Greetings from Hollywood, where TAG Heuer announced not only a refreshed set of luxury replica Tag Heuer Carrera watches last night, but also a new ambassador: Ryan Gosling. The brand threw an outrageous party for the occasion, welcoming the movie star at a Beverly Hills mansion that looked like David Lynch’s idea of an Italian villa.
Now you might think this is just another actor becoming the face of a major name in Swiss fake watches, but with Gosling and TAG there’s a bit to unpack before we scrutinize the watches themselves.
It was just last summer – July 1, 2020 to be exact – that young Frédéric Arnault became the company’s newest CEO. Thirty days later, the TAG Heuer team began discussions with Gosling about a possible partnership. Unusual for Hollywood, where the local economy revolves around famous people selling things, the La La Land star had never been associated with any brand. Not a clothing line, not a vodka distillery, nothing.
To commemorate the moment, Gosling arrived at the party wearing a yellow velvet suit, a T-shirt, and a shiny 1:1 CA TAG Heuer replica watches on his wrist. For the initial campaign, Gosling is wearing the Carrera Three Hand Collection. There are four variations, and 13 watches in total: The TAG Heuer Carrera Day Date 41mm, the Carrera Twin-Time Date 41mm, the Carrera Date 39mm, and the Carrera Date 29mm.
The Carrera is an eyebrow-raising choice, because Gosling as an actor is profoundly idiosyncratic and these Swiss top fake watches are super straightforward. “I generally respond to simple design,” Gosling explained from the stage. “We grew up on a budget so I kind of veered towards timeless things because you didn’t have to keep up with trends. I think that generally stuck.”
The Carrera is billed as “the iconic sports watch designed for professional drivers and sports-car enthusiasts,” and each variation represents a simplified take. These are time-telling devices with a trio of complications across the collections: Day and date, just the date, and dual-time functionality. There are no external bezels, no tachymeter scales – just best copy watches. And the motorsports connection does make sense given the role of cars and motorcycles in Gosling films like Drive and The Place Beyond The Pines.
The 41mm Carerra Day Date feels the most familiar of the bunch – it’s a watch that gives you everything you need for a day-to-day (or date-to-date) scenario, and the 41mm case sizing allows for the day-date window to fit nicely and not draw too much attention to itself. What’s interesting about this high quality replica watches, and every watch in the collection, is that it really feels like a thoughtful, pared-down refresh of a well-known watch in the TAG stable.
The Carrera Date takes this same design ideology and shrinks it a bit, while also excising the day readout and moving the date to six o’clock. Out of all the cheap wholesale fake watches released, this feels the best on-wrist. For me, anyway, 39mm is pretty much a pitch-perfect size, and the position of the date aperture preserves much of the dial simplicity. The blue dial feels classic, but the standout is the black dial with the rose-gold-plated hands and markers. The dial has something of a radial pattern to it, which, when mixed with the sheen of those markers, packs a real visual punch – like the one Harrison Ford threw when he accidentally clobbered Gosling on the set of Blade Runner 2049.
By far, the sportiest release is the new Swiss movements replica Tag Heuer Carrera Twin-Time – also in a 41mm case size like the Day Date. In the hand, this watch really works. The bi-color rehaut with the 24-hour readout, plus a pop of red on the dual-time hand, really toes the line between vintage (the styling of the numerals) and modern (the dial design and case shape). Unfortunately, on my wrist, the combination of design aesthetics and case size make for a watch that feels more like it wears me than the other way around. Big guys, this one’s for you.
There’s also a 29mm Carrera Date sharing effectively the same design as the 39mm, just – you know – 10mm smaller. It’s good for women or skinny men or anyone who wears small top AAA fake watches just because they like them. There’s also a variation with diamond markers, in case that’s your thing.
The best quality replica watches utilize two familiar TAG Heuer movements, the Calibre 5 and the Calibre 7, both viewable through an exhibition caseback. Each watch comes affixed either to a leather strap or steel bracelet and is available with dials in either blue, black (with rose-gold accents), or silver.
Returning to Gosling for a moment, I find it interesting that he’s associated with these models, as we are far more accustomed to spotting him in small (like 34mm small) vintage pieces. The announcement of this ambassadorship really got me thinking about the role celebrities play today in representing super clone watches online brands. So at the party, I sat down with Arnault to get his thoughts. “A brand is kind of like a person,” he told me. “It has its own attributes, its own personality and it’s great to have it represented by one person who endorses and embodies the personality and facets of the brand – it’s a personalization. What was important for us was the creativity [Ryan] could bring. It’s not just leveraging his image, but it’s about what we can build together.”
It’s hard not to see Gosling as TAG Heuer’s modern-day Steve McQueen – probably the most famous wearer of cheap Canada Tag Heuer replica watches. In response to that Arnault said, “I know the connection well,” he said, “but I must admit, I have not seen many of his movies.” I assured him the films are quite good and that he should really check them out.
And you, dear reader, should check out the new Carrera campaign and see what you think. It’s worth pondering what Gosling – a man who could presumably endorse any watch brand in the world – has in store for TAG Heuer. Last night, Arnault made a point of saying that the Carrera campaign is just the beginning. Could we one day see Gosling take his vintage-leaning taste and bring it into the broader Carerra line? Might there be 34mm models in China knockoff TAG Heuer watches’ future? One can dream. The man has already earned his place in the pantheon of actors. What he does with TAG Heuer could vault him into the horological hall of fame.