If you meet Patrick Dempsey – also known as ‘Doctor McDreamy’ in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ – as I’ve been lucky enough to do a couple of times, there are only two rules, and one follows on from the other.
Patrick Dempsey wearing Tag Heuer - Credit Tag Heuer
Don’t ask him about doctors, or hospitals, or what it’s like being a heart throb. He’ll answer politely enough, but almost visibly glaze over (I’ve seen it happen). Do instead ask him about Porsches. Then he’ll light up and it actually becomes hard to stop him talking, in a typically effervescent American way. He’s a thoroughly nice guy, and not at all what you would imagine a Hollywood star to be like.
As well as being an award-winning actor, Patrick is also a very decent racing driver. He just missed out on a class podium at Le Mans in a Porsche 911 a few years ago and is now additionally a racing team owner thanks to Dempsey Proton Racing, which has an official affiliation with the Porsche factory team. Patrick is of course a Porsche brand ambassador, and as a result of that association, he’s also now linked with TAG Heuer, the makers of the iconic Carrera watch that is synonymous with Porsche.
TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Red Edition - Credit Tag Heuer
One of the most remarkable things that Patrick said, after a casual interview at the Porsche garage in Le Mans many years ago, was that he would give up all his acting tomorrow if he could just focus on motorsport. But, he then added, it's hard…you build up a certain reputation in a field, then the offers come in, and you’re pulled in a certain direction. Because however noble your dreams are, you still always need money to fund them. And that’s just as true if you’re an LA film star or a traffic warden from Romford.
So that’s why Patrick was at the Venice Film Festival recently. But at least it was an excuse for him to wear his limited edition TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche RS 2.7 Automatic Chronograph, with only 250 of these distinctive rose gold watches ever made (he normally wears a standard Carrera). There’s a twin blue edition too, which was also released last year and made in 500 examples with a similar aesthetic, only sporting a less dressy look in steel and a Porsche fabric strap reminiscent of a racing seat belt (or alternatively, a steel bracelet). Both use the TAG Heuer 02 movement, visible through a display case back.
TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Red Edition - Credit Tag Heuer
As for the Carrera name, this pays tribute to the original 2.7 Porsche 911 Carrera from 1972 that these watches commemorate, with the car in turn taking its name the epic Carrera Panamericana. This was a no-holds barred road race across Mexico, which took no prisoners – famously won by Porsche in 1954.
There’s another reason why Mexico is key to the partnership between Porsche and TAG Heuer, which was only formalised in 2021. Two Mexican brothers had such an impact on company boss Jack Heuer in the 1960s that motor racing became an obsession, which inevitably led him to Porsche, and later Formula 1. Its thanks to them really that TAG Heuer is so closely associated now with the racing world.
TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Red Edition - Credit Tag Heuer
Those brothers were the Rodriguez siblings: Pedro and Ricardo. Jack Heuer first met them at the Sebring race track in Florida in 1963 (where exactly 50 years later, Patrick Dempsey’s team would claim pole position in class for their debut 12-hour race) and it was these two brothers who told him about the legendary Carrera Panamericana: sowing the seeds for Jack’s latest idea for a watch. At the time, the brothers were driving for Ferrari, but Pedro in particular would go on to make a name for himself with Porsche. Sadly, both would perish in racing accidents before witnessing just how successful the Porsche-TAG Heuer partnership became, but their influence cannot be underestimated. Just ask Patrick Dempsey, who can talk about the whole story in exhaustive detail. He’d love to combine his three passions – cars, movies, and watches – and make a film about them, if the chance ever comes. But that will be another story, for another day.
TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Red Edition
Specifications:
- Movement: TAG Heuer Calibre Heuer 02 Automatic
- Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph
- Dial: Red and white dial 3 counters:
– 3 o’clock: white minute chronograph counter; red lacquered hand
– 6 o’clock: permanent second indicator; rose-gold-coloured hand
– 9 o’clock: white hour chronograph counter; red lacquered hand
- Polished, rose-gold-colored applied indexes, hour and minute hands with
- white Super-LumiNova
- Red polished central hand
- 6 o’clock date
- Price: £21,000
