Watches and Wonders, Geneva – April 9, 2024: Following a welcome return to the world of yachting with last year’s release of the Carrera Skipper chronograph in steel, TAG Heuer is delighted to announce a new version of the watch featuring a case made from 18K 5N rose gold.
Like the steel model, the gold Skipper is based on the best-selling ‘glassbox’ design launched in early 2023 to mark the 60th anniversary of the celebrated Carrera chronograph and is powered by the Heuer 02 (Ref. TH20-06) in-house calibre – a version of the Heuer 02 movement especially adapted for regatta timing.
Creating the 39mm case in 18K 5N rose gold, which combines fine brushed and polished finishes, elevates the Skipper to a level of sophistication that is sure to appeal to high-end collectors – but its usefulness as a fully-functional sailing watch remains uncompromised.
Like other variations of the glassbox Carrera – such as the Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche, the Carrera Tourbillon, and the Carrera Chronograph – the gold Skipper features an ingenious ‘curved flange’ dial beneath its crystal to ensure exceptional legibility in all conditions, especially when the watch is being used in a regatta situation for timing the vital 15-minute period before the starting gun is fired.
In terms of its colour scheme, the Skipper in gold harks back to the historic Skipper Reference 7754 of 1968 by combining a sea-blue main dial with two, sharply contrasting subdial – a 12-hour counter in ‘Intrepid Teal’ and a 15-minute regatta counter divided into three, five–minute segments of different colours.
These colours replicate those used on the original Skipper chronograph of 1968, which was launched under the leadership of Jack Heuer to celebrate the victory of the New York Yacht Club’s ‘Intrepid’ over New Zealand’s ‘Dame Pattie’ in the previous year’s America’s Cup.
Heuer had equipped Intrepid’s crew with hand-held yachting timers and Aquastar wrist watches for the event, the latter of which featured a countdown mechanism in the form of a red and white disc that rotated behind five holes.
To mark the association with Intrepid, the Skipper’s tricolour 15-minute countdown subdial was divided in the following way: Lagoon Green (inspired by Intrepid’s rigging); Intrepid Teal (the colour of her deck) and, for the final five-minute ‘get ready’ sector, Regatta Orange – orange originally being adopted by the maritime world because of the exceptional way it contrasts against the sea.
Like the steel model, the Skipper in 18K 5N rose gold also features triangular markers (a motif drawn from heritage Heuer models) at five-minute intervals around the outer curved flange, a lacquered ‘regatta orange’ central seconds hand and a discreet ‘Skipper’ nameplate at the bottom of the 12-hour subdial.
In keeping with its 18K 5N rose gold case, the latest Skipper carries applied, 18K 5N rose gold-plated hour markers that follow the line of the dial’s curved flange, while a similarly angled date window appears at six o’clock.
Turning the watch over reveals a transparent caseback through which can be seen the in-house Heuer 02 (Ref. TH20-06) Skipper calibre – a column wheel chronograph movement with vertical clutch and 80 hours of power reserve that is topped-up by a new, bi-directional rotor in the shape of TAG Heuer’s distinctive shield symbol.
The 18K 5N rose gold Skipper is supplied on a blue textile strap and secured by a pin buckle, also made from 18K 5N rose gold to match the case. The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Skipper will also be available as a Connected watch face, extending the sailing universe onto the beloved TAG Heuer Connected one – much to the delight of all maritime watch enthusiasts. Following in the footsteps of the 18K 5N rose gold TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Chronosprint, the 18K 5N rose gold Carrera Chronograph Skipper brings a new level of luxury and collectability to TAG Heuer’s signature chronograph.
It also marks a new chapter in a relationship with the sea that began even before the creation of the very first Skipper in 1968. It all started, in fact, during the late 1940s when high-end sporting goods supplier Abercrombie & Fitch began commissioning Heuer to produce A & F-branded watches to sell in its New York stores.
The first was the Solunar of 1949 that displayed tide times and which, in the 1950s, led to the creation of the Seafarer chronograph for Abercrombie & Fitch and the Heuer-branded Mareographe. Jack Heuer and A&F president Walter Haynes subsequently developed a close friendship, and it was Haynes who made the introduction that led to the brand’s auspicious role as Intrepid’s official timing partner during her 1967 America’s Cup victory.
And the rest, as they say, is (maritime) history…
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