A sports chronograph that feels a little like the embodiment of forward motion, TAG Heuerโs โChronosprint x Porscheโ is the latest team-up between the eponymous luxury marques.
Modelled on the much-liked โGlassboxโ design language (one of TAGโs innovations for 2023 that weโve already covered ad nauseam) the watch is being released in a duo of 42mm rose gold and steel variations; and continues the trend at TAG Heuer of colourful, substantially sized collaborations.
Unlike the previous โRS 2.7โ chronographs, however, TAG has seen fit to make the Chronosprint more of a thematic study of its connection to Porsche. Crucially, neither model will be released as a limited edition.
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From a purely technical perspective, these new Chronosprints are made in a 42mm x 14.9mm proportion which wears more or less true-to-size.
The characteristic double-height โGlassboxโ crystal makes a welcome return: here framing a valley-like dial layout, with depressed chrono registers and curving indexes. In either model, the chapter ring (graduated for 60 seconds) features a segment highlighted in red for the first 9 seconds โ the significance of which weโll come to shortly.
For Porscheโs part, the execution of the German motor marqueโs own branding is carried off very successfully. Aside from the vibrant red accents (clearly inspired by the companyโs own 911 Carrera odometers) and the Porsche signature positioned between 10 and 12 oโclock, conspicuous references are entirely absent โ a retrained choice that reinforces the Carrera watchโs own heritage in racing instrumentation.
However, that conventional tact is purely in aid of style, as Carole Kasapi (TAG Heuerโs watchmaking wunderkind) saw fit to engineer a new movement, the calibre TH20-08, to fit inside these chronographs.
As far as we can tell, in the TH20-08, the central chronograph hand has been calibrated to behave like a speedometer โ akin, euphemistically, to what youโd find in the instrument cluster of the Porsche 901. When activated, the chronograph hand runs extremely fast: covering one-third of the dial in exactly 9.1 seconds.
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That performance, in and of itself, is a reference to the accelerating power of the original 901: capable, famously, of reaching speeds of 100km/h within 9.1 seconds. Itโs a novel means of expressing the sensation of revving a car to its top speed โfrom 0โ, albeit in the context of a wristwatch.
Thankfully, TAG Heuer spokespeople have assured enthusiasts that the rapid acceleration of the chronograph hand (from 0-9 seconds) is accounted for; as it gradually decelerates before accelerating again so as to make one complete rotation, as youโd normally expect, every 60 seconds. Sounds like fun.
