Carrera Calibre 7 Gold - capped or solid 18ct gold?

Dear everyone,

Quite some time since I last visited the Calibre11 forum, but I hope that you give me just a nice welcome this time as I was offered when I once begun seeking information on TH watches! Nonetheless, I'm pleased to see that you guys keep the forum up and running with plenty of interesting reading for me to catch up on.

Quite some years ago I saw a watch on the TH website that sparked my interest; the Carrera Calibre 7 in 18ct yellow gold. Fast forward a couple of years and I'm still quite intrigued by it. When it was still available it was way too expensive for me and if truth is to be told I better spend my hard-worked money on something else, but you know the drill.

For me it seems to be somewhat of a perfect fit: a bit smaller, no thrills; time only, and most importantly; GOLD and a nice alligator/crocodile strap.

Perfect! But since I don't earn those "Wolf-of-wallstreet" kind of money it's still quite a bit. However I've managed to find one site that has a price of around 6000euros. Therefore I was wondering whether this watch has a case of solid 18ct gold or whether its "capped" or some similiar method to shrinken the price. I've had a couple of gold capped watches before and I'm affraid the Carrera would also loose some of its gold over time and instead show spots where steel would be seen.

As we all know, everything becomes better with pictures, so here's something to look at, kudos to the initial blogpost of Calibre11.

Love this watch - have been tempted myself at times. One of the only gold watches I like.

After some digging I was able to find an archived version of this watch’s product information page on the TH website. Turns out it is indeed Capped good rather than solid gold. Quite saddened to hear about this, especially since I thought the price of 8900USD would “provide more” given the price. Might however throw an email to the agent in Scandinavia to get a definitive answer, especially since I’ve read quite some different views.

albeit good capped, I’m sure that the capping process has improved somewhat over the years and that the good is more resistant to scratches and nicks compared to my old vintage pieces from the 60s and 70s.
One of few gold watches I like to, and almost as important; it’s “reasonable” expensive.

Jimbo!! Good to see you

Just like many others, I also love this Carrera. Will no doubt own this one in the future.

I have never ever heard that this one would be capped and not solid. Surprises me a lot if that is true. Please update if you get a reply from Nortime.

UPDATE: Contacted both the Scandinavian agent and TH directly earlier this morning but expect everything to take a couple of days because of the holidays. Nortime, the Scandinavian TH agent however answered quickly that they had to check this for me and reach back.

I also talked to a watchmaker friend today who argued that it was very unlikely that this piece would actually be solid gold. This infromation, in combination with the initial information from Tag Heuer that the watch indeed is gold plated, makes me question however if it's worth its 6000euros.

To be continued...

Consider also that IIRC the solid gold 1887 Carreras were £15,000.

If I’m not mistaken this is one of the first glassbox 39mm Carrera together with the Telemeter. Also love to get one of these in my 50s 😀

This was once my grail watch. It never made it to my country though. The country manager told me that Tag Heuer gold watch will not sell as easy. To this day, i still wish they import it in. I would definitely trying to get one if i ever see one.

That being said, I really wish you got it Bro ! go for it ! 😀👍

One is never too young/old to enjoy nice watches! I'm in my mid-20s but still looking to buy this piece, albeit my back feels like it had served a 80-year-old some days... 😗
It's so pretty and shiny! Unfortunately it matters quite a bit to me whether this is solid or capped gold. I've had some other vintage watches before where the gold wears off over time to reveal the steel(?) underneath, even without any major damages or similar. It's still quite a bit of money and if it's not solid gold it might be more worth it, in the long run, to wait and save up for another watch in solid gold. With that said I'm sure the technology of gold alloys and applying it has improved over the years so it would be more resistant to wearing off compared to a watch that was built in the 60s or 70s.

I promised you guys and update when I received an answer, right?

the Nordic agent has confirmed that the bezel is indeed solid gold, however not mentioned anything regarding the case itself. After some digging I’ve also figured out that the pin buckle also indeed is solid gold.

I don’t have the money at the moment to spend on a new watch and unfortunately the piece I found within EU (which is a requirement for me) has been sold. Maybe that’s the best anyway, give me some more time to look for some answers and save up the bucks needed!

I have this watch.

It is solid gold and hallmarked as such. It’s a beautiful piece and one of my favourites in the collection.

There is little information about this watch, and many of the articles about it that were written and posted online by the usual suspects, were at the time, using a prototype watch, which in their article photos, the watch can be seen without any hallmarkings at all.

The Heuer website alludes to two things about the spec of this watch. In one instance they state it is gold plated, yet in the specs they state it is solid gold.

In real, I can confirm it is solid gold and hallmarked as such on the back.

Its weight also gives it away as being made from solid gold. It’s heavier than the head of a 1972 Rolex Day Date made of same, which it shares its storage case with.

I have attached a photo (not my photo) which shows one which was listed for sale, the watch in the picture has the exact same markings as mine and you can clearly see the hallmark.

I hope this clears up any confusion.

Thanks for the info @GMT Aiviator. This is such a classy design, one of the very few good watches I could see myself wearing