There is no doubt that you will not be surprised to hear that here that we love vintage chronographs. Of all the periods in chronograph design, we think the 1960s were especially rich, with a wide range of replica watches with colorful, even daring, dial designs, which retained the elegant case proportions of earlier decades at the same time. In that spirit, today we’re proud to announce that we’re introducing a revival of one of our favorite chronographs of all time – in partnership with the replica TAG Heuer.
Owing to the research efforts on the part of the Heuer collector community, there’s a huge amount we know about the fake tag Heuer Carrera, and here at HODINKEE, we’ve made our own contributions, including an in-depth look at the origins of the very first Carrera. While these first examples were launched in 1963, there was one very special example that was designed and introduced exactly 50 years ago this year. 
America’s Cup was won by a remarkable yacht in 1967, the groundbreaking Intrepid. Heuer decided to celebrate the occasion by creating the Heuer Carrera Skipper model, which is now considered one of the most collectible vintage tag Heuers in the world. Designed in 1967 and first launched in 1968, the Skipper remained in production with tag Heuer for the next 10 years, with a succession of different cases taken from either the Carrera or the Autavia, but always retaining the outstanding legibility and durability necessary for a regatta timer.
To say that the original Carrera Skipper replica watch is rare, to put it mildly, an understatement – fewer than 20 are thought to have been made and only a dozen are still known to exist today, in varying conditions. The watch was so elusive that up until its existence was finally officially confirmed in 2008, collectors and the replica tag Heuer scholars enthusiastically debated whether the watch had ever existed at all.
The original Skipper is a watch you seldom see. It’s a watch you won’t easily forget as well, thanks to its bold use of color: light green, dark blue, and bright orange are all present. These colors weren’t chosen just because they were eye-catching; the color palette was actually taken from the color scheme of Intrepid, as we discovered when we photographed the original Skipper and the new limited edition together on the deck of this groundbreaking yacht.