Some collaborations feel like a one-off. Others feel like the start of a story TAG Heuer clearly wants to keep telling — and the new Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa firmly belongs to the second category. Three years after the Maison’s first joint release with Team Ikuzawa and Bamford Watch Department, the trio is back with a follow-up built on one of TAG Heuer’s most celebrated modern platforms: the 39mm Carrera Glassbox.
For anyone who’s followed Carrera history, this is a meaningful pairing. When Jack Heuer sketched the original Carrera in 1963, legibility wasn’t a nice-to-have — it was the entire brief, born out of stories of drivers battling the brutal Carrera Panamericana road race across Mexico. Six decades later, the Glassbox case — introduced for the Carrera’s 60th anniversary — reinterpreted that same obsession with clarity, ditching the bezel entirely and letting a domed sapphire crystal sweep straight over the dial’s flange. It remains one of the more clever case solutions in modern watchmaking, and it’s the perfect stage for a story rooted in motorsport instruments.
Why Team Ikuzawa, and Why Now
Team Ikuzawa isn’t a manufactured racing partnership — it’s a genuine motorsport dynasty. Founded around Japanese driver Tetsu Ikuzawa, whose résumé spans Formula 2, Formula 3, Le Mans and factory Porsche drives, the team became instantly recognisable through its red-and-white livery. His daughter, Mai Ikuzawa, has since turned that heritage into something closer to a lifestyle brand, threading motorsport culture through design and luxury collaborations — this Carrera being the latest expression.
A Dial Inspired By A Stopwatch, Not A Speedometer
Rather than referencing a car, this release draws from a specific piece of racing hardware: Team Ikuzawa’s handheld Roadmaster stopwatch from the 1970s and ’80s. That high-contrast, pit-lane-legible design language shows up directly on the dial — bold printed numerals replace the Carrera’s usual applied markers, giving the white Clou de Paris surface a distinctly instrument-like presence.
The most interesting decision, though, is what’s missing. The running seconds sub-dial has been dropped entirely, freeing up space above the date window for the Team Ikuzawa logo — a nod to the “double-signed” sponsor dials of vintage racing chronographs. What remains is a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock and a 12-hour counter at 9 o’clock, both finished with red accents that echo the team’s signature colourway, right down to the red-printed date wheel.
Under The Hood
Powering the watch is TAG Heuer’s automatic TH20-10 calibre, a variant of the brand’s in-house chronograph architecture modified to run without a sub-seconds wheel. It offers a column wheel, vertical clutch, and a healthy 80-hour power reserve. The 39mm steel case keeps its 100m water resistance and comes on a seven-row steel bracelet, with a perforated white leather strap and a red-striped textile strap included as extras. True to form for a collaboration this detail-obsessed, each piece ships in a red toolbox-style case with a travel pouch and Team Ikuzawa charms.
Limited to 150 individually numbered pieces, the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa (ref. CBS221M.EB0435) is priced at €10,450 / $10,500 / £8,850, available now through TAG Heuer boutiques and authorised retailers.
What This Means Going Forward
A second edition changes the read on this partnership entirely. One collaboration can be a marketing moment; two starts to look like a platform. By anchoring this release to the Glassbox rather than repeating the original 42mm formula, TAG Heuer signals it’s willing to let the Team Ikuzawa story evolve alongside its own collection, rather than simply reissuing a hit. For collectors, that’s the real takeaway: this isn’t a nostalgia play, it’s the second chapter of what looks increasingly like an ongoing dialogue between Swiss watchmaking and Japanese racing culture.
