TAG Heuer has introduced three new limited edition watches to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna’s first Monaco Grand Prix Win. The trio include a new Carrera chronograph powered by the in-house Heuer-01 movement and two quartz models.
The Brazilian, who died tragically in a crash during the 1994 Imola Grand Prix, had a deep association with TAG Heuer from 1988 (when he launched McLaren) up to his death in 1994. After his death, TAG Heuer has been able to maintain a continuance of this relationship thanks to Senna Foundation through to 2004. Incidentally, back then TAG (the parent company that owned the watch brand) and Ron Dennis had sizable stakes in the Mclaren racing team.
In April 1994, the watch brand and TAG Heuer and Senna agreed to to create a limited edition 6000 series with his name, but the watches appeared only after this tragic death a month later. Their partnership produced five Senna limited editions, all Link chronographs and was revived in 2015 and we’ve had more limited editions since. Senna himself famously wore a TAG Heuer Analogue/ Digital TAG Heuer S/el (the brand’s sports/ elegant line) on a brown leather strap on and off the track.
The Carrera Heuer-01 Racing Senna marries some of the Heuer-01 aesthetics with the Senna design codes. The link becomes obvious with the imposing 45 mm middle case that’s borrowed from the Carrera Heuer-01. The case has a black brushed steel finish and a ceramic bezel with a tachymeter scale that has the red lacquer Senna S logo.
The semi-skeletonized dial has the double digit minute markers and a new “Drive Timer”/ Racing layout. Again, the red accents on the dial work really well. The semi-skeletonized dial offers glimpses of the movement below, just like in the Heuer-01 models. The watch is paired with a brushed black steel chronograph S-shaped links bracelet, a hallmark of the Senna models. Each link is rounded on the top, bottom and sides for a smooth feel on the wrist. The watch is expected to retail at $6,200.
The other pieces in the series are two Formula 1 models. Both watches are 43 mm in diameter and black, highlighted with touches of red. The dial features three red lines, hinting at the tracks left by a speeding race car. The chronograph version features a quartz movement accurate to a tenth of a second powering the small counter at 6 o'clock, with the minute counter at 9 o'clock and the running seconds counter at 3 o'clock.
