Editor’s Note: Watches & Wonders (formerly SIHH) has moved online and Baselworld 2020 is canceled, but that hasn’t stopped watch brands large and small from debuting their new wares. Stay on top of this year’s best new watch releases here.
TAG Heuer is 160 years old this year. Well, sort of. Techniques d’Avant Garde purchased a majority stake in the company in 1985 — and LVMH subsequently purchased nearly the entire company in 1999 — but Heuer itself was established in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, in 1860. So, close enough.
You may recall the TAG Heuer Carrera 160 Years Silver Dial Limited Edition from earlier in the year, a watch that celebrated the 160-year milestone. Well, if the 1970s are more your bag, you’re in luck, as the storied Swiss watchmaker has decided to re-release one of their funkiest models in a continued celebration of their birthday: the Heuer Montreal.
First launched in 1972, the Montreal was actually an entire collection of automatic chronographs. One in particular, the reference 110503W, is especially rare and collectible. Rather than reissue this reference itself, TAG Heuer has decided to borrow its colorful dial colors and apply them to a 39mm Carrera, limited to just 1,000 pieces.
The original Montreal
The Carrera has proven itself somewhat of a chameleon over time, able to serve as a blank canvas upon which to experiment with different color schemes and designs, and this example is no different: Bright, airy and fun, the Montreal heritage manifests itself in a white dial with blue “azurage” sub-registers, yellow lume and accents, and red coloring on the laquered hands and minutes/seconds track.
This colorful dial is covered with a sapphire “top hat”-style crustal and housed within a polished stainless steel 39mm Carrera case. Each watch is engraved with a unique, limited edition serial number on the case back and comes equipped with a blue alligator leather strap. Powering the watch is the Calibre Heuer 02, an automatic movement with an 80-hour power reserve, a vertical clutch and a column wheel, providing for smooth pusher movement.
The 1970s Montreal collection
A fun, colorful summer watch — as well as a particularly bright livery for the often- (though not always) sober Carrera, the Carrera 160 Years Montreal Limited Edition is limited to 1,000 pieces at a price of $6,750.