A dome, and very little else to complain about
By Julien Moreau, Geneva ยท
Jack Heuer named the Carrera in 1963 after the Carrera Panamericana, a Mexican road race so dangerous it was cancelled after only a handful of years, which tells you something about the sort of men who bought the watch. It was meant to be clean and legible, a driver's chronograph without fuss, and the early references are among the most beautiful chronographs of the decade.
The Glassbox version came for the sixtieth anniversary in 2023 and it is the best Carrera in a generation. The name refers to the high domed sapphire crystal, shaped to recall the acrylic of the 1960s watches, with the tachymeter running round the inside flange beneath it, so the dial seems to rise to meet the glass. It is a lovely effect, and it has the practical virtue of letting the dial run to the very edge of the case.
This is the 39 mm version, which is the right size, with a blue dial, a date, the automatic TH20-00 with 80 hours behind an open back, 100 m and a leather strap. The 80 hours is more than most chronographs at this price can manage.
The complaint is thickness. All that dome puts the watch at 13.9 mm, which you will notice under a shirt cuff, and I could happily do without the date. The original was hand-wound and slimmer, and the reissue cannot quite match it there.
At fifty-nine fifty to sixty-four fifty, it is a very good alternative to a Speedmaster, and arguably the better-looking of the two. For a collector who loves the 1960s but wants a warranty and a movement that runs for three days, it is easy to recommend. For the purist, a vintage Carrera remains the real thing, as purists never tire of saying.