In its 160th anniversary year, TAG Heuer has placed its focus, as one might expect, on its most iconic watch model, the motorsport-inspired Carrera. Thus far, we have seen two retro-look special editions and a new collection outfitted with the in-house Caliber Heuer 02. The Swiss brand’s latest Carrera family, launched this week, adopts the understated look of the earliest model from 1963 ? minus the now-familiar tachymeter bezel ? for a streamlined, elegant alternative.

The new “elegant” TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph family

Like its sportier siblings, introduced this past summer, the new Carrera Chronographs contain the automatic, Swiss-made Caliber Heuer 02, whose attributes include an integrated stopwatch function, driven by a column wheel and a vertical clutch, and a lengthy 80-hour power reserve, an improvement on all the previous calibers used in the Carrera. Its 42-mm case, in polished and fine-brushed stainless steel, bears a stationary steel bezel, echoing the look of the very first Carrera, the most famous brainchild of founding family scion Jack Heuer, an inveterate auto racing fan who named his creation after the grueling Carrera Panamericana road race. The tachymeter scale was added to the design in subsequent versions, imparting a sportier and arguably more energetic look but also an undeniably busier one. “Timing at a glance” was the goal of the original Carrera, and that spirit is revived in the new models, which feature &...