Thursday 5 March 2020

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 7 GMT 'Batman'

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A few weeks ago I was pondering the now cancelled, sorry 'postponed'... Baselworld 2020 and what TAG Heuer might be bringing to the show. For some reason (probably because I'd recently watched a video about the Rolex Batman I shouldn't wonder) the idea popped into my head that they might perhaps produce an Aquaracer 'Batman' GMT and for several minutes I was very pleased with myself. Until that was I remembered that they already have GMT 'Batmans' in both the modern Carrera and Formula 1 ranges and let's not forget of course the 'Pepsi' GMT in the Aquaracer range. 'So much for that prediction,' I thought as I mentally discarded it...

Odd then that less than a month later I'm looking at exactly the watch I predicted and what a beauty it is! Clearly one shouldn't get too carried away until the watch has actually been wrapped around the wrist, but I haven't been this excited about a new model since the green dial Aquaracer... and we know how that turned out don't we? Yeah.

Actually at the start of this year I kinda decided that since there wasn't anything urgently demanding my purchasing attention, now might be a good time to send a few of my watches off for repair and servicing. To that end my blue dial 2000 Exclusive (the one with the dodgy crown) has gone back, as has my black dial S/EL (chronograph minute hand doesn't work and I want the dial and hands re-lumed) and my blue dial Kirium is next in line for attention - but I'm somewhat conflicted about what to do with that one because maybe it would be more cost effective to look for another one and start again! I shall write about these in due course, but the two watches that have gone back already made a significant dent in my finances, so this Aquaracer might have to wait a while. Still, we don't want to rush in to anything we might regret, do we?


I've tried the 'Pepsi' bezel Aquaracer on a couple of times over the last year or two and while I've always liked it, it's never really quite landed with me, not to the extent that I've wanted to put my hand in my pocket at any rate. This could be a different matter though, going from these pictures I'd have to say this one looks fantastic; I've always liked the 'Batman' bezel better than either the 'Pepsi' or 'Coke' variants, but I've never wanted to spend the money for a Heuer 02 GMT and the Formula 1 version doesn't really ring my bell enough to warrant a purchase. This on the other hand looks the business, especially that blue dial; that really looks like something I could get used to owning!

My only gripe though is the GMT hand, I cannot for the life of me see the logic of having a blue hand on a blue dial like that. Okay it's a slightly lighter blue, but surely a black hand would have been better? That aside I'm eager to see one of these and to find out if the watch is just as delectable in the flesh, I do hope so and perhaps this one can put my green dial Aquaracer frustrations to bed finally?

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