Summer 2019, a warm evening, little did I know that I would always remember it for the TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 story!

I’m on vacation, alone, on the way to the cottage on the bay to enjoy some deserved time off. I stop at my local AD to pick up one of my grandfather’s old watches that was being serviced. I get out of my car, arch my back to crack it after a long drive and take in a deep breath of warm August air, happy, blissfully ignorant of what will descend on our collective societies in the next six months. I climb the stairs and enter the boutique.

No need for masks, disinfecting hands or to stay away from others. I shake hands with Mike, my guy there. He remembers I’m here to pick up a watch. As he goes out back, I wander the store, in no hurry. The Rolex display is mostly empty. Hamiltons and Corums fill other displays. As I wait, I glance over at the Tag Heuer display and remember that they’re on sale. I look through. The standard stable of TAGs are present, Formula 1’s, Links, etc. No Monacos are to be found. However, the harsh boutique lights reflect off the ceramic bezel of a lone Carrera Heuer 01.

I’ve barely paid any attention to the TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 online. My recent search for a skeleton watch incites me to look closer. Mike comes out and hands me the old Timex, looking spiffy with a buffed crystal and cleaned movement. I ask to see the Carrera. I unclick the black titanium deployant clasp and slide it on my average-sized wrist. Its 45mm diameter dwarfs most watches in my collection, yet its short Carrera lugs render it wearable. I keep the watch on my wrist as I pay for the serviced Timex. I keep admiring the Carrera.

It feels like “home”, like I’ve had this for years, and it’s “my” watch. I’m a bit perplexed, as I am not an exuberant, attention seeking person. Yet, this one feels perfect for me. It’s sapphire case back displays the red column wheel of the complicated movement. As a racing inspired watch, the rotor is skeletonized and resembles either the spokes of a wheel, or a steering wheel. Its plates are Geneva-wave finished. One could say they’re ribbed for pleasure. The rubber strap is racing inspired; the finishing touch on an amazing watch. I find myself unable to part with this watch. This is purely emotional. The credit card comes out, I pay. I leave, poorer in the bank account but richer emotionally.

Having enjoyed the TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 for a few years, a few small things bother me. When the wrist swells in the summer, the skin pushes on the incredibly sharp edges and corners of the titanium deployant clasp. I’ve had to use a sharpening stone to blunt the edges and corners by adding my own bevel. Now it’s much more comfortable. There is a red accent in plastic between the bezel and the case; I’m uncertain how, but it is slightly loose but it will be fixed when I get it serviced eventually. Its thickness means it stands out and doesn’t always fit under a shirt cuff. Its manufacture movement is really a Seiko movement which TAG purchased the IP, improved, and renamed the Heuer 01.

Its place in my collection is based on an article I read once, probably clickbait. However, it was logical and stuck with me. It stated that a standard collection should have at least 4 watches. One for everyday (a sober 3 hander), a sports watch (good WR, tough), a dress watch, and a “wow” watch (something that really stands out). The TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 fits the latter category. At around the same price or more than a Speedy, this should not be your first luxury watch. This is something you get when your collection is more mature, as you won’t always be wearing it. The sporty rubber strap really makes this a summer watch, but swap it with a tough leather strap, and it becomes a 4 seasons model. Emotional purchases can be dangerous; this one, I do not regret.