TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield 16th October 2026
For only the second time ever (as far as I can remember) I spent the evening of my birthday watching a band (Belphegor) instead of sitting in a restaurant eating an overpriced steak. Jolly good it was too (despite only narrowly avoiding clattering to the floor like a sack of spuds at one point - I'm getting too old for this shit), and on the way to the 'Corporation' in Sheffield I decided to stop off at Meadowhall and visit the superbly staffed TAG Heuer boutique.
I haven't been to many watch shops this year, not least because the new releases have left me less than enthused about trying anything on, but this visit proved quite worthwhile and may have played a defining role in deciding where my WOTY vote goes. Maybe.
And we might as well start there, because this is easily one of the best looking watches TAG Heuer have released this year; I love the black/orange colour combination, though I could definitely live without the purpley looking wavy dial. Incredibly, despite the watch only coming out a few months ago AND being a limited edition, both this and the blue model are already being heavily discounted - which seems odd.
The blue one is okay, but I really like this one... the only issue I really have with this watch is the weight. It's just too damned light and I can imagine a lot of people would balk at paying the price for a watch that weighs this little. I'm not advocating for Aquagraph levels of weight (that's too far the other way) but this is after all, supposedly a tool watch, so there is a slight expectation of ruggedness and heft that's sadly lacking.
Obviously it's not the first time I've handled a titanium watch, but even I was surprised when I picked it up off the table. Because unlike the original Aquaracer Solargraph Ti, this one LOOKS like it should have some weight to it and it's very disconcerting when it doesn't. I can't help wondering if that's why it's not selling, because it looks good and if it was selling, well they wouldn't be knocking a grand off the asking price, would they?
Honestly, if this was steel, it would be a slam dunk WOTY for me and I'd probably be selling watches to get one. As it is, it's very good, but it definitely ain't perfect.
A newer release, is this 'Goodwood Festival of Speed' Formula 1, which is powered by the 'Calibre 16' automatic movement. This is actually very nice; the green dial with silver/white subdials really works, the orange chrono hand pops and the orange highlights on the crown and top pusher really finish things off nicely.
Even so it was a bit of a shock when I took the watch off and turned it over. Seeing the price sticker on the reverse rather took me aback, because at the end of the day, this is still a Formula 1, with a similar level or finish and bracelet to my orange dial WAZ101A.
Yeah sure, that's a quartz three hander and this is an automatic chronograph, but does that really justify the £3000 difference? I dunno, I'd be a lot happier if it was just under £3000 and once this hits the pre-owned market it will probably make a lot more sense.
This is the sort of watch that traditionalists hate; 44mm dia, titanium case and bracelet, carbon bezel, blacked out skeletonised hands... and on paper exactly the sort of watch I should love. But, in person it feels incredibly bland. How something that looks such a dog's dinner can also appear bland I do not know, quite an achievement really... and forget reading the time, cos it ain't happening.
Finally we have the Watches of Switzerland limited edition Carrera. I saw this in a window a while back and thought it looked 'okay', and it's certainly preferable to the Gulf F1... but it's not exactly at the top of my Christmas wish list. It must be said though it certainly stands out in the display cabinet, and will surely appeal to some people.
I will say that I'm glad that TAG Heuer are finally bringing some more colourful dials to market for those of us with larger wrists. Because while I'm not totally sold on the pink, lilac and green dial Carreras, it would be nice to have the 'option' to wear them if I wanted to. It's not that pink is inherently feminine, but combine that colour with a watch that looks too small on me and it really does look like I'm wearing one of my wife's watches. 36mm is just not viable for someone like me with a 7.5" wrist.
So there we have it, a bit of a mixed bag really, but one definite winner (especially as the current offer price means it's a better deal than the F1 Goodwood FOS!
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