ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 'Titanium' Watch

WBP208B.BF0631

TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield, 16th June 2022

It's been a little over a year since my first encounter with the WBP208B: back then of course we were still between bouts of 'Covid-lockdown' so it was an absolute treat to be able to go outside and look in the shops (albeit you had to stand outside and wait to be welcomed in past the velvet rope, which contrary to popular belief doesn't 'add to the experience' like you might think it would!). 

Back then I tried on this one, a new blue-dial Aquaracer I believe and I also had a look at the 36mm version with the silver dial. This was my favourite of the three, but even then it wasn't something that I was considering purchasing. For one thing, while I kind of like the green aesthetic, it is a very particular green, a very 'military' green if you like and not something that massively appeals to me. If I was going to buy a green watch I would want it to be much brighter, the original Aquaracer WAY2015 springs to mind - but of course they are sold out and now there are fakes everywhere... so that's out the window.

The other reason I wasn't very keen was the price, with a £1000 premium over the regular pieces in the range, which for me was too much. Yeah sure, you're getting a very light titanium watch with a cool surface finish, but to me that extra coin just didn't really add up.

So it was interesting to see it again, and I have to say it is still just as impressively light as it was back then and if anything I think that green may have grown on me a little in the intervening year or so. I had this, the new orange dial Aquaracer and the Gulf Monaco on the desk in front of me and I would say this was the pick of the bunch. But in all honesty, it still didn't pull at my wallet strings.

It's strange, because back in the day I used to own a WAH1110 Formula 1 (the one with the big stencil numerals, not the other WAH1110 with the silver baton indexes - go check it out there are two watches with the same number!) and when I found out there was a khaki version of that watch I really wanted it. But now, it doesn't seem to have the same appeal. In fact if I was going to get a khaki Aquaracer I think I might be tempted to go for the WAY101L with the grey dial and khaki bezel. That one is a quartz and retails for £1450 instead of £3500, but it does come on a green NATO... hmm.

Okay, so you really can't compare the two, this watch is head and shoulders better, but I can't really get fully behind this one when it's dearer than the (all titanium) Bamford Limited Edition was... I mean how does that work? 

Link to the WBP208B.BF0631 on the TAG Heuer website:

https://www.tagheuer.com/gb/en/timepieces/collections/tag-heuer-aquaracer/43-mm-calibre-5-automatic/WBP208B.BF0631.html