Re-issue Carreras Posted By: John Spencer Date: 2/11/04 15:01 GMT

Hello there

Howdy!

I was wondering if somebody might be able to help me.

I'll certainly try to, weither I am sucessful...

I am about to purchase a new watch and was immediately drawn to the Heuer Carrera Chronograph.

Not hard to see why... The Classic Carrera line is, well, classically styled.

However, having done a little research, I am a little concerned that the new Carrera automatic uses a bought-in ETA movement which is, I understand, the same movement which is used in a number of, shall we say, slightly less exotic watches costing less than half of what the Carrera does.

Yup, the ETA/DuBois-Depraz Piggyback chronograph movement. Not one of my favorite movements... This movement allows manufacturers to produce an automatic chronograph movement fairly inexpensively, and depending on which model chronograph module utilized there can be some fairly interesting complications at less than great expense.

I am, therefore, concerned that the Carrera, at virtually £2,000 (GB) does not represent particularly good value for money (almost exactly the same price as a Rolex no-date Sub!).

Yup... New watches are not probably the best value option, at least in my opinion... But I think a well cared for manual wind is a far better value.

This has caused me to consider two alternatives - the discontinued manual wind Carrera Chrono and the Calibre 36 Monza.

Two exellent but somewhat different watches...

My questions really are;

Ah, cut from the footnotes to the gloss, I like it...

1 - Am I wrong about the Carrera auto being poor value?

I don't know you from Adam, but you strike me as a discriminating buyer. I think you would be happer with either the Monza or the Lemania c.1873 based Carrera.

2 - Is the manual wind Carrera a better movement (particularly in terms of finish / reliability) and do you know where I can get hold of one?

Answer 2(a): yes, a better movement, acxtually the same movement as used by Omega in the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch.

Answer 2(b): I could probably find a couple of places on line that have one or more examples available online. Let me know if you'd like me to cast out some nets and see what I can bring in to look at... It would help to know where (country/geographical region) you are based.

3 - Is the Monza 36 worth virtually double the Carrera Auto?

Value Judgement Request Alert! Compare the price of a Zenith El-Primero to an Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch... New or used the price difference is similar, the El-Primero draws twice the money.

The Monza 36 is based on the El-Primero movement, the Carrera Classic Re-Issue Maual wind is based on the Lemania 1873 movement. So the difference is the movement.

This is where the the aforementioned value judgement comes in... Is the movement worth twice the money - to you -... Only you can answer that. If you really like the styling of the Monza better than the Carrera, you might want to move towards that direction, if the movement question is a wash with you, then it comes down to which style you like better. If you prefer the El-Primero but prefer the Carrera's style, you mught wish to try a second hand Lemania Carrera while hoping that TAG will announce a No. 36 Carrera... (see next answer)

4 - Do you know of any plans that TAG Heuer may have to produce a C. 36 Carrera?

No, I do not, but I would be the first in line for an example, either in automatic trip or the non-automatic (rotorless) version of the El-Primero movement if they offered it in the style and spirit of the 1964-¿1968? Carrera 12... Basel is comming up soon... TAG-s big announcement last year was the Aquagraph 2000 and the Autavia Re-Editions, the year before the Monza... Could this be Carrera's year? I hope so... Although, I'd be happy to see a Pasadena re-issue too! (see photo in .sig at the bottom of this post)...

Many thanks in advance for your assistance in this matter.

Hope this will help your decision making process... Please feel free to post follow-up's and you might find "The 1990's" and "Now and the Future" useful and or interesting reading...

-- Chuck