WBP2115.BA0627
Long term readers (and THF Forum members) will be painfully aware of my... obsession with the original green dial / steel bezel Aquaracer which was released back in 2019. When it was released I kept waiting for it to turn up in stores and it just never did. The Oxford Street boutique told me they had a grand total of two, which were sold within hours of going on display, and despite me asking in lots of ADs on my travels, I just could not find one.
Of course, back in 2019 I was a bit less savvy than I am now and rest assured I would be a lot more pro-active about finding a watch I was that interested in these days. But frankly it was always the one that got away, and it never did turn up at Bicester Village (as far as I know - unlike my other dream Aquaracer, the WAY208C), so I was a little surprised the other day when our Swedish correspondent Jim Dollares told me that he saw one back then in some backwater town in Sweden!
Now of course green Aquaracers are ten a penny, you only have to open eBay and type in green dial Aquaracer and you will have a fantastic selection of fake green-dial Aquaracers to choose from. Of course there might be the odd genuine one, but how would you ever pick it out? No thanks, I'm not going down that route: I always hoped Watchfinder might get one in that I could trust, but I don't think they ever have... so that was another dead end.
TAG Heuer followed it up with a second green dial Aquaracer, but this one had a green bezel and I was never as keen on that one, so imagine my excitement when I found out there was going to be a new green dial / steel bezel Aquaracer in 2023! I couldn't wait to see it. Though I was a little, eh... sceptical because I wasn't initially sold on the latest 40mm Aquaracers versus the 43mm models.
However, despite their shortcomings in the clasp department, I've kind of come around to them of late, having tried on first the blue fumé dial version, then the titanium Solargraph and most recently the new blue dial / gold bezel / steel case version. So on board am I in fact that I will tell you a little secret, tomorrow I am going to drive to the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield and I am 99.9% sure I am gonna buy the green one.
So clearly there is a very good chance that I will be posting a 'Buying Experience' fairly soon, and since there's not too much new about this watch other than the dial colour I think I will leave it to the Council to fill out the rest of this post, so far reaction on the forum has been largely positive, so let's hope for an impressive score!
Since I wrote the article, I did indeed visit the Sheffield Boutique and come home with the watch. As such I am more invested in the scores than normal. Clearly this was never going to be a threat for WOTY, but I'm pretty pleased with a 7.6/10 from the council.
Anyway, without further ado, here are the comments from the Council...
9/10: Having now seen this watch in the flesh i can confidently give this a solid 9/10. That green dial is just stunning, along with the polished hour markers just makes for a luxurious look. I wasn't sure about the bezel when I first saw photos either but it is lovely, hard to explain but the whole watch just works perfectly together. Well done.
7/10: Only cause for concern is the longevity of green as a colour way and those polished centre links.
7/10: Best 200m so far, much cleaner without the hideous cyclops, but I'm slightly worried that flat bezel will be a scratch magnet and it's still got the calibre 5...
8/10: I gave 7/10 to the black and to the blue 40mm AR, and green is my favourite of the three. Very nice!
6/10: I've never been a fan of green.
8/10: I rank this Green one basically the same as the Gray and Blue. I've always liked these 40mm Aquaracers, the Green is a very nice addition. I initially liked the Gray the best, but later preferred the Blue. Green is usually not my cup of tea, but I rather like this shade.
7.5/10: I like the steel bezel AR most although it’s a lot of steel in the wrist. The green dial is the best of the lot. Bracelet design and calibre are not on point so not a bad score.
7/10: I enjoyed checking this out in person, I think it's a nice colourway and will still be a cool watch once green is no longer the latest trend (which it kind of already isn't at this point).
8/10: This watch could really shine in the right light but the changing green/black still looks good.
6.5/10: Love the dial, but unfortunately not so much the combination with the steel bezel…
7/10: I think this is probably one that looks much better in the metal than in photographs.
8/10: I really need to see one in the flesh. Play in lighting gives it a different character.
6/10: My personal opinion is that the previous green dial was more vivid and made a better impression, but this one is less impressive because it is dark and the green is less noticeable. However, it depends on each person's preference, and I think that some people prefer vivid colours, while others prefer less noticeable greens like this time.
5/10: This is one of those watches that invokes no emotion from me whatsoever so I really can't score it anything else.
8/10: I like this one quite a bit. The colour looks nice, and the dial seems to reveal more areas of green than the 2021 Monaco.
9/10: Awesome. What I like about my blue AR are the different kind of blue depending on the light. I guess this effect is even better with the green fume dial. Those new Aquaracers have a very balanced design. Sporty and elegant at the same time. Only thing are the hour markers, which I would like to be a bit smaller. But the lume would not be so flashy then...
8/10: The dials on this new model Aquaracer are really nice in person, glad they went with the black background on the date. Looking forward to getting to see this one at the AD
7/10. Great colour, although I think I prefer the blue version, or the older brilliant green dial version. Good size. Still the new Aquaracer design has features I don't like, though. And the Calibre 5 is disappointing.
8.5/10: Luckily it's more ‘British racing’ green. So less ‘snooker table’ green than the picture on the TH website. Classy colour!
8/10: This one gets a strong 8 from me. I think it should be a lot brighter green, otherwise almost perfect! Would look better with eight sided markers and a cyclops. Obviously.
9/10: Love the variation in the dial with the light play. Like the brushes bezel as ceramic would have just been too much for this one. PCL’s work nicely. Adjustable clasp would have been nice, but depends on how much an individual would use it. Overall a very classy watch indeed.
10/10: I have to give this a 10 - the picture really doesn't do it justice!
No comments:
Post a Comment