Last year Tag Heuer revamped the Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport collection, updating the bolder, more performance focused version of their signature round chronograph. Now they’re expanding the collection with a new rose gold model and the first GMT to join the series, the Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport Twin Time. I’ve been hands on with both so let’s take a look.
Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport Twin-Time
Taking the new GMT edition out of its case, its influence is immediately apparent: it’s the Extreme Sport version of the Carrera Date Twin-Time from the spring. It shares the same teal colour scheme across its rubber strap, central chronograph hand and ceramic 24-hour bezel. Though in keeping with its performance focus, the day/night two tone indicator is split between teal and black rather than the date model’s more dressy teal and white.
Putting it on and doing up the folding clasp, ‘extreme’ is definitely the right descriptor for this watch. It measures 44mm in diameter with a 16.7mm thickness, which is definitely noticeable due to the recessed case flank with black PVD coating. It also carries a surprising heft to it despite its grade 2 titanium construction and rubber strap. That size does make it quite tactile though, and it feels great to hold and active the chronograph pushers, which have a nice amount of resistance without being stiff.
Of course, when you do activate the chronograph, the central hand immediately jumps into action, sweeping around the dial. The dial itself is as bold as the case with its openworked design revealing glimpses of the inner workings. The subdial scales and bridges feel particularly reflective against the dark backdrop of the minute scale and date ring. Those subdials are a 12-hour counter at 9 o’clock, 30-minute at 3 and small seconds at 6. There’s also the 24-hour GMT hand, which has a vibrant red tip to make it stand out against the rest of the dial.
Turning the watch over reveals the exhibition caseback and TH20-02 automatic movement. It’s finished very nicely with Côtes de Genève and vertical brushing across the openworked rotor. It operates at a 4 Hz frequency and has an 80-hour power reserve, keeping it ticking as you travel across the globe (presumably from motor race to motor race).
It’s priced at £7,900, not unexpected for a high performance chronograph with an additional function. Putting it in a similar bracket to the standard Speedtimer Moonwatch.
Price and Specs:
Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport
The other new edition is the Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport in rose gold. Notably there was a rose gold edition in the original collection and the new piece is almost identical to that version with one significant difference. Rather than the black ceramic bezel of the original, the new watch has a rose gold bezel to match the rest of the case. It gives the piece an even more hyper luxury vibe, putting the precious metal front and centre in an even more dramatic fashion. Interestingly, it actually weighs very similar to its titanium counterpart due to the use of titanium across the caseback, crown and pushers.
Naturally, due to the change in bezel materials, the tachymeter scale has also been swapped to black in order to contrast with the metal. It also matches the black chronograph pushers and crown. Beyond that, the case is virtually identical to its counterpart with a 44mm diameter and the same thickness of 16.7mm. The dial is also unchanged from the 2024 rose gold model.
Powering this model is the TH20-00 automatic movement, which is Tag’s main chronograph movement and has seen use across multiple collections. It was introduced in 2023 and has an 80-hour power reserve. Unlike the -02 variant, there’s no GMT function this time but its otherwise the same movement.
Given the ever rising cost of gold, the Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport in rose gold is definitively a prestige watch at £19,250. That graduates the closest comparison from an Omega to a bi-metal Rolex Daytona.
Price and Specs:
More details at Tag Heuer.
