50 years in the past, Porsche debuted an über-iconic model of its 911 mannequin in Paris. The automobile, referred to as the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 (due to its 2.7-liter engine), helped set up Porsche as a killer on the racetrack. It was widespread sufficient that after Porsche made the primary batch of 500 automobiles, it tripled manufacturing to maintain up with demand. In different phrases: this automobile was all the time going to earn a fanatical following of collectors. A light-weight RS 2.7 offered for $2,425,000 at public sale this summer season. House owners kind golf equipment to get collectively and check the boundaries of their 50-year-old cars on the open highway. Now, on the automobile’s fiftieth birthday, Tag Heuer is collaborating with Porsche on a pair of watches impressed by the RS 2.7. And since Tag Heuer has been making its personal Carrera watch since 1963, this new watch and outdated automobile share a reputation: that is the Tag Heuer Carrera x Porsche RS 2.7.
The watches are a testomony to the RS 2.7’s everlasting cool: taking components and inspiration from a automobile made in 1972 in some way leads to completely modern-looking watches. The set features a blue-and-white piece made out of metal, and one other is available in rose gold with a red-accented dial.
The watch doesn’t overdo it with references to the unique automobiles, however the chosen particulars are carried out with laser precision. Take the colour selections, as an illustration. The watch’s dial is white, proper? Flawed! It’s “competitors white,” a particular shade that Porsche makes use of, and pushed for on these watches. “You possibly can have ‘competitors white’ and you’ll have ‘ivory white,’” Nick Biebuyck, Tag Heuer’s heritage director stated in an interview. “What [the Porsche team] needs is pure competitors white.” Similar take care of blue: whereas Porsche runs automobiles in dalmatian and gulf, this mannequin opts for “glacier blue.” Even the typography was a matter of prolonged dialogue between Porsche and Tag. The phrase “Carrera” is written out on the dial and on the aspect of the case the identical method it seems on the automobile, with the identical painstakingly particular proportions. (The standard Carrera watch has the “Carrera” mannequin title printed on its face, however these watches use Porsche’s Carrera logos as a one-time special-edition deal.)
With a lot reverence paid to the RS 2.7, it is a watch with a built-in viewers. Collectors of the automobile, who’ve already bought a automobile for a beginning value round half 1,000,000 bucks, would possibly desire a limited-edition watch to pair with their limited-edition car. “However this may solely characterize a proportion [of buyers],” stated Frédéric Arnault, Tag Heuer’s CEO. And there’s one other extra fascinating gross sales pitch happening right here, anyway: in the event you can’t personal the dream automobile, how in regards to the dream-car watch? One other potential set of consumers are the oldsters who know and love the RS 2.7, however don’t have the means to purchase it. “[They] would discover this story interesting,” Arnault stated.
Since leaping into the motive force’s seat at Tag in 2020, Arnault has taken the model in a predictably youthful course: highlights embody a sandblasted collaboration with Bamford and a $376,000 piece set with lab-grown diamonds unveiled at Watches & Wonders this 12 months.
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