The Carrera model celebrates its 50th anniversary! TAG Heuer introduced a number of interesting Carrera models this past Baselworld. One of the most interesting models is the Carrera Calibre 36 Flyback Chronograph “Racing”. The Carrera collection is connected to racing ever since its first appearance in 1963. The founder of this collection – Jack Heuer – was inspired by the famous Pan American Race and decided to call the watch “Carrera”.
The “Racing” version of the Calibre 36 has this titanium case with black titanium carbide coating, to stress the fact that you deal with a true instrument for race drivers here. Also, the leather strap has the “racy” perforated layer and last but not least, the outer part of the sunray anthracite dial features a tachymeter. The regular (non-Racing) Calibre 36 Flyback models lack these qualities and shouldn’t therefore be used for racing, of course.
One of the coolest things about this Carrera is the movement. As someone can become totally happy of having an AMG engine in his ‘Benz or a Motosport engine in his BMW, watch enthusiasts can become very happy when a manufacturer decides to put an El Primero movement inside their watch. Ever since Zenith came up with this fast ticking chronograph movement in 1969, it has been regarded as one of the most desirable watch movements you can possibly have in a chronograph watch.
TAG Heuer used this movement before in their Monza collection, but we are happy to see it being used in the Carrera watch as well. The Calibre 36 is TAG Heuer’s internal name for the El Primero movement by Zenith. The ‘36’ refers to the 36,000 beats per hour this movement runs on. Or, to put it on more common terms, 10 hertz. This means that the second hand sweeps at 10 ‘ticks’ per second, making it very easy to measure the exact passed time when using the chronograph functions. This fast ticking movement also has some downsides, although these are rather theoretical. A movement that runs this fast needs specific oiling and specific servicing. In theory, this movement might need servicing with a shorter interval than normal, but we’ve never seen any evidence. So, let’s move on and just make sure to have your Carrera Calibre 36 service every 5-7 years and you will be fine.
The Calibre 36 Flyback Chronograph racing is a 43mm watch that will probably fit most manly men’s wrists. The dial of this watch has a lot of details. These details might distract you when you are a purist when it comes to watches, but you also might enjoy them if you like sporty watches. Besides the applied TAG Heuer logo at 12 o’clock, there are a number of red accents on the dial. Like the red tips on the chronograph and small seconds hand, the wording on the dial and the ‘80’, ‘120’ and ‘240’ numerals on the tachymeter scale.
The applied numerals on the dial are made out of so-called black gold and match perfectly with the black gold hands on the dial. However, black gold refers to the plating bath and not that they are made out of solid gold.
The black titanium case, anthracite dial and use of black gold hands and numerals makes this Carrera Calibre 36 “Racing” live up to the word ‘racing’ – a stealth watch with a very powerful engine.
The Tag Heuer Calibre 36 Flyback “Racing” is also water resistant to 100 meters (10ATM). However, we don’t recommend using it for diving and please keep your hands away from those pushers when doing so!
As soon as we have information about pricing on this watch, we will get back to you!
What car would you like to race while wearing the Tag Heuer Calibre 36 Flyback Chronograph “Racing”?
