Aquagraph F1 Kirium F1 Quartz Carrera Heuer 01
Is the question almost no one is asking, but I thought I'd pose it anyway...
You'd think it would be a fairly easy question to answer wouldn't you, after all two of these pieces are quartz so we can discount those straight away... but wait, I'm not so sure that we can discount those pieces quite so easily
The F1 Kirium was my first TAG Heuer, which I bought new in 2004. Back then it never even crossed my mind that you could buy a watch which wasn't quartz, all I knew was it was the best looking watch in the range (to my eyes) and I wanted that one. Amazingly it didn't even put me off when I found out the price, I remained determined to secure it, and secure it I did (eventually).
It was nearly ten years later when I purchased my next TAG, in the meantime my wife had fallen under the TAG spell and had bought herself a 2000 series to go with the blue faced Aquaracer that I bought her. We had an insurance policy mature and my wife suggested that we spend the money buying watches, rather than saving it.
On a visit to Bicester I saw the Aquagraph and instantly fell in love with it, an Aquaracer on steriods it immediately stood head and shoulders above everything else they had and even though the insurance money wasn't enough I eventually went for it. Sadly I didn't get the box with the tools and the rubber strap, and the Aquagraph is not without it's faults, but it's a handsome beast to be sure.
For the next two years I kept looking, waiting for my next TAG to drop into my lap, but it wasn't until the promo photos for the Heuer 01 were launched that I got really excited, but at the same time trying not to get too excited until the price was announced. It was more than I really wanted to pay for a watch, but after six months waiting and then a further four months visiting jewellers to try it on several times, I finally took the plunge. With it's large diameter, skeleton dial and glass caseback it is without doubt the most 'impressive' watch in my collection and I do love it, but can I say for sure it's my favourite?
Lastly, we have my WAH1110-0 F1 Quartz, a beater I bought to wear everyday. This one should easily fall to the bottom of the pile, and yet if it was damaged I would buy the same watch again without hesitation. The lume is fantastic and legibility is probably the best of all four watches. That said, this is the watch that I wear everyday, the others I could not wear everyday for fear of them becoming scratched up. So, reluctantly, I have to put the F1 Quartz into fourth place.
It's hard to compare the Kirium and the Aquagraph, the Kirium is a very beautiful looking watch with a very dark purple dial (it looks black but it isn't) that makes a fantastic backdrop for the shiny hands. The elegant simplicity of it makes it by far the best looking Kirium as far as I'm concerned, shameful as it is I couldn't care less about the digital display and I always have it turned off. By contrast the Aquagraph is a brute of a thing, 16mm thick and very heavy on the wrist. It looks like a castle made of steel, but the dial is still very nice and I love the yellow hands (second and minute) on the chronograph.
And what of the Carrera?
Again it's different to the other two, even larger than the Aquagraph but lighter and more intricate and delicate to look at. It's really, really hard to choose one from these three... on the face of it the Kirium is the least valuable and the least impressive, but at the same time it's very tasteful, very comfortable (which the Aquagraph isn't so much) and very good looking, and it's also my first TAG, and nothing can change that.
I think my answer will ultimately change day to day, but I think maybe the Carrera is the winner, with the F1 Kirium second and the Aquagraph third. That seems really harsh on the Aquagraph, but I think my emotional attachment to the Kirium is just too long standing to overcome. The Carrera is something special, I don't think I am as emotionally attached to it as I am the Kirium, but having the skeletonised dial and the glass caseback puts it into another league and I love all the red flourishes and the rubber strap.
Okay, maybe predictable, but I have to go with the Carrera Heuer 01.
Mind you, I haven't been wearing the Aquagraph or the Kirium because I am still in the honeymoon period with the Carrera and want to wear it at every opportunity. In a few months, things may be different, but we'll see.
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