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TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Tourbillon, Digging Into Lab-Grown Diamonds’ Technology

Design innovation with lab-grown diamonds.

| By Xavier Markl | 2 min read |
TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Nanograph

With the new Carrera Plasma, TAG Heuer enters the sector of lab-grown diamonds. Chemically, physically and optically identical to mined diamonds, their lab-grown siblings are not new… but these have been rarely used in the luxury watch industry. TAG Heuer sees a bright future for the technology that has made crucial advances in recent years. In particular, it offers unique design possibilities that the brand is exploring with this unexpected and quite spectacular take on the Carrera.

TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Nanograph

Entering the sector of lab-grown diamonds, the TAG Heuer focus has been to explore new design possibilities to make a watch truly unique. As explained by the brand’s CEO, Frédéric Arnault “With the introduction of the TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma, we want to expand the possible palette and designs for diamond watches and diamonds in general, and create a new and breathtaking vision of mastering carbon and diamond design as well as cutting-edge light effects.” The plasma, CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) technology used to create synthetic diamonds is referred by the brand as Diamant d’Avant-Garde. It allows the brand to use diamonds in new and different shapes and textures. These are manufactured with a network of specialised partners such as Lusix, Capsoul and Diamaze. 

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TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Nanograph

The Carrera Plasma comes in a black, 44mm case set in a unique fashion (invisible setting). The use of anodized aluminium has allowed TAG Heuer to have a black outside but keep a polished inside to bring reflections inside the diamonds. Its spectacular crown is entirely executed in diamond (2.5 ct). 

The panda dial in polycrystalline diamond is one of the highlights of this new Carrera. It looks like it is sprinkled with diamonds. This diamond effect is actually the sum of crystals being grown as one single diamond piece! The two counters are in polycrystalline black diamond. The 11 indexes in white gold are set with a lab-grown diamond each and sport a double index at 12 o’clock.

TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Nanograph

A chronograph tourbillon, the watch is powered by the Nanograph movement that incorporates the high-tech carbon hairspring developed by the TAG Heuer Institute. This hairspring is produced using the same CVD method as for lab-grown diamonds. Indeed, diamond is a solid form of pure carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal. For the occasion, it is presented in a special version with dedicated hand finishes.

For more information, please visit www.tagheuer.com.

Technical specifications – TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma

Case: 44 mm diameter - sandblasted black anodised aluminium - set with 48 lab-grown diamonds (4.2 ct in total) - fixed tachymeter bezel in polished/satin black ceramic - domed sapphire crystal - crown made of lab-grown diamond (2.5 ct in total) - sandblasted push buttons in black ADLC-treated steel
Dial: Rhodium-plated brass base dial covered with a polycrystalline diamond plate (3.9 ct) - 3 o’clock: minute chronograph counter, black polycrystalline diamond plate (0.25 ct) and brass ring with black opaline finish - 9 o’clock: chronograph hours counter, black polycrystalline diamond plate (0.25 ct) and brass ring with black opaline finish - 11 rhodium-plated white gold indexes set with lab-grown diamonds (0.4 ct in total) and a double index at 12 o’clock Polished rhodium-plated applique and black lacquer “CARRERA” print
Movement: TAG Heuer Calibre Heuer 02T tourbillon manufacture - in-house hairspring made of Carbon composite - chronometer certified - automatic tourbillon chronograph - diameter 31mm - 33 jewels - 28,800 vibrations per hour (4Hz) - 65 hours power reserve
Strap: black calfskin strap - black ADLC pin buckle
Price: To be confirmed
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2 responses

  1. I don’t want to sound pushy, but the only cutting edge technology I see here is the carbon hairspring. Natural diamonds have been cut and set in every possible way for a long time. To make matters worse, the mix of aluminum and brass with diamonds sounds like a sacrilege to the world of gold and platinum jewelry of a lifetime.

    2

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