If you read our article detailing all the TAG Heuer Watches & Wonders 2023 releases from this year, you’ll already be aware that the Swiss watchmaker is celebrating 60 years of their legendary Carrera watch and in turn have released several beautiful new iterations of the design. In continuation of the festivities, TAG Heuer have also premiered a Hollywood action-comedy called The Chase for Carrera starring brand ambassador Ryan Gosling.
It’s rare we enjoy advertisements or campaigns of any sort – even ones involving watches – but we have to admit, the new TAG Heuer “The Chase for the Carrera” movie is a playful and entertaining masterpiece that accurately depicts our own plans should we ever get our hands on one of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Glassbox watches. The feature stars TAG Heuer brand ambassador Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Gray Man) and Vanessa Bayer (I Love That For You, Saturday Night Live) in a offbeat chase thriller which see’s Gosling on the run from Bayer as the Prop Master as she attempts to take his beloved TAG Heuer Carrera from his wrist. You can watch the full feature in the video below.
Produced by David Leitch’s 87 North, responsible for some of the most iconic action films of the last decade including John Wick and Deadpool and directed by Nash Edgerton (Mr Inbetween), “The Chase for the Carrera” was shot while Gosling was working with Leitch on feature The Fall Guy in Australia. It begins with Gosling being chased by sword-wielding gangsters in a hotel corridor before swapping over with his stunt double on a crash mat. Leitch, playing himself as the on-screen director, calls cut and Vanessa Bayer enters demanding the return of Gosling’s TAG Heuer Carrera. From this moment an intense chase scene takes place, blowing TAG Heuer’s marketing budget with iconic sports cars, heavy-duty trucks and blockbuster-worthy explosions. It’s a really fun sequence and neatly highlights the Swiss watchmaker’s famous tag line “Don’t Break Under Pressure”.
Avid TAG Heuer fans may spot some of the several easter eggs hidden within the movie, each a nod to the Carrera’s illustrious past. There are five hints and homages in total including significant names, notable numbers, and a glimpse of an iconic figure. We won’t spoil them all, because where’s the fun in that? But the first can be spotted in the opening scene in the hotel corridor. To the left, there’s a female dressed in the distinctive white sunglasses of the legendary Jacqueline Evans de López, the British-born Mexican TV and film actress who was the first woman to compete in the infamous Carrera Panamericana race – the very same which names the TAG Heuer Carrera watch.
Frédéric Arnault, CEO of TAG Heuer, commented on the mini blockbuster: “TAG Heuer has always had a close connection to Hollywood, with our timepieces worn on the wrists of silver screen legends across the decades, from Steve McQueen to our very own Ryan Gosling. And the Carrera has always been more than just a timepiece – born from the racetrack, it’s a statement of daring and adventure as much as it is the epitome of elegance. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate its 60 years that than with this world-first: a mini Hollywood blockbuster collaborating with the best action-movie director in the world in David Leitch, responsible for such instant classics as John Wick and Bullet Train, and starring Ryan Gosling, not only the A-list icon of his age, but someone who always brings the utmost dedication and creativity to every project he embarks on, and that couldn’t be more true here. Here’s to the next 60.”
While Ryan Gosling and Vanessa Bayer are certainly the stars of TAG Heuer’s “The Chase for the Carrera”, we can’t help but be more focused on which watches are on their wrist. Gosling very clearly sports one of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Glassbox watches, reference CBS2212.FC6535 with a blue sunray dial. We’ve reviewed these watches in detail here, and truthfully, they have become one of our favourite releases from Watches & Wonders 2023. Their unique, deeply domed sapphire crystal is inspired by some of the original Carrera watches from the 1960’s. The glass spills over onto the case sides giving the watch a rare bezel-less look which allows the dial, particularly the tachymeter scale, to be read from a 90 degree angle. Meanwhile, Vanessa Bayer who pays the Prop Master hunting down Gosling’s watch wears her own TAG Heuer Carrera watch but one of the new 36mm Carrera Date models with a hot pink dial.
You can shop the TAG Heuer Carrera watches featured in the “The Chase for the Carrera” movie for yourself on the Jura Watches website here. Alternatively, get in touch with the team by calling 01335 453453 or send us a message at help@jurawatches.co.uk.
