BUYING EXERIENCE: TAG Heuer FT6051 White Rubber Strap

CAR2A1Z.FT6051

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

Some of you will probably remember that the original 45mm Carrera Heuer 01 Skeleton (CAR2A1Z) was at first available in just one format: red dial highlights and a black rubber strap. This was later expanded to include a white rubber strap and indeed a red rubber strap. There was also a 'Blue Touch' edition which featured blue dial highlights and a blue rubber strap, that was pretty nice too... but by the time that arrived I'd already bought mine and I don't have any regrets about that.

It's perhaps a little surprising that TAG Heuer didn't play around more with this, as we saw some future possibilities at the launch event (yellow, orange and lime green models were on show but none of them made it into production - booo!). But still, if you own a CAR2A1Z you can of course order a white or red (or blue I guess) strap for it, and that's exactly what I decided to do after 8 years of ownership!

 

Believe it or not the catalyst for this was when I pulled a pair of Oakley Jawbone shades off of my head and broke the right arm... this led to me deciding to buy a pre-owned pair of the same in white and once I'd got used to the idea of wearing white shades (which took a couple of weeks honestly) I started to wonder if perhaps a white rubber strap might look good on my beloved Carrera.

Since it was getting close to my wedding anniversary, and since my wife never knows what to get me, I thought... well, why not. Worse case scenario I wear it for a bit then switch it back and it lives in a drawer, it's hardly the end of the world is it?

So I messaged Maxine at the Sheffield branch of TAG Heuer (miles away from me but I always go there for everything) and ordered one. It came really quick, but I couldn't get up there straight away so I had to wait - but then I had to wait 'til my wedding anniversary anyway so it wasn't a big deal.

I didn't bother taking my watch with me since I was confident I was going to be able to fit the strap without any drama, and I kinda thought I'd probably be putting the black one back on before too long anyway. In reality it turned out to be more awkward than I expected as you have to hold the strap at a very sharp angle to the case to get it to fit. But I did it without too much swearing (just a little) and I managed not to scratch my watch either, so I consider that a bona fide WIN!

Now, thus far in this post I think I've been pretty straight with you. I was curious, but not particularly hopeful, about how the watch would look wearing its white rubber suit... but I'm here to tell you now that once I got it on my wrist I was blown away. Yes it's a bit 'Miami', and yes I was slightly self-conscious wearing it out at a fancy restaurant for our anniversary meal, but still... I honestly think it looks great.

Not that it needed 'refreshing', but the new strap really makes the watch look fresh and exciting. I mean I loved it how it was, but I love it like this too... and I certainly won't be changing it back anytime soon. I'm still not sold on the red option though (which naturally crossed my mind), it doesn't look anything like as vibrant as I would like it to and the red colour is 'off' somehow.

If you fancy a new rubber strap for your CAR2A1Z the cost is £130, which is not cheap obviously, but I think it was well worth it. Especially since I didn't pay for it! 🤣

VIDEO: TAG Heuer x Time & Tide Aquaracer 'Sundowner' Solar Quartz Limited Edition by Time & Tide

 

FEATURE: My Top Ten Aquaracers

So finally it's my turn! I've been waiting all year to share with you my personal top ten and with so much time to deliberate inevitably the final positions have been shifted around time and time again. No joke, I think at least four or five different watches have been in pole position at different times throughout the year and I'm actually dreading having to finalize my choices because I know damn well they're going to change by tomorrow morning. Gah! 

Now obviously, having owned more than a few Aquaracers over the last few years, my list is going to feature my own watches quite heavily... well I guess that's only natural since I sought out the ones I really liked, so that's what you're going to get (plus one or two that slipped through my fingers). So I'm afraid my list isn't perhaps as unpredictable as I'd really like it to be. I did actually contemplate discounting my watches entirely, but that wouldn't really work either... so what I'll probably just do is add some 'honourable mentions' at the end instead.

It's been noticeable that many of the previous guests have chosen a lot of watches from the very recent past, and while I too have a couple of recent pieces included in my list I think I have selected fairly evenly across the Aquaracer's history, certainly from each decade of the model's production span. That's not to say I am right and they are wrong of course - many people believe the current Aquaracers are the best the brand has ever produced, but I am more of a 'historian' I suppose and I like quirky watches so that's probably why.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Japan 24' Calibre TH20-00 Limited Edition

 

It's always interesting to see watches that are released in specific markets like this one, even if sometimes it's hard to grasp the relevance of the accompanying marketing. Case in point is this new 'Japanese' limited edition 42mm Carrera chronograph. Seeing the '24' up there on the dial you might immediately assume that this model is connected to motor racing somehow, even more so given the obvious similarities with last year's 'Team Ikuzawa' release.

FEATURE: TAG Heuer Monaco 50th Anniversary Limited Editions

Hard to believe, but it's been five years since the final '50th Anniversary' Monaco was released back in late October 2019. So I thought, maybe now would be a good time to take a moment to take a look back at this five piece collection and remind ourselves how it came about and also invite the Council of Considered Opinion to share their thoughts and (since 2019 was pre-C.O.C.O.) score the watches for inclusion in the final totals list. 

So clearly, even before we got to 2019 we knew that it was the 50th anniversary of the Monaco (glossing over the fact that it was out of production for quite a large portion of that of course) and it was expected that there would be some sort of special watch, much as there had been for the 40th anniversary. But it was quite a surprise when TAG Heuer announced that there would actually be 5 different watches released throughout 2019, each celebrating a different decade (again glossing over the fact that there never was an 80s Monaco of any description, nor late 70s or early to mid 90s come to that!).

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. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm Calibre 7 with Diamond Hour Markers

 

One of the more unexpected success stories of recent times seems to have been the pink 36mm Carrera (otherwise known as 'The Barbie'). This model has found favour with men and women alike despite it's diminutive size and indeed our Swedish correspondent Jim Dollares has recently taken delivery of one himself (Buying Experience for that incoming...). 

Ever since the launch Jim was waiting to see if TAG Heuer brought the watch out in a larger size, say 39mm, but eventually he started to worry that the 36mm might be discontinued and he took the plunge. Literally one day after he picked up his new watch TAG Heuer released the same watch with diamond hour markers - which, while annoying for Jim, probably means they aren't about to release it in 39mm.

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

 

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

While I've never been particularly enamoured of all those fusty old 'Heuer' watches that vintage enthusiasts get super excited about, even I have to admit that 2023's Carrera Skipper was an eye-catching release and easily the best of the modern 39mm 'Glassbox' range. So I was interested to see the watch housed in an 18k rose gold case - especially since on paper the gold should work wonderfully with the strong blue dial. Would it look super classy though? Or douchebaggy? After all, blue and gold is nice combination, but a tricky one to get just right, especially when there are other colours on the dial to consider.

FEATURE: EBAY: No Fakes. No Fraud. No Doubt? (Part Two)

Way back in March I wrote a post about eBay and their drive to convince us all that it was safe to buy through their platform without worrying about fake watches, at least for watches that cost more than £1500 (the price point where eBay actually offer hands-on checks), though even then there is some debate on the effectiveness of that. 

Since then I've reported two or three watches that have caught my eye and all three were branded totally fine by eBay. Now these weren't super-fakes where you need to closely inspect the lume pip in the bezel and see the bracelet pins... these were watches that anyone with a reasonable knowledge of the brand would spot as wrong-uns or at least raise suspicions. But no, eBay got a 'service agent' to look at them and decided that each one was not fraudulent.

Well clearly eBay's 'service agents' are ill equipped to do this job, because they are still clueless about even pretty obvious fakes. Like this one for example.

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

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Porsche Panamericana' Glassbox Tourbillon L/E Chronograph

 

I've now lost count of all the Porsche branded TAG Heuer watches we've seen over the last few years, I want to say it was 10 or 11 prior to this, but I'm not 100% sure. Seems like the time is ripe for a 'Feature' post detailing them all, don't you think? Well, I'll get on it, but for now we have a new (and perhaps slightly controversial) new steel cased tourbillon co-branded with both Porsche and Panamericana; after the famous rally held in the early 1950s.

The watch itself is hardly 'retro' in its styling, but it does take 'inspiration' from the Porsche 550 which competed in said rally; mainly the yellow of the racing numerals used on the car for the hands, the wheels which are the basis of the unique-to-this-watch open dial design and the paint finish which has inspired the speckled look found on both the subdials and the main dial - a unique touch for sure. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Sports Extreme Chronographs by Monochrome Watches

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 7s - Baby Pink and Ice Blue

 

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

It's always a pleasure for me to visit the TAG Heuer boutique in the Meadowhall shopping centre, the staff are lovely people and they always have time for you. If you are in that part of the world I heartily recommend stopping by. I tried on quite a few watches on my most recent visit there and there are still more 'On the Wrist' posts to come, including the carbon Monza (finally) and the latest 'Racing Green' Monaco (meh).

But today we shall focus on two.... I was going to say ladies watches, but really only one of these is truly a ladies watch, and that, quite obviously is the baby pink strapped WBN2315. As you can see I didn't actually try it on, in fact I'm not at all sure the strap was big enough to go around my 7.1/2" wrist, but my wife did and she quite liked it.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer GMT Calibre TH31-03 COSC Watches by Brent Miller Time

 

FEATURE: My Top Ten Aquaracers by DTF

And so we come to our eleventh 'Top 10 Aquaracers', this time featuring the choices of THF Forum and C.O.C.O. member 'DTF'. This time our guest has provided his own commentary which means this is a nice easy post for me, thanks for that 'DTF'. 😊

I hope you enjoy his selections as much as I have and finally next month it will be my turn! I guess I need to make some tough decisions of my own between now and then, hey?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Watch by Soundsoserious

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - 2024' Limited Editions

 

We've already seen limited edition Carreras for both Kuwait and Qatar this year and now it's time for an update to last years 'Kingdom of Saudi Arabia' Carrera. Last year's model featured a silver dial with a green outline and the KSA emblem in green on the dial. Only 100 were produced and the watch came in a special green presentation box with both a bracelet and a green alligator strap.

This year TAG Heuer have produced two models, a 41mm day/date Carrera in steel and a 29mm version with a rose gold bezel and crown and a two tone bracelet.  The dials are inscribed with the words 'Saudi' (male) and 'Saudia' (female) on their respective dials.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer S/EL Quartz Chronograph by Birth Year Watches

 

DUEL: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Skeleton Chronograph v Carrera Calibre 16 Titanium Chronograph

CAR2A1Z.FT6044                       CV2A80.FC6256

Hello readers, hard to believe I know for one so soft of skin and lithe of body🤣, but today is in fact my 55th birthday! Yay. Cake!!! And so I thought perhaps I would take a break from all these incessant new release posts and instead do what I really like doing. So today I will be writing about two of my most luxurious watches; my original 2016 Heuer 01 Skeleton and the titanium cased Calibre 16 day date Carrera I got from the Bicester Village outlet for my 50th birthday.

Now this post has in fact been in the works since late 2021, I even had some text written and pictures taken... but as three years have passed (!) I decided it would be much better to just start from scratch. I even briefly pondered the idea of switching out the Calibre 16 Carrera for my recently purchased Grand Carrera Calibre 36 for a true 'Clash of the Titans' post... but on reflection I decided that perhaps comparing my long time 'favourite' watch with the watch I am currently 'infatuated' with was a bit unfair. I mean maybe in time the GC Caliper will emerge as my 'favourite' watch, but it's far too soon to be throwing claims like that around.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Solargraph Calibre TH50-00 Watch by A Blog to Watch

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Solargraph 'Green Dial' Quartz Watch

 

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

When the green Solargraph was announced I must admit I was a teeny bit concerned that maybe I had rushed into buying the Calibre 5 version. I've always said that given the choice of two identical watches one quartz, one automatic, I would probably choose the quartz... and a solar powered quartz appeals even more. 

But generally speaking there never really is a choice of identical looking watches is there? So the question that required answering here was primarily how do the two dials compare, and secondly was the light blue second hand a deal breaker?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Calibre 16 Chronograph by Random Rob

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquracer 'Sprite' Calibre TH31-03 GMT Watch

 

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

It's funny, I've been waiting a while to see this one, because as seems to be the norm now when TAG Heuer release a bunch of watches together, there's always one that lags behind. Last time I got to visit the excellent Meadowhall boutique I saw all of the new three hand Aquaracers and also the 'Batman' GMT, but I was really pinning my hopes on this all new colour scheme being the one that really got me interested. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Extreme Sports Chrongraph by Hourstriker

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Ice Blue' Calibre TH20-09 Limited Edition Tourbillon

By my reckoning this is TAG Heuer's eighth different tourbillon this year, and while technically this one is another 'limited edition'... at 250pcs it rather begs the question 'just how many £20,000 tourbillons can TAG Heuer actually hope to shift?' I mean, TAG Heuer's bread and butter business is commonly accepted to be in the £1500-6000 region, so it's surprising that the brand feel comfortable making so many pieces in this price bracket.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Sprite' GMT by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Heuer Monaco 'Racing Green' Calibre 11 Limited Edition

When I first clapped eyes on this new 1000 piece limited edition 'Racing Green' Monaco Calibre 11 I was quite impressed, thinking it an improvement over last year's blue version. However, the more I've looked at it the more I feel like I need to see it in person to make a proper judgement.

Because to me it looks like the strap and the subdials aren't quite the same hue of green, and if that's true I would find that rather annoying... 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco Special Editions by Swiss Watch Expo

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Green Dial' Solargraph

 

I guess we should have seen this coming, shouldn't we? Given the ever expanding Solargraph range and TAG Heuer's current obsession with the colour green, it was surely only a matter of time until the two were put together and voila... I give you the green dial Solargraph! Must have been a long day at work thinking that one up, eh?

Still, that doesn't really matter if the finished product works and on the face of it this one looks quite successful. I'm not entirely sure about the combination of green and pale blue, I honestly think the black and blue dials provide a better colour base for the usual 'Solargraph' highlight colour. Perhaps, as we've seen with some of the ladies 34mm Aquaracers, a polished steel hand would have been a better fit?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Skipper by Hobby of Hours

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Red Bull World Champions Edition' Quartz Chronograph

 

CAZ101AY.FC6591

You may remember back in March I wrote about a visit to the Red Bull Formula 1 factory in Milton Keynes that my wife treated me to for Valentine's Day. In it I mentioned that I had attempted and failed miserably to get hands on with one of these 'team only' watches, being told that no one actually wears them in the factory and that everyone had them safely locked away at home.

With little information and only a couple of not so great pictures available I decided to wait a while before writing about the watch and I'm glad I did because now not only do I have the part number for said watch but also some decent photographs to go with it.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Chronograph by Birth Year Watches

 

FEATURE: My Top Ten Aquaracers by Jemagloh

Once again it's time to mull over the last twenty years of Aquaracers and pull ten magnificent examples out for inspection. This time our guest judge is C.O.C.O. and THF Forum member Jemagloh (otherwise known as Matt). Unfortunately Matt literally works 27 hours a day so commentary was never on the cards, so once again it falls on my to provide the same. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 - 6 Year Review by Time & Crown

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Extreme Sports Chronographs & Tourbillon Chronographs

Six new 'skeleton*' dial Carreras for you today, which follow on from the 'Porsche 963' limited edition of a couple of months ago. These new Carrera Extreme Sports (as they are called) don't carry the exact same dial as that one, but there's definitely a similar design philosophy at play and these also carry the same 'integrated' straps. 

I say 'integrated' because while these look the part, the centre piece between the 'air scoop' V is actually part of the strap and not part of the case. This unfortunately leads to my first head scratching moment, because why go to all the effort to create this well constructed illusion, if only half of the watches actually carry it though? 

*These aren't really very skeletonized at all, you can barely see anything of the movement (especially the tourbillons which don't have a date wheel) but they certainly don't have what you would call a solid dial either. Perhaps 'sculpted' or 'architectural' dial would be a better description?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 200 - Which Colour? by Brent Miller Watches

 

OWNED: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Green Dial

It's been a few months over a year since I picked up my WBP2115 from the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield and in typical fashion it's been a journey of mixed emotions. When I found out there was going to be a new green dial Aquaracer I was right on it, desperate to avoid a repeat of the WAY2015 debacle. Actually there was no need to rush as even now it's perfectly possible to walk into an AD and pick up a WBP2115, but I didn't know that at the time.

Truth be told, when I went to buy it I was less than sure about it. It certainly wasn't love at first sight... but I'd made such a fuss about getting it, badgering Maxine at TH Sheffield regularly until it arrived that I felt rather obligated to buy it. Not that I actively disliked it, but it certainly wasn't a Chronotimer or Grand Carrera Caliper situation where I gazed lovingly at it all the way home... maybe it was just that I'd wanted the WAY2015 for so long and this didn't look quite the same - because, well it isn't!

VIDEO: Which New TAG Heuer Aquaracer Was Your Favourite? by Brent Miller Watches

 

FEATURE: The Best of the Best of the Last Four Years...

 

2020 - 2023*

As the summer slowly starts to turn to autumn and we start sporadically thinking about the big end of year vote, I thought it might be interesting to cast our eyes over the last four years of results and remind ourselves of the best of the best of the main four TAG Heuer product lines. 

For these purposes I am using the compiled list of final scores which can be found HERE and for the purposes of splitting ties on points I will use the WOTY votes themselves. I did briefly consider using the WOTY votes as the main indicator but quickly came to realise that this would not give a very accurate result overall, especially in years where one watch crushes the competition (plus there's only been two Formula 1s that have received a vote, so that won't work).

VIDEO: How to Use the TAG Heuer Warranty Checker by The Watch Village