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.
The watches themselves though. Oh boy. My initial reaction was 'Okay, they look better than I thought', but after a few minutes on the wrist I started to change my mind again. I tried the red one on first and I think that is definitely the pick of the bunch. I will also say the red highlights on the green dial aren't as jarring as they appeared in the macro shots. However the yellow dial is completely disgusting. The dial is a sort of pukey-gold colour and while the red and green pieces have made some mediocre attempt at matching the straps with the dials, the yellow is miles off.
I would love to see the yellow watch with a dial that matches the strap, I actually think that could be a nice looking watch and very reminiscent of the Series 2 chronographs from the late 90s (watches that are still commanding impressive prices incidentally).
Disappointed, I left the boutique and walked down a few doors to Goldsmiths and there they were again in the window, sticking out like a sore thumb against all the other TAG Heuer watches. Honestly, if you took the logo off I think at first glance I would guess they were Gucci or some fashion watch garbage... and honestly I take no pleasure in saying that. Indeed, sitting in the window next to these new watches, suddenly those grey/lime and grey/orange Formula 1s from last year looked a LOT more appealing.
I don't know, maybe it's me. Am I now too old for these watches? Has Grand Carrera ownership turned me into a 'watch-snob' overnight? Maybe. I think I am definitely drawn to the classier pieces these days (which perhaps explains why I'm not as keen on the blue/white bezel GMT Aquaracer as I thought I was going to be), but I really wish these watches were closer in design to my 2021 orange Formula 1, which is bold and colourful but avoids looking tacky and cheap.
All in all then I'd have to say that these are perhaps my least favourite TAG Heuer watches in a very long time. I fear my end of year COCO scores are going to peak with the red at a 5 and go down from there. And I still can't understand the premium being charged for these over the basic black dial version, which while it is perhaps a little dull and 'entry level' looking still looks like a 'proper' watch.
I also wonder how the mainstream watch media can present these pieces in such a positive manner? I mean they never say anything negative about anything anyway for fear of being cut out of the loop, but I can't help but feel in a few years when the heat is off these same people will be looking back at these as a low point of 2022.
LINK TO THE RED FORMULA 1 ON THE TAG HEUER WEBSITE:
LINK TO THE GREEN FORMULA 1 ON THE TAG HEUER WEBSITE:
LINK TO THE YELLOW FORMULA 1 ON THE TAG HEUER WEBSITE:
No comments:
Post a Comment