ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Nanograph

CAR5A8K.FT6172

TAG Heuer Boutique / Sheffield, 25th May 2019

Turning around and away from the new Autavia display I noticed behind me the Nanograph, all on it's lonesome in a little glass class. Well, I wasn't expecting that! Obviously the Nanograph is way beyond my means, but I was excited to see it nonetheless, a pity then that it didn't exactly blow me away.

Think back to when TAG released the Formula 1 Aston Martin, the pictures made me sit up and take notice, but when I finally got to see it, well... it just didn't pack the punch that the photographs promised. Unfortunately the Nanograph suffers much the same fate. The green isn't really all that 'in your face' and there isn't nearly enough of it for my liking. Hard to believe (not least for me), but the Nanograph fell way short and was blitzed by my first impression of the bronze/green Autavia!

Not only that, but for about £5k less I could have the limited edition blue-lume tourbillon that was sitting not three feet away, and looks a lot more exciting if I'm honest. Even the strap on the Nanograph was a bit disappointing, it looked like it had been worn for about three years. I mean I know the watch is probably having a bit of a hard life, what with being trolled around the boutiques trying to pick up sales, but... I dunno, it just didn't excite me at all. 

The worst thing is I can't even get excited about the hairspring in it, because for an eighth of the price I could have the exact same hairspring in a new Autavia. Is it me, or is it kind of shooting yourself in the foot to bring out something genuinely revolutionary and then stick it in a range of 'mid-price' watches five minutes later? Haven't they rather pulled the rug out from the Nanograph somewhat?

On the wrist, the Nanograph wears exactly like any other 45mm Carrera really. I do like the lime green stripe around the case, much like the red stripe on the original Heuer 01s, but I just wish there was more of it on the dial. Speaking of the dial, I don't know if it was the lighting in the shop but it's all very dark. All that lovely detailing you can see in the photos isn't really that visible. On the plus side, this does make the Nanograph quite legible in comparison to a lot of 'skeletonised'* watches, but if I was buying this I don't really think that would be my primary concern.

*It's not really skeletonized, I know, but it's not a normal flat dial either

Disappointing then, certainly in comparison to the impressive Autavia collection, but before I go I must just mention 'Jackie' who served me in the TAG boutique today. What a lovely, friendly, enthusiastic lady, and a credit to TAG Heuer and Watches of Switzerland (who own the store). Like Ashley in the Goldsmiths on the lower floor, I haven't got a bad word to say about her, exactly the sort of person I'd want to see when looking at watches, I just wish I could have bought something after the amount of time she spent with me.