FEATURE: My Top Five Red Dial TAG Heuer Watches

 

CAC1112.BA0850

You might think, given TAG Heuer's 'sporty' image and 'racing heritage' that red dials would be ten a penny in the back catalogue, but you would be wrong. Admittedly they do outnumber the (previously appraised) yellow dials by a factor of 2:1, if not slightly more. But even so, picking five when the list extends barely into double figures is tricky.

Especially when, without much deliberation at all I can jettison more than one simply because it is utterly hideous. Yes, you CAC1112 up there at the top of the page... I'm talking about YOU! In fact pretty much all the 2000s red dial F1s can go, which leaves me with a selection of... well, not many, but just enough actually.

Before we get into it, I thought I would mention a couple of watches that kind of qualify as red dials, but even so they didn't quite make it into the illustrious top five. First of all we have the WBE5192 and WBE5193 bronze cased Autavias (both essentially the same, except one is a 'Year of the Rat' limited edition.

WBE5192.FC8300                                    WBE5193.FC8300

Both of these are definitely red enough to qualify, but the combination of red and bronze is perhaps an acquired taste and I would definitely go for the green dial if I was going to be boarding the bronze Autavia train. 

Speaking of green, we also have these two limited edition oddities...

WK2112                                                               WK2113 

Not really sure which one I prefer of the two, I think perhaps the WK2112, but either would be fun I guess!

Okay, without further ado I give you my top five red dial TAG Heuer watches...

#5 CA1215.BA0493 Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph

We start, as you might expect, with a Formula 1 and this is from the late 1990s (second generation). These were available in a selection of colours (yellow, red, orange, blue, white and black) and the coloured ones in particular really hold their value, especially if they are in good condition. Even though the lume has patinated to a beigey yellow the dial still looks vibrant and that touch of blue was a piece of demented genius that could have gone horribly wrong but actually went terribly right!

#4 CAW211W.FC6467 Monaco 50th Anniversary 1979-1989

This is one that I flip-flop on, sometimes liking it - sometimes not liking it. I blame Jim Dollares, I liked it until I interviewed him and he said it was (and I quote) 'too much like a pretty girl on the red carpet'. An odd way to describe a luxury timepiece, but I kind of get what he meant. I don't know whether it's the silver subdials that give cause for concern or the weird shape of them... but while I like this, I just can't help feeling it could have come out slightly better somehow. Still, it made it into my top five.

#3 WK1114 2000 Series Quartz Watch

At number three we have this rather attractive three handed 2000 Series (above right). I particularly like the white chapter ring around the edge of the dial as this gives a little relief from the overpowering red (something we can see here on the CK2112 chronograph on the left). It's a 'thing' with all these red dial watches, it somehow manages to look very dense, perhaps this is why they don't make too many red dial watches? Nice, but hard to find (finding decent pictures is hard enough!) and probably too expensive if you did....

#2 WG111C S/EL Quartz Watch

The only watch on this list that I actually own, although I wish my lume was in as good condition as the one in this photograph.... or my wife's 25mm version of the same! Again the denseness of the colour makes wearing this one a slightly odd experience, but I do wear it quite often so it's obviously not that big an issue. I can't help wondering though if I don't actually prefer the dial on the 2000 Series above. That white outer ring is a great move and gives it an almost Speedmaster-esque vibe. But no way would I choose the 2000 case or bracelet over the S/EL, the comfort and fit is night and day.

#1 980.913N 1000 Series Quartz Watch

The cause of much consternation over the last year or so on the Calibre 11 forum, mainly due to the number of seemingly fake pieces in circulation. Oddly though, the fakes seem unusually obvious, having flat orangey-red dials instead of the beautiful metallic red dial and bezel you see above. 

Good (genuine) ones fetch £1000, making it quite expensive for what is, at the end of the day, a fairly basic quartz watch... but you can see why.

Well, there we are, not a vast pool to choose from, but at least it was better than last time!

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