It's really not long now until the 'C.O.C.O. TAG Heuer Watch of the Year 2022' is finally announced, and this being the third time we've done this I catch myself already starting to compare this year's results with previous years. After all, everyone loves statistics and being able to compare year on year... so it's really a shame that I didn't initiate this process until 2020, just imagine all the data we'd have if we had started in 2016!
But unfortunately, we didn't. And as I don't fancy the palaver of trying to list every watch from 2016-2019 and then get the Council to vote on them all*, I guess all I can really do is put myself forward as the voice of reason and the ultimate arbiter of good taste and tell you what my top three would have been for those years. :)
*Actually, I did suggest this a while back, but it was poo-poo'd by certain parties!
2016: Okay, before anyone jumps on me, I know the Heuer 01 skeleton was announced at Basel 2015, but for the purposes of this post I am considering it a 2016 watch. Firstly it doesn't appear in a catalogue until the 2016/2017 one, and secondly I don't think it was in the shops until early 2016. I bought mine in September 2016 and it still seemed like a very current watch at that moment. Besides, the watch shown at Basel 2015 was markedly different in some ways to the watch that eventually came out.
A clear and fairly predictable winner for me then, and to back it up two more pretty obvious slam-dunk pieces; the utterly gorgeous WAY208C Aquaracer Calibre 5 (albeit on that very odd and unflattering gold textile strap) and the very first, and still by far the best, Red Bull Formula 1 quartz chronograph.
Okay, that's 2016 sorted. Let's move on...
2017: This was tougher, as my fourth placed piece is a watch I admire very much and have thought about purchasing many, many times. But in the end the camouflage Aquaracer just didn't quite make the cut against this rather daunting opposition.
In first place we have the watch I would have bought if I hadn't already bought the CAR2A1Z, the CAR2A1H. What a beauty that is.... and what a tragedy that that strap won't fit my watch. Next up we have the Alec Monoply Formula 1, a watch I should have bought when I had the chance. I remember looking at it on the website, my finger hovering over the 'Add to Basket' button. Limited to 200 pieces, the original (and again by far the best) Alec Monopoly watch will now cost you three to four times its original £1000 purchase price, rendering it completely out of the question.
And last, but by no means least, we have the 50pce limited edition Monaco Gulf 50th Anniversary with the ultra desirable light blue stripe. Lord only knows how many thousand over retail you'd have to pay for one of these now...
2018: Looking back it seems that 2018 wasn't the greatest of years when it came to new releases, indeed none of the watches I've ultimately chosen was really something that would have popped into my head without first trawling the archives. But after some contemplation I ultimately found in favour of the limited edition CAR201J limited edition Carrera Heuer 01 which featured a nice moondusty looking dial and a CLEP (Chinese Lunar Exploration Program) display caseback. This was limited to just 100 pieces, so not much chance of picking one of these up on the cheap!
In second place we have the 'Tete de Vipere' tourbillon Heuer 02T Carrera, the most accurate H02T money can buy and a nice enough piece, but until now honestly not something I would immediately have considered a WOTY contender. Meanwhile in third, not a special edition, but a regular watch you could find in your local jewellers, and none the worse for that. Indeed I'd still be somewhat tempted to pick a CBK2112 up one day if the price was right... and definitely in blue.
2019: This of course was the 50th Anniversary of the Monaco (lets pretend it wasn't out of production for about 15 years in the middle, hey), and we saw not one, not two, but five anniversary pieces launched throughout the year. Only one of them made my top three though, the rather daring CAW211X with its concrete-inspired dial, but it could only manage second place here. You see, for me 2019 was all about the green Aquaracer, which was not exactly widely available here in the UK... put simply, I just couldn't get one. And now that the fakers are all over it, I don't know if I'll ever be able to buy one with any degree of confidence.
Bringing up the rear behind these two obvious top dogs it was something of a toss up between a couple of Carreras, the very under the radar CV2A83 Calibre 16 and the carbon collection Heuer 02 CBG2017. Ultimately I had to tip slightly in favour of the CBG2017, but both would make a lovely Christmas present thanks for asking
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So there we have it. Not the officially certified 'COCO' Council results I would have liked to have given you, but a worthwhile exercise all the same I think. Now let's stand back and watch as the COCO members dissolve into complete apoplexy seeing the 50th Anniversary Gulf-Lord beaten out by a quartz F1 and a H01 skeleton dial Carrera! Hahahahahaha. I love it.
Okay, well this really is it. Next time you hear from me it will be Christmas Eve and time to start the WOTY countdown proper. See you then!
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