FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Senna' Quartz & Calibre 16 Chronographs

TAG Heuer Boutique / Milton Keynes, 10th November 2025

A few years ago I did a post about all the Ayrton Senna watches that TAG Heuer had produced, which included a poll of the C.O.C.O. and pronounced the Ayrton Senna designed (WH1114) 6000 Series the pick of the bunch. Since then we've seen last year's (oddly) predominantly blue tourbillon version... and now these slightly more accessible 'Formula 1' models (for those of us operating on slightly more real-world budgets). As luck would have it I visited the TAG Heuer boutique in Milton Keynes a few days ago and these two both happened to be in the store; as such this post is really not so much of a 'First Impression's' post for me, but since we all love to read what the Council's first impressions are I didn't want to skip to a full 'On the Wrist' post either.   

I must admit, despite the fact that I personally own a 'Senna' branded Formula 1 (the 2nd placed WAZ1014), every time I hear about a new watch coming out I roll my eyes. There's been so many of them (these are the twenty fourth and twenty fifth models in fact), which I suppose is quite incredible really and if nothing else illustrates the enduing power of the Senna brand. 

I know, I know... 'celebrity' endorsements are best treated with a degree of scepticism, but Ayrton did have a genuine connection to TAG Heuer, having driven for the McLaren F1 team (owned by then TAG Heuer shareholder Ron Dennis) and he continued to wear the brand even when he left to drive for Williams in the ill-fated 1994 season. Sure, if he'd lived and continued to drive for Williams it's possible that he could have switched to another watch brand (if say Williams had attracted a watch sponsor), but given that he did work with TAG Heuer to design the first 'Senna' 6000 Series, we can at least attribute a little more authenticity to the collaboration than say the ones with Chris Hemsworth, Bella Hadid or indeed Steve McQueen.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 Quartz Chronograph by Random Rob

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 'Manchester United' Complete Service by Montre De Luxe

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Monza 'Carbon' Special Edition Chronograph

 

TAG Heuer Boutique / 28th September 2024, Meadowhall, Sheffield

It's kinda funny, this one has been around for so long that when I clocked it in the display case in the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield's Meadowhall centre, I honestly didn't even think about whether I had ever seen it or tried it on or not. I was just like... 'Oh there's the carbon Monza'... and it wasn't until the (always fabulous) Maxine asked me if I'd seen it before that the penny finally dropped. I mean it's been at least two years since the Monza CR5090 first appeared on (Red Bull Racing boss) Christian Horner's wrist, so it just feels very familiar, even though before today I'd never actually come across one in person. 

Thinking about it it's been quite a number of years since I had any kind of Monza on the wrist and I'd kinda forgotten quite how big a 42mm 'square' watch really is. I think even from this photo you can tell that it's quite a lump of watch and it sits quite high too. But with its carbon case and nylon strap, of course it's anything but heavy. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco Special Editions by Swiss Watch Expo

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz 'Indy 500' Special Edition

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At some point I should probably write a post about the many Indy 500 watches TAG Heuer have produced, but for now let's concentrate on this brand new model released last week at Watches & Wonders 2024. TAG Heuer have been pretty consistently releasing Indy 500 watches for the last few years, some of them really nice and some of them not so much. From the renders this one looks to be one of the better ones, perhaps bested only by the CAZ101AD released in 2020 with its black case, asphalt dial and red brick stripe.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Gulf and Red Bull Special Editions by AMJ Watches

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Sports 'Porsche' Special Edition Heuer 02 Chronograph

 

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TAG Heuer Boutique / Oxford Street, London 13th May 2023

When this one came out back in early February, it seemed just a little bit underwhelming. At first glance it was a bit of an 'oh yes, just like the yellow one they did before... but orange' kinda deal; but seeing it in person for the first time was a whole different story. Wow, this one is pretty amazing. Now granted I never actually got to see the yellow one in person, the closest I came was being told they had it out the back in reserve for someone (that was in the Derby TAG Heuer boutique - but it was my first time there and they didn't offer to get it out of the safe for me), and if I had maybe this would have had less impact, but even so this is quite a special Carrera.

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Dark Lord' Tribute Special Edition Heuer 02 Chronograph

 

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TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield 22nd April 2023

It's almost a year since the release of the TAG Heuer Monaco 'Dark Lord Tribute' and to my great shock and surprise a few weeks ago I finally got to see one! In fact, in the weeks since I saw this particular one in the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield's Meadowhall centre, I've seen another one - this time in the flagship boutique in Oxford Street (London). I guess Dark Lord's really are like buses huh?

I suppose I shouldn't be quite so surprised, since after all the 'Dark Lord' is a limited release model, rather than a blink-and-you'll-miss-it-never-to-be-seen-again limited edition of 600pcs like the purple and green dial Monacos, and now that the initial rush of interest has abated they are slowly starting to appear on the high street. But even so it's hard not to be somewhat in awe of this long awaited legend of a watch, or at least the 2023 interpretation of it.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Dark Lord Tribute' Calibre Heuer 02 Chronograph by WatchBox Reviews

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Gulf' Special Edition Quartz Chronograph

 

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It seems like rumours of a new, updated Formula 1 have been swirling around for months if not years now, but to me it seems pretty clear that the Formula 1 has been refreshed with a new look (if not a new case) and so I fully expect this new style of Formula 1 to be around for a while yet. Personally I quite like it; I'll admit I found the 'Red Bull' a bit busy on release, but overall the new watches definitely seem a bit more 'on it' (although to be clear I'm definitely not talking about the dreadful tri-colour F1s here) and for me one which was hanging around and in desperate need of a makeover was the Gulf F1 edition.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Porsche Special Edition' Heuer 02 Chronograph

 

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When TAG Heuer announced they would be teaming up with Porsche a few years ago there was much approval rippling through the THF Forum... at least until the first watch arrived. I quite liked it and one THF forum member actually bought one, but generally speaking there was a LOT of negativity towards it. Partly this was because of the 44mm diameter of the Carrera Sports case (yawn), but also because it wasn't nearly as 'retro' looking as people hoped (quelle surprise). 

Then last year they brought out a new version accented in yellow and the people who didn't like the first one liked it even less! In fact the yellow version scored almost a full half mark less than the first version in the end of year 'WOTY' poll. But, out in the real world, the yellow Carrera sold out quickly and the only time I got close to seeing one was when I visited a TAG Heuer boutique in Nottingham and was told they had one out the back awaiting collection by it's new owner.

FEATURE: TAG Heuer's 'Senna' Branded Watches

True F1 legends are few and far between. While that statement may seem a little odd at first glance, if you think about it, it's not that wide of the mark. Some supposed 'legends' don't last much beyond their tenure in the sport, and most start to fade as the population ages and starts to forget. Or some, like Sebastian Vettel, unfortunately end up in a situation where their early domination peters out until people start to wonder just how exactly he managed to win four WDCs in a row and was it in fact just the fact that they were driving the best car?

Then there's drivers like Fernando Alonso, who despite not winning as many titles as he really deserved, still command huge respect and a huge salary too, because he always gives it everything.

And then there's Ayrton Senna. A driver who (the older) current F1 drivers grew up watching and often still revere as 'the best', if nothing else for but his relentless competitiveness and desire to dominate everyone that stood between him and the titles he believed were his and his alone.

One thing's for sure, Ayrton would absolutely hate modern F1, as someone who wanted to attack every lap like it was for pole, he would have been disgusted at the idea of only having three engines to last a season and having to back off so as not to put too much stress on the mechanicals.

When you think about it like that it's easy to understand why we will never see another 'Senna'. Modern F1 just isn't built like that. In fact, if anything, Senna's arch nemesis Alain Prost would likely be the poster boy for the current era, a man who somehow managed to compete with Senna driving (in his own words) only as fast as absolutely necessary to win the race.

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Mexico' Limited Editions

 
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A few days ago an Instagram poster called 'tagheuermaniac' sent me a photo of a WAH style quartz Formula 1 reminiscent of the Gulf model but with green and red stripes instead of orange and blue. I had never seen this model before so I'll admit I was a little sceptical at first (after all, I have spent more hours than I care to remember trying my best to find and catalogue every TAG Heuer ever made on my 'Gallery' blog and also here in the 'Number Lists' and 'History of' posts), but after doing some more digging I managed to verify that this was indeed a genuine model and in the process uncovered two more 'Mexico' limited edition Formula 1s! 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 'Aston Martin' Special Edition Chronograph by The Watch Village

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Gulf' Special Edition Heuer 02 Chrongograph by Brent L Miller Time

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco Heuer 02 'Dark Lord Tribute' Special Edition by World Tempus

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco Heuer 02 'Dark Lord Tribute' by Time & Tide

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Indy 500' Limited Edition Quartz Chronograph

 

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Well this is slightly embarrassing... I found this post in the 'Draft Posts' folder, it should have been posted over a month ago and included in the 'Half Year Round-Up'. I can only apologise for my tardiness! 

Over the years there have been some fairly.... umm, unattractive looking 'Indy 500' watches produced by TAG Heuer. But two years ago they finally got it right and produced the rather good looking CAZ101AD. Here at last was a watch I and many others on the TH Forum could get behind, regardless of whether or not they had any interest in the race itself. With it's black coating, rubber strap and bespoke dial (with red brick stripe), I even contemplated buying one myself and I've never watched an Indy 500 in my life!

But of course, with success comes pressure when it's time to follow it up... and here we have the follow up to that very watch. As you can see it's very much designed on the same template as this year's 'Red Bull' Special Edition, but instead of the somewhat controversial 'grid markings' instead we have the control tower (or as someone cheekily suggested on the TH Forum the 'Christmas Tree').

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer S/EL 'Mickey Mouse' Dial Quartz Watch

 

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Back in March I told you the story of a very cool TAG Heuer 2000 Sports watch with a 'Coke' bezel which featured Mickey Mouse on the dial (if you haven't read it I will leave a link at the bottom of this post). This was very kindly forwarded to me by a member of the THF Forum (HoltzPlatz) who knew that I was looking for a Coke bezel 2000 and wanted to give me first dibs on it. But when I passed on that particular one because a) it was in America and b) because the eBay listing rather worryingly said it needed a new battery, he decided to pull the trigger on it himself. As it turned out when it arrived it really did just need a new battery (phew!), and as it happened I ended up buying a (non-Disney) 2000 Sports 'Coke' from America anyway! More on that another time - the 'Buying Experience' post for that is in the queue and will appear soon! 

At around the same time HoltzPlatz also sent me the details of another 'Disney dial' TAG Heuer he had stumbled upon, which languished in a folder on my desktop for several months, but now I can share with you the minty looking WG1113 S/EL you see here.