Following the unveiling of its innovative lab-grown diamond technology in 2022, TAG Heuer is adding another Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde model to its catalog as part of its novelties for LVMH Watch Week 2024. This TAG Heuer Carrera Date 36mm Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde watch with yellow diamonds follows last year’s pink diamond variant and marks the second colored diamond created by the watchmaker.
This is not just your run-of-the-mill gem-set watch; TAG Heuer’s use of diamonds within its Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde line is purposefully inventive — avant-garde, if you will. For instance, the winding crown,replique montre attached to a 36mm white gold case, is masterfully cut from a single, 1.3-carat, yellow lab-grown diamond. Furthermore, the dial, which TAG Heuer calls a poly-crystalline dial, was created by growing a large number of diamond crystals as one piece, resulting in a myriad of reflections and light effects. There’s also another large lab-grown yellow diamond on the dial, set into the company’s shield logo, placed under the Carrera inscription. The diamond dazzle doesn’t stop there; 12 baguette-cut lab-grown diamonds serve as hour markers, with a pair at 12 o’clock and none at 6 to allow room for the date window that sits there instead. To avoid obstructing the shimmery background, the hour and minute hands at the center of the dial are skeletonized, accompanied by a slender seconds hand.
Responsible for all of the diamonds on the watch (4.8-carat total weight) is TAG Heuer’s Plasma technology, which allows the company to lab-grow diamonds as needed and into the size shapes it requires. According to the brand, diamond “seeds” are first placed in a vacuum chamber then plasma from specific gases is ignited to grow the crystals. Once the diamond grows to the desired size and shape, it’s cut by lasers and polished. Along with creating classic white diamonds (which come out of the lab flawless and colorless), TAG Heuer can also employ the process to make perfectly uniform colored diamonds (as seen with these yellow diamonds) by introducing certain trace elements during the growth process to achieve specific colors.
The new yellow diamond TAG Heuer Carrera Date 36mm Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde watch is paired with a white alligator strap, fitted with a white gold pin buckle. The sapphire window on the back provides a view of the Caliber 7 automatic movement, which supplies the watch with 56 hours of power reserve and runs at a frequency of 28,800bph. The engraving on the caseback indicates that the watch is water resistant to 50 meters.
Whether or not your taste in watches involves precious gems, the creativity and unique application of diamond components on the TAG Heuer Carrera Date 36mm Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde is admirable. If I ever get the chance, I would love to see this in the metal, specifically to see the yellow diamond winding crown in action. Yellow is far from the last lab-grown colored diamond we’ll see from TAG Heuer; it has promised that there will be more in the future. Though the brand has declined to make a public retail price available for the yellow diamond Carrera Date 36mm Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde,replique montre suisse the previous pink version retailed for CHF 90,000 (a little over 100,000 USD) in 2023. These are not strictly limited-edition models, but production will no doubt be low.
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