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Sunday Rewind Everything You Need To Know About The Very First Heuer Carrera

An in-depth look at a true horological icon.

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We say it all the time, but the word "icon" might be the most overused word in the marketing of fine wristwatches. Let's be honest: Not everything is an icon. In fact, very few watches are. One that can, without a doubt, hold this vaunted title is the Heuer Carrera. The clean, no-nonsense watch debuted over half a century ago and helped set a course for decades of watch design that goes far beyond the confines of racing watches or chronographs. The earliest models, from 1964, have achieved cult status and understanding them properly offers many insights into the Carrera line more generally and how Heuer (and then TAG Heuer) made this watch what it is today.

Back in 2013, Eric Wind (former HODINKEE contributor and now proprietor of Wind Vintage) put together this 3,000+ word guide to the first Carrera as we approached the watch's 50th anniversary. The story was inspired by a similar guide to the first Rolex Daytona that Ben wrote just a few months prior, and Eric rightly thought that the other racing icon to come out of 1964 deserved its own in-depth story too. Eric covers everything from the history that led us to the creation of the Carrera, the nuances that distinguish the earliest models from their later brethren, what you should look for if you want to collect these awesome watches, and some thoughts on where the market might be going for Carreras. Looking back, you're going to wish you'd bought a handful five years ago, I promise. But then again, hindsight's 20/20 and it offers some perspective on what the next half-decade might hold too.