50 years of Carrera
Fifty years ago, Jack Heuer, grandson of Swiss watchmaker Heuer’s founder, Edouard Heuer, focused his magnifying lenses on the racing world. A long-time motorsports fan and accomplished race driver, Jack Heuer knew exactly what racers needed: an expansive, easy-to-read watch with a shock-resistant and waterproof case that can withstand the rigors of motor racing. His inspiration came from the Carrera Panamericana Mexico Road Race— the world’s most gruelling long-distance racing event.
Jack Heuer relates, “I first heard about the Carrera from Pedro Rodriguez at the 12 Hours of Sebring, where I was the official timekeeper. He and his brother Ricardo were two of the fastest, smartest, and bravest endurance drivers of all time. To hear them talk of the Carrera, which our brand’s long-time friend Juan-Manuel Fangio had won in 1953, but which had been stopped in the 1955 after a number of fatalities, made my imagination soar. Just the sound of the name itself—elegant, dynamic, easily pronounced in all languages, and charged with emotion. I knew then that my new chronograph was the perfect tribute to this legend.”
The Carrera’s iconic design is firmly rooted in racing, such as the black and white of vintage dashboard counters or the perforated leather gloves favored by Fangio and his contemporaries.
“I was excited by the new forms, materials, and techniques just then coming into play. We were after something that took advantage of these, that was just as new and audacious, but at the same time sober, simple and motor sports driven, stripped of all ornamentation, classic and timeless,” says Heuer.
The first Carrera chronograph was the stunning black-and-white “Panda” edition with tachy metre. It is now one of the most coveted watches among vintage watch collectors.
Among the Grand Prix drivers to wear a Carrera over the next decade were Ferrari drivers Jackie Ickx, Clay Regazzoni, Mario Andretti, Carlos Reutemann and Jody Scheckter. Since then, the timepiece has been worn by the who’s who of Formula One, including world champions Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, and Alain Prost.
To mark the 50th year of a timekeeping icon, TAG Heuer unveiled a new line of Carrera chronographs, all featuring one of TAG Heuer’s proudest technical achievements— the in-house-manufactured movement that reengineers one of Edouard Heuer’s greatest contributions to watchmaking—the brand’s oscillating pinion patented in 1887. The column wheel, which coordinates the start, stop and return-to-zero functions of the chronograph hand, functions like a gearbox while the oscillating pinion works like a clutch— ingenious mechanisms that form perfect analogies with the magnificent automobiles from which they were inspired.