I've often wondered when, or indeed 'if' TAG Heuer would ever get around to making a watch with a 'moonphase' complication... after all, moonphases tend to be reserved for the kind of watches that have blued hands, white guilloche dials and Roman numerals - which is clearly not TAG Heuer's bag. But with the release of the Seafarer last year we were told it was a variation on the moonphase complication, so you might have expected a new moonphase to come in the shape of a modified calibre TH20-00, but it seems that isn't what this is. According to the GPHG website the movement is a Calibre 7 (so Selitta) which seems a bit odd, to submit a watch to GPHG without an in-house movement (unless this is one of those 'designed with Selitta, but not actually in-house so no 5 year warranty watches, maybe?).
As far as I know this watch doesn't actually come out for a few weeks yet and normally I wouldn't post about a watch before it's released, but this one has been submitted to GPHG for appraisal so effectively it's 'out there' and fair game. You might remember this happened last year too with the Carrera Skeleton Extreme, and like that one I have a feeling this might not be a single watch release so it will be interesting to see what comes along.
Is There Actually a Market for a TAG Heuer Moonphase?
That's a very good question, actually... after all it's been almost forty years since the TAG Heuer catalogue featured a moonphase, and even then the watches in question weren't branded 'TAG Heuer' but 'Ed Heuer Co'. These watches were 'retro' in style even in the late 80s, looking more like something from World War II than the then newly released 'plastic' Formula 1s.
But of course moonphase watches don't HAVE to look like that... which is just as well, because TAG Heuer can't really start making those kind of watches and calling them avant garde, even in a 39mm glassbox Carrera case (which this isn't it transpires!). So it's quite interesting to see how they've decided to present this function here.
It's certainly more readable than most 'moonphases' which always look very vague... but is that actually a good thing? I've always thought people who buy 'moonphase' watches bought them primarily for aesthetic reasons and probably don't even set them... so I can't help wondering whether this would just annoy me even more than having to set the date when I pick up a wound down auto.
Does anyone actually need a moonphase?
The simple answer to that is almost certainly no, but then we don't really need chronographs either and we're quite happy to buy those, so I don't necessarily see that as a problem. It's more about trying to find aesthetically pleasing watches with a novel function as a selling point, a point of difference and perhaps most importantly of all something to tempt those who already have a cupboard full of Carreras and really don't need yet another chronograph.
On that score I'm.... decidedly on the fence. I'm getting mild 'Skydweller' vibes from that big circle, and I can't help but wish it didn't have a second hand (given there's so much on the dial we really don't need that spinning around and getting in the way), but I don't dislike it and I hear they are much better looking in person.
I hope so, because while it's not exactly something I 'want', it's really nice to see TAG Heuer actually bringing something 'NEW' to market that isn't just another different dial colour or a new strap on an existing model. That said, I'm already hearing whispers that it has some kind of 'heritage connection' to some fusty old Heuer watch, because OF COURSE IT DOES!!! ðŸ˜
Right, that's half a point lost from me! Let's see what the rest of the Council has to say, shall we?
6.5/10: "I like the idea here and it's different from other moon phase watches. Absolutely love the case back design but the price is a bit steep all things considered."
7/10: "Not something I would buy, but I actually don’t mind this one. Nice to have a different casebook but the dial is a touch busy. Scoring it a fair 7 / 10."
7/10: "Classically stylish. I like the silver dial."
6/10: "Well it’s not unattractive but to me at least a pointless gadget(maybe not to a lycan), price not bad."
6/10: "It's cool to see TAG doing something different. It would've been cooler if they had made it a more unique watch by not housing it in a Carrera case and simply calling it the Astronomer, rather than the Carrera Astronomer. But I get why they did that."
6.5/10: "Interesting watch and moon phase function. Caseback is also nice."
8.5/10: "This is pretty awesome. I love moon phase complications, and they seem to have done a good job. I’d be interested to see some different variations."
5/10: "It's great to see a new model. It's like Solnar, but it's completely new, and it's about space instead of the ocean, which is a very modern interpretation. But I want this model to be more elegant. The dial looks too cluttered to accept."
6/10: "It’s different…"
8/10: "What I like about it are the many new design elements on the dial as well as on the back. They work very well together. I love moonphase complications, but I never saw one like this. It looks very cool. Even if the watch seems to rely on a standard Sellita movement, it’s still a refined touch to include a moonphase complication in the line-up."
7/10: "Interesting take on a moon phase watch. I think an inverse of the black and white might look even nicer."
7/10: "Ha, good to see! The image on the back is a bit comic strip-like, but nicely done. Okay, there is no colour on the moon, but this watch could have used some colour."
7/10: "I like that it's a moonphase, but the moon subdial is crowded and hard to read, especially since it spreads behind the central hands. A more-traditional moon display would be easier to read, especially at a glance."
7/10: "Wow ! it's all nice. but i certainly didn't see any "automatic" everywhere, so is that means this is a quartz ? Legibility might be a problem with that busy dial. I would rate it 7/10."
7/10: "Fresh take on a moonphase. Moon phase watches are usually designed to please the taste of extremely old senior citizens aged 50 and above but this one looks modern and more for normal people. A strong 7 from me."
6/10: "Appreciate the novelty. Afraid the design doesn't do much for me personally, although it's clearly a nice watch and in a decent size."
8/10: "I’m baffled by the price on this, is it in moon dollars? 8/10, fresh, surprising, very much not modern TH."
5/10: "I want to like it, and it is cool to see a moonphase complication, but the subdial is too big and I cannot unsee an insect. It has a lot going on in that subdial."
7/10: "I have one of the LE models on order."
4/10: "Not the worst but yet again another microbrand competitor model for twice as much money. A chronograph would've been interesting."
7/10: "Nice to have something different."
