TAG Heuer is celebrating their most collectible version of the original Carrera model with the release of the limited edition 60th Anniversary TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Edition. Sixty years after the creation of the first Carrera, a 600-piece limited model will now become the new fan favourite.
The original 1963 Carrera was defined as the go-to wristwatch chronograph and is now recognised worldwide for its classic elegant profile, super legible dial and highly reliable engineering. As a part of the Carrera’s 60th Anniversary, TAG Heuer decided to go back to its roots to create this limited edition piece, most notably one of the more collectible vintage Carrera models, the reference 2447 SN of the late 1960s.
During the late 1960s, a second series of the first-generation Carrera models with the hand-wound Valjoux chronograph movement was released. This second-gen came with either a silvered dial with black sub-dials or the colour’s flipped (black dial with silver sub-dials). These became known to be either panda dial or reverse panda dial.
The 2447 SN was a model that featured the Panda dial. It came with a silvered dial with black subdials, as stated in its nomenclature” SN”, which meant “silver and “noir”, meaning black in french. The 2447 SN Carrera also further improved the readability of the dial from its predecessors by having clever design touches such as stripes down the hour markers and hour and minute hands to give them extra clarity, double stops at 12 so that it was clear when the chronograph had been zeroed and finally white hands and markings on the black counters to make them easily readable.
The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 60th Anniversary Edition is a faithful reinterpretation of the iconic Carrera 2447 SN. This 60th Anniversary Edition comes with a 39mm steel polished case with a steel polished fixed bezel. The clean and beautiful curves are a nod to the original 2447 SN model. Continuing the faithful recreation, the dial is a silver sunray brushed dial with black “azure” counters.
The sub-counters have silver hands with silver markings to have that direct contrast and easy readability. The hour indicies are rhodium plated facetted with beige superluminova as dots at the end of each marker. The hour and minute hands also have the same beige superluminova, while the chronograph seconds hand is done in black lacquer.
The vintage-inspired aesthetics carried over from the 2447 SN model include the vintage Heuer logo, “Swiss” marking at the 6 o’clock subdial, double stops at 12, black stripes down the central hands and also the hour markers. The sub-counters have been reversed, with the 60-minute and 12-hour counters switching positions.
Powering this vintage-inspired 60Th Anniversary edition is TAG Heuer’s own in-house Heuer 02 movement. Operating at a frequency of 28,800 VpH (4Hz), the movement can put out a power reserve of approximately 80 hours. From the case back, the movement’s beautiful design can be seen. The Geneva Striped decoration, along with the column wheel, can be easily seen. The case back also comes engraved with the watch’s individual number XXX/600 along with its 100-metre water resistance.
The final piece to this stunning timepiece is the black calfskin leather racing strap with a pin buckle, which offers a nice contrast against the silver brushed dial.
The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 60th Anniversary Edition is the first of quite a few different releases in a season that celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the Carrera.
