It is the 55th year of the Carrera, and the TAG Heuer never pulls punches when it comes to celebrating the occasion. Releasing a sporty selection of models at Baselworld 2018, which includes replica watches like this one — their modern take on the Carrera but with their latest in-house movement now sporting a GMT usage inside.
Last year we saw the TAG Heuer replica downsize the skeletonized Carreras to 43mm, but this new GMT beefs things up again with a 45mm steel case. Maintaining a water resistance of 100m is the option of a stainless-steel bracelet or black rubber strap. The largest change is the addition of a GMT complication to the new 75-hour Heuer 02 movement inside. The design of the hands is a little different than normal as well, with the GMT hand sitting between the hour and minute hands so that it sweeps over the bold hour markers of the skeletonized dial. And for the first time, there’s also a dual color ceramic bezel in black and blue with a 24-hour scale for GMT functionality.
It’s a light show with light bouncing around the dial, from the polished hands and indices to the concentrically ridged rings of the subdials. And while at-a-glance readability may not be this Carrera’s strongest attribute, the red GMT hand does pop against the open-worked dial, as for me, I didn’t mind letting my eyes linger for just some seconds more.
Of course, it is not for everyone, but how boring the world would be if we all loved the same things. If you’re interested in something sporty and live a jet-set life then this one is for you. Or maybe you’d just like an in-house integrated chronograph with an extra GMT complication. I think how instantly smitten I was with this one. I have to say that the previous replica tag Heuer Carrera 01s never much appealed to me.