The TAG Heuer Carrera CronotempVs Collectors is Available for Pre-Order Now

Since its founding in Madrid in 2009, the international watch collectors club CronotempVs Collectors has become known for its fruitful partnerships with top watchmakers that have spawned a number of exciting special-edition watches.
 

Indeed, over its 14-year existence, the club has commissioned no fewer than 21 limited or special editions, with partner brands that include big hitters like Chopard, Montblanc, and IWC, as well as innovative, contemporary independents, such as Urwerk, Ressence, and Oris. And while some of the club’s co-creations have been available to members only, others have been open to all-comers.
 

Moreover, many of these collaborative pieces have been influenced by periods of historical significance: The Endurance by Habring², the 00RED by Ball Watch Co., and The Lonsdale – created together with The Lounge by Watchonista and Cuervo y Sobrinos – to name but a few. And today, CronotempVs Collectors has announced another delectable partnership; one that honors a veritable horological icon.
 

The collector group has joined forces with none other than TAG Heuer to create the TAG Heuer Carrera CronotempVs Collectors.

Available for all to pre-order now, this 74-piece limited edition is meant to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the legendary racing-inspired chronograph, but it also faithfully takes design cues from a classic Carrera from 1974 – the Ref. 1153BN – nicknamed the “Yachting” thanks to its segmented orange minute counter.
 

Named after the fabled and dangerous 1950s open-road rally race in Mexico – the Carrera Panamericana – the sporty yet elegant Carrera chronograph was a glorious distillation of Jack Heuer’s Le Corbusier-inspired design philosophy.

When it launched in 1963, it was revolutionary because each aspect of the Carrera was designed to improve utility and legibility for its wearer, especially if they were a race or rally driver. Its dial was clean and uncluttered with applied hour markers ensuring minimal distraction from the chronograph function. Its fixed inner bezel was divided into one-fifth-of-a-second increments. And its pushers and crown were relatively large for ease of use.
 

What’s more, the pure, round design of its case and distinctively shaped lugs has, aesthetically speaking, stood the test of time over the ensuing six decades, during which the Carrera has become a perennial favorite among collectors and celebrities alike.

The 1974 bicompax “Yachting” had a silvered tachymeter ring encircling the dial with its thick, lume-filled baton indices and open-ended baton hour-minute hands plus an orange chronograph seconds hand on a dark dial with a date window at 6 o’clock. All these elements are present on the TAG Heuer Carrera CronotempVs Collectors, whose main dial plate bears a frosted anthracite finish.
 

The “Yachting” got its nickname because of its chronograph minutes counter at 3 o’clock which kept track of five-minute intervals indicated by alternating orange arcs. This sort of “yacht timer” is useful to helmsmen in the countdown to a regatta as it helps them to optimize their speed and position in time for the start of the race. The TAG Heuer Carrera CronotempVs Collectors has also retained this feature but has the addition of a crosshairs-style small seconds above the date window.
 

CronotempVs co-founder Scaramanga has hailed the small details that he believes make the TAG Heuer Carrera CronotempVs Collectors a worthy continuation of the horological success story that began 60 years ago: “Our celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Carrera by TAG Heuer takes a detail from one of, perhaps even the last, series made by Heuer in 1974. The orange accents giving it the ‘Yachting’ term amongst passionate collectors were a small detail that could not be passed up on this edition.”
 

He continued: “The granulated anthracite dial – rather uncharacteristic for a Carrera – is a great match for the orange seconds hand and five-minute sectors inspired by the original watch from 1974.”