HISTORY: TAG Heuer Monza (2000-2016)

 

The history of the TAG Heuer Monza is relatively short and simple (certainly compared to our last two trips down memory lane!), and begins in the year 2000. New TAG Heuer owners LVMH, clearly pleased with the success of the Carrera and Monaco re-issues in the late 1990s, decided their next revival piece would be the Monza... and so began six years of watches, before the model once again returned to obscurity, returning only for one solitary 35th Anniversary piece in 2011).

Then in 2016, under the helm of Jean Claude Biver, and celebrating its 40th Anniversary the Monza returned once more in a 42mm titanium and PVD case, but if you thought that was radical, think again, the Monza isn't finished yet... 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco Restoration by Perpetual Time Limited

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 7 GMT Watch

 

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It's funny, here in the watch community we often get to see leaked pictures of watches before they come out, it's an inevitable side effect of authorised distributors having access to images and showing them to potential customers to try and presell watches before they come out. But in the case of this new Aquaracer GMT it wasn't so much that images were leaked (although they were, this one has been known about for a very long time) but that certain European AD's have been selling this in store for weeks before the official launch. 

So when TAG Heuer started their teaser campaign on Instagram on Monday it was hard to take it seriously... and to be honest, posting a photo of the bezel and asking if you can 'work out what's coming', well it was hardly 'smoke and mirrors'. Maybe they realised the game was up and it wasn't worth the effort of breaking out the high-def camera and shooting the watch from obscure, misleading angles? :)

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco Heuer 02 'Dark Lord Tribute' Special Edition by World Tempus

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: Timpsons Watch Repair Service

 

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Some of you may vaguely recall the time I bought a classic (steel case) F1 for my wife from Japan and needed the glass replaced pronto so that I could give it to her for her birthday. For speed's sake I took it to a company called Timpsons who are not watch specialists themselves (they do shoe repairs, dry cleaning and key cutting amongst other things) but this doesn't really matter since anything more technical than a battery change and the watch gets sent to a proper watch repair centre (which also does work for 'Watch Lab' incidentally - who service TAG Heuer, Cartier, Breitling and Omega). Really they are just providing a convenient drop-off location, and to be honest I've used them a couple of times already and had quick, efficient service, so why not? 

So when I decided that my 380.513 needed a new glass and perhaps a replacement bezel I didn't think twice about dropping it off with them when I picked up my wife's 380.508 (which had also had a replacement glass). That one took about 6 days to get a quote, and a couple or three weeks to get back, this time not quite in time for my wife's birthday (so this must have been the second half of April 2022). 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Autavia (Modern or Vintage Inspired) by Brent Miller Time

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer x Bamford x RUF x High Snobiety Carrera Heuer 02 Limited Edition Chronograph

I guess it's my age, but up until now I was completely unaware of 'High Snobiety', and to be honest even after perusing their Instagram account for several minutes I couldn't quite decide whether the whole thing was a massive piss-take or not. It seems not, though I still can't quite be 100% certain. Not a great starting point for a collaboration between them, RUF, Bamford and TAG Heuer (though I'm not sure how much part TAG Heuer actually played in this one).

RUF is an exclusive specialty car manufacturer celebrated for its meticulously engineered production cars, again I don't really know a lot about them so to quote Wikipedia: 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 300M Professional 'Orange Dial' by Time & Tide

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Red Dial 'Heritage' Heuer 02 Chronograph

 

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Did anyone know they wanted a red dial Heritage Carrera? I've been on the THF Forum now for about six years and I've never ever heard anyone there say they wanted one. But come to that, I've never heard anyone say they want a purple Monaco either and that sold out pretty fast. What you forgot about that one already? Yeah, these 'limited editions' come and go real fast these days don't they...?

With the Monaco though, it feels somewhat more 'acceptable' to push the boat out. For a start the watch is more adventurous and quirky in its design and wearing the 'TAG Heuer' badge and being powered by a Heuer 02 rather than a Calibre 11 movement somehow puts it less at odds with history than this new red-dialed 'Heuer' Carrera.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 1000M 'Superdiver' by Monochrome Watches

FEATURE: Our Favourite Aquaracers

 

As a follow up to my 'History of the Aquaracer' quadrilogy posted over the last weekend, I thought I would poll a few members of the THF Forum to get their opinions on which of the many, many Aquaracers available is their own personal favourite...

As you would expect, there were a variety of opinions, with convergence on a few models, but really the common theme was that most people really like either the current WBP Aquaracers (and in particular the 43mm ceramic bezel models) or the previous WAY style Aquaracers, with other ranges barely even mentioned. 

First up we have our favourite Swedish Instagram influencer (who, let's not forget tried to buy an Aquaracer last year and ended up buying a Tudor Black Bay 58 by mistake)...

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 'Twin Time' Chronograph by The Watch Village

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 300 Professional Ladies Watch

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As some of you may well remember, last year TAG Heuer produced a 'piece unique' for the 'Pink Dial Project' which was auctioned in aid of breast cancer charities. At the time I thought it slightly strange that they would make the watch a 'piece unique' when it was something I could see being part of the regular range, and it seems I was right.... well almost. 

This new 300 Professional Aquaracer 36mm is pretty darned close in spec to that piece, with the only differences that I can see being a regular second hand instead of a pink one and the first quarter of the bezel text being rendered in grey instead of pink. Other than that it looks pretty much identical to me, which is great if you really liked the unobtainable charity piece, but perhaps slightly less ideal if you were the one who bought it!

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer V Longines Hydroconquest by Chisolm Hunter

 

HISTORY: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Part 4 (Other Watches)

The fourth and final part of the Aquaracer odyssey. 

OTHER WATCHES (Non Catalogue Pieces - Specific Years Unknown)

These are the watches that did not feature in any official TAG Heuer catalogue and for which I have been unable to pin down the specific year of manufacture. If it had been just a few models I might have been willing to make educated guesses but there are just too many and I would rather not litter these posts with inaccuracies unnecessarily. Better to show the pieces and give you the range of years those model lines were produced.

HISTORY: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Part 3 (2019-)

 

The third part of our in depth look at the history of the Aquaracer.

2019 CATALOGUE

Some interesting new pieces could be found in this catalogue, not least the stunning green dial Aquaracer available in both ladies and men's sizes. 

HISTORY: TAG Heuer Aquaracer - Part 2 (2013/2018)

 

We continue our look at the long and voluminous history of the Aquaracer, this time focusing on the years 2013-2018.

To visit part one of this post, please click the link below:

http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2022/08/history-tag-heuer-aquaracer-part-1.html

2013/2014 CATALOGUE

In 2013 TAG Heuer launched the CAK range of Aquaracers, including a 'Regatta' chronograph available on either a bracelet or a rubber strap in either standard or Team USA limited edition format. These watches only appeared in this one catalogue (and for several years were readily available at TAG Heuer's Bicester Village outlet). 

HISTORY: TAG Heuer Aquaracer - Part 1 (2004/2013)

 

While the Aquaracer was technically born in 2004, in truth the model was a continuation of the 2000 Series that had been in the catalogue for the previous 22 years - indeed, were it not for the name change, the 2000 Series would actually be celebrating an impressive 40 years of continuous production in 2022 (something neither the Monaco nor Carrera can lay claim to). If ever proof were needed of this fact, look no further than the 2005 Catalogue, which features no less than ten 2000 Series and 2000 Exclusive models being sold as Aquaracers! 

In addition, the (WAB style) Aquaracer appears in the 2004/2005 Catalogue as the 2000 Aquaracer, so it seems that originally it was intended to be another variation on the 2000 theme (2000 Sports, 2000 Exclusive, 2000 Tristar, etc) but then they dropped the 2000 name and just let the model continue as the Aquaracer. Maybe they just figured the 2000 name had had it's day and the Aquaracer sounded a lot cooler and a lot more 21st Century? Or maybe LVMH wanted to cut the ties to the pre-LVMH days and getting rid of the 2000 nomenclature was one more way of doing so.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 'Moondust' by Teleology Diary

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Monaco Heuer 02 'Gulf Edition' Chronograph

 

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TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowall, Sheffield 18th June 2022

It's been a little while since I've had a Heuer 02 Monaco on my wrist, or any Monaco for that matter. In fact I think the last time I actually tried one on was February 2020 and that was a 37mm model with a white Mother of Pearl dial, a white strap and diamonds adorning the case. The last time I had a 'proper' Monaco on my wrist was December 2019, so it's perhaps not surprising that in the past two and a half years I had overinflated the size of the watch in my mind a bit. For sure it's not small, but neither is it an unwearable monster on my 7.1/2" wrist. In fact on re-acquaintance it seemed altogether quite reasonable!

And so we come to the new Gulf Monaco, a watch that received many positive words from the 'Council of Considered Opinion' on release, much to my surprise - seeing that it was replacing a Heuer branded Gulf, and one of the better ones the company has produced to date.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 'Orange Dial' Watch by Brent Miller Time