Full Review: TAG Heuer Carrera Caliber Heuer 01 Skeleton Watch
One short gaze at this dial is like staring under the hood of a racecar.
There are very few people who can look through the transparent dial of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Caliber Heuer 01 Skeleton watch without becoming fascinated by what they behold. Mechanically marvelous, TAG Heuer's new skeleton dial watch holds a super sporty look with a double dose of "Wow!".
TAG Heuer Carrera Caliber Heuer 01 Skeleton Review
The TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 01 Skeleton chronograph is clearly a watch conceived from an unquenchable thirst for mechanical precision and an affinity for high-performance motor racing. The skeletonized dial is like a window into the mind of a Swiss watchmaker who moonlights as a street racer, the skeletonized dial reveals the caliber of an automatic chronograph, a 39 jewel movement through a complex aesthetic design using black, white, and silver with flashes of red. A date window rests between the 3 and 4 o'clock positions on the dial.
The modular case is made of several different materials layered together in their construction. The black titanium-coated stainless steel has a fine brush finish on the middle case, ends of the lugs, and case back. The same material and finish are used on the bezel which features an engraved gray tachymetric scale.
The buttons and crown use satin-finished stainless steel. The crown uses a rubber grip which provides traction when winding and setting the watch. The chronograph pushers use the same black titanium carbide-coated steel to match the case. There are several watches in the series, all of which have a skeleton dial. The one featured here is model # car2a1z.ft6044 which has a monochrome and red color theme with red being used on the chronograph hands and the tips of the hour markers and the topmost chronograph-pusher.
Watch the video below to see a 360° view of the Carrera Calibre Heuer 01
Before we get to deep into this article, it's important to know that the Heuer 01 series has been replaced with the Heuer 02 and can be found using the button below.
There are various models in this watch collection. Here are some of the more popular ones. Click on any image for the product page. Or click here to see all of them.
 |  |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| car2a1z.ft6044 | car2a1w.ba0703 | car2a1t.ft6052 | car2a90.ft6071 | car2a5a.ft6044 | car2a5b.ft6044 |
It takes a high level of precision to make a column wheel chronograph like the one found in the TAG Heuer Carrera Caliber Heuer 01 skeleton watch and you'll appreciate the enjoyable feeling you get when slowly pushing the stopwatch buttons of this automatic chronograph over and over again. Each time you do, you will get that super smooth yet subtle sensation of the teeth on the column wheel activating the chronograph mechanism without that any noticeable jerky movement you get with an ordinary chronograph. This smooth chronograph action can be see between 00:01:18 and 00:01:59 of the this video.
There is also a model with a stainless steel bracelet; model# car2a1w.ba0703 that would feel slightly heavier on your wrist but the most recent addition and TAG Heuer's best-selling of this series so far is model# car2a1t.ft6052 which has a sporty blue rubber strap with the same 25mm width as the model with the black rubber watchband. The blue version (pictured above) has matching blue accents in place of the red accents that would appear on the watch pictured at the top of this article; model# car2a1z.ft6044, also known as the car2a1wba0703.
TAG Heuer thought about those that prefer that bad-boy, all-black, tone-on-tone look and created an all-black version of the TAG Heuer Carrera Caliber Heuer 01 Skeleton to suit that rock star look and style. This would be the car2a90.ft6071 also known as the car2a90ft6071 (without the dot).
While the versions with the black strap, silver bracelet blue strap, an all-black version vary in price, with list prices ranging from $5,300 going up to $6,700 for the all-black version. There are two higher-end versions that have a black skeleton dial and use precious metal in the case design. These would be the car2a5a.ft6044 which has a black rubber strap and 18kt rose gold hands, hour markers, crown, and lugs. This one runs at a list price of $9,500. The other is reference number car2a5b.ft6044 which has more bling and a list price of $12,700. This model has an 18kt rose gold case, hour markers, hands, and crown. Both the car2a5a.ft6044 and the car2a5b.ft6044 shows the TAG Heuer logo in matching rose gold which really pops compared to the lower-priced models.
All the above watches mentioned here use a Swiss-made skeletonized TAG Heuer calibre Heuer 01 movement which features 39 jewels (rubies). The Heuer 01 mechanical movement beats at 28,800 vph or 4Hz and has a power reserve of about 50 hours or about 40 hours if you're using the chronograph.
The Heuer 01 has been replaced with the Heuer 02 and can be found using the button below.
