For its second collaboration with Team Ikuzawa and Bamford Watch Department, TAG Heuer has tapped into the graphic clarity and analogue romance of Japanese motorsport of the 1970s and 1980s.
The Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa takes its cues from a vintage Roadmaster stopwatch, discovered while Team Ikuzawa’s principal and creative director Mai Ikuzawa and Bamford Watch Department founder George Bamford were looking through Bamford’s collection of timers and chronographs from the period. ‘It was a eureka moment,’ says Ikuzawa. ‘The simplicity and restraint of the design was just full on.’
The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa
The base for the project is TAG Heuer’s 39mm Carrera Glassbox, which was chosen because the bezel-free construction preserves the immediacy of a handheld stopwatch. That was also the rationale behind the white Clous de Paris dial with black printed numerals and sparingly deployed red accents; details that recall Team Ikuzawa’s famously stark racing liveries. Powered by TAG Heuer’s automatic TH20-10 calibre, the watch dispenses with running seconds, leaving room at six o’clock for the Team Ikuzawa signature, in the same manner with which the team and sponsor logos were once applied to racing chronographs. In addition to its seven-row steel bracelet, the watch has a perforated white leather strap with red stitching and a red-and-white textile alternative.
Mai Ikuzawa
Ikuzawa, a Central Saint Martins-trained graphic designer who grew up between the racetracks of Japan and Britain, describes restraint as central to both her Japanese heritage and the team’s visual identity. ‘You’re stripping away a lot of the noise, but what makes something really beautiful is the attention to detail,’ she says. Achieving that apparent simplicity was less serene: Ikuzawa recalls a lively WhatsApp group and a design process in which ‘there was no compromise’.
It’s not all stark simplicity, though; there’s a playfulness that comes with the presentation. The watch and straps come in a toolbox alongside a travel pouch and Team Ikuzawa charms, details that reflect Ikuzawa’s ability to connect with her audience (also seen in her 2024 collaboration on clothing with Daniel Arsham).
The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa
The first TAG Heuer x Team Ikuzawa watch appeared exclusively in Japan in 2023. This globally available sequel is limited to 150 numbered pieces and priced at £8,850. More than another motorsport-themed collaboration, it demonstrates why Ikuzawa’s family heritage can speak credibly to a younger audience whose introduction to motorsport is more through Netflix and TikTok than the sports pages. ‘We want to bring a little bit of sexiness back,’ she says.
The presentation toolbox
The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph x Team Ikuzawa