Hands-on: Heuer Carrera Calibre 7 Gold Glassbox | The Home of TAG Heuer Collectors

If you like the look of the recently released Carrera Calibre 18 Telemeter, but were hoping for something a little more….well, Gold, then this is the watch for you- the Heuer Carrera Calibre 7 Glassbox.

Over the past decade or so we’ve been lucky to see 1-2 “Heuer” branded models per year, whereas this year already we’ve had three, with a potential fourth on the way. Good news for those who love the Heuer heritage, and an important contrast to the modern, bold watches such as the Carrera Heuer-01.

Like the Calibre 18 Chronograph, the 39mm Calibre 7 has a domed sapphire crystal to give it that old school look and feel.

The watch has a beautifully thin profile too.

The open dial is somewhat reminiscent of some of the quartz Carrera models of the late 1970s, such as the model below.

Of course, there have been several famous Heuer Carrera Gold models, but those have been chronographs rather than time-only watches.

Movement- Calibre 7

The Calibre 7 is what TAG Heuer call the ETA 2892/ Sellita 300, and while it hasn’t been confirmed which company provides this version of the Calibre 7, most of the recent movements have come from Sellita.

On the Wrist

Price & Availability- Heuer Carrera Calibre 7 Yellow Gold Glassbox WAR2140

No confirmed pricing yet for the Carrera Calibre 7, but expect it to sneak under the CHF10,000 mark, which is about right for an 18k Gold watch.

TAG Heuer Forum

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Niall

Why must Tag Heuer always display the calibre on the face of the watch? Could it not displayed on the back of the case?Even the text “calibre 7” seems out of context given its vintage look and feel. Otherwise it’s a great looking watch.
- calibre11
  
  Good question Niall- don’t know. It became the default back in the early days of Babin and seems to have simply continued.
  - Maiden
    
    What’s the diameter? 39mm? When will it hit North America?
    - calibre11
      
      Yes, 39mm. No details of on-sale dates yet, but I’d say second half of the year
Azmi Afyouni

Quite a lovely watch. Let’s hope for color variations and a rose gold version.
Philmo

Lovely 🙂 A return to simple elegance! Who thought we needed numerals on dial anyway? I hope there’s some lume in the double 12 baton. A champagne dial perhaps to relieve the bland white?
abrod

Fantastic, classic design but anyone who pays nearly CHF 10,000 for a watch like this, with a minimally-finished off-the-shelf movement is a fool.
- calibre11
  
  How much do you think an 18K Gold watch should cost? Apple say $14k.
  - abrod
    
    The problem with paying that much for either is not the case; it’s the internals. The Apple will be worth less than half its value in two years’ time, and so will the Carrera with the cheap Sellita movement. Put some work into an in-house three-hand movement, and CHF 10k starts to look a bit more worthwhile.
Jason

I guess the price is right for a gold watch. I prefer the new Omega Globemaster, but that will ost around $17k for a good one. It’s nice to have gold options at this $10k price point.
Lopez Victor

The only thing I don´t like it is that the crown isn´t signed.
- calibre11
  
  This was a prototype- not sure if the final version will have a Heuer crown
Shadwell

Without the O ring on the edge of the dial this carrera has lost one of it great design cues, and dare I say looks non genuine….
JO

At last, a decent watch here…. after reading reviews of “limited editions”.
jk

Why is this a Cal 7? Aren’t Cal 7’s usually GMT’s?
- calibre11
  
  There have been two Calibre 7s for a while- both 3-hand watch movements but one with a GMT complication.
  
  Quite why they didn’t call one a Calibre 7 and the other something different I don’t know…would have made life easier!
John

It’s a shame that the roator is branded “Tag Heuer” opposed to just ” Heuer”.
I personally prefer the vintage stuff to have a metal cad back just because it seems more authentic and that there’s room to engrave there.
Do you think they’ll continue to release Heuer branded products into the future with JCB at the helm?
- calibre11
  
  Good point John- I hadn’t noticed that. This was a prototype, so perhaps the final version will have Heuer?
  
  Yes, I did ask JCB that question about a month agao and he confirmed that they were planning to keep putting out 1-2 Heuer pieces each year, so good news there!
  - Telemeter
    
    Just a small update, had the fortune of trying the final production model on today, unfortunately the rotor is still ‘TAG Heuer’ branded, along with the buckle using the ‘TAG shield’ (and it’s a traditional buckle rather than the modern deployment), both of which disappointed alittle.
    
    I was pleasently surprised with the sapphire back though; rather than the standard ring of case with all the serial details acting like a frame to the glass, the ‘frame’ was actually indendented with the glass sitting infront of the engravings.
    
    Sorry if that’s a terrible description, I didn’t think to take a photo at the time, it is visible on the back shot above, just the prototype’s lacking the case/ serial number so isn’t quite as noticable.
    - calibre11
      
      Thanks for the update- agree about the TAG Heuer branding.
Maya Patel

That´s really nice timepiece! The danger of according more functionality to a timepiece is to overwhelm the wearer with too much dial detail. I am often attracted to a timepiece for the plethora of indications its specification provides, only to find the resultant display bewildering. Maya @ timepieceperfection.com/