Tag Heuer are the quintessential sports watch brand of the modern watch industry. From racers, to divers, to daily wearers, they’re the most in tune with what it means to be both stylish and ready for action (mostly racing). But when it comes to sporty style, Tag’s watches tend to lean in one of two directions. On one side you have the sleek, retro-slanted icons like the Carrera Glassbox and on the other side are the bold, almost industrial skeleton and openworked watches such as the Monaco GP edition. On a personal level I have always preferred the former over the latter. However, the new Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon x Porsche Panamericana might just be the coolest openworked Tag Heuer watch to date.
We’ve talked many times about Tag Heuer and Porsche’s shared connection to the Carrera Panamericana, the legendary rally that takes racers through the extreme heat of Mexico. Both brands were independently inspired by the race, which is why we have both the Porsche Carrera and the Tag Heuer Carrera. This coincidence then led to the brands collaborating many times on watches like the Carrera Chronograph x Porsche 963. However, the Panamericana is actually more relevant than usual for their latest collab. That’s because the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon x Porsche Panamericana has been released in celebration of the 70th anniversary of Porsche winning their competitive category in the 1954 edition of the race.
Specifically, Porsche came first and second in the under 1,500cc sports car classification with the Porsche 550 Spyder, which also netted them third and fourth in the overall race. It’s these heritage cars that inform the design of the modern watch. The 550 Spyder’s Carrera Panamericana race livery was silver with yellow decals and so the watch has a silver display with yellow lacquered chronograph hands. Even more telling than the colours though is the fact that the openworked portions of the dial (Tag Heuer call it a skeleton dial but there is a subtle difference between the terms skeletonised and openworked and on balance I think openworked is a better definition here) are shaped like the 550 Spyder’s wheels.
The racing design elements don’t stop there. The two subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock, which display a 30-minute and 12-hour timer respectively, are black with silver flecks emulating the texture of asphalt. The 6 o’clock position that completes the tricompax display is occupied by the titular tourbillon – the visually impressive, rotating heart of the watch, which doubles as a running seconds indicator.
Zooming out from the dial, the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon x Porsche Panamericana has a fairly typical chronograph case. It measures 42mm in diameter in steel with a combination of brushed and polished surfaces. The crown at 3 o’clock is flanked by two pushers for controlling the chronograph function. The only slight oddity is that it has no tachymeter and the internal, fixed bezel (or flange if you want to use specific terminology) has a 60-minute scale instead.
Powering the watch is the TH20-09 automatic tourbillon chronograph movement, which you can catch glimpses of through the open portions of the dial. It has a 65-hour power reserve supplied by a rotor shaped like a Porsche steering wheel – a design common to all their collabs. The movement also has a high degree of finishing with the Côtes de Genève being particularly prominent.
As for pricing and availability, the Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon x Porsche Panamericana is limited to 255 pieces at £31,300. The number 255 comes from both the name of the 550 Spyder and the fact that the heritage car that took place in the Carrera Panamericana was number 55. In the introduction I made the bold claim that this is the coolest and best looking openworked Tag Heuer to date and I still agree with that at the end. I really like the combination of colours, the wheel-like shape of the openworking and the tourbillion, all of which come together to make the watch feel special. As a commemorative limited edition should be.
Price and Specs:
More details at Tag Heuer.
