TAG Heuer Carrera.
Porsche 911 Carrera.
Two iconic, high-performance brands that share more than just a name.
“Carrera” is an integral part of TAG Heuer’s and Porsche’s history. The Carrera Panamericana, which ran from 1950 to 1954, was an extremely dangerous road race traversing a grueling 2,000 miles across Mexico.
While the event ended after just five years, its legacy lives on. Inspired by the strength of its name and spirit, Jack Heuer imagined the first Carrera chronograph, released in 1963.
In 1972, Porsche unveiled its own 911 Carrera. The iconic car took to the track at the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring race in Florida. From that day on, Porsche and TAG Heuer have pursued the legacy of Carrera—a storied name from the golden age of motorsports.
And now, raising the question why such an apt fusion that could have happened decades earlier would only occur now, the two legendary brands are finally joining forces to create something truly unique and timeless—the TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph.
The result? A fusion of renowned motorsports design and finest craftsmanship. It is with the purest design of the Porsche 911 Carrera and the sporty yet elegant TAG Heuer Carrera that the two icons cultivate the sporting and avant-garde spirits, with fine details like custom colors and automotive–inspired finishes.
The unmistakable silhouette of the Porsche 911 and the distinctive case and dial of the TAG Heuer Carrera instantly stand out. And it’s the fine details that make the most prestigious statement—the asphalt-textured dial, the calfskin strap, and the distinctive stitching reminiscent of Porsche’s functional yet luxurious interiors.
The TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph’s color scheme is in red, black, and gray—the trademark tones of the German carmaker. The font used on the indexes and bezel is Porsche’s own, and the Porsche name is inscribed on the ceramic bezel. The soft calf leather strap evokes the elegance of the Porsche 911 Carrera interior, right down to the new stitching.
Precision performance
Whether it’s the automatic excellence of TAG Heuer’s Calibre Heuer 02 or Porsche’s world-beating boxer engine, both are powered by precision. Enduring legacy and brilliant innovation beat at the heart of the two iconic brands.
The TAG Heuer Calibre Heuer 02 demonstrates the Maison’s expertise in specialized, technical watchmaking. Crafted in Chevennez, Switzerland, the Heuer 02 is a state-of-the-art automatic chronograph, with an accomplished column-wheel design and an impressive 80-hour power reserve. For this special edition, the oscillating weight replicates the iconic Porsche steering wheel.
Porsche’s history of innovation materializes across each generation of the iconic 911, from its debut in 1963 through to the most recent eighth generation. And like TAG Heuer, many of these innovations are manufactured in-house, in the brand’s Zuffenhausen headquarters.
In 1969, Heuer pioneered the automatic chronograph with the Calibre 11. This movement integrated the micro-rotor, a small oscillating mass for automatic winding, into the much more complicated chronograph movement—something never done before. Jack Heuer’s stroke of genius led to one of the most groundbreaking chronographs of all time. Today, a full-sized oscillating mass ensures efficient winding.
Old world craftsmanship meets cutting-edge technology
From cutting-edge technology to time-honored artisanal crafts, much goes into transforming a hand-drawn sketch into a high-precision machine from TAG Heuer and Porsche.
The story begins with human beings. Designers and craftspeople are integral to TAG Heuer and Porsche’s state-of-the-art manufacture processes. Cars and watches both start from hand-sketched white paper designs and undergo similar rigorous processes of rendering and physical prototyping. Once finalized, the process of precise, automated assembly begins.
The road from raw materials to refined product is a long one, and though a sports car is on a far larger scale than a precision chronograph, several engineering techniques are surprisingly similar. The bodywork of a Porsche 911 Carrera is stamped form sheets of metal, just like the finely detailed dials of the TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph. There are also similarities with color treatments, the finish on both the watch dial and the automobile chassis being achieved through advanced galvanoplasty.
Of course, modern industrial manufacturing facilities mean that both TAG Heuer and Porsche make use of cutting-edge technology. Porsche’s production lines incorporate robotic assembly and quality control, as does TAG Heuer, though the gears and wheels are engineered on a much smaller scale in Switzerland.
One of the most critical steps in the TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph assembly is setting the Porsche steering wheel-inspired oscillating mass. Much like turning the key in the ignition, the winding of the rotor starts the chronograph ticking. Like the quality control Porsche undertakes in Stuttgart, TAG Heuer employs a range of laser-guided machine processes and physical inspections to ensure every watch is up to Maison’s exacting standards.
The end result of this painstaking is a truly extraordinary timepiece that combines, and transcends, two seemingly disparate yet very stunningly similar worlds—the TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph.
