WAY201F.BA0927 WAY2013.BA0927
Selfridges / London, 9th March 2019
While this head to head comparison came about almost entirely by accident (the watches were displayed close together in Selfridges' cabinet), it struck me as I edited the image above that I'd chosen to pitch two watches together which are united by a common theme: Rolex. Like it or not, one can't fail to think 'Rolex GMT' when clapping eyes on the Aquaracer Pepsi for the first time, and similarly you'd be hard pushed to ignore the fact that the WAY2013 has more than a whiff of the Rolex Explorer II (Polar) about it!
I've tried both of these watches on before and I will put the links to the original 'On the Wrist' posts at the bottom of the page. Also, both of these have been 'on my list' at one time or another - but so far I'm yet to fully commit to either of them... these two definitely have character, but my interest has waxed and waned for some reason and I can't quite work out why that is exactly.
I did get slightly excited a while back when TAG Heuer released a 41mm quartz version of the 'Explorer' (I'm just going to call it the 'Explorer', okay...) but when I got to see it it was a huge disappointment. The 2mm drop in size I could live with, but the slatted dial was gone and they switched the cool black 'rubber' markers out for polished rhodium. It was about £500 cheaper, but the effect was somewhat ruined and I didn't like it much at all.
No such option exists for the Pepsi, it's the Calibre 5 or no TAG Pepsi at all. I wonder if they'll release a quartz version for Baselworld 2019? I doubt it. So WAY201F it is then and with a list price of £2200 it represents a significant increase over the WAY2013, but of course you are getting a GMT funtion and that funky bezel. I suspect most of the sales for the Pepsi will be driven by the bezel rather than the GMT function if I'm honest, so the argument that 'I don't need a GMT function' is somewhat moot (especially as I've already got one and have owned and sold another one!).
I definitely go back and forth with these two, but one thing that has changed since I tried the 'Explorer' on for the first time is that I have added a white dial TAG Heuer to my collection, in fact three white dial TAG Heuers... which means that box no longer needs to be ticked. By contrast of course, while I have acquired the 1500 Series GMT (one of the three white dials in question) I don't have anything remotely resembling a Pepsi bezel, or a ceramic bezel of any description come to that.
So why is it that I still can't choose the Pepsi? On paper it seems like it has the upper hand. It can't be the dreaded cyclops because they both have them (both equally useless and ugly) and they share the same bracelet and case. So what is it? Well, while I do like the GMT, there is something about those black hour markers and that orange second hand. It just looks cool against that slatted white background. And so, while I do like the Pepsi, I think the Explorer is the one I would go for*.
I'm not going to spend £1850 on one mind you, but if and when these trickle down to the pre-owned market I think I will probably bite. Actually, between you and I, I think the Pepsi will hold it's value a bit better as well, which is potentially a bonus for those of us looking for a pre-owned 'Explorer'. But that quartz 'Explorer'... that's just nasty! I don't want to ever have to look at that again!
(*Well, ask me again in a month or two and we'll see!)
Original 'On the Wrist' Posts:
WAY2013.BA0927 'Explorer' Calibre 5:
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2017/06/on-wrist-aquaracer-calibre-5-automatic.html
WAY201F.BA0927 'Pepsi' GMT Calibre 7:
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/04/on-wrist-tag-heuer-aquaracer-gmt.html
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