Category Archives for Tag Heuer Carrera

1:1 Clone TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Nanograph Watches

The two Carrera family watches featured in this article are among the priciest timepieces that replica TAG Heuer has ever produced. These two “Plasma Diamant” watches are undoubtedly unusual and expensive, but they are also incredibly rare and fascinating examples of modern luxury watches. This journey began in 2022 when the brand released the replica TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Nanograph (Ref. XCBN5A90.FC8315). This model took the 44mm wide Carrera Chronograph case concept and transformed the traditional sports watch style into something far more decorative and modern. The large asymmetrically set baguette-cut diamonds in the matte black case, the machined diamond crown, the baguette-cut diamond hour markers, and the diamond texture face are all designed to catch the viewer’s eye. The watch features a traditional polished black ceramic tachymeter-style bezel and a simple black strap. It was priced at a staggering 350,000 Swiss Francs.

In 2023, Fake TAG Heuer took this concept even further with the introduction of the TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Diamant d’Avant Garde (Ref. CNBN5A91.BZ0000). This watch retained the same movement and 44mm wide black aluminum case, but added a black bezel and bracelet set with large lab-grown diamonds for a bolder, more decorative effect. The price reached CHF 500,000, and we had the chance to review this upgraded version hands-on. Building on that review, I offer my perspective on these watches and how people might perceive them.

In 2019, replica TAG Heuer introduced a new mainspring technology called Isograph, intended to be a carbon-based alternative to silicon mainsprings in watches, replacing the more traditional metal mainsprings. Non-metallic hairsprings are resistant to magnetism and have advantages such as lower friction. The Isograph hairsprings were produced in-house by LVMH and were intended for the lower-priced Autavia collection of TAG Heuer timepieces. However, the technology proved difficult to mass-produce, and the idea of using them in mainstream TAG Heuer watches was shelved. The Isograph name has seemingly been changed to Nanograph, and TAG Heuer still uses the technology for higher-end watches where more money can be spent on the movement. Both watches feature what TAG Heuer refers to as “Carbon Tourbillons,” essentially the Heuer 02-T automatic chronograph movement with an Isograph/Nanograph hairspring.

The Heuer 02 and 02T automatic chronograph movements are impressive, even if they aren’t exactly high horology. (If you are looking for that in a modern high-end TAG Heuer, the 2024 Monaco Split Second Chronograph might be a better option.) The Heuer 02-T is a durable and accurate chronograph movement fitted with a tourbillon. It operates at 4Hz with 65 hours of power reserve and is a COSC-certified Chronometer. Although this movement was originally designed for entry-level Swiss Made tourbillon watches, it has proven to be reliable and has been enhanced with additional decoration and carbon hairsprings for these Carrera Chronograph Plasma Nanograph Tourbillon watches.

These two models elevate their design with lab-grown crystals, sourced through a collaboration between TAG Heuer and Capsoul. Similar to the popularity of synthetic sapphire crystal, many in the watch industry see a bright future for creative uses of lab-grown diamonds. These uses are not only for decorative purposes but also for other applications where diamond as a material could be beneficial and playful. For example, the crowns of these watches begin as large grown diamonds and are then machined into the shape of a crown. This complicated process has led TAG Heuer to introduce these crowns (in other colors as well) to some of its other “Plasma” watches in both pink and yellow.

The original model had an aluminum case with a more traditional black ceramic chronograph bezel, but the new D’Avant Garde model abandons subtlety and restraint. The new model uses aluminum for the entire construction: case, bezel, and bracelet. This material allows for setting the entire watch with diamonds, a process completed by Geneva-based specialist Salanitro, with the bracelet featuring a waterfall effect as the frequency of diamonds diminishes around the wrist. While TAG Heuer outsourced most of the diamond work, it chose to cut and mount the crown diamond in-house.

Both the replica TAG Heuer Carrera Tourbillon Nanograph Plasma Diamant D’Avant Garde and the replica TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Nanograph are incredible timepieces. They may not be traditionally beautiful, but they are fun, spirited, and eye-catching. For me, the most surprising aspect is the price, especially considering how many parts of these watches were never intended to be top-tier. The Nanograph technology, lab-grown diamonds, and the Heuer 02T movement are all meant to offer excellent value. While these watches require a lot of time to make and develop, I wonder if TAG Heuer missed part of the story when trying to reconcile all of these concepts with the enthusiasts who have been following the brand’s developments over the past decade.

Super Clone TAG Heuer Carrera Caliber 36 Flyback Chronographs

It’s 1963, and motor racing is a popular pastime worldwide, including in America. The American muscle car companies and well-known European car manufacturers are all competing for dominance on the track. As they do today, these races serve as testing grounds for the latest engines, tires, chassis, and overall race car designs.

In this context, Jack Heuer, the honorary chairman of the now replica TAG Heuer company, made one of the boldest moves in the Swiss watch industry. Driven by a passion for the sport and their finely crafted mechanical chronographs, under Jack’s leadership, Heuer became the first watch company to be the official timekeeper for various racing circuits. In a brilliant business strategy, Heuer chronographs also adorned the wrists of many leading drivers.

Famous names like Jo Siffert, Jacky Ickx, Niki Lauda, and many others not only wore Heuer watches but also displayed Heuer signs on their race suits. Heuer’s dominance in time measurement on the racetrack was so significant that when Steve McQueen filmed Le Mans, he emulated Jo Siffert with a similar Heuer sign on his suit and the now-famous Heuer Monaco on his wrist.

One of the original chronographs to gain mainstream popularity from Heuer at that time was the fake Carrera, named and conceived by Jack himself. The name was inspired by a grueling race across Central and North America: the Carrera Panamericana Mexico race. Since then, the Carrera has remained one of the most popular chronographs in the Heuer catalog. Various iterations have since existed with different movements and features, yet it has always stayed true to its origins with excellent proportions, legible dials, and precise movements. It is a watch line that perfectly evokes its design purpose: being in a fast-moving automobile. Last year, I reviewed my Grand Carrera Calibre 36 RS Caliper here on aBlogToWatch.com.

Fast forward 50 years, and replica TAG Heuer Carrera continues to impress with two new releases of the same Calibre 36 version, now with a flyback feature. There are two primary models. First, the “Racing” version in super-light, grade 2 titanium, sandblasted and treated with black titanium carbide. The dial is anthracite colored with a sun-ray pattern and markers for 60 minutes at five-minute increments, giving the watch the feel of the handheld chronographs the brand is famous for. At the center, there are two sub-dials: one for the running seconds at 9 o’clock and the other for the 30-minute chronograph counter at 3 o’clock. Red accents on the tips of the counter hands and around the bezel for the tachymeter’s cardinal markers complete the sporty look.

The second model (reference CAR2B11.BA0799) also features the flyback addition to the Calibre 36 but comes in stainless steel with a silver finish, reminiscent of the old Heuer stopwatches. The white dial includes the same anthracite sun-ray pattern but only for the inner part of the dial that houses the sub-dials. Instead of the race-inspired perforated leather strap, this model includes an option for a steel bracelet with a TAG Heuer deployment clasp.

The case back of both watches features a sapphire crystal showcasing the Zenith El-Primero-based Calibre 36 high-beat movement with the custom flyback addition. This new feature allows the chronograph to be reset and immediately restarted on the fly. This is particularly useful for quickly measuring laps around the track or any periodic activity.

Replica TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 36 Racing Watch Review

Since the early 1960s, the Carrera has been a cornerstone model for Heuer, and later for replica TAG Heuer. Designed as a lifestyle racing watch, the Carrera has remained one of the most significant timepiece families of the 20th century, both as a collectible and for its influence on watch design for over 50 years. Today, I am examining a rather distinctive version of the Carrera that stands out at the higher end of the collection. This is the replica TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 36 Racing watch, and this article marks the third time we’ve covered it.

The Replica Carrera Calibre 36 Racing made its debut at Baselworld 2013. It was introduced as part of a series of watches equipped with the Calibre 36 movement, and the “Racing” aspect of the name reflects its unique color scheme, strap, and titanium case construction. Interestingly, if you look at our previous articles, you’ll see that during the design and production phases, TAG Heuer realized the hands were too short. The model I’m reviewing has the correct hand size, but early images showed it with hands that were too short. It baffles me why designers continue to produce watches with short hands. Fortunately, brands like replica TAG Heuer catch these issues before production, but many others do not.

Besides the titanium case, what sets the Calibre 36 Racing watch apart from most other Carrera models is the movement. In recent years, TAG Heuer has been positioning the Carrera as a more upscale collection, leading to an increase in the average price. Along with this trend, there has been a remarkable diversity of movements available in the Carrera line. As of 2014, there are at least five different chronograph movements available in the Carrera, including in-house movements by TAG Heuer (like the Calibre 1887 and 1969) and those sourced externally.

The Calibre 36 is not made by TAG Heuer itself but comes from the larger LVMH group that owns Clone TAG Heuer. The Calibre 36 is essentially another name for the “El Primero” movement. Produced by Zenith and used in timepieces by both Zenith and its sister companies, the El Primero is a modern marvel of mechanical watchmaking, with an interesting backstory.

Others have recounted the story in more detail, but the basics are straightforward. During the quartz crisis, Zenith nearly shut down and was sold. The new management ordered the destruction of many tools and plans for movements, including those for the newly developed El Primero. The El Primero was intended to be a groundbreaking movement, but due to the shift to quartz watches, it seemed obsolete. No one at the time would have believed that a few decades later, these high-performance mechanical movements would be valued in luxury watches.

The person tasked with destroying the El Primero plans did not do so and secretly saved everything. He later revealed what he had preserved, much to everyone’s relief. Later, brands like Rolex used the El Primero in their Daytona watches for many years (including much of the 1990s). Today, the El Primero remains a benchmark for high-end, high-performance mechanical chronograph movements. Given that TAG Heuer and Zenith are both part of the LVMH Group, it makes sense for them to share movements. This is why a re-branded Zenith movement is found inside a replica TAG Heuer Carrera.

Replica TAG Heuer Debuts Carrera Year Of The Tiger Limited-Edition Watch

As China continues to grow and develop as one of the world’s largest and most lucrative luxury markets, the celebration of Chinese New Year has become a pivotal tradition for the watch industry. Every year, brands from all corners of the industry design unique takes on existing models to honor the animals of the classical Chinese zodiac, creating vibrant and distinctive releases with a distinctly Eastern flair. As 2022 rings in the Year of the Tiger, replica TAG Heuer has unveiled its first release of the year with a suitably feline theme. The new replica TAG Heuer Carrera Year of the Tiger Limited Edition reimagines the recently unveiled three-hand Carrera with a striking and intricate new dial design, adding a fierce new energy to the cleanly restrained platform.

The replica TAG Heuer Carrera Year of the Tiger Limited Edition shares its 41mm stainless steel case with the standard Carrera Day-Date, carrying on its sleek contemporary interpretation of the classic angular Carrera form. The narrow sloping polished bezel gives the design a modern, dial-forward stance, while the broad polished case side chamfer and signature angular beveled lugs keep the Carrera family resemblance strong. Replica TAG Heuer embellishes this familiar formula with an 18K 5N rose gold signed crown, introducing a two-tone punch to the look without overwhelming the rest of the case with color. The Carrera Year of the Tiger Limited Edition’s other unique visual calling card is emblazoned across the sapphire display caseback. In honor of the Year of the Tiger, the brand adds a stylized rendition of a tiger in slate blue, snarling and ready to pounce. Like the standard model, this new limited edition variant offers a respectable 100 meters of water resistance.

Replica TAG Heuer truly sets the Carrera Year of the Tiger Limited Edition apart from its stablemates with its eye-catching dial finishing. The 18K 5N rose gold baton hands and matching indices should be familiar to fans of the brand, but the surface underneath these traditional elements is wild and layered. The brand cleverly integrates the tiger motif into this simple dial with a cutout approach, combining a deep slate blue horizontally brushed main surface with recessed elements in an almost asphalt-like textured black. Beyond creating a cleverly inverted tiger stripe pattern, this cutout dial concept deftly shows off replica TAG Heuer’s dial finishing capability. Although this dramatic tiger-stripe colorway is decidedly not for all tastes, the craftsmanship and creativity on display are undeniably impressive. Given the intricate finishing and harmonious colors of the rest of the dial, however, the 3 o’clock day-date window stands out with its white wheels and markedly disrupts the flow of the overall design.

Like its standard production counterpart, the super clone TAG Heuer Carrera Year of the Tiger Limited Edition is powered by the ETA-based Calibre 5 automatic movement. The Calibre 5 is the backbone of replica TAG Heuer’s modern three-hand collection but is beginning to show its age somewhat with a below-average 38-hour power reserve at a 28,800 bph beat rate. The Calibre 5 is handsomely finished, however, with perlage across the bridges and a signed rotor topped with Côtes de Genève. Replica TAG Heuer completes the Carrera Year of the Tiger Limited Edition with a deep midnight blue calf leather strap featuring dramatic rose gold-tone contrast stitching.

With one of the brand’s cleverest and most dynamic uses of the Chinese New Year theme to date, the replica TAG Heuer Carrera Year of the Tiger Limited Edition offers a wild and playful alternative to the clean and upscale standard Carrera. Only 300 examples of the replica TAG Heuer Carrera Year of the Tiger Limited Edition will be made, and the watch is available now through the brand’s online sales platform at an MSRP of $3,750. For more details, please visit the brand’s website.

Best Replica TAG Heuer Carrera Watch

Collaboration designs are nothing new in the modern luxury watch market, but for the most part, they exist as partnerships between a watchmaker and another single brand. Bamford Watch Department’s latest release, however, is the product of no less than four separate entities. The reason for this complex web of collaborations is simple – this watch is part of a broader collaboration between streetwear media site Highsnobiety and famed German automaker RUF Automobile. RUF has a decades-long history of working alongside sports car giant Porsche, transforming 911s and other Porsche models into high-performance monsters like the SCR and the legendary CTR “Yellowbird,” which boasted an incredible 213 miles-per-hour top speed that made it the world’s fastest production automobile on its introduction in 1987 (for context, the previous record-holding Ferrari F40 topped out at only 201 miles-per-hour). While this partnership ranges from apparel, caps, coffee mugs, model cars, and more, the watch is the crown jewel of the collection, with a reworked dial layout and a unique colorway that stands out from its stablemates at a glance. The new limited edition RUF x Bamford x Highsnobiety – replica TAG Heuer Carrera is an intriguing effort to push the boundaries of co-branding, with a cleanly vibrant look that belies its complex backstory.

Measuring in at 42mm-wide and 14.4mm-thick, the stainless steel case of the RUF x Bamford x Highsnobiety – 1:1 Super Clone TAG Heuer Carrera is more or less carried over from the standard production Heuer 02-equipped Carrera line. All the Carrera series hallmarks are present and accounted for in images, including the distinctive inwardly beveled lugs and the narrow sloping polished bezel. The largest visual difference comes through the sapphire display caseback, which uses not one but three printed logos. Although the RUF emblem, the Highsnobiety logo, and the “Bamford Limited Edition” text at 6 o’clock all appear to be clearly and sharply printed, they do markedly obscure the view of the movement within in initial images. As with the standard production Carrera, this model offers a solid 100 meters of water resistance.

The RUF x Bamford x Highsnobiety – Fake TAG Heuer Carrera’s largest departure from its standard production siblings is its dial. Bamford goes far beyond a simple colorway swap here, offering a rarely seen subdial and date window delete that both require a solid amount of work to achieve, and delivers a cleaner, more elemental layout in images. The main dial surface is a rich, deep matte hunter green in images, a color that has been a core part of RUF’s branding since its founding. TAG Heuer’s familiar striped baton handset and faceted applied indices remain here, but Bamford accents these standard elements with a striking saffron yellow central chronograph seconds hand featuring a black striped tip. The chronograph subdial hands at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock also echo this vibrant yellow hue above azurage bases and raised outer subdial rings. 6 o’clock is where this model makes its most notable changes, as the familiar running seconds subdial and date window are removed to make way for a bold, streamlined RUF badge in the same bright orange-yellow hue. Nestled inside this logo is a smaller Highsnobiety emblem, while Bamford’s own signature takes up the space between the 6 o’clock and 7 o’clock indices. While these elements work together to form a solid visual counterweight to the subdials for a balanced feel in images, these layers of branding may not suit all tastes.

Inside the RUF x Bamford x Highsnobiety – replica TAG Heuer Carrera beats TAG Heuer’s in-house Heuer 02 automatic chronograph movement. The Heuer 02 is found throughout TAG Heuer’s higher-end chronograph lines, and its performance fits its role as the company’s modern flagship powerplant. With a vertical clutch, a column wheel, and a massive 80-hour power reserve at a 28,800 bph beat rate, the Heuer 02 is a standout in the modern chronograph market. In terms of finishing, the movement is modern and handsome in images, with Côtes de Genève across its skeleton bridges, an anthracite gray tone skeleton balance cock, and a stylish wheel-inspired skeleton rotor in rose gold topped with Côtes de Genève. Bamford equips the RUF x Bamford x Highsnobiety – replica TAG Heuer Carrera with a pair of straps, including a dial-matching hunter green strap in richly textured Saffiano leather and a box-stitched forest green fabric NATO strap.