ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer F1 Kirium Quartz Chronograph

CL111A.FT6002

TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 19th August 2020

If you've been reading my blog for a while you will know that my first ever TAG Heuer was a CL111A F1 Kirium which I purchased brand new in 2004/5. So you might wonder why I wanted to try on this CL111A today, and the simple answer is that I've always wondered what my watch would be like to wear on a rubber strap rather than the steel bracelet that mine came on. 

I missed a previous chance to try one on actually, I saw a pre-owned one in a jewellers one day but I didn't have time to try it on and I never went back, but I've lost count of the times I've seen Kiriums on rubber straps on eBay and wondered 'what if...'.

I am a bit of a rubber strap fanboy, it's true - so this should be right up my alley... but somehow it didn't quite feel right. Maybe it's because I'm so accustomed to my own F1 Kirium, but this just struck me as very odd and for a moment I actually questioned whether this was the exact same watch as I own because it looked weirdly small on my wrist.

Funnily enough, someone asked a question the other day as to whether the F1 Kirium was made in different sizes and I knew it wasn't - but just for a second I began to doubt reality myself! It doesn't look small in these photos admittedly, but I always find watches look bigger in photographs than they do in real life.

I'm happy to report that the clasp isn't like the ones I've had so much trouble with in the past (the ones that come on the FT6024 straps) and I don't think it would be a problem on the wrist, but at the same time it doesn't really compare to the clasps you get today. It's a pressure fit clasp for a start, which is fine - but it doesn't feel particularly secure or more pertinently particularly 'high-end'. I can't honestly say I'm a massive fan of this rubber strap either, it seems rather too 'grey' for me and while I get that the design is supposed to emulate the grooved tires that Formula 1 cars were running back in the mid 2000s (remember those?) for me it doesn't really work with the case.

This particular CL111A.FT6002 is currently available at the Bicester Village outlet store priced at £1925. If you saw my previous post on this you may have noticed that I inadvertently used a picture showing a smooth rubber strap rather than this one. I honestly think that looks better, but for me I'm afraid the F1 Kirium belongs on a bracelet and only a bracelet. It has one of the best bracelets TAG Heuer have ever made so I say stick with that!

No rubber strap Kiriums for me then, but I did see one on a leather strap the other day that looked pretty neat - maybe I will investigate that a little more now...!