CAZ101AD.FT8024
TAG Heuer have been celebrating the Indy 500 for quite a while now and Googling 'TAG Heuer Indy 500' brings up quite a selection of special editions to mull over. Last year we had both a quartz Formula 1 and a Calibre 16 Carrera (both of which recently turned up at Bicester Village, making way for the new piece no doubt), and here once again we have a 43mm quartz Formula 1 chronograph sporting the famous 'IMS' logo in the '6' position subdial. As far as I know there's no Carrera model this time and if there was I very much doubt they would have released them separately.
It's an interesting one this one, because when I first saw the render for this I thought it looked a bit of a mess to be honest, and then when I saw it in better quality I thought it looked better than I thought and when you blow it up and look at it really closely it looks even better. For example, the subdials have a nice circular texturing to them that isn't immediately apparent in low res pictures and the black part of the dial is made to look like asphalt. The brickwork too has been nicely done although I would maybe have preferred something a little less 'realistic', maybe just the mortar pattern in white or red perhaps? Still, the brick pattern is an important part of the scheme, symbolising the part of the Indianapolis track which was left bare when they asphalted the rest of the surface.
It's quite a busy dial and I can't help thinking those red splashes in the subdials are perhaps a flourish too much, and for me personally I really have a problem with the winged 'Indy' logo. Unfortunately it's not a very convenient shape to fit on a watch dial, anywhere other then where the TAG Heuer logo inevitably goes. It never looks like it really fits when they place it inside a subdial, and here again it looks rather crammed in. I get there's not much they can do about it, the logo is the logo after all, but it jars all the same.
I actually think that if you took that logo away and removed the red flashes from the subdials it would be an improvement. I do like the red 'Indy 500' text on the ceramic bezel and the black DLC case looks great. I also quite like the rubber strap it comes on, the FT8024, although I do think it's better suited to use with steel cases as it looks a little grey next to the black case here.
I think I can confidently say that this is my favourite of all of the TAG Heuer 'Indy 500' special editions, but to be honest none of the previous models have really grabbed my attention, so it's slightly hollow praise. It's interesting to see that this one is a numbered limited edition, rather than the more open ended 'Special Editions' we have had in the past. Of course, assuming the race goes back to it's normal May date next year they'll only have nine months to shift these rather than usual twelve... so perhaps it's just as well.
The CAZ201AD is limited to 1500 pieces and costs £1750.
No comments:
Post a Comment