New from TAG Heuer: The Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Watch
Wednesday - 06 April 2022
Released at the Watches and Wonders 2022 event, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma watch showcases a tourbillon through its striking lab-grown diamond-encrusted design
Incorporating the company’s extraordinary Diamant d'Avant-garde technology, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma watch introduces a whole new and luxurious way to tell the time. Its lab-grown diamonds, encrusted into the surface of its case create boundless scintillation, creating a carbon and diamond fusion that enhances a truly revolutionary timekeeping experience.
TAG Heuer demonstrates its quest for technical excellence once again with an entirely new pioneering advancement in lab-grown diamond technology. The result is a sandblasted anodized aluminium case with a polycrystalline diamond dial plate and a crown entirely crafted from a diamond at 3 o’clock. The entire design is a play on lightness and colour, partnered with the hardness and purity of the diamond. The brand’s innovative lab-grown diamond technology opens up a whole new world of possibilities in utilising the world’s strongest material, marking the start of a new and exciting chapter for the Swiss brand. Frederic Arnault CEO of TAG Heuer extends on the innovative design of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma watch for 2022;
“With the introduction of the TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma, we want to expand the possible palette and designs for diamond watches and diamonds in general, and create a new and breathtaking vision of mastering carbon and diamond design as well as cutting-edge light effects.”
A diamond-on-diamond design
One highlight of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma watch is its special rhodium-plated brass base with a polycrystalline diamond finish amounting to a carat weight of 3.9ct. It boasts additional diamond embellishments for its hour markers. This diamond-on-diamond dial effect creates a spectacular display of fire and brilliance, with reflections that cast light in every direction across this unusual dial. The choice in material for the case itself enhances this effect, enabling a matte finish on the outside and a polished finish on the inside, keeping light reflections within the dial. The chronograph sub-counters offering 30-minute and 12-hour functions at 3 and 9 o’clock respectively create a strikingly well-balanced bi-compax layout. Each scale is crafted from polycrystalline black diamond amounting to 0.25ct each, surrounded by a brass ring with a black opaline finish. Creating the impression of a dial sprinkled with diamonds, this unique display features 18ct white gold indexes adorned with a lab-grown diamond – the 12 o’clock index of which is represented by a double index.
Pioneering lab-grown diamonds
Expanding the possibilities of luxury watch design, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma watch incorporates these lab-grown diamonds into its design, all of which have the identical structure, appearance and chemical composition of a real diamond. Benny Landa, Chairman of Lusix (a supplier who has, over the last 8 years, perfected its proprietary special diamond growing process ) spoke to TAG Heuer recently;
‘Nature grows diamonds a couple of hundred kilometres below the surface of the earth at enormous pressures and temperatures, but the fundamental process – the migration of carbon atoms to combine with one another, and self-assemble into diamond – that’s our process, too. All we do is create the conditions that allow nature to grow the diamond.’
Earlier yields from lab-grown diamonds during the 1950s proved insufficient for a gem-quality finish but thanks to recent advances in CVD technology (Chemical Vapour Disposition) crystals can be grown from a single seed that is then exposed to certain gases (mainly carbon and hydrogen) in a vacuum chamber before a plasma is ignited by high powered microwave radiation. This process converts the gases into radicals that contain the carbon atoms needed for bonding to the seed and eventually growing the crystal.
The use of this new Diamant d’Avant-Garde lab-grown diamond technology enables TAG to control the precise shape, cut and shade of each diamond for the new Carrera Plasma watch. The 44mm model is crafted from sandblasted black anodised aluminium and is set with 48 lab-grown diamonds amounting to a weight of 4.2 carats in total. Its fixed tachymeter bezel is crafted from polished and satin-finished black ceramic and the watch is topped with a domed anti-reflective and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass front. The crown itself is crafted purely from a lab-grown diamond amounting to 2.5 carats and the watch’s chronograph push-piece are executed in sandblasted ADLC-treated steel.
Inside the case of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma watch is the Calibre Heuer 02T tourbillon manufacture, designed in-house and featuring a hairspring made of carbon composite. The movement is also chronometer-certified and shows its tourbillon through an open-heart feature at 6 o’clock on the model’s dial. The Calibre Heuer 02T tourbillon manufacture comprises 33 jewels and beats to the rhythm of 28,800 vibrations, providing a power reserve of 65 hours once fully wound. The watch is completed on a black calfskin strap with a black ADLC-coated stainless steel pin buckle stamped with the iconic TAG Heuer logo.
For more information on the new TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma watch, you can check out the details on the model here online, or call and speak to a member of our Jura Watches team today on 01335 453453
