Whether it’s car racing, skiing, horse riding or the Olympic Games, watchmakers love being involved with sport. The latest such collaboration comes from TAG Heuer, which has relaunched its iconic Carrera Skipper four decades after the original disappeared.
The first Skipper arrived back in 1968 – born from Jack Heuer’s involvement in the America’s Cup yacht race – and served as a timekeeper for professional and amateur skippers alike until it was dropped from the Heuer range in 1983.
Now it’s back, complete with updated TAG Heuer branding, a larger 38mm case diameter and new textile strap. Although much has changed, the aesthetics are familiar and the sub-dials are almost identical to those of the original, seen on the left in the image below.
These include a green, orange and teal dial at the three o’clock position for indicating the 15-minute countdown to the start of a regatta. A second, 12-hour counter sits at the nine o’clock position, with ‘Skipper’ written inside.
There’s also a 60-second complication at the six o’clock position, neatly sweeping over a date window, an unguarded crown for adjusting and winding, and a pair of push buttons for controlling the countdown timer.
The watch is powered by TAG Heuer’s Calibre TH20-06 automatic movement with 80 hours of power reserve, and it's water resistant to 100 metres.
I’ve always been a fan of blue watches with nautical links, but what really draws me to this TAG Heuer is the lack of bezel. This sees the sapphire crystal extended to the very edges of the stainless steel case. Not only does it look good, but this design detail helps with legibility, TAG Heuer says, which is particularly useful when you’re standing on a bobbing boat, waiting for the regatta starting gun to fire.
Priced at 6,600 CHF (about £5,800), the TAG Heuer Carrera Skipper is available now.
