A greater look at two novelties from TAG Heuer LVMH Watch Week 2024

The place does TAG Heuer stand now that Frédéric Arnault has left for a much bigger position inside the LVMH Group? There was a lot doubt about his appointment at TAG Heuer given his age, however after the transformation he dropped at the producer, credit score must be given when it’s due. Arnault’s focus was getting TAG Heuer’s core fashions to be performing at optimum ranges. Naturally, a lot of the main target was shone on two of Jack Heuer’s darlings — TAG Heuer Carrera and Monaco, though the TAG Heuer Aquaracer is among the largest beneficiaries after drifting listlessly for a number of years now.

This yr’s novelty launch at the LVMH Watch Week wields Arnault’s affect, which is a given contemplating watch designs take a median of 18 months at the earliest to conceptualise after which go into manufacturing. Whereas there may be a lot pleasure as to what Julien Tornare brings to the desk, having labored with a chronograph specialist for six years, we are going to nonetheless see items that bear Arnault’s identification, which is pushing the bounds of typical watchmaking, or into the avant-garde realm as TAG Heuer’s slogan suggests.

The primary of those is the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph, bearing the up to date Glassbox design from 2023 and flaunting the long-lasting Dato configuration. Comparable to some different reproductions, such because the TAG Heuer Carrera 60th Anniversary and Carrera Skipper, this yr’s iteration tugs on the heartstrings of classic Carrera fans. After a number of experimental productions after the unique Heuer Carrera was born in 1963, the group arrived at a design in 1968 which noticed the date window relocated to the 9 o’clock place after it made a short cease at the 12 o’clock place in 1966. The revival of this configuration, coupled with a newly designed Glassbox and calibre, primes the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph for a powerful yr forward.

Learn Extra: The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Drips in Gold

Curiously, the selection of dial color may baffle some who would favor a traditional colourway for the Dato’s reintroduction, however TAG Heuer has a considered their very own. The distinctive teal inexperienced dial debuted within the 2021 TAG Heuer Carrera restricted version earlier than reappearing in 2023’s TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph. Traditionally, the shade pays homage to motorsport historical past, notably the classic inexperienced shades of the racing automobiles through the thrilling period of nationwide color racing from the 1920s to the 1960s. Deciding on the color was a nod to TAG Heuer’s racing heritage and the golden age of motorsports.

One other of Arnault’s marks could be the extremely polarising TAG Heuer Carrera Date Plasma Diamant D’Avant-Garde. When the preliminary TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde Chronograph Tourbillon idea was launched, it induced a stir amongst the watch neighborhood, notably for its artificial diamonds and, sadly, value. For many years, the watch neighborhood prided itself on naturally occurring stones, the place sourcing and colour-matching treasured stones are oftentimes probably the most tedious step of gem-set items. Lab-grown diamonds eradicate these constraints with their replicable consistency, however but, maybe as a nod to custom, it has not gained a lot favour amongst watchmakers. As specialists of the avant-garde, TAG Heuer’s foray into this area would have raised nothing quite a lot of eyebrows. If it’s not them, then who would proudly seize the baton to faucet into the limitless potential that lab-grown diamonds supply? The primary piece was the perfect check mattress; diamonds of irregular shapes have been encrusted into the TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde Chronograph Tourbillon’s case and bracelet, demonstrating diamonds needn’t be of the standard cuts.

Learn Extra: TAG Heuer Carrera: Highway Map to Success

This yr’s TAG Heuer Carrera Date Plasma Diamant D’Avant-Garde takes a extra muted method following final yr’s pink predecessor. On the coronary heart of this avant-garde creation is TAG Heuer’s revolutionary Plasma expertise, which allows the fragile and delicate development of lab-grown diamonds. Diamonds, of their purest kind, are colourless because of the absence of defects inside the stone’s atomic association. For TAG Heuer to create the yellow diamonds, it has to dope the diamonds by incorporating atoms from numerous components to attain the perfect hue. Right here is the place TAG Heuer’s Plasma expertise sparkles (no pun supposed), as it may well execute a managed doping dysfunction in a superbly regulated atmosphere to supply high-quality lab-grown diamonds.

A 2.9-carat polycrystalline dial sits proudly inside the 36mm white gold case. On this occasion, the dial is achieved by rising an enormous variety of diamond crystals as one, making a extremely faceted single diamond entity that offers an iridescent sparkle. 12 white gold indexes set with white baguette-cut lab-grown diamonds of 0.5 carats, and TAG Heuer’s signature protect lower in yellow lab-grown diamond sits atop the crystalline dial. A lot of the eye, although, will gravitate in the direction of the diamond crown — a single, 1.3-carat, yellow lab-grown diamond.

This text was first seen on MensFolio.com

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