Today, we're going to be talking about the Tag Heuer Carrera - an
extremely fascinating watch with an equally intriguing story behind it.
All right. So the watch we're going to be talking about today is a, is a newer model, but I want to
kind of dig into some of the history behind the Tag Heuer Carerra. So this is a watch that was
originally launched in 1963, shortly after Jack Heuer took or assumed leadership in 1962 of the
Heuer brand. Now, the story of the Carerra goes back before that back to 1950, when the
country of Mexico was developing the Pan-American highway to connect, you know, all of the countries
in central America and they had completed it and they decided that they wanted to have a race and
they called that race, the Carrera Panamericana, and that was a race that was, it was designed to
promote or bring awareness to the fact that Mexico had completed this massive feat of this highway
that ran all the way from the United States-Mexico border, all the way down to where Guatemala is.
And so it runs over 2000 miles. It's over 3,500 kilometers. It's an extremely long race
that took place over five days. And it is something that
happened for only five years. And the reason why was because of how dangerous it was, this was a
time in the sports world where the technology behind cars had started to improve at a really
rapid rate. Things were faster, sharper turns. You can make them wider, more powerful, but we hadn't
done all those same upgrades on safety. So we've got these rockets that are coming out that are
just totally dangerous for humans. And over that five-year span 27 people lost their life. That's
over five people per race on average, making it one of the highest mortality rates of all races
and racing history. An extremely dangerous sport. And of course it was not continued after 1954.
Now I do want to talk a little bit more about that though, because it is, it's a very unique race.
It's something that was designed again, just to promote the highway being completed,
but it became so much more than that. People came from all over the world and submitted cars that
were of all different weights and classes and the first winner, Herschel McGriff. He was actually
on an Oldsmobile 88 and 50. He beat like the Cadillacs, you know, and the Lincolns, the bigger,
more powerful cars. Well, this was a race that went from, you know, a couple hundred feet
over the sea level to over 10,000 feet. And again, it was over 2000 miles worth of driving,
you know, so these people are having to change their, their brake pads every night.
They're having, you know, people's cars were breaking down. I mean, it was an
extremely intense race, but it was one that really created a huge spectacle in the racing community.
I mean, this is a race that went down in history. I mean,
most of us are familiar with the Porsche Carerra, right? It's a very popular car,
that car, the name of that car, as well as this watch was derived from this race, the
Carerra Panamericana. So it is an extremely iconic race that has a lot of history to it and is very
relevant in the culture of racing. Now, let's talk about this watch, cause this is just a watch. That
is, you know, the entire line, the collection of the Carreras is what Jack Heuer designed in a way
to kind of tap into that racing culture in that racing history. And the purpose was to create
watches that you could use that performed at the same level as these race cars and
all over the world. And so they make phenomenal watches. This is one that has a very light case.
It's 45 millimeters. It's a very unique case though. You'll notice that it's a multicolored
case. It's actually a black carbon. It's actually comes in like a matrix.
Composite is the way that they make it. It's a very unique, production method, if you will. They
do a very similar thing with the dial itself. And one of the things that I find fascinating
about this style or production for these, these cases and the dials is that there are no two
that will be the same. They're very similar to like fingerprints or the gate of someone walking
or like the mother of Pearl dials that we talk about. None of them will look exactly the same,
just the way that the molecules naturally align is natural. So they're always going to be different.
Now this is a watch that's built for racing, but it does have a hundred meters of water resistance.
So if you are in your car driving too fast and you drive off the road and you fall into the creek,
it's going to be okay, your watching is going to be fine. You might have to fix your car, but
the watch isn't going to be damaged if you take it swimming. Now it is a chronograph, but one of the
most unique features about it. You'll notice that the pushers for the chronograph are not at the,
what we would consider like the standard over here on the three o'clock side. Most of the time you
see a chronograph, the pushers are at like two and four, right? With the crown at three, it's just
it's standard. It's the way it's always been. You can find them different on like left-hand
versions and you know, a few other unique versions out there, but this one has them up at the top.
Well, if you are left-handed or right-handed or driving a right-hand drive car,
it doesn't matter. You don't have to worry about having a watch that is oriented properly.
When you have the pushers at the top. Now, a couple other features, Carerra, Tag Heuer
did a very good job of identifying which, you know, hands are being used for the chronograph.
So you've got, obviously the chronograph seconds is going to be the big second hand that runs
around the entire dial. And you'll notice that it has a red tip design and on the three sub dials,
well really, there's two sub dials that are running seconds down at six,
the two sub dials also have red tips. So if you're ever trying to, you know, take a quick,
you know, timestamp of how long you've been doing something, you just look at the red,
all of the red tips, chronograph hands have to do with chronograph function.
Whereas all the ones that do not have red are going to be your standard hour
and time. Now this model does come with the caliber 1887 movement inside of it.
And it's a movement that boasts a 50 hour power reserve. Now it is an automatic movement. So
of course, if you're wearing it or have it on a watch winder that can last a little bit longer.
But one of the things that I found really unique about this one and quite fascinating
when you have the chronograph engaged, it typically just drains the power, right? You've got
all these extra things going on inside the watch. A lot more power is needed to get those other
elements to function properly. But in this watch that if you leave the chronograph engaged, the
power reserve is only dropped to 40 hours. So it's a phenomenal watch hat'll last a very long time.
Whether it, whether we're talking about before it dies, just because it needs to be wound. If
you're not wearing it or just how long it's going to last in life. I mean, these watches
are made to last multiple lifetimes and with a material like this, you're going to get something
to you can hold on to, along with your car, something you can pass down to your children and
grandchildren. Just like the story of the Carrera Panamericana I was not around during that time,
but I am a huge fan of the story. I love racing. And this is a watch for any racing enthusiasts.