The third collaboration between TAG Heuer and Hiroshi Fujiwara is where the Swiss watchmaker’s motorsport heritage meets Fragment’s modern street culture!
TAG Heuer and Hiroshi Fujiwara (founder of Tokyo-based brand Fragment Design) have collaborated once again to create another limited edition timepiece. This latest endeavour comes in the shape of TAG Heuer’s iconic Glassbox Carrera chronograph, a clean and confident design that is now infused with Hirosshi Fujiwara’s unmistakable styling.
Hiroshi Fujiwara is a pioneering Japanese streetwear designer and musician who is widely credited for being one of the founding fathers of Tokyo’s Harajuku street culture. He is known for blending high fashion with urban style, long before it became a mainstream style. Hiroshi Fujiwara founded Fragment Design in 2003, a multidisciplinary label that worked with luxury houses such as Louis Vuitton, Moncler, Nike, and TAG Heuer. It has been shown through trends in music, design, and pop culture that Hiroshi Fujiwara’s influence extends far beyond fashion.
This is the third time that TAG Heuer and Hiroshi Fujiwara and his Fragment Design have collaborated. The partnership first started in 2018, when Hiroshi Fujiwara took on the TAG Heuer Carrera collection directly to create a bold, stripped-back timepiece that very much redefined what the timepiece could be in a contemporary context. The 2018 creation took the base model Carrera and infused it with design cues from the original Carrera 1963 model.
Cues such as the vintage Heuer logo and pump-style chronograph pushers, to the white dial markings and beige Superlumi-Nova for hands and hour indices. Hiroshi Fujiwara’s colour palette was black and white, and this was portrayed beautifully in the Carrera through minimalistic design.
Then in 2020, TAG Heuer and Fragment Design collaborated again, this time on the Swiss watchmaker’s Formula 1 collection, offering a more graphic and high-contrast aesthetic. The model featured a stainless steel case, retaining the luxury presence. While still keeping in theme with Hiroshi Fujiwara’s styling of black and white, the TAG Heuer x Fragment Design Formula 1 Chronograph featured red accents for the chronograph seconds hand, the hour and minute hands, as well as the indices. The minimalist nature of the dial actually allows the red to stand out much more, adding just the right amount of colour to what is otherwise a monochrome timepiece.
For this third collaboration, it appears that Hiroshi Fujiwara has really turned up the minimalistic design cues. He has returned to the Carrera line, and understandably so, as it is beloved for its motorsporting heritage, clean and refined styling (much like the artist himself), and more so lately, the step back into vintage aesthetics with the glassbox design.
“When I look at the TAG Heuer Carrera, I see shapes and stories ready to be designed and expressed. My role with this new release was to listen to its structure and make decisions that protect its balance. Every detail has to earn its place. Nothing is added unless it has a reason to exist.”
Hiroshi Fujiwara, founder and creative director of Fragment.
Case Design
Unlike the 2020 Formula 1 Fragment Design edition, this latest creation goes back to the original black and white concept of Hiroshi Fujiwara. The 39mm Carrera Glassbox case design helps to accentuate the dial features. The case with its mixed finishes of brushed and polished surfaces plays with light beautifully, adding the touch of elegance and luxury. With the glassbox design, the tachymeter scale sits inside the sapphire crystal, sloping downwards towards the edge of the dial. With the bezel being in white, it helps to break up the black dial from the case, allowing it to stand out nicely.
The five-link bracelet completely changes the aesthetic of this timepiece. While it may not be to everyone’s taste, one thing we can all agree on is that it delivers a standout look that complements the dial beautifully. The seven-row bracelet typically features three polished central links, but in this case, those links have been replaced with black links that tie in seamlessly with the dial. Each link variation plays off the watch’s design language: the outer brushed links echo the brushed case surfaces, the polished sections almost mirror the brightness of the white tachymeter bezel, and the black centre links align perfectly with the deep black dial.
Dial Design
The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph X Fragment features a black opaline dial that is said to “absorb light softly, creating a smooth, visual texture.” It becomes clear that Hiroshi Fujiwara’s design philosophy for this timepiece was to create a watch with minimal visual presence, using soft tones to highlight the details of the dial. The tachymeter scale on the white bezel, for example, uses grey markings. It’s still readable, but intentionally avoids stark contrast.
This approach is mirrored on the dial as well, with the markings of the sub-counters in grey, as well as the minimalistic hour indices and the minute track. The main standout details are the rhodium-plated faceted, polished hour and minute hands with white Super-LumiNova® and the rhodium-plated plated polished chronograph seconds hand and sub-dial hands. This creates a deliberate visual detail, where the essential time-telling components are highlighted with clarity, while the rest of the dial quietly fades into the background. This hammers home Hiroshi Fujiwara’s minimalist, detail-first design language.
Movement
This timepiece comes equipped with TAG Heuer’s in-house TH20-00 movement, which boasts an impressive 80-hour power reserve and operates at a high frequency of 4Hz (28,800 VpH), ensuring high accuracy. The TH20-00 movement is an in-house calibre, developed as part of TAG Heuer’s modern TH20 family. The calibre features a column wheel and vertical clutch mechanism, which deliver precise chronograph engagement feedback and improved long-term reliability.
On the caseback, the sapphire crystal gives a view of the architecture of the TH20-00 movement, which features an oscillating weight that is shaped like a shield and is then detailed with a black graphic. This is reinterpreting TAG Heuer’s emblem in signature Hiroshi Fujiwara design language. The Fragment logo has also been directly printed onto the Sapphire crystal, adding another signature design touch.
Around the caseback edge of the timepiece, there is a reference to the golden age of Formula 1®. With the Carrera taking a huge part in motorsporting and Formula 1 culture, the engraved Victory Wreath on the caseback edge is a reference to Jack Heuer’s tradition of gifting gold watches that were seen as lucky charms to talented, victorious drivers. The Victory Wreath engraving became a symbol of that success.
Initial Thoughts
TAG Heuer’s latest collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara and his Fragment design brand is a natural evolution of what has been a successful partnership. With Hiroshi Fujiwara having already worked with several luxury brands, his ability to blend minimalism with contemporary street culture has made him an ideal creative partner for TAG Heuer. This third iteration evolves from the previous two models, while still keeping to Hiroshi Fujiwara’s black and white colour theme and minimalistic style.
Hiroshi Fujiwara’s approach to this latest collaboration has a softer touch, with only the required elements shining through. He has focused less on bold contrasts as we have seen from the previous two projects, and instead opted for more subtle tones, textures, and overall look. This, combined with the updated bracelet design and the modern TH20-00 movement, makes it clear that this edition isn’t just a stylistic exercise, but a thoughtful reinterpretation of the Carrera through Fujiwara’s minimalist lens.
Reference: TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Fragment Limited Edition (Ref. CBS221B.BA0045)
Specification:
- Dimensions: 39mm x 13.9mm thick, lug-to-lug: 46mm
- Case Material: Steel with fine brushed and polished surfaces.
- Dial: Black opaline dial. White outer flange with silver tachymeter scale. Rhodium-plated hands with grey printed hour indices with grey Super-LumiNova.
- Crystal: Domed sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective treatment
- Water resistance: 100 meters
- Movement: In-house Calibre TH20-00 with 80-hour power reserve operating at 4Hz (28,800 VpH).
- Strap: Steel 7-row bracelet with black central link.