ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Two Tone

WAZ1121.BB0879

Goldsmiths (Lower Floor) / Meadowhall, Sheffield, 25th May 2019

I don't know how many times I must have seen the WAZ1121 (and the blue version WAZ1120) in the windows of various Goldsmiths branches around and about, and never felt moved to try it on. So today I thought, why not give it a go. I've really got used to owning and wearing two-tone watches now (I have three presently: 3000 Series, 2000 Exclusive and my S/EL) so I'm in a better place to judge the watch on its own merits rather than judging 'two-tone' as a whole.

But first, I just have to comment on the staff member who served me this morning in the lower ground store: Ashley. What a warm and friendly guy, we had a great chat about TAG Heuer, Tudor and watches in general and I would love to have been in a position to give him a sale. He was more than happy to show me as many watches as I wanted and told me to take pictures if I needed to. He also offered to send me pictures of the watches I had tried on and by the time I got home from Sheffield he had already sent me the pictures you see here. When I mentioned that I lived near Leicester he said he was going to Leicester on Sunday as they were short of staff. I hope his personality rubs off on the staff in there, as for the last few years I've never felt much warmth from that place and my experience buying a strap (for my 2000 Series) there put me right off.

As for the watch itself, well... it's fair to say it didn't really make that much of an impact on me if I'm honest. It's comfortably sized at 41mm, which is a good move in my opinion, the more 43mm two tone Aquaracers I see, the less I like them; there's just too much gold on them for me. But, well... this one feels a little bit, tacky really. It reminds me of how I used to feel about two-tone watches before I found ones that I actually liked. It just has this 'cheap' aura about it, which is partly from the watch itself and partly from the particular tone of gold that this one sports.

I've noticed, looking at many different two-tone watches over that last year or so, just how many different tones of gold you can get and how much they can affect your perception of the piece. You'd kind of imagine that TAG Heuer would have a universal yellow and a universal rose gold tone for their watches, but nothing could be further from the truth. The gold coating on the links and bezel here is a particularly 'naff' looking yellow tone which is also polished; a shame, because it's amazing what a difference a bit of brushing can make.

To me, the watch doesn't really have a lot of character, its surprisingly bland for a watch which I've already described as 'tacky', which is quite an achievement if you think about it! Even when I had it in my hands I wasn't all that focused on it, it just doesn't command your attention. I guess at £1600 it offers an entry level TAG for people desperate to get on the two-tone ladder, but personally while black and gold can look incredible (I'm thinking of the Heuer 01 with rose gold lugs in particular here), unfortunately this one just doesn't come together for me.

Going back to the 'cheap' feel, I was also pretty disappointed when I opened the clasp, it's a bog-standard, uber-basic pressed steel clasp which just doesn't sit well on a watch with delusions of grandeur like this one. For me, this is one to avoid. TAG have plenty of better options if you want a two-tone under £2000, and in truth it's probably better to move up and buy a pre-owned Aquaracer or Link.