You may remember I wrote a post a while back referencing an article on 'Hodinkee' about the idea of bringing back the original Formula 1. Well now we have another article appearing on Time & Tide about how TAG Heuer should bring back the original Formula 1. This is surely no coincidence... any more than Hodinkee lauding the Heuer Skipper and Solid Gold Carrera 1158CHN as the best Carreras ever earlier this year - just you wait and see. These guys are in TAG Heuer's pocket and they know what's coming, their job is to sow the seeds of interest, and in the process make themselves look like they have their finger on the pulse.
So at this point it seems quite possible that they are indeed going to bring the classic Formula 1 back, and as it happens I heard another rumour a couple of days ago that this may in fact be the case. Which is just great: but I wish somebody would have told me this before I sold 14 of my 15 classic F1s! I mean I would still have sold them, I just would have waited until all the 'Dinky' crowd wanted to buy them for silly money. Daammmn, I could probably have gotten a new skeleton Monaco out of it!
So the question now is, if this is true - as seems more and more likely, then how are they going to price them and with what kind of specs? If they want to appeal to the mass market, which is surely the idea - picking up the same kinda people who bought the Moonswatch, they need to be cheap. Like £300 cheap. but if they are then the watch enthusiasts who wanted an updated, higher spec version of the old watch are surely going to be disappointed.
At this point it's worth mentioning that Maurice LaCroix are currently selling some plastic bodied F1-esque watches for about £850, I can't see TAG Heuer coming in under that to be honest!
Will the strap be rubber instead of plastic?
Most TAG rubber straps cost £100 these days, so that seems unlikely if the watch is going to be affordable.
What size will it be?
Time & Tide suggest it should be 38mm and that seems reasonable.
Will there be a smaller women's version?
I suspect not, especially since women wear larger watches these days, but maybe if the release is successful they might decide to do that I guess
Will there be a chronograph version?
Hard to say. It would add significant cost so I think it's probably unlikely.
What will the case be made of?
Bioceramic? The original was a resin case, but there was an inner steel case the movement sat in, I guess they could go that route again.
What colours will be available?
Time & Tide mention referencing the original 3 watches. But I can imagine there would be a desire for more than that. If we look at the Moonswatch there was 12 in total if I remember correctly...
Will it have a sapphire crystal or mineral glass?
This last one is interesting, because the Swiss watch industry has spent the last I don't know how many years making a big deal out of sapphire crystal, as if it costs the Earth. And yet we know cheap microbrands use sapphire crystals these days. So it's not that they can't do it at a cheap price, but will they want to?
WAZ1110.FT8023
And then there's the current F1 to consider. The cheapest model available right now is the WAZ1110 on a rubber strap, which costs £1250. How do you price the new model to appeal to the target market without making that one look super-expensive? Which it kinda is to be honest; it's hardly an exciting product - but it is the go-to for the non watch-nerd who's looking to scrape together the funds to get something with the TAG Heuer logo on it.
Honestly this seems like a minefield, and I can't help thinking in the end TAG Heuer will offer too little for too much money, because that's kinda what Swiss watch companies generally do - let's be honest. And let's not forget, at the end of the day, the Moonswatch wasn't a cheap Omega, it was an expensive Swatch.
And finally, I wonder how these will be sold? Will they be freely available on the website or will it be a case of queuing at the boutique? People really hated the way Swatch handled the release of their watch but the publicity it created was huge, and despite everything they sold a million units! I can see the logic of wanting to get people to visit the boutiques and there are probably more TAG Heuer boutiques in the UK than there are Swatch boutiques, but some countries don't have any boutiques - surely it would be better to sell them through the website from day one?
I guess we are going to find out the answers to all these questions before long as the rumour is they are due later this year... but, you know. Maybe not. I haven't seen anything official.
One thing though, if they are going to make them, I hope they print 'Heuer' on the crown just like they did on the originals (even right up into the mid 90s for some bizarre reason), it would be a nice Easter Egg I think.
Watch this space.
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