A greater take a 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 delivered to the producer, credit score must be given when it’s due. Arnault’s focus was getting TAG Heuer’s core fashions to be acting 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 greatest beneficiaries after drifting listlessly for a number of years now.

This yr’s novelty launch on the LVMH Watch Week wields Arnault’s affect, which is a given contemplating watch designs take a mean of 18 months on 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’ll nonetheless see items that bear Arnault’s identification, which is pushing the bounds of standard 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. Related to a couple different reproductions, such because the TAG Heuer Carrera sixtieth 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 quick cease on 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 robust yr forward.

Learn Extra: The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Drips in Gold

Curiously, the selection of dial color would possibly baffle some who would like a basic 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, significantly the classic inexperienced shades of the racing automobiles throughout the thrilling period of nationwide color racing from the Nineteen Twenties to the Sixties. Choosing 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 brought about a stir amongst the watch group, notably for its artificial diamonds and, sadly, value. For many years, the watch group prided itself on naturally occurring stones, the place sourcing and colour-matching valuable stones are oftentimes essentially the most tedious step of gem-set items. Lab-grown diamonds get rid of 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 provide? The primary piece was the perfect take a look at 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 same old 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 strategy following final yr’s pink predecessor. On the coronary heart of this avant-garde creation is TAG Heuer’s revolutionary Plasma know-how, which permits the fragile and delicate progress of lab-grown diamonds. Diamonds, of their purest type, 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 realize the perfect hue. Right here is the place TAG Heuer’s Plasma know-how sparkles (no pun supposed), as it may execute a managed doping dysfunction in a superbly regulated atmosphere to provide 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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