ReviewTAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887

One of the most popular sports watches in the market, the TAG Heuer Carrera is a racing icon. Powered by the TAG Heuer Calibre 1887 automatic movement, this is a watch built for racing enthusiasts and combines the best of TAG Heuer’s design and engineering experience in one sporty looking timepiece.

One look at the dial and you know this watch was built for a sport. The black dial with red accents and large Arabic numerals adds up to the image of a racing chronograph.At the 12 o’clock position is the hand-applied TAG Heuer logo, Carrera, the name of this iconic collection.

Introduced in 1963 and designed by the legendary watchmaker Jack Heuer himself, the Carrera was a masterpiece of horology. Every part of the Carrera suggested that it was a watch built for racing. It was named after the Carrera Panamericana road race and was built to withstand the shocks and conditions that are often faced in a high-speed race. To this day, all Carrera watches are developed in a manner that they can be relied on to provide precise and accurate timing while driving at extremely high speeds.

The crown of the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887 is at 12 o’clock, flanked by two steel push-buttons at 11 and 1 o’clock. This unusual position of the crown is inspired by the design of the first Heuer wrist chronograph, which was introduced way back in 1914. Its interesting to know that the design of that legendary timepiece was actually adapted from pocket chronographs, which used to have the crown in this position. Our initial reaction to this unusual position was that this characteristic may be inconvenient to use. However, after spending some time with the watch we realised that it was quite the reverse. In a regular wristwatch, you need to bend your wrist downward if you have to adjust the crown while in this model you can keep your wrist comfortably straight while adjusting the crown. As for the steel push-buttons, they’re a bit more comfortable at the 2 and 4 o’clock position, though I guess one can get used to the 11 and 1 o’clock position after a while.

The watch is powered by the TAG Heuer Calibre 1887 automatic movement which includes 39 rubies and features rapid date correction. It has a power reserve of 50 hours in case of normal usage and 40 hours when the chronograph function is being used. The movement can be viewed through the transparent smoked sapphire caseback.

The case of the Carrera 1987 calibre is made of sandblasted steel and titanium, while the bezel is made from black titanium carbide.

The black dial has a sunray effects with three counters: chronograph hours at 3 o’clock, chronograph minutes at 9 o’clock and running seconds at 6 o’clock. While the chronograph hour and minute counters have silver polished outlines, the running seconds counter actually has none. This looks quite interesting as you actually just have a seconds hand rotating at its own centre.A date display window resides below this counter at 6 o’clock and the watch face is covered with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. The hands and minute hands are polished and have luminescent markers for easy readability in the dark.

The timepiece is presented on a black “soft touch” alligator leather strap with a red underside and comes with a black titanium grade 2 folding clasp and safety push-buttons.

Ideal for fans of car racing, the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887 is a marvel of engineering and technology. The design, inspired from road racing, makes for great legibility thanks to the large Arabic numerals for the minute markers. It’s the perfect timepiece for watch lovers with a taste in modern sporty chronographs.