ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Connected 41mm

CONNECTED 41mm

TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 22nd July 2019

The first (and previously unwritten) rule about the 'TAG Heuer Enthusiast' blog is that we don't talk about the TAG Heuer Connected smartwatch...

At least until now!

But before you panic, close your browser and run screaming from room to room like a startled child shouting for your mother, let me reassure you that I absolutely will not be buying one! And it'll probably be a long, long time until I talk about the Connected again. So, just this once, let's relax just a wee bit and take a calm, considered view of the (now discontinued) 41mm Connected smart watch.

I'm not going to get into the functionality because a) I don't have a clue, and b) I'm really not that interested to be honest. I'm sure if you are then you probably have a far better understanding of how they work and what they can do than I can offer you, I'm just here as an innocent bystander offering my two-cents from the perspective of a watch enthusiast.

So clearly, this post is going to be a rant about how awful smart watches are in general and how the Connected is awful and the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket, right? Well no actually...

The first Connected I tried on was this one, and I have to start by saying I really liked the rubber strap. No really, I would definitely have one of those on a 'proper' watch and look, there's no denying this watch is quite a cool thing to have on the wrist. If I was minded to join the Smartwatch revolution then obviously I would be buying a TAG Heuer, I mean... obviously!

But it is quite bulky, quite thick and it looks kinda squashed... like, if somebody took a Heuer 01 and pushed it in from the sides. The lugs are very similar but they seem way too close together and that along with the black pieces at the top and bottom create this illusion of an 'oval' dial, which the narrow, polished lugs only help to reinforce. Maybe the 45mm would wear the thickness better?

Next I tried on the Calibre 5 module on a bracelet, and again it feels dinky and squashed in, but I didn't mind the module itself, it is after all, a 'proper' watch. But I didn't much care for the bracelet, if I was going down this route then I'd be having this module and the rubber strap for sure. It's funny though, how in this picture the actual Calibre 5 module kinda looks like a Connected 'face', indeed a friend reviewing my pictures thought that's exactly what it was!

I'm wishing I'd taken a picture from the side so you can see just how tall this watch is, and I can't help wondering if the Calibre 5 module needs to be so thick, given how thin an automatic movement is. But as much as the thickness irks me, I could forgive a lot, but I can't get past those black parts at the top and bottom of the bezel. Why do we need those? I'm sure they are vital to the modular function, but I really don't like them. They just ruin the shape of the bezel for me.

So here we are, the Connected 41mm system sold in its component parts and... is it just me, but the Calibre 5 module costs £1400 (£980 in the outlet), while the lugs cost £1015 (£735 in the outlet). Does that not seem just a little bit 'off' to you? Of course you 'could' buy this selection of parts for £3310 (£2370 in the outlet), but that means you don't have an actual 'Connected' module (maybe not such a bad thing...) but why would you when you can buy a basic Connected for £735 and the Calibre 5 module for £980 (£1715 in total in the outlet)?

(Actually, I posed this exact question on the Calibre 11 forum and perceived wisdom suggests the answer is that the lugs are priced precisely to stop people buying the parts and making their own Calibre 5 Carrera cheaper than a 'proper' Carrera. It's a little more complex than that, but that is the gist, and it makes more sense than trying to justify the price of lugs in and of themselves.)

Makes no sense to me I'm afraid, but then the whole thing seems a bit doomed to obsolescence. Okay I get that TAG Heuer have done their best to try to negate that exact dilemma, but do I really believe people are going to be wearing their Calibre 5, 16 and Tourbillon modules in ten years time? Not really, no. On the other hand it may end up one day being the cheapest possible way to own a Swiss made Tourbillon movement, as long as you don't mind the 'kids' laughing at your 'old fashioned' Smart Watch of course!