Keep your eyes open....(Reveal: It's the 2017 Heuer Skipper Hodinkee Edition CAR221B)

Calibre11
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Sorry- bit late to this conversation.

Apologies that I couldn't share more on this one- please be assured I'm not trying to be smart by withholding info from the forum..I tried to share with you all as much as I could.

The watch itself I think is very, very well done. Unlike @Hubert I love the domed glassbox, as it gives that vintage feel, so I think it was the right choice. In terms of price, the standard Calibre 18 got a price cut after launch- last I can see, the US price was $5500, so we're talking $400 to cover the cost of the bespoke dial and you get two extra straps. Even if you value the NATOs at $0, that's still a OK premium for mine given the cost of a small-run dial.

Yes, this is exactly the telemeter case and movement.

I don't know why Hodinkee refer to it as a "Carrera Skipper"- it's a Skipper (says so...right there on the dial 😉 )

I don't know the price of the JH85, so hard to talk in terms of relative value.

Fingers crossed there will be another collaboration watch that comes this year- should know more in the next few weeks.
 
Calibre11
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That's only because the watch uses the left over cases from the Calibre 18 Telemeter which were already engraved!
 
OttoWilliam
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They due dilligencely add "limited edition for hodinkee" too 👍

Now i am curious, is there anyway to remove engraving ?
 
Calibre11
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Sure- I suppose you could polish it out, but not sure that would be worth the bother. It's not technically wrong (it is a Carrera case- just like the original)

It's a "Carrera Skipper" in the same way that the original 1975 Monza was a "Carrera Monza"
 
Mr_Orange
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Calibre11 Calibre11
That's only because the watch uses the left over cases from the Calibre 18 Telemeter which were already engraved!

Yeah but they also added the reference which starts CAR.... Surely the reference should have been C?? for a Skipper?
 
Big Adam
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Hubert Hubert
Hold on a second, your Telemeter is up for sale, so I wonder if it really merits such high praise from your end? 😉
As already noted, I bought a second which I'm in the process of flipping.
Turning your argument round, it's one thing to strongly criticise the Glassbox, but another to do so while owning one? 😉

With regards the price, perhaps changing exchange rates over past year have coloured my views, but the Telemeter was sold in the U.K. for the equivalent of $5000 at today's rate and a 20% hike for (IMO) an inferior piece seems odd.

But I appreciate that's not the case sitting outside the UK and they're all sold (proving my opinion's worthless) so it's all a moot point really.
 
Aquagraph
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Can someone explain to me the chrono function? Or rather, where is the second hand?
 
Big Adam
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Hubert Hubert
Yes, yes, I recognized that on my prior post. 😀


Indeed. I acknowledged that fact too a few pages before. 😵‍💫
I think you miss my point. There are many things I would spend my hard-earned on BEFORE buying a watch which I had serious reservations with. Just saying.

However, I'll happily defend everyone's right to buy this non-Carrera Carrera Fugly-subdial Multiple-font-caseback Frankenwatch.
 
imagwai
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Big Adam Big Adam
I think you miss my point. There are many things I would spend my hard-earned on BEFORE buying a watch which I had serious reservations with. Just saying.

However, I'll happily defend everyone's right to buy this non-Carrera Carrera Fugly-subdial Multiple-font-caseback Frankenwatch.
Bit harsh to call it a frankenwatch? Surely not the first time a company has raided the parts bin to create a new variant? 😀
 
Big Adam
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True. My beef is with the execution not the concept.
Anyhow, I've banged on enough. Now I'll shut up. 😀
 
Hubert
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What is very obvious is that this Skipper execution has resulted in polarizing opinions.

The lesson I hope we get out of this, is that if our Calibre11 Collaboration moves forward, we need to get good participation from the community, in order to avoid similar pitfalls. Recognizing of course that not everyone will get exactly what they want, but we should be able to at least recognize the major points of contention to identify what we want to avoid and what we want it to be.
 
dc42
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I was a bit worried about posting my thought on this as it seemed everyone was very pleased.

Soon as I saw it I assumed Tag had made a watch aimed at children. Don't like the dial, don't like that glass box and being so lazy to use carrera bin parts that still say carrera on is surprising.

Not for me. Many more way way nicer than this released this year alone.

Oh im aware it looks very similar to the original but I wonder if a more modern look or colour would make it stand out as a modern interpretation.
Edited:
 
imagwai
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Hubert Hubert
What is very obvious is that this Skipper execution has resulted in polarizing opinions.

The lesson I hope we get out of this, is that if our Calibre11 Collaboration moves forward, we need to get good participation from the community, in order to avoid similar pitfalls. Recognizing of course that not everyone will get exactly what they want, but we should be able to at least recognize the major points of contention to identify what we want to avoid and what we want it to be.
No watch will be able to please everyone here - seems we all have different tastes - 50% might be a more realistic target. 😀 It only takes one thing to rule it out for some people (for me, it's dead in the water if it's too big). Perhaps this is a symptom of how different Heuers and Tag Heuers have been over the years (this would be less of an issue on a Rolex forum perhaps since their models change less over the years?). But perhaps it's just the way of the world. I guess it would be boring if we all liked the same thing.
 
Hubert
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imagwai imagwai
No watch will be able to please everyone here - seems we all have different tastes - 50% might be a more realistic target. 😀 It only takes one thing to rule it out for some people (for me, it's dead in the water if it's too big). Perhaps this is a symptom of how different Heuers and Tag Heuers have been over the years (this would be less of an issue on a Rolex forum perhaps since their models change less over the years?). But perhaps it's just the way of the world. I guess it would be boring if we all liked the same thing.
Yes, I'm well aware of the size constraints from some of our fellow members, just like yours. 😀

The thing to recognize, is that if our project moves forward, we won't have a "blank canvas". Our collaboration will need to fit within the constraints of TAG Heuer's offerings for this type of project, which I anticipate will likely be limited to their current lines, cases, and available options.

So given that this Skipper used the last remaining "Telemeter cases", it is a sure bet the size of the case will be larger. In fact, this was confirmed by David on his posts 1 & 2.
 
imagwai
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Hubert Hubert
So given that this Skipper used the last remaining "Telemeter cases", it is a sure bet the size of the case will be larger
I'm out 🙁

Maybe I'll see if I can hunt down a Skipper on the used market provided prices stay sensible. Although is anyone else slightly put off by the name? Sounds more like a TV series about a boy and his bush kangaroo (credit Arnold Rimmer in Red Dwarf for that line!)
 
Calibre11
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Its hard to work out how much of the backlash is against the watch (and let's face it- the Skipper is hardly a colour scheme that everyone is going to fall in love with) and how much is against Hodinkee. Certainly some people have them in the crosshairs, most of which I think is jealously. When I look at the quality of what Hodinkee do compared to "another large US watch blog", it's night and day.

@Hubert is right on the restrictions. I'll be able to give more details on this soon, but, as I quickly learned, you don't have a blank canvas. The truth is that TAG Heuer support these projects at a loss, because the cost of making even a bespoke dial and hands, etc just isn't worth it for such small production numbers.
 
Calibre11
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...Forgot to add- Hodinkee would have known that not everyone would love the Skipper. But when you're "only" making 125 of them, you only need 126 people wanting one to make it a success. Every Hodinkee edition could have sold much, much larger numbers, but they are disciplined in leaving the market wanting more. And because they're not trying to max out on volume, it means they can go niche, which is what the Skipper is.
 
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