racing museum in Stuttgart and returned, alongside its modern-day successor, the new SLS AMG, to participate in the Carrera Panamericana Mexico revival.

Gallery: Mercedes Gullwings at the Carrera Panamericana Mexico

Tags: carrera, carrera panamericana, carrera panamericana mexico, mercedes, mercedes-benz, mercedes-benz 300 sl, mercedes-benz sls amg, panamericana

Tag Heuer Carrera Caliber 5 Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

While the Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph watch was getting bigger (up to about 44mm wide now I think) someone must have thought it was too big and too much. So here comes a three-hand version of the classic looking Tag Heuer Carrera with the Caliber 5 movement that has made its way into other Tag Heuer timepieces such as the Aquaracer. This Caliber 5 based Carrera is now 39mm wide and in steel.

Most of the watch is what we know and love about the Carrera save for the smaller size and more simple looking face. To help keep the dial from looking too bare, the designers added Clous de Paris texture (just a series of square boxes pattern) on the face, and gave it one of those "open" date windows that I am loathing more each time I see them. In my humble opinion, the watch would have looked better minus the half-banana shaped eye-sore of a date window. To preserve symmetry, would not have something smaller at 6 o'clock made a better choice? An interesting design point are the spelled out hours next to the hour markers. Look closely and you can see them spelled out, "ten," "three," five," etc...

Instead of the tachymetric scale on the aluminum bezel, there are now minute markers such as on a rotating diver's bezel, however I don't think this bezel rotates. The watch is available in the pictured brown color dial and (of course) black. Both are handsome in tone. The watches will be available soon and for a price that is likely a bit less than the Aquaracer automatic with the steel bracelet.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: black, brown, caliber 5, Caliber5, carrera, tag heuer, TagHeuer, timepiece, watch, WV211M.BA0787, WV211N.BA0787

Tag Heuer Carrera Black MOP Watch For Japan Only

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

tag heuer carrera black mother of pearl watch

Japan gets a lot of special watches that we never see here - though these are usually made by Japanese watch makers. Once In a while you get Japan only watches from Swiss makers such as Tag Heuer, and I wonder why Tag Heuer thinks no one else would want one. This special Carrera watch with a black mother of pearl dial is a perfect example. Not only is the watch a handsome, but more decorated rendition of the classic Carrera watch look, but it is simply enough to be appreciated by more markets. Notice that the dial is all black mother of pearl with a slightly matte black disc as part of the hour marker ring. The look is superb and something different from Tag Heuer - that to my knowledge has never utilized any type of mother of pearl on a man's watch.

Aside from this dial difference, the limited edition Tag Heuer Carrera Black features the same 44mm wide steel case and Tag Heuer Calibre 16 automatic chronograph movement as the rest of the modern Carerra watches. I've always loved bracelet of this watch that has mirrored certain Omega watch bracelets and features satin and polished steel finishes. Eventually Tag Heuer will upgrade the aluminum bezel (they look great but can be easy to scratch). Although Japan, like other Asian countries, is known to prefer smaller watches, I enjoy seeing the popularity of a 44mm wide model just as this there. 600 of these black mother of pearl Carrera watches will be available - in Japan only starting in July.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: black, Carrera, CV201K.BA0794, japan, limited edition, LimitedEdition, mother of pearl, MotherOfPearl, Tag Heuer, TagHeuer, watch