TAG Heuer Hits The Seas With New Carrera Skipper Chronograph

These are the kinds of midweek surprises I can get on board with. TAG Heuer has revealed a new Carrera Skipper chronograph in the 39mm chassis we saw (and loved) earlier this year at Watches & Wonders. This is a regular production variant of the Carrera that makes excellent use of the sublime Skipper colorway we first saw in the late ‘60s, and most recently in the 2017 limited edition Carrera Skipper for Hodinkee. The color scheme feels right at home in the modern Carrera shoes, with plenty of small details to discover along the way. Best of all, it doesn’t feel like a vintage recreation, it feels purely modern through and through, taking full advantage of the new ‘glassbox’ design of the Carrera. 

The latest Carrera sports a range of blue, green, and orange hues in a reflection of the original colorway which made the watch so distinctive. The base dial is a deep blue with contrasting seafoam hour totalizer at 9 o’clock, and multicolor minute totalizer at 3 o’clock, which splits the counter into 5 minute segments to more accurately find your position going into the start of a yacht race. The final five minutes, as well as the timing seconds hand, are rendered in orange, denoting their importance to the operation. There is a running seconds hand within a third, almost hidden sub dial appearing at 6 o’clock, which isn’t framed and thus is the same color as the base of the dial. Only the indexes and the hand itself give its position away.

The unique new ‘glassbox’ design is present here, which adds an intriguing level of depth to the perimeter of the dial, pressing the chapter ring up to the surface of the curved sapphire before gently easing back to the rest of the dial. The effect is striking, and welcomes triangle indexes at each hour, as well as recessions on the opposite side to house the hour markers themselves. Between the two are small orange dots, coordinating the orange color to the remainder of the dial beautifully. This is all set within a 39mm steel case with polished inner bevels against a straight lug design, whose span is 22mm. 

In total, the design is a real head turner, though there are a few details that may give you pause. First is the date window integration at 6 o’clock, nested within the ‘ghost’ sub dial for the running seconds. The window itself grabs your attention and this is likely how you’ll notice the running seconds at all. Perhaps one or the other would have worked fine, but together could be a bit much. Likely the bigger issue is the “Skipper” labeling that finds itself running along the bottom of the hour totalizer at 9 o’clock. The original placed this label at the top of the dial, right above the Heuer shield, forgoing the Carrera label altogether. A similar solution would be welcome here, or simply leaving it off may have been the better answer, but its current placement will likely ruffle some feathers.

Inside, TAG Heuer is using their TH20-06 automatic chronograph movement with an impressive 80 horse of reserve under the hood. Mercifully, the total thickness is kept in check at 13.9mm, and when paired with the 46mm lug to lug measurement, should make this watch absolutely sublime on the wrist. 

The TAG Heuer Carrera Skipper is available this month and will be priced at $6750. TAG Heuer.