Tag Heuer is celebrating its 160th birthday by reimagining the iconic Heuer Montreal from 1972.
Borrowing the same white dial with blue, red and yellow colour palette as the 70s original, the Tag Heuer Carrera 160 Years Montreal Limited Edition, to give the watch its full name, is limited to just 1,000 pieces worldwide.
At 39mm, the new watch is smaller than the chunky (at least by 70s standards) 42mm original, and includes a third chronograph sub-dial at six o’clock instead of a date complication. It also features the original Heuer logo instead of the Tag Heuer name, which was created in 1985, giving the timepiece a suitably vintage look.
The new model is based on Tag’s popular Carrera, which was first used by the Swiss firm in 1963 and got its name from the Carrera Panamericana road race. Carrera means road, race, career or course in Spanish.
Attractive details of the new watch include the three yellow curved lines of the chronograph minute counter at the three o’clock position, coloured with yellow Super-LumiNova, so they maintain their colour when illuminated at night. So too are the hour and minute hands, just as they were on the 1972 original.
Meanwhile, the central seconds hand is finished in red lacquer, reminding the wearer of the Carrera’s motorsport origins.
The 39mm stainless steel case is protected by a domed 'glassbox' sapphire crystal and fitted to a blue alligator leather strap with polished steel folding clasp. The screw-down case base is engraved with the unique number of each of the 1,000 examples to be made, and a sapphire back reveals the watch’s in-house Calibre Heuer 02 mechanical movement with vertical clutch.
The power reserve is an impressive 80 hours – up from 50 hours for the Calibre Heuer 01 – and it is a fraction thinner than its predecessor, too. Water-resistance is 100 metres.
The watch is available from July 2020 and is priced at £5,550.
