FIRST IMPRESSIONS: 2018 TAG Heuer Alec Monopoly Editions

WAZ1119.FT8023

You may remember when the first Alec Monopoly watch came out I was a bit undecided at first and then after a few days when I had decided that I did in fact like the watch, all 200 pieces had sold. So of course I resolved to be more decisive next time, and here we are....

Unfortunately I don't really like the white background. I think if this had a black background (I can feel some photoshopping coming on!) it would look so much better. True it wouldn't look as obviously 'different' from the first watch, but for me there's just too much white going on there. I think it's a shame Alec didn't graffiti the TAG logo as there's plenty of room at the 12 position, or indeed they could have just applied a shield on top.

In some ways it's a better design than the first watch, as it moves the character out of the way of the hands, but in the process, and perhaps partly because of the white background, it now looks a bit empty. Also, although it perhaps wouldn't fit Alec's free-flowing style, wouldn't it have been cool to use the dollar notes as hour markers?

Quick photoshopped version.

There we are, even with my risible photoshopping skills this already looks better.... and Alec could have put a white haze around the character to highlight it like he did on the first watch if he'd wanted to. Or maybe I'm wrong? What do you think?

CAR201AA.BA0714

Then we have the first 'Alec Monopoly' Carrera... on the one hand, the sub dials fill up the dial a bit more, which seems positive, but then again it squashes the character down in the corner, perhaps it would have been a good idea to remove the TAG Heuer shield in this instance as it looks a bit shoehorned in. Again I think the white is a mistake, although I'm not so sure a harsh black is the answer here, maybe a darkish grey would have helped? Let me give it a try...

Apologies for the very poor rendering, but you get the idea... I'm still not sure it's 'right' (or even close) and to be completely honest I think this kind of thing works better on the Formula 1 range. It's one thing to spend $1250 (these aren't on the UK website yet) on a 'novelty' watch, it's quite another to stump up $6050 for one. I guess this will definitely show us just how strong the Alec Monopoly brand really is... but I for one won't be in the queue.

Actually, maybe a grey background would work on the Formula 1 as well?