TAG Heuer
Epitomising the Avant-Garde spirit since its creation in 1963 right up to the brand new Heuer 02 line, including digital pieces such as the ultramodern Connected Modular, the TAG Heuer Carrera collection celebrates its 55th anniversary in 2018 with a new chronograph equipped with a GMT function. The Carrera Chronograph GMT features the original “3-6-9” counter layout from 1963, with the date window at 4:30. It is the first time TAG Heuer has added a GMT to its prestigious manufacture movement. The second time zone is read using the lacquered red hand and the black and blue ceramic bezel, which has a 24-hour GMT scale. To ensure optimum legibility, the GMT hand has been ingeniously mounted in a secondary position — between the hour and minute hands — enabling it to pass over the indexes and skim the GMT scale. The Heuer 02 manufacture movement is housed inside a solid 45mm steel case, water-resistant to 100m. Seeing this watch in the flesh only brought to mind one thing: it’s been seven years since Wiz Khalifa put out ‘Black and Yellow’. But hey, it’s been 50 years since the Apollo 8 crew became the first to ever see the other side of the moon. The dark side has been paid tribute to several times by Omega in many different timepieces but this year’s skeletonised chronograph version ce ainly stands out.
Produced entirely in sleek black ceramic, the polished exterior is a good contrast to the blackened movement that has been “laser-ablated to produce realistic imagery of the lunar su ace”.
This isn’t just on the front-facing side of the watch. On the back, the movement is decorated to show the far side of the moon, a place that only the astronauts have seen. The detailing up close is an amazing feat that really, could only be achieved through a laser. Around the caseback, the words “WE’LL SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE” are engraved in reference to astronaut Jim Lovell’s words spoken to ground control just before the Apollo 8 travelled to the far side of the moon, out of reach via the communication technology back in the day.