Speaking in the new edition of Esquire’s sibling publication The Big Watch Book, Nicholas Biebuyck, the heritage director of Tag Heuer, is in typically forthright form.
“Brands realised they could dip into their heritage and pluck little threads of it, but actually, a lot of the stories were figments of the imagination, or at least figments of the imagination, or at least no one had actually bothered fact-checking them,” he says. “Often when you dig a little deeper, you realise it’s a story to support a narrative the current CEO or current marketing boss wants to project.”
Anyone with a passing interest in watches will be familiar with watch brands spinning tales based on some supposedly storied aspect of their history or other. The first watch to do this; the toughest watch to do that; an anniversary edition to celebrate the something that was invented by someone. Biebuyck’s message is clear enough. If you’re going to dine out on your brand history, you'd better make sure you’ve got the material to back it up.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his company's flagship Carrera chronograph, Tag Heuer’s heritage director has executed a year-long release schedule of celebratory models, from the Carrera 60th Anniversary edition in January to the nautically-themed Skipper Carrera in July that have been met both with fulsome praise and empty shelves. Add in some nice exposure in the highest-grossing film of the year that happens to star your new brand ambassador, and you can be pretty sure Biebuyck’s Christmas bonus is in the post.
The only way to follow that? One final victory lap.
To do so Biebuyck has picked perhaps the most storied Carerra watch of all.
In 1971, the brand’s then-boss, Jack Heuer, great-grandson of the company’s founder, brokered a deal with Enzo Ferrari to swap world-class timing equipment for branding on his Formula 1 team’s cars and clothing – the first time such a sponsorship deal had come from outside the world of motorsport. To sweeten the deal, Jack offered drivers a special 18-carat gold version of his brand’s Carrera watch, know as the 1158 CHN – ‘CH’ was in reference to its champagne-coloured dial; ‘N’ as in noir for the sub-dials. Each was engraved on the back.
In total, only a few hundred of the commemorative solid gold Carreras were made.
In 1972, Jack Heuer presented Ronnie ‘SuperSwede’ Peterson with a ref 1158 CHN model. That one is now housed in Tag Heuer’s museum, after the company paid $230,000 for it at auction in 2016.
You get the idea. You can’t buy brand heritage like that. Now comes a re-edition of the 1158 CHN that like previous 2023 anniversary models manages to embody the feeling of the Carrera’s daring-do past, while gently modernising it for the 21stCentury.
The spirit of the original 1960s design is there in the 18ct gold-plated dial, with black ‘azuré’ sub-dials giving improved visibility at 3 and 9 o’clock, as per the original’s ‘reverse panda’ configuration. A third sub-dial has been added at 6 o’clock, featuring a running seconds indicator with a black lacquered hand.
Like all this year’s new Carreras, the new gold model – simply known as a Carrera Chronograph – comes in a 39mm diameter case, with the brand’s calibre TH20-00 automatic chronograph movement and features the new ‘glassbox’ domed sapphire crystal design.
This one drives further home the racing theme with a (vert comfortable!) perforated black leather strap. All in all, a fitting tribute to the golden age of motor racing and a fitting end to an incredible anniversary year for the Carrera.
Or, as Biebuyck says, “When you look at all the stories associated with the Carrera. I think it’s important to consider it not just as a watch but as this kind of lightning rod. It can be a vehicle by which you can educate yourself about the broader environment, about world economics, culture and fashion.”
£18,750; tagheuer.com
