WAF2012.BA0818
Yes, another 'Island' based limited edition TAG Heuer Aquaracer, but not a new one this time, in fact I'd estimate this was perhaps about 10 years old judging by the bezel design. Some of you may remember an 'On the Wrist' post from about 18 months ago where I tried on a Carrera Calibre 16 at Bicester Village that had a beautiful black mother of pearl dial. Seeing these photographs took me straight back to that watch, which really was quite stunning although it looked rather smaller than it's 'official' 41mm size on the wrist.
Like that Carrera, this automatic Aquaracer is also a numbered limited edition, 700 pieces this time though rather than the 300 of the CV201P-0, and this one also celebrates the island of Maui, which unlike Amami Oshima I have at least heard of and I could probably have a good stab at pointing it out on a map because of course it's part of Hawaii!
Black mother of pearl is a rather underused material in the watch world, there have been some ladies Aquaracers of late, which look really nice, but to find a black mother of pearl watch for a guy is quite unusual. I really liked it on that Carrera and I like it here too, but I'm not sure I'd want it as my only watch... still, I guess as a reminder of an exotic holiday location it more than fits the bill.
Pre-owned prices seem to hover between $1300-$1600 for these watches, but there really doesn't seem to be that many for sale. Actually I've just found a Japanese website which had one for sale, and it describes this piece as a '10th Anniversary Diving Edition', unfortunately that's all the information I can glean on this one.
Hello & great write up. I own one. These are beautiful, limited edition Aquaracers that were offered as "Japan only" around May 2010. Apparently, it is a 10th anniversary version of Tags limited edition dive island series. They are in fact Calibre 5, not quartz as you have listed in the title, (specifically, ETA 2836-2 day-date movements). The WAF2012 is a sister model to both the WAF2010 & WAF2011 models. 41mm class and only 12mm thick, it's an interesting model for daily wear rotation. List price was about $2,900. It's not easy to find many men's mother-of-pearl dial watch options (Rolex does make a few Daytona MOP models!), but this is a fine choice. Would love to see an original press release for this one.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for your comment and for spotting the deliberate mistake! I did know it was Cal 5, don't know why I put quartz in the title. I will remove that. Regards Rob
DeleteHi where would I be able find one of these?
ReplyDeleteHi, well I have seen one on eBay before, that's probably your best bet or maybe Chrono 24.
DeleteRob