XF Factory TAG Heuer Carrera 01 Full Skeleton Chronograph Detailed Review

The TAG Heuer Carrera model is produced by the leading Super Clone manufacturer workshops with a high-tech ceramic case, 45 mm diameter and high-precision automatic Super Clone movement architecture. It is among the most successful 1:1 super clone watch reviews on the market, with its sapphire crystal AR coating glass, original case tolerances and detailed workmanship.

Carrera is a very heavyweight series from TAG Heuer and includes many classic models. Born in 1963, his name was taken from a race track in America. Since it is a racing watch, its main function is timekeeping; In other words, it is chronograph as we often say.

[Case and Bezel]

This model was released in 3 sizes on the official site, while XF chose the 45mm diameter version, its thickness is about 17.3mm; It's actually a pretty big piece. A friendly warning here: friends whose wrist size is under 16.5 cm should think carefully, it may look a little flashy when worn. This time, XF released a total of 4 models; One of them is the full steel bracelet version, the case is completely processed in steel color, no black coating is applied to the side surface of the case. The other three are red rubber with red hour and minute hands, black rubber and blue rubber with blue hour and minute hands; In these, the side surface of the case, strap end parts and the edge areas of the case back are treated with black DLC coating. Please note that the original is black coated, not ceramic material.

Case and Body Workmanship

In the bezel part, Heuer was officially generous and used ceramics; His conscience is really big. Like the Daytona, there is a rangefinder speed measurement scale on the ceramic bezel. Long ago, when electronic technology was not yet so developed, the range finder was an extremely advanced speed measurement tool; Those who are curious about how to use it can search on the internet, I will not elaborate. I would like to explain one detail here: the text color of the speed scale is the same on the XF and the original, the color is quite dark, this is not a defect, as in the picture:

Strap, Buckle and Comfort

In terms of the depth and thickness of the XF's writings, the similarity is quite good, there is nothing to criticize.

Glass and Sapphire Crystal

Sapphire crystal and case back made of sapphire material. The glass is slightly curved and has an anti-reflective blue coating, the edge treatment is extremely smooth.

[Dial Surface and Hour and Minute Hands]

This is the most important and most praiseworthy part of this article. We have seen many skeleton models in the past, but frankly there are very, very few that actually offer you; Of course, this does not include a few tourbillon models by Roger Dubuis. This skeleton is not like other skeletons; This is probably the first time you've seen me praising such a complex skeleton model like 01. Now let's tell you one by one with the macro lens.

Dial and Hand Details

The skeletal structure is primarily two-layered: the upper layer is a single piece dial surface, and the lower layer is a large calendar plate. This structure is very common in Richard Mille and Hublot Big Bang, which are the entrance tickets for billionaires. Usually small factories do it directly in one layer and lose a lot of detail; XF, on the other hand, respected the original and achieved consistency at the layer level first, without taking any shortcuts.

Then let's look at the detail work. It is very easy to see whether the workmanship of the skeleton models is good or bad, all you need is a magnifying glass; Examining the edges of each section is the simplest and clearest method. XF has shown very fine workmanship in many edge areas, there are no disturbing burrs and roughness. For the integrated calendar plate, XF Factory claims it is machined in Switzerland; We approach this objectively, we just need to look. Each of the 31 days is an independent physical calendar; Under my macro lens we can still see the clean edges and polished finish of the surface. Even though it's black, it's still very shiny; This calendar gave me the illusion that I was watching Hublot.

There is also a very small detail in the calendar section: when displayed in the date window position, the background color is white, so you can select today's date at a glance in such a complex structure. XF has achieved this too, it suits the taste of detail lovers like me, well done.

On the left side of the calendar is TAG Heuer's logo plate; The surface is processed with mirror polish, the detail is still evident, well done again.

There is also the English print at positions 3 and 9 of the black frame; Four very small letters, we can easily see under the macro that the print is extremely dimensional, full and smooth. The smaller the object, the more difficult it is to process, you see, it's all indicative of detail, well done once again.

Since it is a chronograph, of course there are three eyes; that is, the 30-minute counter (position 12), the 12-hour counter (position 6) and the seconds counter (position 9), which we often say. Let me repeat here once again: the central chronograph hand (the long red hand on the hour and minute hands), that is, the hand that everyone often thinks is the seconds hand, is not the seconds hand of this watch; It starts working after you start the chronograph. So don't keep asking me why it stops; All chronographs, including the Daytona, have this structure. When we don't need to keep time, please keep it in the zero position (i.e. motionless, pointing to 12). Aside from increasing the load on the mechanism and increasing the failure rate, most importantly, it will look really bad if it works constantly.

The details of the three small meters are again extremely clear and excellent. Under the macro lens we can see that the CD patterns are very subtle and truly existent; Polish has also been added to the edge areas of each small counter, so it shines brightly, all with the accumulation of these very small details. The seconds counter at position 9 is finished in black. Chronographs have another very distinctive feature: they have too many hands. A standard chronograph usually has 6 hands, although there are a few with 5 hands, so the machining of each hand is also a very important part. Especially in this multi-colored model, the surface of the red chronograph hand and the 30-minute and 12-hour counter hands are processed in red, the color treatment is full and smooth, there is no burr, I cannot praise enough.

The astonishing complexity of this watch is also evident in the hour and minute hands: even the single hand is made with three different surface treatment methods: the two edges of the hand are brushed, the beginning and end of the middle part are sandblasted, and the middle has a lume-filled and dimensional cavity. Frankly, I got a little bored even writing it, because it's really complicated; XF also imitated it very accurately, I wouldn't mind telling you the rest.

Finally, let's look at the hour markers: there are a total of 13 dimensional marker blocks, the surface is again divided into three parts processing process: the surface is brushed, when we look at it with our macro lens, the fineness of the brushing is very obvious, for example; their heads are red, matching the color of the needle; The tips are lume filled. And on the tiny mark we can clearly see that she even has a waistline! It's incredible, it's really complicated. The red and lume filled parts are again extremely clean, with no burrs; Detailers, perfectionists and meticulous people, let's fight, I have no fear. The printing of the seconds markers at the very edge is equally dimensional and full.

[Mechanism]

This mechanism is directly called the HEUER 01 mechanism; It is an improved version of the CAL.1887, which has been Heuer's main chronograph movement for many years. The development is only in the appearance part; The automatic rotor is processed as a skeleton, the structure and performance of the mechanism are almost the same as the 1887 one. The most symbolic feature of this mechanism is that it is equipped with a red column wheel. The column wheel is the highest level clutch mechanism among today's chronograph mechanisms. Compared to ETA7750 and many parallel clutches, the column flywheel design minimizes the friction between parts, greatly reducing the failure rate. Movements such as the Daytona 4130 movement we know and Omega Seamaster's 9300 movement always use the column wheel clutch mechanism. Thanks to this design, Heuer has also greatly increased price-performance; After all, the list price is only a fraction of that of other brands. In this specially made 01 movement of XF, the similarity is already extremely high, if we look first in terms of appearance. There is an issue that I would like to emphasize here: This mechanism of the So when we start the chronograph you can see that the column wheel can rotate. Another point is that the winding transmission wheel is no longer just an ornament; It can rotate automatically as the rotor rotates.

Movement and Caliber Performance

Finally, let's briefly look at the level of workmanship of the movement: the black-coated full-skeleton automatic rotor has everything, both color and cross-hatched engraving; Chamfering was also done on the edge areas of the main bridge of the mechanism; The print is clearly visible, there is really nothing to fault. Finally, I would like to emphasize once again the method of use in the mechanism section:

The button in the upper right corner of the case is the chronograph start button; Pressing it starts timing, pressing it again pauses it. The lower right corner of the case is the chronograph reset; When pressed, the entire chronograph returns to zero position. Be sure to follow this order when using. However, I would like to say, do not use it if it is not needed, so that a malfunction and sending it to the factory does not take everyone's time.

[Strap and Buckle]

This model is divided into two versions: steel bracelet and rubber. The steel bracelet is quite ordinary, it does not have many features, it has a one-way folding clasp and Heuer's "captain" emblem in the lock position. Rubber three-color, full air hole design, black coated folding buckle, very practical and comfortable to use. The workmanship of the rubber is very meticulous, we cannot even find the “mold trace” (mold joint); The texture is very soft, I highly recommend it.

[Lume and Wrist Photos]

In conclusion: I do not praise every model like this, I say this sincerely, the skeleton 01 model that XF released this time has once again renewed my perception about domestic watchmaking. Every little detail, drop by drop, has been processed so skillfully that the accumulation of many details turns into a qualitative leap. When I look at the whole watch, I can only describe the texture feeling with the word "explosion". Recommendation score: 10 stars.

The world is very complicated, but at least I don't lie when I review watches. Focuses on top quality; Wishing you a pleasant time and choosing a watch to your liking, thank you for watching, see you in the next episode!