I'm Michael from SwissWatchExpo. We've got the Tag Heuer Caliber 16s in a great 41-millimeter size.
We've talked before about the history of the Tag Heuer Carrera. And it's a really cool
history you should look into it is named after a Mexican road race that ran from 1950 to 54 of the
Carrera Pan Americana. And it was considered the most dangerous racing event that's ever been
held. They finally had to just stop it after five years because there was so much carnage,
but it is one of the great racing stories in history. And when Jack Heuer wanted to
take the Heuer company in a little bit more of a sporting racing
direction in 1963, he launched the Carrera as a chronograph wristwatch, and the model we have
here the Caliber 16, really has a lot of those retro vintage looks to it. It's a watch that
Tag Heuer launched for the 55th anniversary of the Carrera in 2018 at Baselworld.
And when you look at this, especially this one, it really has that vintage look to it with the
dial configuration. This is Caliber 16, which is based on the infamous and notoriously good
Valjoux 7750. It's also a Sellita SW500 if that's more the way you like to roll with it. But either
way, it's based on this movement configuration, which is one of the greatest all-time
chronograph movements. It's a lateral clutch chronograph movement, and they generally have the
same layout where you'll see the running seconds at 9, the minutes counter at 12, then I counter
at 6, and then a date at 3. I usually like the two sub-dials on chronographs, but with the 3,
this one really looks nice because sort of that weight of the look of the running seconds hand
being separate at 9 o'clock is counterbalanced by the date and the Tag Heuer logo.
That's an applied piece over here and the name Carrera Caliber 16 at 3. It sort of
sets it off visually. When you look at this one, again, I think is the most retro-looking
of the bunch. This one has a blue ceramic bezel with a tachymeter scale. The sub-dials
are really legible, very clear, separate from the rest of the watch
and anything that has to do with the chronograph, which is really the focus of the watch is red. So
we have these capstone-style pushers and the one to start and stop is red so is the
big chronograph second hand. And then the running counters you can see those hands are red as well.
So this one looks the most like a '60s Heuer chronograph to me, but it's got a lot of great
upgrades. It does have a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating inside and out.
It has the ceramic bezel, which is virtually scratch-proof. Won't fade,
won't change color over the years. The bracelet is modern engineering, much nicer than vintage
bracelets ever are because it's a lot more heavy duty. Each link is machined, and it has a less of
a taper than vintage bracelets did. So it stays thick all the way around, and it has a double
trigger to release the deployment buckle, which is also machined. And then it does have a closed
caseback. And that's a sort of a tribute again to the vintage chronographs of the '60s. They
never had exhibition casebacks. This one, they have made 100 meters water resistant.
So even without a screw-down crown, the caseback does screw down and you're able to
even go swimming in it, water, sports, anything like that, that you might want to do with it.
So definitely has a look of racing. The chapter ring on it as
the seconds individual seconds are marked, but also partial seconds. So when you're
timing something and you want to stop that chronograph and you stop it, you can easily read
even the fractional seconds, start, stop and reset at 12. And it has a very definite
feel. This is a watch. One thing I like about the 7750-based movements is that when the chronograph
hand comes past 12, it's a definite snap of the minute counter to jump over to the next minute.
You never have to wonder which minute you're on with these. The bracelet itself, it's sort of a
three-link bracelet, but it gets away from there being any confusion that they're trying to imitate
say a Rolex Oyster bracelet because it's a combination of brushed and polished.
And the center links are a completely different shape from the Rolex bracelets.
So to me, it's a great look. The 41-millimeter size, my wrist is about seven-and-a-quarter,
seven-and-a-half, I guess. This is one of the best-sized Carreras. There are certainly bigger
ones out there. There are a lot of people that like the 43s, and 45s, but at 41, this is gonna
be a very comfortable watch for most people that would be buying this one. Now I'll point out to
you. One thing that's interesting about this one is that they went with a design choice to make the
lume sort of a cream color, like you know, sort of a faux tina vintage look to it. And I think that
it almost disappears when you're looking at it. The blue and the red and the white
are so bold that you almost don't even notice that sort of beige-colored patina looking on the lume.
Now, they made the same watch in a slightly less bold version that still has the ceramic bezel,
but doesn't have the contrasting sub-dials and it makes the dial look a little bit less busy.
If you really like vintage racing, look, you're gonna want to go with the one with the contrasting
sub-dials. And that would be the one that Jack Heuer would want you to have because he was
all about the legibility of the chronograph. But this one, I think could do a little more variety
as far as just day-to-day wear because it's not quite so bold. It still has that sporting motoring
look to it, and you're still gonna have the really beautiful blue dial that they added to this one.
It has sort of a depth to the blue that you don't see in a lot of other watches.
And to me, that's a really good look and one that I would definitely be considering if I was looking
at this watch. They made a black version that has gotten a lot of good press. People love this super
high contrast on this one. The combination of the black with the sub-dials, and then the touch of
red, it really has been a winner. This one is very much a '60s racing, inspired look with the
perforated strap. A lot of people call these racing straps. It's got the red inside
red stitching. It really carries the look through the rest of the design of the watch.
So that one would definitely be towards the top of my pick list as well. So, but from 2019 here,
we have one where they went full-on dressier with the watch. It does not have a
ceramic bezel, which makes the watch look a little smaller, even though it's still 41-millimeter,
it's exactly the same size, but it's sort of a trick of the eyes that it looks smaller.
It doesn't have contrasting sub-dials and they included the exhibition caseback on
this one. So you can see the Côtes de Genève, the engraving on the plate and on the rotor.
You get a good look at that 7750-based movement, the Caliber 16.
And this is not one of the movements that Tag Heuer has gotten some grief about for having some
plastic parts. Here at SwissWatchExpo, we don't carry any of their sort of lower-end-of-the-range
watches. We only carry the top offerings from Tag Heuer and the 7750 does not have any
plastic parts. It's really a great high-grade movement that's been used by lots of other
companies. Omega and Breitling to name a couple have used the 77 0. And it's one of those
workhorse movements that is considered bulletproof in the industry. It's a really well-made movement.
The watch itself just as far as wearability goes, it is a little bit thick, but you would expect
that from a sports watch. So that really doesn't bother me at all the lugs, even though they're
known for being really long on a Carrera. Being the 41-millimeter, it really fits nicely on the
wrist. So it really makes that a non-issue for me, the fact that the lugs are still that long Carrera
look, but it gives you that vintage retro look. So give us a call here at SwissWatchExpo. There are a
lot of different varieties of Tag Heuer Carreras because it is sort of their flagship model.
When you tend to think of Tag Heuer this is the watch that probably comes to mind.
But there are a lot of different variations on it and we're happy to help you sort those
out. We're happy to talk about movement differences about case differences. We can
do FaceTime videos and show you the watch on a wrist if you like.
But give us a call, see what we've got in stock today, and we'll be happy to take care of you.