CAH1012.BT0717
If, like me, you subscribe to updates from 'Watches.co.uk', you will be all too familiar with the cycle of disappointment that usually springs from opening one of their emails. All too often it's a black dial, entry level Formula 1 or a black dial Calibre 5 Carrera... nothing wrong with those watches of course, but they are somewhat ubiquitous and hardly likely to inspire most people to rush to their website with credit card in hand. Nice then to get an email with something a little more interesting inside, and something that is currently testing my resolve not to buy any more watches until things are back to normal and I know for sure where I stand job wise.
Those of you who have done the 'Coronavirus Quiz' might remember a question about the CAH1013 Rabat Limited Edition and how it differed from this CAH1012, and indeed I wrote a post about that watch about two years ago. But it wasn't until friend of the blog and Calibre11 forum alumni Jim Dolares mentioned it that I noticed the unusual sub-dials featured on this model.
Clearly designed to resemble speedometers, or rev counters the dials have their '0' point at the bottom left position, which is highly unusual but looks really cool. What it does for legibility I'm not sure since we are all so used to having our dials confirm to certain expectations, but then again most people never use them anyway, so does it really matter?
Annoyingly, this watch features my preferred BT0717 strap, it would have been nice if it was one of the woefully clasped FT6024 models and I could have counted that as a point against it. But no. I have a lot of experience with the BT0717 (and the smaller BT0714) and I have nothing bad to say about them. It's a good, chunky rubber strap with some nice TAG Heuer branding imprinted on both sides, the only thing I would say is that some people might find the retainers a bit bulky where the strap ends cross over.
What does puzzle me slightly is that in the 'Watches.co.uk' photographs, the hand on the 1/10 of a second sub-dial (the large one at the bottom, in case you were wondering) seems to sit just below the '0' as it often does on a car speedometer. I assume this is just a case of the watch needing a manual reset, as while it looks 'authentic' it's hardly a sign of accurate time reading!
Good, I feel better now I've found something to pick at. But seriously, this is a really cool, interesting and 'different' kind of Formula 1 and I really like it. In case you are still wondering (as I was to be fair) the 1/10 of a second counter is at the '6' position, the chronograph minutes is the subdial at the '10' position (this one uses the double ended hand we've seen on various Aquaracers and the Calibre 1 Carrera to read on two semi-circular scales positioned one inside the other) and the running seconds is at the '2' position, which means the chrono seconds hand is the large, red centrally mounted one.
Want to see it in action? Here's a short video to show you how it goes...
True enough, TAG Heuer did make some horrendous looking Formula 1 watches in the 00s, but for me this one is a definite cut above and it has a grand date... which is something missing from my collection since the departure of my Calibre 8 Grand Carrera GMT. Quick, somebody buy it before I weaken any further...
https://www.watches.co.uk/tag-heuer-formula-1-chronograph-pvd/TA20788S
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