TAG Heuer reunites with Team Ikuzawa and Bamford Watch Department for a second limited-edition Carrera Chronograph.
Motorsport has always been at the heart of TAG Heuer. From dashboard timers and stopwatches through to Formula 1 partnerships and some of the most recognisable racing chronographs ever produced, the connection between the Swiss watchmaker and the automotive world stretches back well over a century.
While many of those stories have been centred around European racing, Japan has developed its own rich motorsport culture over the decades, producing legendary drivers, teams and manufacturers that have left a lasting mark on the sport. Among those names is Team Ikuzawa, a racing team founded by Tetsu Ikuzawa in 1981 that has since grown into something much broader than its competition roots.
Today, under the direction of Tetsu’s daughter, Mai Ikuzawa, Team Ikuzawa has evolved into a creative brand that brings together motorsport, design, fashion and contemporary culture. In a bid to preserve its racing history, the team has found ways to present that history to a new audience through carefully considered collaborations, one of which is TAG Heuer.
A Collaboration Built On Shared Values
The relationship between the two brands first began in 2023, with a limited-edition Carrera that combined TAG Heuer’s racing heritage with Team Ikuzawa’s distinctive visual identity. Three years later, that collaboration returns, once again joined by George Bamford and Bamford Watch Department, with a new Carrera Chronograph that draws inspiration from one of Heuer’s historic timing instruments while continuing the story that began with the original release.
Limited to 150 individually numbered pieces, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa is a good example of how collaborations can be much more authentic when worked on collaboratively, versus those where it is a simple dial colour or logo change. And with George Bamford and Mai Ikuzawa on board, the watch exudes all the nostalgia of Japanese racing history.
One of the challenges with collaborative watches is giving them a reason to exist beyond different colours or branding. The strongest examples usually have a story behind them, and that’s what TAG Heuer and Team Ikuzawa have managed to establish over the course of their partnership. And let’s face it, few other watch brands have such a rich motorsport pedigree as TAG Heuer, similarly, when you talk about the iconic TAG Heuer Carrera.
Mai Ikuzawa has spent years reshaping the family name beyond the race circuit. Drawing on her background in design and fashion, she has positioned Team Ikuzawa as a contemporary creative platform while remaining closely connected to its motorsport heritage. That approach mirrors TAG Heuer’s own direction, where historic references are regularly reinterpreted through modern collections such as the Carrera Glassbox.
George Bamford also returns for this latest project. Having collaborated with TAG Heuer on more than numerous occasions, his role extends beyond the looks of this watch. Working alongside Mai Ikuzawa, the pair have created a watch that reflects Team Ikuzawa’s identity while respecting the design language that has made the modern Carrera one of TAG Heuer’s strongest collections.
Inspired By The Heuer Roadmaster
Rather than looking back to a historic Carrera reference, the design takes its inspiration from another important part of TAG Heuer’s history—the Heuer Roadmaster stopwatch. Long before wristwatches became the company’s defining products, Heuer built its reputation producing precision timing instruments used throughout motorsport.
Based on the 39mm Carrera Glassbox, the watch features a white Clou de Paris textured dial paired with a black flange and printed numeral indexes. The decision to use printed markers instead of applied indexes immediately changes the character of the dial, giving it the graphic appearance associated with vintage timing instruments. Throughout the watch, Team Ikuzawa’s signature red is used consistently, appearing on the hour and minute hands, chronograph seconds hand, date wheel and even as a lacquered ring around the crown.
The familiar Glassbox case remains unchanged, measuring 39mm in diameter with its distinctive bezel-free sapphire crystal flowing into the edge of the case. Since its introduction, this has become one of the defining characteristics of the modern Carrera collection, offering a contemporary interpretation of Jack Heuer’s original focus on dial legibility, such as the angled flange that is able to be read from an angle thanks to the crystal’s domed design.
TAG Heuer has also included two additional straps alongside the seven-row stainless steel bracelet. Buyers receive a perforated white leather strap with red stitching inspired by vintage racing gloves, as well as a white textile strap featuring Team Ikuzawa’s red striping, allowing the watch to take on a noticeably different character depending on the strap fitted.
The TH20-10 Movement
Powering the Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa is TAG Heuer’s manufacture TH20-10 automatic chronograph movement. While it shares much of its architecture with other movements in the TH20 family, the layout has been configured specifically for this release.
Instead of incorporating a running seconds display, the movement allows the Team Ikuzawa logo to occupy the lower half of the dial above the angled date aperture. According to TAG Heuer, this configuration references historic Heuer chronographs from the 1960s and 1970s, where dial space was often reserved for racing teams, sponsors and partners. It is a small detail, but one that links the watch back to the era that inspired much of its design.
Over the back of the watch you can see the TH20-10 calibre via the sapphire crystal caseback. TAG Heuer movements have come a long way since Carole Forestier-Kasapi took over the reins as Movement Director, and with each new iteration, get better and better. While the TH20-10 isn’t a new movement per se, but an adaptation of the TH20-00 found in the standard glassbox Carrera, it still shows TAG Heuer’s drive to move ahead with in-house movements.
A Collector’s Touch
Another addition to the package is the presentation box the Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa comes in. It continues the motorsport theme, taking inspiration from workshop toolboxes and including both additional straps, a travel pouch and a selection of Team Ikuzawa accessories. For watch collectors, or motorsport enthusiasts, it is a nice touch indeed.
Final Thoughts
Collaborations have become a regular part of the watch industry, but the most successful examples are usually those where both parties bring something meaningful to the table. I’ve spoken quite a bit on collaborations, and there are those done really well, and others not so much. But this is one thing that has been a strength of TAG Heuer in recent years: the ability to do a collaboration that’s more than a logo or colour change. And this shows through in this case with the relationship with Team Ikuzawa.
The Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa combines the familiar proportions of the Carrera Glassbox with design cues taken from one of Heuer’s historic timing instruments and the visual language that has become synonymous with Team Ikuzawa. Not only that, but George Bamford has added his two cents as well, which has resulted in a watch that feels connected to both brands without compromising either.
For collectors who appreciate TAG Heuer’s motorsport heritage, this release offers something a little different within the current Carrera collection. It also continues a partnership that feels genuine, which is becoming increasingly important as collaborative editions become more common across the industry. Limited to just 150 pieces, this is one what that will appeal as much to enthusiasts of Japanese motorsport culture as it will to collectors of modern TAG Heuer chronographs, or simply those who like the look.
Reference & Specifications
| Feature | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Reference | CBS221M.EB0435 |
| Dimensions | 39mm diameter x 13.9mm thick x ~46mm lug-to-lug |
| Case | Brushed & Polished stainless steel |
| Dial | White Clou de Paris textured dial with black flange, printed numeral indexes and red accents |
| Crystal | Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment |
| Movement | TH20-10 Automatic Chronograph, beating at 4Hz / 28,800 VpH |
| Power Reserve | 80 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, chronograph, angled date |
| Water Resistance | 10 metres (10 bar) |
| Strap/Bracelet | Seven-row stainless steel bracelet with folding clasp, plus additional white perforated leather strap and white textile strap with quick change spring bars |