As luxury watchmaker TAG reflects on 60 years of its iconic Carrera timepiece, Forbes Australia sits down with chief marketing officer, George Ciz, to track its journey to icon status.
Swiss luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer is celebrating 60 years of Carrera, launching a new collection and campaign to mark the occasion. And it truly is something to be celebrated – the watchmaker, which was established in 1860 in Switzerland by Edouard Heuer, shot to fame with the introduction of the Carrera more than a century later.
“Carrera is our most important collection in terms of value,” TAG’s chief marketing officer, George Ciz, tells Forbes Australia.
It’s also one of the biggest sales drivers to the business, Ciz, who is responsible for the global growth of the brand across all marketing channels, says.
“It brings to life the key aspects of our DNA such as innovation, performance, passion for action, motorsports… The collection is loved by our consumers around the world and it is also one of the most thought after collections from the perspective of collectors.”
“Its [The Carrera’s] design codes are still incredibly relevant and inspiring as they were in 1963 when the watch was first introduced.””
– George Ciz, chief marketing officer, TAG Heuer
The original Carrera, designed by Edouard’s great-grandson and then-CEO of TAG, Jack Heuer, was named after a legendary – and extremely dangerous – road race in Mexico called the Carrera Panamericana and introduced in 1963. According to TAG, Jack Heuer was intrigued by the speed, emotion and romance of the race, and liked the name Carrera for its multiple meanings: race, career and path.
“Jack decided, was the perfect name for a watch with a racing spirit aimed at a young, stylish, upwardly mobile generation in tune with the increasingly liberated tastes of the 1960s,” TAG states.
This solidified TAG’s reputation as a racing timepiece, Ciz says. It carved a pathway for TAG to take ownership of the motorsports territory and gave the business the credibility to make it the watch of choice for all drivers.
The business would go on to partner with Ferrari Scuderia in the 1970s, and today, the business sports partnerships with Porsche, Oracle Red Bull Racing, the Monaco Grand Prix and – of course – the Panamericana. Porsche even chose the name for one of their most iconic cars.
The original design was simple – it featured lines to mark the hours, and unlike TAG’s previous watches like the Heuer Autavia, the 1/5 second demarcations featured on the inner bezel to allow for a cleaner look.
Since the launch, many things have changed at TAG Heuer – including that the business was purchased by $730 billion luxury juggernaut, LVMH, in 1999 – but its design principles remain the same. “Its [The Carrera’s] design codes are still incredibly relevant and inspiring as they were in 1963 when the watch was first introduced,” Ciz says.
The new collection, officially unveiled at the Watches & Wonders event in Geneva, saw the watchmaker reinvent the historic Carrera Chronograph but pay homage to its original form. The new watch has a stainless-steel case, measuring 39mm in diameter and is topped with a sapphire crystal shaped like the domed hesalite crystals found on Heuer Carrerra models from the 70s, only now the crystal has been redeveloped so the curve flows over the tachymeter scale that runs around the dial edge and into the case.
“At its heart, the TAG Heuer Carrera remains an extremely refined watch, designed for purpose and defined both by its function and its form,” TAG states.
There are two models: one with a signature blue dial on a blue calfskin leather strap and a second with a racier, black-and-silver “reverse panda” dial – the nickname given to black watch dials with high-contrast white or silver subdials. Both are priced at $9,350.
Inside both models is an evolved version of TAG’s in-house chronograph caliber, the Heuer 02, which now features an oscillating weight offering bidirectional winding, whereas previous version only charged the movement’s mainspring if the rotor moved in a counter-clockwise direction.
“When developing the new collection we wanted to pay tribute to the 60 years of Carrera by selecting the very best, the most iconic codes of Carrera and then adding an element of innovation and modernity to create a watch that celebrates both the past and also looks into the future,” Ciz tells Forbes Australia.
“We wanted to create a new truly timeless piece that will as stunning in 60 years as it is right now. While doing so we remained true to the key pillars of Carrera which is legibility, clean design as well as tremendous focus on quality which can be seen through an enhanced Calibre TH20-00 movement that offers 80 hours of power reserves as well as five years warranty.
“Our designers paid attention to every little detail, especially when developing all new Glassbox design as well as radically improved dial, which both give the watch it’s stunning look.” Both models are available from April 2023. Another model, the TAG Heuer Carrera Chorongraph Tourbillon, which features a blue circular brushed dial, will be available from May 2023.
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