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mclarenvst
·Hi there!
I'm going to introduce myself a little bit: my name is Victor and I'm from Barcelona, Spain. I don't really know how to begin this thread, but I'm here to share and get as much information I can about my last purchase.
As you can read in the title, I've bought what it looks to be the first edition of the TAG Heuer Carrera reference CAR2110, the one with the calibre 1887.
As you would probably know, there were three "versions" of that reference: the first one with the tachymetre on the bezel, the second one without the tachymetre, and the final edition with the tachymetre inside the dial.
So well, the one that I've acquired is the first one, in black.
The story is that I was looking for a TAG Heuer Carrera because a few months ago I sold my Carrera Calibre 16 reference CV2010, and I miss it so much. That Carrera had been always my favourite watch ever, and I absolutely regretted that trade, so I wanted to get a "new" one. It was during the search that I thought "why not to get a different reference with the same look?". This is how I ended looking for the Calibre 1887. I remembered all the history about this calibre, the patent of Seiko and all the stuff, but I've always believed that it was a very good movement, and I totally understood the policy of TAG Heuer regarding the 1887. In my opinion, what they did was totally legitimate, and the 1887 matches the definition of what it is a manufacture/in-house movement.
Leaving the topic of the 1887, I started my search for the CAR2110. This was my choice, but I still was not very sure if I preferred the version 2 or the version 3...(the one with the tachymetre in the dial, or without it?). This was the doubt, because I had understood that the first edition was only a first prototype that TAG Heuer showed in the Baselworld 2010, but it was never made into production. These were my beliefs... until I saw it in Chrono24.
So I began to search more information about it. I remembered the different posts about this reference in Calibre11.com. I followed the news about the Calibre 1887 back then in 2010, and I read all the articles that David wrote in Calibre11.com, but unfortunately the website is not available anymore.
Luckily, I thought that it could be the possibility to read again these articles with the help of web.archive.org, where you can see how old websites were in the past, or how it was a web that is not longer online. It worked.
So I read the interview that David did to Jean-Christophe Babin again, and my thoughts were confirmed:
.
More or less, I remembered it right, although I couldn't remember the exact details. I searched for more information in different forums and websites, in order to contrast these facts, but nowhere I found it as detailed as it was in Calibre11.com.
So based on that information, the first version of the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887 with the tachymetre on the bezel was showed in the Baselworld in March of 2010, but it never made into production. The second version without the tachymetre and little aesthetic modifications in the dial started production two months later, in May, and it had a limited release, as it was available only in certain countries. And the third version, with the tachymetre and more significant aesthetic changes inside the dial, made into production in October of the same year. This was, of course, the final version.
Knowing all this information, I considered that the watch was, in fact, rare. Rare enough to take the risk to get it. So I did a few more checks on the watch and the seller, and I finally decided to go for it. And here I am.
Does any of you know more info about it? Is it possible that during those two months between version 1 and 2 of the watch, TAG Heuer managed to sell some models even though it never went into production?
PS: Sorry for the long thread, it wasn't my intention to do it as long. But if you've made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed my little story on the watch in question. And excuse my English! I know it's not very good and for sure I have made quite a few mistakes. I sincerely apologize for it!
PPS: I miss Calibre11.com.
I'm going to introduce myself a little bit: my name is Victor and I'm from Barcelona, Spain. I don't really know how to begin this thread, but I'm here to share and get as much information I can about my last purchase.
As you can read in the title, I've bought what it looks to be the first edition of the TAG Heuer Carrera reference CAR2110, the one with the calibre 1887.
As you would probably know, there were three "versions" of that reference: the first one with the tachymetre on the bezel, the second one without the tachymetre, and the final edition with the tachymetre inside the dial.
So well, the one that I've acquired is the first one, in black.
The story is that I was looking for a TAG Heuer Carrera because a few months ago I sold my Carrera Calibre 16 reference CV2010, and I miss it so much. That Carrera had been always my favourite watch ever, and I absolutely regretted that trade, so I wanted to get a "new" one. It was during the search that I thought "why not to get a different reference with the same look?". This is how I ended looking for the Calibre 1887. I remembered all the history about this calibre, the patent of Seiko and all the stuff, but I've always believed that it was a very good movement, and I totally understood the policy of TAG Heuer regarding the 1887. In my opinion, what they did was totally legitimate, and the 1887 matches the definition of what it is a manufacture/in-house movement.
Leaving the topic of the 1887, I started my search for the CAR2110. This was my choice, but I still was not very sure if I preferred the version 2 or the version 3...(the one with the tachymetre in the dial, or without it?). This was the doubt, because I had understood that the first edition was only a first prototype that TAG Heuer showed in the Baselworld 2010, but it was never made into production. These were my beliefs... until I saw it in Chrono24.
So I began to search more information about it. I remembered the different posts about this reference in Calibre11.com. I followed the news about the Calibre 1887 back then in 2010, and I read all the articles that David wrote in Calibre11.com, but unfortunately the website is not available anymore.
Luckily, I thought that it could be the possibility to read again these articles with the help of web.archive.org, where you can see how old websites were in the past, or how it was a web that is not longer online. It worked.
So I read the interview that David did to Jean-Christophe Babin again, and my thoughts were confirmed:
"Calibre11: (...) there was the prototype Carrera 1887 (V1) shown at Basel 2010. This model never made it into production, but a modified version did have limited release (V2) (...)"
"Jean-Christophe Babin: It’s very simple. Initially with the first version that was shown at Basel, it was not yet the production version, and so we received a lot of positive feedback , but also some retailers pointed out that it was a bit close to the basic Carrera Tachymetre, especially with the bezel design. Some were afraid that it would make it hard for consumers to identify which Carrera had the Calibre 1887 from a normal Calibre 16 Carrera.
So, in response we decided to make some small changes- we wanted to move the tachy scale inside to the flange rather than outside and we would make the bezel slimmer to make it stand out more- but of course this was not possible overnight. Yes, we could move to a slimmer bezel overnight but not the tachy scale on the flange.
So, we decided to launch the product anyhow because the response was so strong and it offered a very elegant Chronograph more elegant, much more “open” with the slimmer bezel. This created a Carrera with a feeling of simple elegance- quite different to the rest of the Carrera line-up. But, of course the spirit of the Carrera is racing, so we did want to eventually bring back the Tachymetre..it just took some time.
So, now we will have the Carrera with the tachymetre on the flange for the final look- so, the elegance of the slimmer outer-bezel without any markings, but a true TAG Heuer Chronograph with a Tachymetre scale inside."
More or less, I remembered it right, although I couldn't remember the exact details. I searched for more information in different forums and websites, in order to contrast these facts, but nowhere I found it as detailed as it was in Calibre11.com.
So based on that information, the first version of the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887 with the tachymetre on the bezel was showed in the Baselworld in March of 2010, but it never made into production. The second version without the tachymetre and little aesthetic modifications in the dial started production two months later, in May, and it had a limited release, as it was available only in certain countries. And the third version, with the tachymetre and more significant aesthetic changes inside the dial, made into production in October of the same year. This was, of course, the final version.
Knowing all this information, I considered that the watch was, in fact, rare. Rare enough to take the risk to get it. So I did a few more checks on the watch and the seller, and I finally decided to go for it. And here I am.
Does any of you know more info about it? Is it possible that during those two months between version 1 and 2 of the watch, TAG Heuer managed to sell some models even though it never went into production?
PS: Sorry for the long thread, it wasn't my intention to do it as long. But if you've made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed my little story on the watch in question. And excuse my English! I know it's not very good and for sure I have made quite a few mistakes. I sincerely apologize for it!
PPS: I miss Calibre11.com.
