TAG Heuer is known to take big risks when it comes to its watch designs — no other Swiss luxury brand has so fully-embraced smartwatches, for example. But the brand’s latest creation, unveiled at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, may be its riskiest — and most impressive — swing yet.
TAG Heuer has debuted the Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Nanograph, an absolutely bonkers version of the iconic chronograph that’s loaded up with 10 carats of lab-grown diamonds. But this isn’t your usual case of a brand icing up an existing watch. Literally no one has utilized diamonds in a watch like this before, and TAG Heuer made use of some innovative tech to make it happen. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology — which TAG calls “Diamant d’Avant-Garde” — was used to grow diamonds in custom shapes, such as 48 unique crystals embedded into the sandblasted black anodized aluminum case, a polycrystalline diamond dial, and even a crown made entirely of diamond. CVD tech was also used to grow the in-house carbon hairspring for the COSC-certified HEUER02 Tourbillon Nanograph movement.
Given that TAG Heuer is only making a few examples of the Carrera Plasma and pricing them in the neighborhood of half-a-million dollars, the brand also unveiled a slew of other exciting new offerings that are a bit more attainable. A few of our favorites include a modernized and updated version of the Heuer Monaco Gulf, with a more refined design and the in-house Calibre HEUER 02 movement; the Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph, the brand’s first solar-powered watch powered by the new Calibre TH50-00 and sporting a glowing bezel made from a mix of carbon and Super-LumiNova; and the Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver, the brand’s new flagship luxury diver with titanium construction, a helium escape valve, 1,000m water resistance, and the brand-new in-house, COSC-certified, Calibre TH30-00 automatic movement with a 70-hour power reserve.
With the Solargraph not seeing release until October, TAG Heuer has not yet revealed its price. The other two watches, however, you’ll be able to get your hands on much sooner. The Monaco Gulf comes out in May and is priced at $7,050, while the Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver arrives in July for $6,650. Both will be available on TAG Heuer’s online store when the time comes.
