Tuesday 26 March 2024

ON THE FACE: TAG Heuer 'Flex' and 'Pro-Shield' Sunglasses


TAG Heuer Boutique / Stratford, London 21st March 2024

It must be said that the reaction to TAG Heuer revisiting their sunglasses range has not been entirely positive in the watch community... it seems that TAG making shades again somehow means that they will not be taken seriously as a watch company - don't ask me how that works because I don't understand it. No Rolex don't make shades, but they don't need to. I don't see the connection. Are Mont Blanc not taken seriously as a pen maker because they make watches... and fragrances? 

To be honest  I'm more surprised that companies like TAG Heuer haven't started making fragrances yet, since they have plenty of contacts in the LVMH group they could tap and fragrances are even more profitable than watches. Besides, I already own a pair of TAG Heuer shades and I like them a lot, so I was keen to see what the company would come out with.


So when they appeared on the website I was a bit meh about them, honestly. The ones I already have are quite different to what they've come up with this time and to be honest I thought for the most part they seemed quite dull, and definitely not in any way avant garde. The only one I was really interested to see was the 'Shield Pro' and so I was pleased to see them in the cabinet when I visited the TAG Heuer boutique in the Westfield Stratford shopping centre (apparently the biggest mall in Europe - I find that hard to believe to be honest, but that's what they reckon).

I actually ended up trying on two sets of shades, first the 'Flex' which I found too wide for my head... a new experience for me it must be said, because I have a massive bonce! Who the hell these are designed to fit I don't know, but they certainly weren't for me. I feel like they aren't curved enough either, they just seem like a very flat, oblong lens and then there's nothing else to them other than the wire arms. I didn't find them particularly comfortable either and the nose piece actually felt a little sharp too.


The Shield Pro on the other hand were great. Super comfortable right from the start and definitely the only ones in the current range that look particularly exciting and modern in their design. Apparently these come with two lenses, the smokey brown* one and also a clear one (principally for riding on bicycles I presume) and also a spare nose piece. I must admit I didn't really want to take them off and wouldn't be at all surprised if I end up getting a pair.

The only thing is... I can't help but feel they do make me look a bit of a tit. Being old and grey and all that. I'm not saying that would stop me buying them, but they are a bit 'extra' for an old guy like me. Still I've never really been one to dress my age, so I don't know why that would change now... and had I not been on my way to the ABBA arena then Mohammad might just have convinced me to part with the necessary £390. Well, maybe not... but it was nice to meet him and see the boutique, which is in a part of London I've never been to before and probably won't visit again any time soon. 

*I've just noticed on the TAG Heuer website that these are also available with a blue mirrored lens, which is probably what I would go for to be honest.

Saturday 23 March 2024

FEATURE: Red Bull Racing Factory Visit

 

Now look, I know what you're thinking.... lucky old Rob got to go to the Red Bull factory as a guest of TAG Heuer or Red Bull or some other generous benefactor... isn't life just cushty as a super-famous and important watch influencer? Well, no... haha,  you couldn't be more wrong. Because in actual fact I got to go to the Red Bull factory today because my amazing wife bought me/us (the outrageously expensive) tickets for Valentine's Day. 

Yes indeed, my wife is awesome!

And so on the morning of the 18th of March we headed off to Milton Keynes for a few hours of bumbling around the MK centre. Annoyingly the Goldsmiths was shut for refurbishment, but at least the TAG Heuer boutique was open and they had both the watches we were interested in seeing in stock - namely the green dial Dato and the new 'Polar Blue' Solargraph. I will write about these separately (because I desperately need content and Watches & Wonders is still so, so far away), but the TL:DR is that the Solargraph was disappointing while the Dato wasn't actually as bad as I expected it to be. Go figure...


Anyway, so we eventually made our way to the Red Bull factory for our 3pm appointment and after being guided by the gatehouse to park outside the building marked MK-7 we joined the queue of about 40 people waiting to take the same tour. I immediately clocked the massive Heuer 01 Carrera skeleton wallclock hanging on the wall behind reception, temporarily oblivious to the lanyard I was being handed (I still kinda wish I had bought one when I was offered it, but at £850 it seemed way too much at the time).

Having draped ourselves in tour guest passes, we were instructed to go through to the main foyer (containing another Heuer 01 wallclock) and a Red Bull decked out in a 2018 testing livery. The car had Daniel Ricciardo's name on it but for some reason there was a cardboard cut out of Sergio Perez standing next to it - I guess they didn't want the whole tour to be all about Max...


This livery was pretty cool actually and I got a really nice shot of the TAG Heuer logo on the side of the cockpit which I will post later. I hadn't been up close with a Formula 1 car for a little while and it still amazes me how big they are compared to the older cars of the 1980s. They are also a million times better built, I remember visiting the Donington Museum years ago and being horrified at how ramshackle the cars looked with riveted aluminium body panels and wings (though I can't help thinking aluminium wings were quite a good idea since they didn't disintegrate into a thousand tiny pieces of tyre slashing debris at the slightest impact!). 

Once it was established that all the tour guests had arrived we were shown through a door into a corridor lined with epic moments from Red Bull's Formula 1 history, starting with none other than Gerhard Berger who, in the 1980s, became the very first 'Red Bull Athlete'.


This led into a much larger room in which sat an impressive semi circle of Red Bull F1 cars, all of the cars in fact except the RB8, which is apparently the one they usually use for exhibitions (mainly because it has a good old V8 engine in it so it sounds like people still think Formula 1 cars are supposed to sound - that was a direct quote, haha).

We were allowed to mooch around all the cars (as long as we didn't lean on them or take photos of the back ends of the cars) and so the next fifteen minutes were spent tootling around from one car to the next, taking endless photos...


Well actually... the very first thing I did, like literally the first thing I did was to completely ignore the array of Formula 1 cars in front of me completely and pounce on our tour guide and pummel him for information about the Max Verstappen / Red Bull Formula 1 watch that was gifted to the employees at the factory. Poor Guy... he confirmed he had received one, but no he wasn't wearing it and he didn't think anyone at the factory was actually wearing them as they had all been taken home for safe keeping.

Rats! 

Unsurprisingly he couldn't tell me if it had a unique part number or not and he seemed quite perturbed that anyone would care about such a thing. I guess Guy isn't really a watch guy, hey. He did also mention that there was a ladies version, but I think what he meant was that the ladies who didn't want a 43mm Formula 1 were probably offered a standard Aquaracer or something, this would explain why there were 1275 pieces of the watch but there were nearer 1500 employees on site. I definitely don't think he meant there was a 'ladies' version of the celebration watch.

Anyway, I tried my best to get the info... hopefully we'll get it eventually. Guy even asked one of his colleagues (who I noticed was wearing the old 'Red Bull' Heuer 01 skeleton)


So I did what any sane person would do in the situation, and took a wrist shot of my orange dial Formula 1 in front of one of the more recent cars. You may remember Max wore this one for a few races a few years back, but of course he never had it on a bracelet - an upgrade I thoroughly recommend! 

All too soon we were gathered into three groups of about 13 people and despatched in different directions with our respective tour guides. From this point on you were not allowed to take photographs at all, or even have your phone out of your pocket - which is fair enough, after all we were seeing production work for 2024 cars so even if we didn't understand what we were looking at they definitely don't want photographs flying around and being posted for all to see on the internet. 


Over the next 90mins or so we got to see the electronics department, the CNC machines (engineering), the paintshop and the autoclaves where the carbon fibre parts are baked. We also got to see Red Bull's four 3D printers, which were very different to ones I'd seen previously in that whereas you usually expect the printer to deposit material onto the base plate to build up the part required, here the base of the machine was a tank of liquid plastic (£60,000 a time apparently) and the very top layer was 'solidified' by a laser before the base sank down a fraction of a millimetre and the process was repeated.

This meant that the part was actually formed under the surface, so all you could see in the hours and days that the process was running was the laser flicking across the surface. Once completed of course the base plate lifts up to reveal the completed component which is then cleaned up and painted black before being sent to the wind tunnel for testing. Nothing that is 3D printed actually ends up on the car itself, it is only used for making 60% models for the wind tunnel.


The wind tunnel unfortunately is thirty minutes away (at least for the moment, Red Bull are just starting the process of building a new one on site) so we couldn't see that, but we did get to see the Red Bull trophy cabinet, which is just bonkers. This is the original cabinet you can see here, but with the team's ridiculous run of success over the past few years they quickly ran out of space, so they built more cabinets above the doors... 


It was actually a pity that the trophies are displayed like this as I would have loved to have been able to see them all properly, but that's just impossible. My photos really don't convey just how high these cabinets are, but take it from me they must be at least 20 feet up, if not more. They did have the World Constructors and World Drivers Championship trophies on display as well, and thankfully they were much more accessible.


These two are held by the team only for the duration of the year following the championships and have to be returned for presentation at the FIA gala in December. Though I'm guessing Red Bull are pretty sure they'll be back here next year too judging by the first two race results. 

Outside we saw Christian Horner and Adrian Newey's road cars and we were also shown the windows of their offices en-route to a different part of the factory. Speaking of Adrian Newey, I did briefly catch a glimpse of him leaving reception right at the end of the tour, well... more the back of his head than anything, but still! The most successful man in Formula 1. Ever!

The Hungarian GP trophy, broken on the podium by Lando Norris

Along the way we learned some interesting facts, and some myths were busted. For example the one about F1 teams using matt finish paint because it is less draggy. I always thought that one was a bit suspect, and it turns out it is actually cobblers. Red Bull just thought it looked better, so they did it and several other teams followed suit. Of course, maybe they thought that's why Red Bull did it, if so... that's hilarious.

We also learned that the team makes its own wheel nuts and these are only used once. Just think about that for a moment. So let's say it's a two stop race, that means you use twelve wheelnuts on each car, plus however many in practice and qualifying sessions. Well at least the same in the qualifying, maybe more as there's three sessions and you use either one or two sets per session. Plus three practice sessions... so let's take a guess at between 80 and 90 per weekend? Those wheelnuts cost £1000 each.


We also got to see 'Mission Control' where the engineers and technical personnel who can't attend the race (there is a limit of 60 crew per team for every race) sit to watch and contribute to strategic decision making. This looks a lot like NASA's 'Mission Control' and was in fact designed in conjuction with someone who came over from NASA to advise. 

Another building we visited is used to strip down the older cars that are used for exhibition runs, and so we saw several more cars including one in quite an advanced state of disassembly. This room also housed two Aston Martin Valkyries both of which were painted dark blue. One belongs to the designer Adrian Newey and the other to the late Dietrich Mateschitz's son Mark. Unfortunately Mark Mateschitz is apparently quite tall and the car is not really built for his frame, so Adrian was in the process of redesigning the interior to accommodate him.


Finally we got to see the space where the team practice their pitstops, and right there in the centre of the room was Max Verstappen's 2024 race car. This room also features several authentically sized pit garages where the mechanics can practice working on the cars in the limited space available. Also, on the walls above and opposite the garages were two Aquaracer wallclocks. In fact these things were ten a penny in the factory, it seemed like around every corner you would spot one... so cool. And there was a Monaco wallclock on the wall behind the two Valkyries too (and another Heuer 01 wallclock in the gift shop). 

And then we were walked back to reception where we exchanged our lanyards for goodie bags. Ours contained a Red Bull baseball cap, a Red Bull key ring, a super cool Red Bull branded drinks bottle and a special 'Max Verstappen' can of Red Bull, all contained in a nice Red Bull rucksack kind of thing with string shoulder straps. It really was a great experience, and I am very grateful to my wife for taking us there. If you can afford it I'd definitely recommend it - it's certainly something that will live long in the memory and experiences like this are priceless really.

Hopefully I will be able to find out some more info on the Red Bull / Max Verstappen Champions watch and I will update you on that accordingly. 

Below are the rest of the pictures from the day.

Wednesday 20 March 2024

HISTORY: TAG Heuer Carrera Part Four (2019-2021)

 

Due to serious health issues, the legendary Jean Claude Biver stepped down as CEO of TAG Heuer making way for Stephane Bianchi, although he in turn would make way for Frederic Arnault less than two years later. Frederic would stay in the position for four years, eventually being promoted to CEO of LVMH Watches. 

2019-2020 CATALOGUE & DEALER CATALOGUE

2019 saw the introduction of the Heuer 02 movement in a big way, including a limited edition 'Nanograph' which featured a silicon hairspring.

Sunday 17 March 2024

FEATURE: Maybe Don't Try This at Home...


Long term readers will know that over the last few years I have bought and sold a huge number of 'classic' Formula 1s, indeed at one point I had fifteen of them and was homing in on 'completion'. But then I realised that I didn't actually want twenty 30 year old watches sitting on my shelf lining up to expire on me and so I decided to sell a few. And then a few more. And then once I started selling them I just couldn't stop until I had only one left - the very first one I got. 

I guess I could have saved myself a lot of hassle and just kept that one in the first place, but as usual I got carried away, over-stimulated by all the bright colours... until I realised that the only one that didn't look silly on my 7.1/2" wrist was the all black one with red highlights. Isn't that just typical?

Thursday 14 March 2024

FEATURE: EBAY: No Fakes. No Fraud. No Doubt?


With adverts like the one above eBay is doing its best to convince us that their site is a super-safe place to buy watches. Of course, when it comes down to it only watches above the value of £1500 are actually sent for verification/certification - but to the casual observer who's not paying too much attention to the finer details eBay is depicted as a safe marketplace, which is... convenient. While I applaud eBay taking some kind of action, we've already seen people receiving watches with warranty cards that don't match their watches so I guess the question is do we trust the super-duper eBay authentication service? And if we're supposed to trust them to spot the super fakes of 2024 then presumably it should have no trouble spotting a really bad fake on their site, right? 

Apparently not. 

Monday 11 March 2024

FEATURE: C.O.C.O. Meet Up London 2023


Way back in 2022 our Swedish friend Jim Dollares announced that he planned to visit London and wanted to arrange a THF forum meet-up. Despite a tiny ripple of enthusiasm in the forum this ultimately came to nothing and ultimately we decided on Jim and I meeting in London with Charlie (Imagwai) joining us in the evening for dinner. But once the date was set it transpired that this wouldn't be possible due to child care commitments and the intervention of British Rail... instead Charlie said we were welcome to visit him in his opulent Kent abode in the evening, so that's what we did.

Yes I already mentioned British Rail, and British Rail were quite a big part of this story one way or another. Put simply, there was a rail strike, which meant if we were gonna make this work then we needed to take the trains as much out of the equation as possible. So, I decided the smart thing to do would be to drive to Charlie's, get the train to London and back, and then drive home (Jim was staying overnight with Charlie before heading back to the airport). This eventually turned into ‘drive to Orpington’ since the limited train service available served that station better than Charlie's local station, albeit the last train back was still a ridiculously early 6:05pm!

Friday 8 March 2024

HISTORY: TAG Heuer Titanium (1984-1988)



The 'Titanium' was a very short lived and very '1980s' watch (both literally and figuratively). It first appeared in the 1984 Heuer catalogue and had its last appearance in the 1987/88 TAG Heuer catalogue. As such it is another one of those odd watches that can be had with either a 'Heuer' or 'TAG Heuer' branded dial and there's a good chance that even if you get a TAG Heuer dial the backplate and clasp might well still be stamped with the old 'Heuer' logo... that's just how it was in the 1980s kids!

I find some of the 'Titanium' designs appealing, but others markedly less so. I actually remember looking longingly at a 220.206 on eBay for quite some time, to the point where I went to the trouble of enquiring if TAG Heuer had any spare links should I need to extend the bracelet. Unfortunately the response I got was that they wouldn't sell links for watches of that age and it would have to be returned to them to be 'worked on'. As you might imagine, hearing that I thought better of it and turned my attention to something else. A shame really as the 220.206 is a cool looking watch and would have been a nice addition to my collection... but no way was I putting myself in that position. 

Okay, well clearly this isn't going to be another super-long 'History of' post because there are only eight models in total (and only eleven variants of those). Needless to say I'm still working on the rest of the Carrera posts and they will be along in good time. 

Tuesday 5 March 2024

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'OneLife Rally' Limited Edition Quartz Chronograph

CAZ101AM.FT8054*

Occasionally TAG Heuer will make 'special order' models for special clients, generally organizations or charities; these tend to be standard models that have been modded with a logo either on the dial or the backplate. This one popped up on the TAG Heuer forum (I think it was spotted on Instagram) and it's basically a stock CAZ101AM that has been customized with a 'OneLife Rally' engraving on the side of the case and on the backplate.  

Saturday 2 March 2024

FEATURE: My Top Ten Aquaracers by Shane Paradis

 

As you know, this year we are celebrating 20 years of the magnificent Aquaracer and today I'm pleased to welcome the newest addition to our 'Council of Considered Opinion' - Shane Paradis. Shane is an American with a refreshingly positive attitude to quartz and older TAG Heuer models in general, which leads to some interesting and dare I say it 'unexpected' choices in his personal list of  'Top 10 Aquaracers'. He's also the first person not to include any of my Aquaracers in his Top 10, but I won't hold that against him. Honestly!

Wednesday 28 February 2024

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 'Qatar' Limited Edition

WBN2017.BA0640

After the disappointment that was 'LVMH Watch Week' (Polar Blue 34mm Solargraph aside - potentially, though it remains to be seen) the feeling I had when I clapped eyes on this limited edition release for Qatar, was 'THIS IS MORE LIKE IT'. And while repeated exposure has tempered my (over) enthusiasm a little, this is still perhaps the most exciting TAG Heuer of 2024 so far and most importantly it's not bloody teal!

Tuesday 27 February 2024

THANK YOU: 750,000 PAGE VIEWS!


Wow. It really doesn't seem like five minutes since the blog hit the half million views milestone, and yet here we are at 750,000 already! I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, for some reason the blog has been picking up views rapidly in recent times... I'm not 100% sure why that is, I can only assume it must be the renewed interest in TAG Heuer generally that's sparking people to search the brand and in the process they are coming across links to the blog.

This last month in particular has been very busy with an average of about 1800 page views per day and February 2024 is already the biggest month in the blog's history with nigh on 50,000 views this month alone. It seems like a given that the counter will top the one million views mark this year, so I can only say a big thank you to everyone who visits and reads my nonsense, and of course a massive thank you also to everyone that has contributed to making this the best TAG Heuer dedicated blog on the internet over the last eight years.

Still the only one as far as I know. 🤣

Tomorrow we'll be looking at the new limited edition Qatar Carrera Day/Date and then on Monday our newest COCO recruit will be sharing his Top 10 Aquaracers with us. 

Monday 26 February 2024

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02T 'Ginza Boutique' Limited Edition Chronograph by WatchBox Reviews

 

Wow. Cool watch, but I thought Tim would have realised that there were no end links and you shouldn't be able to see the ends of the strap like that... but apparently not!

Sunday 25 February 2024

FEATURE: Is There Ever Going to be a Genuinely New TAG Heuer Watch Ever Again?

 

CAV5115.BA0902

As much as I enjoy writing this blog, as the years wear on it does frustrate me that everything is so damned predictable. I mean what do we have to look forward to really? More Carreras, more Monacos and more Aquaracers. Which is fine.... and of course we have the Autavia and the Link floating around, basically doing nothing much and the Formula 1 propping up the whole shebang - although judging by last year's output you have to wonder for how much longer?

It seems like TAG Heuer have become so obsessed with their own history and heritage that they can't even contemplate starting with a blank sheet of paper, which is odd when you consider that this is a company who proclaim themselves avant garde at every opportunity. But then they've painted themselves into this corner where they can't even use a dial colour without referencing racing cars, drivers' helmets or Steve McQueen's underpants.

Thursday 22 February 2024

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox 'Teal Dial' Tourbillon Chronograph

 
CBS5011.FC6566

I've not so much saved this one till last... as put off writing about it until I absolutely had to. This is the final watch released at 'LVMH Watch Week' and it is literally a new colour on an existing watch, so really there isn't much to say about it. Unfortunately the Glassbox tourbillon is not a favourite of mine: I briefly saw (the blue) one in the Covent Garden boutique at the tail end of last year and it confirmed to me that I was never going to like it much and I can't see this new teal green colour scheme changing my mind.

Monday 19 February 2024

HISTORY: TAG Heuer Carrera Part Three (2017-2019)

 

With Jean Claude Biver now in charge TAG Heuer continued to re-invent itself and to reposition itself as an 'affordable luxury' brand. This era coincides with my growing interest in watches and the start of this blog (in October 2016), so as you can imagine this era is quite a big deal for me as it marks the time when I was first visiting watch stores locally (and in London) to get first hand experience of as much as I possibly could. 

I know a lot of people disliked the 'Biver' era of TAG Heuer and especially the skeletons, fearing that Jean Claude was trying to turn TAG Heuer into a poor man's Hublot; but I am emphatically not one of them. Apart from anything else, I miss the days when a skeleton dial Carrera cost £4000 - I recall at the time Jean Claude promoting the Heuer 01 and telling us all that the new watch was an £8000 watch selling at £4000, and given the price of the more elevated Grand Carreras it kind of replaced he wasn't far off the mark. 

Friday 16 February 2024

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Date Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde

 

At last year's Watches and Wonders TAG Heuer released two new Carrera Plasma models: one was an even more blingy version of the previously released 44mm Carrera that overstepped the line where good taste ends and just kept on running... at the same time they released a much less gauche Carrera in 36mm, which featured a pink lab-grown diamond crown and a pink lab-grown TAG Heuer shield on the (lab grown diamond) dial.

It was pretty cool actually, and this year they've given it a make over by switching out the pink elements for yellow and putting it on a white alligator strap. Unlike Beaverbrooks while I can't honestly say I'm 'obsessed' with the 1.3 carat diamond crown, it is undeniably cool. The white strap I'm not so sure about and like most of the Council of Considered Opinion I think overall this looks 'nice' but perhaps slightly less 'nice' than the previous version. Or perhaps it just doesn't have the same impact second time around?

Tuesday 13 February 2024

FEATURE: Will 2024 Bring The First Ever Carbon Cased Formula 1?

 

You know, a few weeks back I toyed with the idea of writing a 'predictions' post for 2024. I've never actually done one before, largely because I was already 'in the know' (so to speak) thanks to information sent to me from a far away land. It would be a bit pointless making things up that I knew didn't exist and I never wanted to leak anything, because that's never been what this blog is about. But this year it seems the pigeon died on the way over and so apart from a few tidbits here and there gleaned from the interwebz I am largely in the dark. Yes, I have heard some rumours but what I want to talk to you about today is not something I have any genuine information on, so I could be massively off target. On the other hand if I'm right then rest assured I wasn't trying to pass off 'knowledge' as insight. 

So while I was showering earlier this evening my mind drifted to thinking about the idea of a new 'cheap' Formula 1 for 2024. I mean, everyone is expecting something what with all the articles in the press about how great the original resin cased quartz F1 was (although don't tell the Heuer fanbois that or they'll have your guts for garters) and it seems like everyone is expecting TAG Heuer to do a Moonswatch on us with something cheap, cheerful and in a range of colours in the sub £500 price bracket. 

Sunday 11 February 2024

INFORMATION: Welcome Page Updated and New Links

 

Since the blog seems to be undergoing a massive surge in views over the past couple of weeks I thought it was finally time to update the 'Welcome' page of the blog. I'm not sure how many people read these things, especially since you have to find it by clicking on a tab (in a drop down menu on a phone), but anyway... it's done and I've included a bunch of links at the bottom of the page giving quick access to major posts like my year end roundups, the COCO Watch of the Year and also my trip to Switzerland.

So, if you are new here or you want to get those links, I'll leave a link below:

Saturday 10 February 2024

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox Dato 'Green' Calibre TH20-07 Chronograph

 
CBS2211.FC6545

I've said many times before how the hardest posts to write are the ones where you feel nothing for a watch, about how much easier it is to write when you feel really strongly (one way or the other), and yet I'm struggling to start this one. Honestly, I'm really struggling...

You know, one thing I've always loved about TAG Heuer is that you never quite know what they're gonna do next. But obviously, with that kind of unpredictability comes uncertainty; sometimes they hit it out of the park and sometimes they fumble the ball. Unfortunately the new Dato in teal green is one such example of 'fumbling the ball'... and for once I'm not standing on my own screaming against the crowd, because the Heritage lovin' COCO, who I thought was gonna lap this up, don't like it much either.

Consider me shocked!

After all, these are the same people who voted the previous Hodinkee Dato the '2021 COCO Watch of the Year'... and yet here we sit with the new Dato scoring way down in the dumps with watches like the 'Year of the Rabbit' Carrera and the brown dial Aquaracer. Yeah, I definitely wasn't expecting that!

Wednesday 7 February 2024

FEATURE: I Really Want to Buy This Watch... But I'm Not Going To. Honest.

 
WAJ2182.FT6015

You have no idea how much it pains me to say this, because I've wanted to own this watch ever since I saw it in TAG Heuer's Bicester Village store five or six years ago. Indeed, I drooled over it again and again, trying to justify the £2600ish price tag to myself (which now looks like a bargain of course!) but I never quite managed to go the whole hog and buy it. But I never forgot the WAJ2182 and its stunningly beautiful gold bezel; if you've ever seen one you'll know what I mean - this is quite something and many's the time I've searched the internet for one - in fact the last time was only about a week ago (Chrono 24, German seller - £2454).

And then yesterday this one popped up on Watchfinder, which should have been perfect for me; two years warranty (crucial for that 'bulletproof' Calibre 5) and easily returnable if I decided I didn't like it once it arrived. And yet, despite staring at it every few hours I know deep down that I'm not going to buy it. I also know that as soon as someone else does I will be rueing my decision. But there we are.

Sunday 4 February 2024

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Solargraph' Ladies Watches

 
WBP1311            WBP1312            WBP1313            WBP1314            WBP1315

It's February already and finally we have some new watches to talk about... yay! But don't get too excited because honestly the TAG Heuer part of LVMH Watch Week didn't so much as explode in our faces as hand us a flyer outside Tescos. Yes it was truly exciting... not! But don't despair, I'm certain that TAG Heuer are keeping all the awesome stuff they have ready for us for Watches & Wonders. At least I hope they are because, well, honestly after all that waiting around I was a little deflated.

Okay, so I expect you were thinking I was gonna lead with the green dial Carrera Glassbox Dato 45 didn't ya? Well, that was my first thought, but I feel like I need a little more time to digest it and since I wanted to start the year on a positive note I decided instead to focus on the five, yes FIVE 34mm Aquaracer Solargraphs that were launched at the show.

Thursday 1 February 2024

FEATURE: My Top Ten Aquaracers by ThingzILikeToo

 

As you probably know, all this year we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the mighty Aquaracer and a few weeks ago we kicked off our celebrations with a post from BP Smith who told you all about his favourite models. I said then that this series would continue throughout the year and true to my word here we are back with a second helping, this time in the company of another THF Forum and COCO Council member: ThingzILikeToo (Dominic). 

Don't worry if you missed BP Smith's post, all the 'Aquaracer@20' posts can be found by following the 'Aquaracer@20' label (link at the bottom of the page).

Okay, let's find out what Dominic has chosen for us...