Colour in watchmaking presents a unique challenge. Novice collectors typically gravitate towards black, white or grey dials. These are the dominant colours in the market, they’re easy to resell, and they go with everything. But there’s nothing inevitable about this choice. It’s often just a result of habit – albeit a deeply ingrained one. Indeed, many collectors will take years, if not decades, before they venture into the realm of green, blue or orange dials.
And yet, the options are there. Some brands are more adventurous than others – TAG Heuer being the prime example. The iconic Monaco, with its square case and racing blue dial, made its debut back in 1969!
It’s against this backdrop of horological innovation that we welcome the latest TAG Heuer Carrera duo, unveiled during LVMH Watch Week. These aren’t entirely new creations – they’re evolutions of the hugely successful references launched two years ago, with their reduced diameters of 39 mm (bi-compax chronograph with date) and 42 mm (bi-compax chronograph tourbillon). While these models are primarily available with blue and black dials, rarer green and gold variations also exist.
From blue to purple
The blue bi-compax model with date at 6 o’clock has now been given a purple makeover, centred on the dial. The change is purely aesthetic: the movement, design and technical specifications remain unchanged. The stunning brushed sunburst smoked purple dial echoes the bold choice seen in the 2022 Monaco model.
The colour is striking, its presence amplified by the glassbox crystal, which creates a magnifying effect without distorting the indices. The purple isn’t uniform: it darkens towards the edges to seamlessly blend with the black perforated strap. This clever approach allows the watch to pair easily with a dark suit, while the playful purple on the dial offers opportunities for subtle coordination with outfit details like shoelaces, cufflinks, belt buckle, sneakers, pocket square or bracelet.
Nevertheless, the true impact of this new colourway can only really be appreciated in person. While experience and familiarity enable us to assess grey, black and white dials from photos, purple is largely unexplored territory that demands firsthand experience!
A statement tourbillon
The tourbillon model, with its larger 42 mm case, amplifies the presence of the purple dial. More expansive and expressive, it features a prominent tourbillon aperture at 6 o’clock, giving the timepiece a sophisticated feel. This version omits the date display, for the simple reason that the peripheral date disc would conflict with the tourbillon (unless it were inserted above or below the tourbillon, which would be both technically and aesthetically counterproductive, since it would end up covering the tourbillon).
This Carrera variation, with its tourbillon and larger diameter, exudes a distinctive and authoritative character. There are very few tourbillons with purple dials – notable exceptions come from brands like Speake-Marin and Audemars Piguet, which are in a completely different market segment and price bracket. The TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox Chrono is priced at just €6,500, while its tourbillon counterpart comes in at €34,400.
