FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Calibre 16 'Senna' Limited Edition

CAZ2017.BA0647

I honestly don't think I've ever written five 'First Impressions' posts in a row; what is going on with TAG Heuer at the moment, they are throwing out watches like there's no tomorrow! So here we have one of two Senna tribute watches that have just been released, more on the other one tomorrow (so I guess that will be six in a row!) and first impressions are pretty good. Nice to see a higher end Formula 1 watch getting a ceramic bezel, I think if you're spending this sort of money then that should definitely be a feature and the anthracite dial looks very nice as well. I tried on a Calibre 5 Formula 1 in London earlier in the year with an anthracite dial and I was most impressed, so that's a good start.

I can't decide if I like the two tone subdials or not, I think it would have made more sense to me if the running seconds subdial (the one at the 9 position) had been black, partly because then the white dials would have related to the chronograph function, but mainly because it would have made the dial more symmetrical. 

TAG Heuer have done a very nice job on the back plate, with a very cool engraving of Ayrton Senna (something which is carried over onto the tourbillon piece as well) and some nice text on there. It's a funny thing about these Senna models, I noticed on that other Senna model I tried on the other day that although they are branded as 'limited edition' they are not numbered, nor do they state what they are limited to, so it's a bit meaningless really. Still, I guess it helps the salespeople put the screws on a little bit. :)

There's a good bit of red on this one, almost Max Verstappen levels of red... but I'm glad they didn't resort to red lume on the hands, a red chronohand is quite enough I think. The watch comes in a nice Senna branded box too, I must say I do like these new TAG Heuer boxes, much better than the old brown/cream ones, which in turn were better than the even older black ones (which seem to disintegrate as they age). They're not necessarily 'luxurious' as such, but they look more in keeping with TAG Heuer's brand philosophy.

I think, again the thing that lifts this model over the majority of the Formula 1 range is the bracelet. Whoever decided to put the Link bracelet on these Senna watches deserves a cake! We've seen them together on the quartz model before and I love it. I guess they have made it a special thing because of Ayrton's link to the S/EL range, but I would love to see the Link bracelet utilised more. Indeed, I had a fantasy of fitting one to a Red Bull quartz F1 a while back and I still think that would look amazing.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is an automatic, for some reason it 'looks' like a quartz to me... until I look at the price. £2650 is quite a lot for any Formula 1, but bear in mind that you are getting a Calibre 16 movement a ceramic bezel and a Link bracelet for that price and when you compare the prices with a Calibre 16 Link watch (without a ceramic bezel) it suddenly looks like a much better proposition.