ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Gulf Special Edition

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Ernest Jones / Milton Keynes, 23rd June 2018

I was kinda hoping the new Aston Martin Formula 1 might have been in the stores today, as it's now showing on the TAG Heuer website, but sadly no luck. However, instead I got my first look at the new Formula 1 Gulf Special Edition and it's a strange one because it's somehow definitely more than the sum of it's parts.

The first thing I noticed was the strap, which is a very odd texture. Chris in Ernest Jones tells me it is leather, but that it has been given an 'asphalt' finish. Oddly, in our conversation I did say that one of the things I like about TAG is that they bring out watches that aren't run of the mill and they try different things... but in this instance I can't say I'm completely onside. In all honesty it looks like felt, or even glass paper as there are speckles of silver in the surface, it's very, very strange and being the colour that it is it doesn't really work for me. I'd like to see the watch on a bracelet if I'm honest, and I don't think it would be unreasonable for TAG to offer that option really...

The other thing to say about the strap is that it's too short! I have got a bigger wrist than many at 7.3/4" but apart from the Gulf Monaco earlier this year, I've never tried on a watch where I was so short of strap. I was on the second to last hole, which doesn't really leave me much to tuck in to the (rather dainty looking) strap retainer. I have a horrible feeling it would come loose, flap about and annoy me.

The back is fairly standard chequered flag fare, and contains the only Gulf logo on the watch. I guess with the three chronograph dials and the TAG logo at the 12 position, there's not really any room for it on the dial, and it's definitely better that they didn't try and cram it in somewhere.

I don't know why, but the pushers and crown look a bit wrong to me being in black... I'd have much preferred to see them in steel (as they are on the Red Bull F1). I think it would have been okay if the strap had been black, but with the blue strap I think they definitely would have been less intrusive in steel. Allow me to demonstrate...

Modified version with steel crown and pushers...

Which brings me to my next quibble, the blue stripe. I know the Monaco 50th Anniversary Gulf Special Edition you can find in your local jeweller has the 'incorrect' darker blue stripe, and yes this one does have a much better contrast with the dial - but, for me this colour just doesn't cut it. It may be historically correct to the Le Mans winning Porsche 917s, and if you're big into that then this will probably be a major plus for you, but for me I would honestly choose the darker tone every time and it makes me think I would definitely have gone for the special edition 50th Anniversary Monaco over the limited edition 50th First Victory. Sky blue just doesn't cut it for me on a watch dial, it's accurate, but from an aesthetic point of view it's just not a very nice colour and it doesn't convey 'luxury' watch at all for me.

Another modified version with a different blue stripe and a black strap for good measure...

So you might be forgiven for thinking I'm not a fan of this watch, given that I want the pushers changed for steel, I don't like the strap and I'm not a fan of the sky blue... but overall, I do rather like it. Despite my misgivings about the strap, it's very comfortable and considering the watch is 43mm it seems to wear slightly smaller than that. I was wearing my grey dial 500M Aquaracer when I went to try this one on and although they are the same diameter the lugs on the F1 are far less prominent and give a more compact feel overall. It's not too thick, sits well on the wrist, and will easily slide under any cuff.

The bezel is aluminium, and again it kinda clashes with those black pushers for me... but of itself it's perfectly nice looking. The subdials are clear and easy to read and the 1/10th of a second is slightly larger than the other two, which makes sense as it's the one you're most likely to want to read. The date window at the 4 position is the best option really on a watch with so much of the dial taken up with dials, and incorporating it into the subdial at the 6 position would have been a mistake, so I'm glad they didn't do that.

It seems slightly odd that when I wrote my 'First Impressions' post a few weeks ago my main criticism was that the blue on the watch didn't match the render, and now that it does I sort of wish it was more like the prototype... but this just further underlines the fact that until you get a watch in your hand on on your wrist, pictures can only tell you so much.

Prototype watch with the darker blue stripe.

Priced at £1300, this offers a relatively affordable way into Gulf/TAG Heuer ownership and I have no doubt that it will sell well for the company. Personally, despite liking the watch (on the whole) there's too many things about it that I would like to change, so I'm going to wait and see what the F1 Aston Martin looks like in the flesh.