Carole Kasapi explains the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint × Porsche

In 2021, TAG Heuer and Porsche — two brands that have been flirting with each other for decades — finally made it official and entered into a strategic partnership. Already, we’ve seen a series of Porsche-inspired and liveried Carrera Chronographs emerge from La Chaux- de-Fonds, but not one quite like the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint × Porsche.

This new watch takes as its base the new Carrera “Glassbox” design, first seen in a 39mm case at Watches and Wonders and amps up the automotive notes. It also amps up the size, as this release comes in at 42mm — the first for this style of Carrera, but certainly not the last.

Right out of the gate, the Carrera is a fitting tribute to Porsche, given how closely the classic chronograph is associated with the automotive world, but there’s a host of elements in this design that dig a little deeper into the Porsche 911 (originally the 901), a car which, just like the Carrera, turns 60 this year.

The main party trick of this new special edition, which is offered in both steel and rose gold versions, is the chronograph caliber itself. When activated, the chronograph hand starts with a bang, gradually decreasing in speed over the course of the minute, in a unique mechanical innovation designed to echo the Porsche 911’s acceleration of 0 to 100km/h in 9.1 seconds. This is made even clearer thanks to the special chronograph seconds scale, which sees the 10-second mark down near four o’clock rather than up near two, where it usually resides. This variable speed lends the model its name, Chronosprint.

To explain just how this inventive new take on the chronograph works, we spoke to Carole Kasapi, TAG Heuer’s movement director. Kasapi, a legendary figure in watchmaking, is responsible for TAG Heuer’s movement strategy. Kasapi explains the broad brushstrokes of this strategy, “The strategy is for the maison to have a catalog of movements that offer better quality and durability. This is really what we have to target; this is the new normal for the Swiss luxury market today, and absolutely essential to offer tomorrow — better durability and quality for our clients.” Kasapi continues, “This is also the reason why we launched an evolution of the Heuer 02 movement, the TH20, with a new automatic system [that’s] higher quality and more durable.”