Skeleton Watches Review: Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 01 CAR2090 and Breguet Tradition Skeleton 7027BB

Fresh from the showroom here at SwissWatchExpo,
and I am here talking about Skeleton dials
or open work watches.
One of the coolest things you can get on a
classic Swiss watch and really one of the
great features that make these, what they
are.
Most people don’t know open working or skeleton
dials have been a thing in watchmaking since
the 18th century, almost as long as these
watches have been made in this form.
But they didn’t really start to catch on until
after the court’s crisis in the late 70s and
80s, when these Swiss brands really wanted
to drive home, what makes them so special.
That is the mechanical complications that
are hidden inside this case.
The goal of a skeleton dial, is to put that
on display and to really let you know what
it is that you’re getting and what makes these
watches so unique.
In that line, there are definitely two different
schools of thought when it comes to open work
dials.
I have two examples here to kind of show you
the two different directions that these brands
can go.
I have one here, this is a Tag Heuer Caliber
One Carerra, this here with a beautiful open
work dial.

/> This is an example of a more modern, contemporary
direction you can go in, something that really
sort of showcases the technology and the future
of watchmaking in this form.
Of course, the Carerra being a chronograph,
which is part of Tag Heuer’s rich tradition
of race car driving, and this really does
give you the feeling of looking underneath
the hood of a really high powered sports car
and not something classic either.
I’m talking something that is fine to admit
to win races here in 2020.
This here is a make condition 2019 piece.
The beautiful thing about open working as
well, it does really display the beauty of
the mechanics inside this watch.
It’s not exactly the easiest thing to read,
especially when you consider the chronograph.
But the beautiful thing is, that’s not why
you buy these.
This is for someone who has a watch collection
who really wants to show off why they love
watches.
I certainly wouldn’t recommend this being
your first fine time piece, but once you really
get that itch and you really love what makes
these watches what they are, this is a great
example.
While it’s not the easiest to read, the chronograph
is legible by these red accents, which do
really stand out between all of the gears
that you can really get lost in when you look
at this dial.
The date wheel, of course, being a brighter
silver color, does make it surprisingly legible
for everything.
This is a 43 millimeter case size, which is
definitely a very modern size and shape.
Of course, as you can tell, this is an all
ceramic case and bracelet.
It’s incredibly durable, incredibly sporty,
and just really fascinating to look at.
Of course, what would a skeleton or an open
work watch be without an exhibition case back,
so you can see all this beauty from the other
side.
The other option we have here, and this is
a very different, more classic traditional
type of tape on the open work dial, is this
Breguet traditional.
This is some of the more prestigious brands,
some of the more classic brands, which Breguete
definitely is among them to show off the more
classic horology aspects of it.
You can see all of the gears and all of the
wheels are displayed here.
Something that makes this well and truly unique
is you can actually tell time by a much smaller
register up here at 12 o’clock.
While it is greatly scaled down, you do get
a very legible dial, and it sort of separates
between the actual time telling and the time
keeping aspects of this dial.
Of course, just like this Breguet has a mechanical
hand wound movement, so no rotor or anything
to, sort of, obscure the beauty that’s within
the back of this case.
You could see this beautiful plating and all
of these wheels here that really shows you
everything you need to know about what makes
Breguet such a beautiful brand in such a classic
and historically rich watch here.
These are both two fascinating options that
you can go, if you really want to show off
what makes the watches power and what makes
these watches so beautiful and still so popular,
even with technology changing all around it.
You can go in two very different directions,
especially if you’re looking to collect open
face watches, and I would definitely recommend
checking either of these spaces out at SwissWatchExpo.com.

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