The latest drop from TAG Heuer is a re-incarnation of a classic, and this time, they’ve teamed up with Hodinkee for their third collaboration to bring the Seafarer back to life!
We’ve seen TAG Heuer and Hodinkee team up twice before. Once to bring us the Carrera Skipper, and a second time with the Carrera Dato. Both were a hit for both TAG Heuer as well as the watch publication, Hodinkee. So, it’s no surprise that we see a third collaboration between the two brands and this time, they’ve brought another historic piece from the TAG Heuer archives back to life in the form of the Carrera Chronograph Seafarer x Hodinkee.
Re-incarnating An Icon
Now, most readers probably won’t remember the original Seafarer given it was originally done for Abercrombie & Fitch, which Heuer produced for the sporting goods retailer from the 1950s into the 1970s. Interestingly, TAG Heuer, or just Heuer as it was back then, had close ties to Abercrombie & Fitch due to the relationship Walter Haynes, President of Abercrombie & Fitch had with the Heuer family.
Ref. 2446C Seafarer
The original reference from 1968, which the 2024 version is based on. The original Seafarer had many iterations, and at the end of its production life, was housed in an Autavia “compressor” case with 100m water resistance, a rotating bezel, and dark grey dial with the contrasting blue sector subdials, which you see here.
This partnership dated back to the 1940s when Abercrombie & Fitch began commissioning Heuer to produce A & F-branded watches to sell in its New York stores. Most of these pieces had some sort of a nautical tie-in, the first was the Solunar which displayed tide times and which, in the 1950s, led to the creation of the more sophisticated Seafarer and Mareographe chronographs. It also inspired the design and production of the Heuer Skipper in the late ’60s thanks to Heuer becoming the official timing partner of the America’s Cup boat ‘Intrepid’.
RELATED READING: TAG Heuer Launches The New Carrera Skipper
Rather than recreating the old Seafarer, TAG Heuer and Hodinkee have, like their previous two collaborations, decided to create an homage to the original, keeping the heart and soul, but making it relevant to today. Taking design cues from the original reference from 1968, you can see here how TAG Heuer and Hodinkee have updated it in the new Carrera “Glassbox” case that is now prevalent through the Carrera range. In this instance, it is the 42mm Carrera Chronograph case design the Seafarer now calls home.
A Modern Take
On the new Carrera Chronograph Seafarer, you can clearly see the new style Carrera Glassbox thematic, with the TAG Heuer logo at 12 o’clock, domed sapphire crystal that seamlessly blends down into the case, and the pump pushers at 2 and 4 o’clock. The Seafarer logo has been moved down into the small seconds register at 6 o’clock and the tide indicator and chronograph minutes sub-dials at 9 and 3 o’clock respectively remain true to the original reference.
On the left side of the case, you now have a third pusher that sets the tide indicator. By simply pushing this repeatedly, you can cycle the sub-dial around until you get to the right high/low tide times for your local area. While pretty much everyone has access to this information now with the weather app on your phone, or a little thing called Google, it’s still handy to have a complication such as this at the ready for a quick glance down. I know where I live, my young kids always ask me about the water and tides when down at the bay, and I’m forever getting out my phone to see if the water is coming in or out. This piece would make answering this request much easier. No, it’s not really the intended use the way it was originally set out, but it’s useful in my everyday life nonetheless!
The one thing you may be thinking is, how does the tide indicator work? Well, see below:
The glassbox-style crystal aids in the legibility of the outer 60 seconds scale to track the chronograph seconds, as can be seen in the image above. As mentioned, the case is the larger 42mm case size, so this piece will wear slightly larger than the 39mm Glassbox. In saying this, this is the same case size as the Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche released last year, and you can see how that size looked on my wrist in our article here.
Inside the watch is the TH20-13 caliber, TAG Heuer’s in house chronograph movement that has been adapted to include the tide indicator. As we covered previously, this is the new generation chronograph movement TAG Heuer has developed specifically for their chronograph watches, namely the Carrera and Monaco and features an 80 hour power reserve, vertical clutch and column wheel. You will also see written on the caseback the TAG Heuer x Hodinkee collaboration as well as the limited edition number of 968 units made – a nod to the year of 1968 when the original was made.
Initial Thoughts
I’m always a bit of a fan of a left of centre complication, one of the reasons I love a moonphase disc on a watch. I’ll probably not use it all that often, but it looks cool and adds another visual element to the watch. The TAG Heuer Carrera Seafarer x Hodinkee falls into this category. Will I need to know the tides all the time? Probably not. But it’s good to know that if I do, the watch will tell me. Plus it is a complication that take a little know how to do, and I like that. No only that, but the blue, white and silver sub-dials stand out on the Seafarer and when I first say the piece, something about it really stuck out to me!
Having not tried it on in person, yet, based on my experience with the Chronosprint, it should wear pretty well given the dimensions and some of the height is in the glassbax crystal, which you don’t perceive when looking at the watch on your wrist. TAG Heuer rubber straps are robust and pliable as well, and this being on the rubber with the push button clasp and sliding micro-adjust means you can ensure the perfect fit here too.
Like the other TAG Heuer x Hodinkee collaborations, this is a limited edition piece of 968 pieces worldwide. The first 125 numbered pieces will be sold exclusively through the Hodinkee Shop. The other 843 pieces will be available via TAG Heuer boutiques, retailers and online later this month in the U.S. and then worldwide in September.
Reference: CBS2014.FT6293
Specifications:
- Case Size: 42mm case, 48.6mm lug-to-lug and 14.4mm thick
- Material: Fine-brushed polished steel case
- Crystal: Glassbox Sapphire Crystal
- Dial: Black opalin dial inspired by reference “2446C Seafarer”, black opalin flange, 3 sub-registers, and Seafarer logo on register at 6 o’clock, with white SuperLuminova applied to hands and dial
- Caseback: Sapphire caseback with custom engravings
- Movement: TAG Heuer TH20-13 In-House Tide Indicator Chronograph Caliber with Tide indicator, chronograph, minutes, seconds
- Power Reserve: 80 hours
- Water Resistance: 10 ATM/100M
- Bracelet/Strap: Black textured integrated rubber strap with textile pattern
