You can’t have a 39mm case AND the same lugs as the original. They would stretch too far out, poke your eye out. I have no issues with the lugs, it’s the case thickness and glassbox that bother me.
Christ it's not about lugs or lug length What the original Carrera was all about, and what set it immediately apart at the time, was that it was a watch that looked dressy enough for a businessman to wear but still made sporty at-a-glance readability a priority. That's why placing the minutes and chronograph seconds track on the tension ring was such a big deal - this decision allowed for a clean and elegant dial unlike all of the other sport chronographs, but it also allowed for exact reading of the chronograph at the slightest glance unlike all of the other dressy chronographs. Essentially, it was an everyday watch that a car racer (or enthusiast) could look good wearing while keeping with the more conservative style trends of the time. With the more relaxed, casual style trend shift by the end of the '60s, and especially with the advent of quartz / digital technology (and thus the commodification of the wristwatch), the Carrera evolved to be more design-forward along with most other sporty watch lines. So the 1153 became a bit less dressy though still retained a measure of elegance above the Autavia of the time. (And of course for those looking for a slight bit more dressiness, remember the Camaro was the 1st-generation 1153's contemporary in the catalog) Which is why it's sad to see all of these messes like the Heuer-01, and an explicit split between "Elegant" and "Sporty" lines.
Okay, so the 510.511 I posted at the start of this article isn't exactly dressy is it? I feel like the more I look into things the more I find that it was Heuer that were breaking the 'rules' before TAG even got involved.
Yeah but this was the quartz crisis Still a lovely Carrera I’m craving. Tops 99% of all Carreras after that.
I was just thinking about that the other day, while browsing through scores of 70s skin divers and reflecting on my own collection. I love ‘70s watches!
I'm not too fixated on the extending the length of the lugs. What I am talking about is extending the lug-separation, to preserve the angles of the original and make the new case look less bloated. Here's a very rough illustration where I copy pasted the lugs of the original over and extended the width of the strap. Here's is the original photo. Look at how the reedition looks bloated, because the lugs are not distanced properly. To me, the fundamental problem on the case is that the proportions were not correctly carried over when they blew up the dial by 3mm!
I like that copy paste bit That milimeter makes a notable difference. A 20mm lug width would be a good idea. Sharper lugs would be welcome too.
Cool, so we can all agree that it was actually Heuer and we can stop all this 'TAG' ruined the Carrera nonsense. Moreover, perhaps if the watch world could drop all the silly 'in house' nonsense, then perhaps the Carrera wouldn't have to have a Heuer 02 in it and the Dato 45 could have had the date in the right place, eh?
Not a big difference for me. Maybe 20mm lugs would be slightly better all round, though. No, because at that point, the Carrera was not a classic to be ruined.
TAG did not ruin Heuer.. TAG actually SAVED Heuer from becoming extinct and now, we still have the brand we all love and care about! Let’s be grateful guys In a world full of negativity and chaos right now, it’s good to be thankful once in a while
I have no issue with TAG Heuer, I love the brand. Still the spirit of (motor)sports and one of only a few watch brands that has real relevance outside of the world of watches. The only other brand I can think of is Rolex. One might argue Omega but the whole space relevance is thin imo. The rest are mostly about watches, the WHAT, not the WHY. When you wear a (TAG) Heuer that history travels with you. This doesn’t mean we can’t be critical. A LOT of things could have been handled better. The whole avant garde strategy has been a ticket to releasing a bunch of dreadful watches. The constant changes of ownership and management haven’t helped. I am confident that the current team will get it right. The Porsche release was a pity but there are good signs nonetheless.
