TAG Heuer and Porsche continue on the second year of their famed road trip together with the 2022 Carrera X Porsche Limited Edition. The TAG Heuer and Porsche partnership is possibly the most authentic, and certainly the most organic, of all such relationships between watchmakers and automakers. The horological conversation this year has revolved around the Aquaracer and Monaco, as well as a certain Carrera worn by Ryan Gosling, but the Carrera X Porsche Limited Edition will not be left in the dust. We saw this model at Watches and Wonders Geneva, alongside the others mentioned here, and it reminds us that the automatic chronograph Heuer 02 movement really is the spiritual successor to Calibre 11.

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Calibre 11 is of course quite famous, but it might be a little obscure since it is no longer in production. This retired engine debuted across all the chronograph models in Heuer’s range back in 1969 (it was known as plain old Heuer back then) as the brand staked its claim to developing and debuting the world’s first automatic chronograph. A limited edition of 1,500 pieces, this black and yellow 44mm watch looks the part of a speed fiend. The glossy black dial, asphalt-textured subdials, DLC steel case and yellow highlights leave one in no doubt about the Porsche connection. The colour was reportedly inspired by the Porsche Pantone, which Porsche reserves for its raciest cars.

Here we also see the Porsche automotive influence on the movement more clearly, especially with regards to the steering wheel design of the automatic winding rotor. This happens to be a common feature shared with the Monaco models as well, uniting the racing TAG Heuer models. The rotor and movement architecture of the Heuer 02 calibre are quite different to the old Calibre 11, but this is only to be expected. Calibre 11 was just the starting line after all, and more than 50 years have passed since that special moment in Geneva. The Heuer 02 has its own story too, which we have examined at length before but here is the tl;dr.

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Having gotten its start under a different name in 2013, it retains some characteristics from that debut. From 2016, it gained notice as calibre Heuer 02T, the world’s most accessible chronograph-tourbillon. The current Heuer 02 retains the integrated chronograph bit, complete with column wheel and vertical clutch, 80 hours of power reserve and 4Hz or 28,000 vph balance. As others have noted, the calibre also has a date function, although this sometimes gets covered up (as it was in the Carrera 160 Years Limited Editions). In the present generation of calibres, the column wheel gets a bit of visual boost, being lacquered in a specific colour. Here it is in the same yellow as the other elements on the watch, as mentioned earlier.

TAG Heuer’s CEO Frédéric Arnault goes beneath the hood of the partnership with this explanation in the presser: “For this second chapter of our partnership, it seemed natural to continue to weave the thread of our cocreation through the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph but with a completely new approach. For this new limited edition, we wanted to emphasise the racing side of the sporty Porsche Carrera. Our teams, in partnership with Porsche, have combined their expertise and creativity to create a timepiece with a powerful design and a bold, sporty look.”

“The Carrera myth plays an important role in Porsche’s heritage and is also one of the many aspects our brand has in common with TAG Heuer,” said Robert Ader, Chief Marketing Officer at Porsche AG. “After a successful year of partnership, we are pleased to have created another tangible symbol of the special connection between the two iconic brands.”

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