Last week at the famed Gleason’s Gym in Dumbo, Brooklyn, TAG Heuer and Muhammad Ali Enterprises unveiled the Carrera Caliber 5 Ring Master watch. Designed to celebrate the legendary boxer, who passed away this past June at the age of 74, the timepiece is being built in a limited-edition of just 750 pieces for $3,000.
Crafted in stainless steel, the 43mm watch is at both reminiscent and entirely new. Its design is inspired by the brand’s historic 1957 Ring Master stopwatch, which came with seven different interchangeable rings on the dial, each set to time a different sport. (The watch resides in the TAG Heuer museum in Switzerland.)
The tribute timepiece features an opaline black center dial with Muhammad Ali’s signature scrawled in white, balanced beautifully at 6:00. Around the outer edges of the dial are two rotary chapter rings—one in gray and black and one in bright red and black, each with a scale showing rounds 1-15 of boxing. A crown at 10:00 (with a color coordinated red lacquer line) sets the rotary ring to the start of each round. The dial features bold white numerals, faceted and polished hour and minute hands, a lacquered seconds hand, and luminescent indexes.
As the title suggests, the watch is powered by the same in-house-made TAG Heuer Caliber 5 automatic movement as the brand’s other Carrera watches, and comes with the same black perforated leather strap with red detailing. It’s water resistant to 100 meters and features an anti-scratch and anti-reflective sapphire crystal. The case back is engraved with the image of Muhammad Ali, and the inscription “Tribute to Muhammad Ali.”
Also of note: The brand also created a single special commemorative 18-karat gold version that was displayed at The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, along with a pair of Muhammad Ali-autographed boxing gloves, a commemorative medal, and certificates of authenticity in a handsome grey leather case. The watch was auctioned with all proceeds going to The Muhammad Ali Center. In total, TAG Heuer raised $119,000 for the Muhammad Ali Foundation.
For luxury watches for men with a sportive feel, see our reviews of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph and the Montblanc Timewalker Pythagore Ultra Light.
