At Full Throttle: TAG Heuer Releases Extreme Sport Carrera and Tourbillon Chronographs

In June this year, TAG Heuer unveiled TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Porsche 963, marking the brand's most recent partnership with Porsche. The watch's design was aggressive, drawing inspiration from the Porsche 963 race car and using many of its features. Maintaining the momentum and celebrating the Le Mans race, the brand’s Extreme Sport line now includes four newly launched variants of the Chronograph Extreme Sport and two new versions of the Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport, each reference meticulously crafted to captivate and inspire chronograph enthusiasts.

‍

The Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport

This collection has four chronographs: blue (Ref. CBU2081.FT6274), black (Ref. CBU2082.FT6275), black DLC (Ref. CBU2080.FT6272), and rose gold (Ref. CBU2050.FT6273). The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport model comes in a variety of finishes, materials, and colours for its four new chronograph references. The distinctive orange-accented variant (Ref. CBU2082.FT6275) is made of Grade 2 titanium and has a beautiful brushed sandblasted finish. It also features a black PVD-coated highly textured hollowed side and a fixed black matte ceramic tachymeter bezel with grey markers. The crown at 3 o’clock, and chronograph pushers at 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock are made of Grade 5 titanium, highly brushed and polished; the orange-lacquered ring adds to the watch's bold, sporting look.

‍

The openworked dial, with a fine brushed and rhodium-plated finish, and vivid orange highlights, emphasises the technical features of motor racing. The flange is presented in black with an orange outline and has a minutes/seconds track split by rhodium-plated, faceted, and polished applied indices with black centre decoration. The black openworked azure subdials retain the classic chronograph layout; the 30-minute counter at 3 o'clock and the 12-hour counter at 9 o'clock are framed with rhodium-plated rings. The hands are rhodium-plated, polished, and openworked, with orange-lacquered tips for easy reading.

The running seconds subdial has a polished rhodium-plated hand with a black-lacquered tip, and the ring is partially open to show an aperture through which the orange openworked date disc at 6 o’clock is visible. The chronograph's second hand is an orange-lacquered needle, similar to a speedometer, while the hour and minute hands are rhodium-plated, faceted, and polished with white Super-LumiNova to ensure clear timekeeping.

‍

The other Grade 2 titanium-cased TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport models are variations of the model described above, with either a mostly black, monochromatic design with DLC-coating (Ref. CBU2080.FT6272) or blue accents (Ref. CBU2081.FT6274). While these models slightly differ from each other in design, they retain the same functionality and overall look. A rose gold version of Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport (Ref. CBU2050.FT6273) features several rose gold elements on the skeletonised dial. The minutes/seconds track outline, chronograph counters, hands, central seconds hand, attached indices, and date disc are all gold-plated.

‍

All four models are powered by the in-house automatic Calibre TH20-00, featuring a column wheel and vertical clutch, and delivering an 80-hour power reserve. The movement is visible through the sapphire titanium screwed sapphire caseback, where the TAG Heuer shield-shaped rotor is adorned with coloured engravings that match the orange or blue accents of the respective models, including on the column wheels. Furthermore, the watches are finished on integrated rubber straps, with black DLC Grade 2 titanium fine-brushed sandblasted central links and black DLC Grade 2 titanium folding clasps with double safety push-buttons. It should also be noted that the colours of the bracelets match the flanges of the respective models. 

‍

The Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport

This collection includes two versions of the Extreme Sport model with a tourbillon regulator. One of the models is presented in an all-black form (Ref. CBU5080.FT6272) that closely resembles the black Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport. The 44 mm Grade 2 titanium sandblasted case has a black PVD-coated hollowed side and is accompanied by a black forged carbon tachymeter bezel with grey markers. The pushers at 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock are made of Grade 5 titanium, delicately brushed and polished, and they flank a signature crown at 3 o’clock, made of the same material (Grade 5 titanium) but with a sandblasted Grade 2 titanium ring.

‍

The collection has a skeleton dial that houses the openworked chronograph 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock and the 12-hour counter at 9 o'clock, but with NAC-coated bands and rhodium-plated polished openworked hands. A black flange with a 60-minute/seconds track and a grey border encircle the dial. The hands and hour markers are identical to those of the non-tourbillon Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport variants.

However, the running seconds subdial has been replaced with an aperture that displays the rhodium-plated tourbillon escapement at 6 o’clock. The new Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport collection is also available in a rose gold case (Ref. CBU5050.FT6273) and with polished black DLC Grade 5 titanium round pushers at 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock. The brushed and polished rose gold tachymeter bezel has black markings. 

‍

The openworked dial features gold-plated parts, such as the hour markers, hands, chronograph counter rings, and tourbillon. These two new Carrera Extreme Sport references use Calibre TH20-09, a self-winding column-wheel chronograph movement with a tourbillon regulator; it has a power reserve of 65 hours. Turning each watch over showcases the circular brushed black DLC Grade 2 titanium screwed sapphire caseback with a shield oscillating weight. Both watches are finished on black integrated rubber straps, with black DLC Grade 2 titanium fine-brushed sandblasted central links and black DLC Grade 2 titanium folding clasps with double safety push buttons displaying the TAG Heuer shield.