Swiss luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer and Team Ikuzawa continue a collaboration rooted in a shared passion for racing, design and automotive culture. Following the success of their inaugural partnership in 2023, the two names reunite alongside Bamford Watch
Department to reveal the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa. Limited to 150 individually numbered pieces, the watch brings together TAG Heuer’s racing heritage, George Bamford’s celebrated design expertise and Mai Ikuzawa’s distinctive creative vision, drawing on Team Ikuzawa’s 1970s and 1980s Roadmaster era to reinterpret its iconic motorsport graphics and timing instruments through a contemporary design language.
Mai Ikuzawa stands at the intersection of motorsport, design, fashion and luxury. As Team Principal and Creative Director of Team Ikuzawa, the iconic Japanese racing team founded in 1981, she is part of a new generation of creative leaders redefining how heritage brands evolve in contemporary culture. Under her direction, Team Ikuzawa has repositioned one of Japan’s most distinctive motorsport legacies as a contemporary cultural platform, merging racing heritage with contemporary design through collaborations across fashion, art and luxury and establishing a cultural presence that extends far beyond the track.
Born in Tokyo and shaped by a life spent in and around race circuits, Ikuzawa brings a rare perspective to contemporary automotive culture. Educated at Central Saint Martins, and with more than two decades of experience bridging fashion, art and design with an instinctive understanding of motorsport, she has developed a distinctive creative authority, creating work defined by authenticity and cultural relevance.
For this second collaboration with Swiss luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer, Mai Ikuzawa once again joined forces with longtime collaborator and friend George Bamford. Renowned for his approach to watch customisation and his ability to reinterpret iconic designs through a highly considered lens, Bamford worked closely with Mai to translate the visual identity of Team Ikuzawa into a timepiece defined by precision, character and racing authenticity.
Together, Mai Ikuzawa and George Bamford have created the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa that captures the spirit of Team Ikuzawa through a contemporary interpretation of the timing instruments that have long accompanied the world of motorsport. The result is a watch shaped by heritage, guided by creativity and connected to a racing legacy that continues to inspire today.
The Ikuzawa Signature
The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa finds its inspiration in one of the most iconic objects preserved within the Team Ikuzawa archives, the Roadmaster stopwatch. Instantly recognisable for its bold graphics and uncompromising legibility, it became a defining symbol of the team’s identity throughout the golden era of Japanese motorsport in the 1970s and 1980s.
For this second collaboration, Mai Ikuzawa and George Bamford immersed themselves in the Team Ikuzawa archives, revisiting the original Roadmaster stopwatch and the visual language that surrounded it. Every graphic element, proportion and colour was carefully studied, allowing decades of racing history to be reimagined through the lens of contemporary watchmaking.
The result celebrates the romance of analogue motorsport while expressing the vision of today’s Team Ikuzawa.
Historic racing references meet a modern design language that feels authentic to the team’s past while speaking to a new generation of collectors, enthusiasts and creatives who continue to find inspiration in this remarkable era.
Limited to 150 individually numbered pieces, the TAG Heuer Carrera
Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa reinterprets the 39 mm TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox. Housed in a fine brushed and polished steel case, it combines performance with the proportions that have made the
TAG Heuer Carrera one of contemporary watchmaking’s most recognisable chronographs. The bezel free glass box construction creates an uninterrupted view of the dial and flange, recalling the historic importance of legibility in Jack Heuer’s vision for the TAG Heuer Carrera.
The dial receives a complete Team Ikuzawa transformation. Finished in white with a distinctive Clou de Paris texture, it immediately evokes the team’s iconic colours. Printed indexes replace traditional applied markers, reinforcing the graphic character of the design and its stopwatch inspired aesthetic. Red accents appear throughout the watch, including the lacquered hour and minute hands, the central chronograph seconds hand and the dedicated date disc, where each numeral is displayed in the signature Team Ikuzawa shade.
At six o’clock, the Team Ikuzawa signature takes centre stage. This design is made possible by the TH20-10 manufacture chronograph calibre, which omits the running seconds display. The configuration pays tribute to historic TAG Heuer chronographs of the 1960s and 1970s, when valuable dial space was often reserved for racing teams, sponsors and partners. It also echoes Jack Heuer’s pioneering vision of connecting timing instruments with the world of motorsport.
Additional details continue this story throughout the watch. The black flange is contrasted by a crisp white minute track, while the polished steel crown features a red lacquered ring. The watch is fitted with the signature seven row steel bracelet with alternating brushed and polished finishes and is accompanied by two additional straps: a perforated white leather strap with red stitching and lining inspired by classic racing gloves, and a red and white textile strap that references Team Ikuzawa’s historic livery.
The collaborative nature of the timepiece extends to the reverse side of the watch. The caseback features dedicated Team Ikuzawa and Bamford Watch Department engravings alongside the individual numbering of each piece.
Every watch is presented in exclusive packaging inspired by the toolboxes found inside racing workshops and pit garages. The set includes the watch, both additional straps, a travel pouch and a collection of custom Team Ikuzawa charms designed to accompany keys and personal accessories.
Created at the intersection of racing heritage, contemporary design and chronograph expertise, the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa captures the spirit of competition through the lens of one of Japan’s most influential motorsport names. Produced in a strictly limited run of 150 pieces, it continues the story begun in 2023 while opening a new chapter for a collaboration shaped by passion, precision and a shared love of racing.
