VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Tourbillon Watches by Swiss Watch Expo

 

FEATURE: A Review of 2023 with Jim Dollares

 

Hello again dear readers, we're really knocking on the door of 2024 now so it's time to take one final look back at 2023 in the company of our favourite Swedish Aquaracer enthusiast Jim Dollares. 

ROB: Hey Jim, are you excited to look back over this massive year for TAG Heuer?

JIM: Merry Christmas from a snowy, cold and beautiful Sweden! Yes indeed, what a year it has been for fans of TAG Heuer. Plenty of highlights but also some of the worst releases in modern times.

ROB: Controversial stuff from the start, but yes I have to agree with you on that one... but oddly we seem to be in the minority when it comes to talking about the new 39mm Glassbox Carreras. Why is it do you think that everyone and his dog loves these new ones, when they are clearly inferior to the old glassbox re-issues?

JIM: I truly don't know and it confuses me. For years, all we heard was that the Heuer logo and vintage inspired pieces were what they all wanted, 'Sure it looks decent, but I wish it had the Heuer logo', was what they told us on repeat. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Solargraph in Steel by Time & Tide

 

FEATURE: The C.O.C.O. Council Watch of the Year 2023

 

Welcome back everyone and I hope you all had a great Christmas... I'm sure you have barely been able to sleep thinking what could possibly be the C.O.C.O. 'Watch of the Year' for 2023 and so without further ado, let's get right into that!

This year for the first time the Council was asked to vote not only for a 'Watch of the Year' but also for a runner up and a third place too. The 'Watch of the Year' though could only be won by 1st place votes, with the other placings only coming into play once that was decided. 

FEATURE: The Best and Worst of TAG Heuer 2023

 

Hello everyone, it's Christmas Eve again and we're into the final countdown for the 2023 C.O.C.O. Watch of the Year award. As usual I will be revealing the Council's scores for everything bar the top ten performers, but before I do I would like to pause and take a moment to thank all the members of the Council of Considered Opinion for their valuable contributions this year. It's one thing for me to sit here and proclaim my preferences, but quite another to get 26 others to regularly score and comment on each new release as it happens. So thank you to all of you in supporting me on this continuing journey of discovery and for helping to make The TAG Heuer Enthusiast the best TAG Heuer blog on the internet.

Well, pretty much the only one actually. But still...

I would also like to thank anyone who contacted me or who posted about new releases on the THF Forum. I believe (hope) we have managed to snag every release of 2023 (though given I only recently found out about two that came out six months ago I can't swear to it) and that is only possible because people all over the world have given me/us a heads up. Without this help I don't know if we'd even know of the existence of the Monaco Boutique Monaco, the Hawaiian Aquaracer or the Year of the Tiger Carrera chronograph. So thank you, and please if you see something you think we've missed drop a comment below a post or better still come join the THF Forum and shout about it.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 Day/Date Watch by Random Watch Dude

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Heuer Monaco 'Las Vegas' Calibre 11 Chronograph Limited Edition

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You may remember a very recent 'First Impressions' post I did for the China/SKP Monaco, a piece that was limited to a run of 25 units. Well, now we have this 'Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023' Monaco (limited to just 23 pieces, see what they did there?), which is almost identical save for the display-back engraving and the strap (which has smaller perforations than the one found on the China/SKP model).

So, okay this is obviously aimed at rich guys visiting the Las Vegas Grand Prix who presumably have little knowledge of the brand and the CAW211C on which this is based. And they probably also don't realise that the watch is supplied in what looks incredibly like a recycled wooden Autavia box - I mean I can't see why else that TAG Heuer plaque is there, other than to cover up the 'Autavia' cut out in the insert! And while we're on the subject... why is the box branded TAG Heuer not Heuer? 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 6000 Series Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Chronographs (Now on Bracelets!)

 

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This post has been kicking around for a few weeks, but since there were (frankly) a lot more interesting things to talk about I never got a round to posting it.

Initially released last year on some rather nice colour coded rubber straps, nevertheless these three were scored very low by the council in the end of year poll (and rightly so in my opinion). A year on and TAG Heuer have decided to re-release them on the standard Formula 1 bracelet and, well... I'm not entirely sure it's a positive move.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm 'Pink Dial' Calibre 7 by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Dubai Skyline' Heuer 02T Limited Edition

 

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Last year's Dubai Boutique edition Carrera tourbillon was not a particular hit with the Council of Considered Opinion, scoring a rather lowly 4.9/10 in the end of year polling. This was most likely at least in part due to the slightly garish red a green colour scheme. This year however, TAG Heuer have toned it down a little (no really, go check out last year's HERE) and produced this limited edition of just twelve pieces.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Porsche Chronosprint' Chronograph by Monochrome Watches

 

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Solargraph' Solar Quartz Watch

 

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When the original Solargraph came out I was more than a little intrigued. A cool black Aquaracer with a lume infused carbon bezel - count me in! But God-damn it took a long time to come to market, and by the time it did there was suddenly a rather nice titanium version on offer too. Unfortunately, right at the point when the watch finally broke cover was right when I was saving hard to buy myself something 'special', and so I was reluctant to part with the necessary £2500 to buy it because I knew it was going to take a long time to replace that in my TAG fund.

But still I sat in the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield for what must have been nearly half an hour, pondering and debating. I liked it, but... it seemed a little small, and a little expensive and I wasn't 100% sold on that light blue hand. Of course since then I have bought the green dial Calibre 5 Aquaracer which is also 40mm (all my other Aquaracers are 43mm) so I came back to the watch better prepared from that perspective, and as for the blue hand well I think I like it now... it's kinda cool that it marks out this Aquaracer as a solar-powered model and I also like that this is the original 'Solargraph' and always will be.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 4000 Series Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre TH20-00 Solid Gold Chronograph

 

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TAG Heuer Boutique / London, 28th October 2023

Oh boy, here we go again with another 39mm glassbox... why do I do this to myself?

Now I don't want to sound like a broken record, but even though I've tried on all three previous 39mm Carrera glasboxes (the reverse panda, the blue dial and the Skipper) for some reason it still shocks me when I get one on the wrist and I realise just how small and toy-like they are. Yes 'toy-like'. Sorry if that offends, but these are just hilarious on my 7.5/8" wrist.

Now you might be thinking to yourself, 'Pfft, Rob... you're such a thug. Truly there is nothing finer in life than a delicate, slim 36mm Patek Philippe, but I suppose you wouldn't appreciate something as elegant and timeless as that'. And you'd be wrong. I can totally appreciate something like that, but these watches aren't timeless and elegant, in fact while everyone else is falling over themselves to congratulate TAG Heuer on their wonderful new direction, I honestly think these are going to age badly.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm Automatic by Brent Miller Time

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Carrera 'The Race Never Stops' by Nicholas Biebuyck

 

As part of the 60th Anniversary celebrations for the Carrera, Nicholas Biebuyck (heritage director at TAG Heuer) has written a large-scale book detailing the history of the model. Most excitingly for me it also contains a large number of illustrated references showing many of the pieces right back from the start and up until 2023, with pieces such as the CBN5A91 Plasma and even the Porsche Chronosprint (albeit unfortunately in that particular case the dial design changed between the book being finalised and the watch being released).

It's a stunning looking book, satisfyingly large in size and weight and while I'm sure I will read the first half of the book eventually, my main interest was of course the guide to references contained in the latter half of the book. As most of you will know, I have been working on my 'History of the Carrera' posts for a very long time and as a new (and official) resource this was prime fodder for finding references that might thus far have slipped through the net.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Skipper' Calibre TH20-00 Chronograph

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Night Driver' Calibre Heuer 02 Chronograph Limited Edition

 

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TAG Heuer Boutique / London, 28th October 2023

I must admit the CBL2181 'Night Driver' Monaco wasn't at the forefront of my mind when I entered the Oxford Street boutique, in fact it had pretty much slipped my mind completely, until Ingrida asked me if I'd seen it. I'm glad she prompted a try on because I have to say I was rather pleasantly surprised. You may remember when I wrote my 'First Impressions' post I likened the dial to the sheet you print out when you're setting up a new printer; but in actual fact, the watch is much nicer in person than in any photo that I've seen - including my wristshot below.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 1000 Series Restoration by Tyranth

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Year of the Dragon' Heuer 02 Chronographs

 

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At the tail end of 2019 TAG Heuer surprised us all with their 'Year of the Rat' bronze cased Autavia. Surprised us because a) it was the first 'Year of the ...' the company had ever produced (as far as I'm aware) and b) because the backplate had a rather amusing rat-racing driver motif on it! Now I'm not sure if there ever was a 'Year of the Ox' piece planned for 2021, I always assumed the Ox was a hard sell (being neither cute, cool, comic or particularly endearing), and with China in lockdown for a lot of that year I guess if there was an Ox-watch then presumably TAG Heuer took the decision to abandon it.

We then got the 'Year of the Tiger' Carrera for 2022 (well the Calibre 5 version, the chronograph turned up half way through 2023 for some reason) and the 'Year of the Rabbit' H02 Carrera for 2023 (complete with peculiar fur-flecked dial), so now it's the turn of the mighty dragon. Now to me the dragon should be a no-brainer, it's what us Westeners think of when we think of Asia, so you'd kind of imagine there would be some kind of dragon on the dial of these new 42mm Carreras.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 1500 Series by Joseph Cooper Watch Repair

FEATURE: Finally the Orange Dial Formula 1 Becomes the Watch I Always Knew It Could Have Been

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As a rule I'm not one for messing about with watch straps. I know a lot of people derive a great deal of pleasure from switching them out and spending lots of money on the finest Italian products, but to me it's almost impossible to bring to mind any watch that looks better on anything other than its original strap. So when I bought my orange dial Formula 1 a couple of years ago it was a source of great irritation that the very cool 'looking' nylon strap was not only massively uncomfortable but also handicapped by two huge, shiny and very sharp strap retainers!

I tried, I really did. But the nylon strap really irritated my wrist and I needed an alternative; so I did what any sensible person would do, I looked at which other straps were available for the 43mm Formula 1 range. I believe I asked at the time if the BA0842 bracelet would fit and no one could tell me for sure, so instead I plumped for the perforated rubber strap found on several current and recent quartz and automatic Formula 1s and which I had tried previously on the black PVD Calibre 5 Formula 1.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 1000 Series - 34 Year Review by House & Car Hacks

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 7 Watch

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TAG Heuer Boutique / Oxford Street, London, 28th October 2023

One subject that is guaranteed to get watch enthusiasts talking / arguing / nodding their heads sagely is watch diameters... you can barely a visit a watch forum without someone saying 'this is too big' or 'this is too small'. Actually it's usually the former, but with the release of the supposedly 'unisex' 36mm Carreras we're heard a little more of the latter, because honestly a pink 36mm Carrera looks kinda ridiculous on most men of any size.

And of course, watch sizes are not an end in and of themselves, there's a lot more to it than that. Case thickness also plays a huge part, as does design. For example, I thought this watch would look colossal on my wife's wrist; the biggest watch in her collection is a 32mm Aquaracer and when she tried on one of my 35mm plastic F1s she said that was too big too. So I was expecting her to like it, but to dismiss it on the grounds of it looking too big. Especially as she doesn't seem to like the 'oversize' look that some ladies go for. 

VIDEO: You're Wrong About TAG Heuer, TAG Heuer is Great by This Watch, That Watch

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Blue Dial' Quartz Chronograph

 

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When TAG Heuer released their 40mm quartz chronograph Aquaracers at the start of this year they made the curious decision to release it in black, silver... and a slightly effeminate metallic pale blue. I'm not quite sure why they did that, but it was a no brainer that eventually they would release it in a darker blue and sure enough here it is (as usual, sneaking onto the website without a word). 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Solargraph' Solar Quartz Watch by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Watches of Switzerland' Calibre 9 Limited Edition Watches

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Earlier in the year TAG Heuer & Watches of Switzerland released what is almost certainly the coolest Aquaracer of 2023, the titanium Calibre 5 WBP208D.BF0631. But not content with just one exclusive model this year, they've only gone and done it again... with not one but two new ladies automatics!

Now, let's not get too excited, after all these are basically the same old 30mm Aquaracers with different dials; but still it's nice to see the ladies getting a limited edition for a change. However, it seems that (as usual) the renders promise one thing but the reality is quite different...

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Solid Gold' Glassbox Calibre TH20-00 Chronograph

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Heuer Monaco 'SKP/China' Calibre 11 Limited Edition

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If you're thinking this Monaco looks kinda familiar, then you're not wrong. Back around 2016-2018 when I was a (very) regular visitor to the TAG Heuer outlets at Bicester Village and Cheshire Oaks you could barely escape without seeing a Monaco CAW211C; but of course they've long since gone and so it was rather a surprise to see these pop up again with a slightly different part number and as a limited edition of 23 for the Chinese market (and only available from three 'SKP' stores).

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Solargraph' by Chisolm Hunter

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02T 'Chinese' Limited Edition Tourbillon

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A bit late to the party on this one, as this apparently came out back in April... but I only stumbled across it the other day while looking for pictures of another very limited Chinese edition (not yet written about but which also came out at the same time). These 45mm tourbillons are very Marmite it seems and since they've stayed pretty much the same since their release several years ago all we seem to get are various gaudy decorations in small quantities made to appeal to the Eastern markets. 

VIDEO: Heuer 501.213 Stopwatch by Birth Year Watches

 

FEATURE: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Green Dial' Calibre 5, Six Months Down the Line

 

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After three solid years of frantic watch collecting, it's still something of a shock to me that in 2023 I have only bought but one solitary watch. One. Uno. Unbelievable! For a moment I thought I'd bought two, but it turns out that I bought my SLR Calibre S Laptimer in November 2022... so no, it's just one. At the same time, my collection has halved to 'just' 31 pieces, which I know is still a stupidly large number, and yet it looks kinda small compared to what it was. Which it is... 

As I've said several times on the blog this year, things started to change last year when I picked up my utterly gorgeous Grand Carreras, the Japanese limited edition blue dial Calibre 6 and the black dial Calibre 17 chronograph. These watches showed me the difference between good watches and great watches, and in the process turned me right off collecting plastic quartz watches from the 80s. Which was a shame as at the time I already had 16 of them. Oh yes.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Automatic Chronograph by Kirby Young

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Peach' and 'Hammered Silver Dial' Automatic Watches

 

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Are we still going to pretend these 36mm Carreras are unisex? We are? Okay then...

Many years ago my wife and I were lucky enough to see an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in Selfridges that had a hammered finish. It looked nothing short of spectacular and my wife loved it. Unfortunately it cost about four times her yearly salary and as such was completely out of the question. But now, finally, TAG Heuer have (partially) embraced the look with this new 36mm hammered dial Carrera. And while I haven't seen one (yet) I have seen a photo and it looks pretty damn cool!

VIDEO: TAG Heur Aquaracer Two Years on the Wrist by One Man Reviews

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche 'Chronosprint' Calibre TH20-08 Chronograph

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TAG Heuer Boutique / London, 28th October 2023

You know, I may not have mentioned it before, but I really don't like the 39mm glassbox Carreras. But the 42mm ones aren't so bad and this one in particular is actually not bad at all. I've definitely said before that you will never really know if you like a watch until you get it on your wrist, and in this case that is 100% true. I really wasn't expecting to enjoy the gimmicky/clever (delete as applicable) chronograph on this one being that I am a miserable old man with no soul, but damn me if it wasn't rather entertaining. Kind of... 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches