SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Monaco V4 Platinum Limited Edition Watch

 

WAW2170.FC6261

During the 00s and early 10s, and under the stewardship of CEO Jean Cristophe Babin, TAG Heuer flexed their horological muscles and produced a slew of hardcore time pieces including the Mikropendulum, the Mikrotimer Flying 1000 and the Monaco V4. The V4 was released in several different configurations (including a tourbillon) but this particular model was notable primarily for its platinum case.

Now, I had this quote in my head that all the platinum in the world would fit in an Olympic swimming pool... but I knew if I blithely slapped that into this post and it was wrong someone would call me out. So, like all good journalists, I Googled it... and it appears that I wasn't far wrong. Apparently it is estimated that there are 70,000 metric tonnes of platinum, mostly still in the ground in South Africa, but as far as how much has already been mined, well supposedly it would all fit in a room 25ft square.

Which probably explains why it's so bloody expensive! Indeed, the watch in question is currently available new from 'Watches of Mayfair' at a price of £89,279... I wonder if they have the nerve to charge carriage on top?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph by Bruce Williams

 

FEATURE: Who Would You Like to See TAG Heuer Collaborate With Next?

Following TAG Heuer's recent collaboration with MarioKart, I thought it would be interesting to ask the Council of Considered Opinion who they would like to see TAG Heuer collaborate with next and what they would like to see come of it. Here then is a brief insight into the minds of the members of the council...

KAPPA MD: "TAG Heuer x Nike / Jordan would be interesting for me, in the form of Connected, Aquaracer sports watch or some hype production? Just thinking out of the box. How about Lego?"

ANTHONY R: "Enough already.... just do what they are good at. Let's hope we see some classic stuff next year."

REMO:  "If they stay with Nintendo they could do a Link x Legend of Zelda (since the Hero of Zelda is Link if you didn't know)."

"After there were TAG Heuer x Art and TAG Heuer x games collabs there will most probably be TAG Heuer x music collabs. Bamford already did it with the Bamford Mayfair x Queen and Bamford x Kylie Minogue. I would appreciate a TAG Heuer x Young Gods edition with matching Soundtrack: Gasoline man!"

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: Watches Available at TAG Heuer Bicester Village

 
Call the Store on 01869 249008

It's been a while since my last 'Bicester Village' post, mainly because the stock seems fairly static these days. But I noticed yesterday that there a few new pieces filtering through and I thought I would share these with you. As ever, stock is limited so please call the store before driving long distances, I'm sure Evan and Frazer will be delighted to hear from you!

WAY108A.FT6141

List Price - £2100

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE - £1400

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 Series by Erased Culture

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer x Mario Kart Formula 1 Calibre 16 and Tourbillon Limited Edition Chronographs

 

CAZ201E.FC6517                                    CAZ5080.FC6517

Oh Lord. Where to begin with this pair? Okay, cards on the table here... I think I played a Super Mario game once about five years ago at a New Years Eve party, and that is pretty much my experience of the admittedly very popular gaming franchise. As such, I really have zero investment in this, I'm solely viewing this from the perspective of a watch enthusiast and not a Mario fanboi. Which is probably not ideal and in fact I posted on the 'THF Forum' asking if anyone wanted to write a guest 'First Impressions' post for these because I felt it might be better written by someone who understood where TAG Heuer were coming from with these watches. Alas, no one volunteered, so I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and do it myself... though I can't honestly say I'm looking forward to it.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer MarioKart Watch Costs $25,000! by Watchfinder & Co

 

OWNED: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Baby Blue' Quartz Watch

 

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Slowly but surely I am divesting myself of my excess of watches and unfortunately this classic F1 quartz is the latest to bite the eBay bullet. I can't deny it's one of the cooler looking colour schemes for the old Formula 1 range and mine was in lovely condition - but the truth is I never really felt that comfortable wearing it. For one thing, you just know that light blue strap isn't going to stay pristine-looking forever (unless you're very careful with how you wear the watch and indeed what you wear on your sleeve next to it as the plastic strap can take pigment from clothes).

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Quartz Chronograph by NeilPinkett

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Ladies Calibre 5 'Pink Dial' Watch

 

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TAG Heuer Boutique / Milton Keynes, 10th October 2022

My TAG Heuer enthusiast wife Rose was keen to try on this new pink-dial Aquaracer today, even though she knew that at 36mm it was probably going to be too big for her tiny wrist. Fortunately she was in luck as the TAG Heuer boutique had it in stock and actually it didn't look as ridiculous as she feared; which was a surprise given that we've always thought her 32mm green dial Aquaracer was pretty much her limit size wise. 

Maybe it's to do with the thickness, but others have commented about how well the 43mm Aquaracer wears, people who usually moan about oversized watches as it goes... so maybe the design philosophy applies equally to the 36mm versions? I know our Swedish correspondent (Sleazy) Jim Dollares tried a 36mm Aquaracer on recently as he thought he could get away with it and was openly mocked by the shop assistant! 😏

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monza CR2113 by Watch Once Over

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Stoplight' Quartz Chronographs

CAZ101AM.FT8054               CAZ101AN.FT8055               CAZ101AP.FT8056

 

TAG Heuer Boutique / Milton Keynes, 10th October 2022

My initial reaction to the press photos for these watches was fairly tepid, but over the following days they started to grow on me a little bit to the point where I was actually semi-excited to see them. After all, in recent times a lot of new watches seem to look better on the wrist than in photographs so I didn't want to make up my mind until I'd viewed them for myself (especially since these new pieces have strong metallic dials that can look different from different angles).

Well, now I have and I have to say the straps look fantastic, really nice colours and comfortable too... when they make a black one I will definitely be first in the queue (assuming it will fit my orange F1 WAZ101A?) because these are a definite improvement on the somewhat uninspiring perforated rubber straps that came before.

VIDEO: Heuer Super Professional 1000M Dive Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

https://www.birthyearwatches.com/product/c1984-heuer-super-professional-with-pouch/

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 'Porsche 2.7 Edition' Chronographs

 
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To say it's been a busy year on the watch release front would be an understatement (more than fifty new watches already this year!) and we're not finished yet. Next up we have not one but two new 'Porsche' branded (and these ones really are branded) Heuer 02 driven Carrera Elegants... though whether you could describe these watches as 'elegant' is a different matter altogether. 

Okay, we'll scratch that part, but these are the smaller 42mm Carreras rather than the 44mm 'Sports' models (these 'Elegant' and 'Sports' labels seem to have fallen by the wayside somewhat) and so more befitting of a retro-vibe appropriate for pieces celebrating 50 years since the launch of the Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Watch by One Man Reviews

 

NEWS: TAG Heuer Catalogues Now Available Online

 

With the unfortunate demise of the Calibre 11 website we lost a fantastic long standing source of information about our favourite brand and while rumours persist that the data will eventually surface in some form on the TAG Heuer website, I very much doubt it will be as complete since TAG Heuer seemingly have little interest in the history of their less celebrated watches. I understand this since it doesn't help them sell their current watches and they are a business after all, but still.

Maybe they will prove me wrong and they will unveil a fabulous history section on their website... I genuinely hope so. But if there was one thing I wasn't prepared to lose access to it was the huge selection of TAG Heuer catalogues, and so once I knew that C11 was being closed down I spent many hours downloading each and every page of all 100+ catalogues (dating from 1959). It was a relief when it was over to be honest.

Now, thanks to Imagwai from THF Forums, you can access these once more by clicking the banner to the right of this post (or clicking the link in the CATALOGUES tab if you are reading this on a phone or tablet).

Alternatively you can click the link below:

http://medd.co.uk/th_catalogues

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 'Cortina/Singapore 50th Anniversary' Limited Edition

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Quite something, this one... perhaps a watch that could be described as 'Marmite'; something that's clearly borne out by the vastly divergent comments from the 'Council of Considered Opinion' below! And I guess it's easy to see why as this watch may not really hit the mark for Western audiences, but since this watch is specifically made for the Singaporean market and particularly for the 50th Anniversary of watch retailer 'Cortina' who are based there perhaps we in the West are not best placed to appraise it?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Grand Prix de Monaco Historique' Limited Edition Heuer 02 Chronograph by The Watch Village

 

FEATURE: My Top Five Diamond Bezel TAG Heuer Watches

 

CAR5A1X.BA0510 'Yoshida' Limited Edition (2017)

Supposedly 'diamonds' are a girl's best friend, but guys can wear diamonds too - it's just that not too many of us want to. I certainly would, but it's hard to wrap your head around paying £4500 for a watch that might otherwise cost £2800 just because it has a shiny bezel. Still, sooner or later I would like to add one diamond bezel watch to my collection, could it be one of these?