The New TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x fragment Limited Edition

TAG Heuer’s classic Carrera Chronograph has gotten a lot of mileage since its introduction by Jack Heuer in 1963. To celebrate its 60^th anniversary, TAG Heuer looked back to the original curved acrylic crystals of the 1960s and 1970s and reinterpreted them in domed sapphire crystal. Known as the Carrera Glassbox, the smooth, domed sapphire crystal rising over the dial’s edge and into the case gives the watch a fun retro touch without the risk of scratching associated with vintage hesalite crystals. Today, the Carrera Glassbox is reinterpreted by FRGMT, the Fragment design studio founded by the Japanese designer and godfather of streetwear, Hiroshi Fujiwara.

The first collaboration with Fujiwara resulted in a winning minimalist interpretation of the 39mm vintage-inspired Carrera, followed in 2020 by a Calibre Heuer 02 collaboration based on the larger 1970s Autavia watches.

Although the third collaboration with FRGMT pushes the Carrera Glassbox to extreme levels of minimalism, Fujiwara has distilled the Carrera’s soul. The 100m water-resistant case is classic Carrera, with vintage pump-style pushers, angular lugs, a thickness of 13.9mm, and a combination of brushed and polished surfaces. Like other Glassbox editions, the absence of a bezel allows the domed sapphire crystal to reach up and over the curved tachymeter flange all the way to the edge of the case. When viewed from certain angles, the glassbox produces fun distortions and magnifies Fujiwara’s sleek dial design.

The raised, rounded flange for the tachymeter scale is now white, with ghostly silver numerals, sitting high above the matte black opaline dial. Respecting the layout, the three sub-dials occupy their usual positions: running seconds at 6, 30-minute elapsed times at 3 and the 12-hour counter at 9 o’clock. However, Fujiwara’s minimalist ethos is so daring that the recessed black counters are stripped of their numerals and rely solely on their baton markers to convey information.

While the sloping flange surrounding the dial retains its precision second/minute track, there are no applied hour indices; instead, small rectangular plots of grey Super-LumiNova are indicated by the rhodium-plated hour and minute hands with white Super-LumiNova inserts. Positioned at noon, the framed and bevelled date window reveals FRGMT’s logo in the shape of white lightning bolts against a black background, appearing at 1 and 11, and “FRAGMENT” is inscribed on the dial at 6 o’clock.

The reverse also reveals the designer’s lightning bolt logo, printed in black on the sapphire crystal above the axis of the openworked, shield-shaped rotor, which he has highlighted with black lines. Powered by the calibre TH20-00, this automatic column-wheel chronograph with a vertical clutch runs at 28,800vph and has a robust power reserve of 80 hours.

Paired with a seven-row beads-of-rice bracelet, reintroduced earlier this year on the Carrera Glassbox, the designer’s hand is felt on the central link, coated in black PVD. Presented in a black box, the Carrera Chronograph x fragment is a limited edition of 500 individually numbered pieces, retailing for CHF 8,150. More information at tagheuer.com.