ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Superdiver' 1000M Automatic Watch

 

WBP5A8A.BF0619

Steffans, Northampton, 25th October 2022

One of the most enduring pieces from the 1980s Heuer/TAG Heuer line-up is the 1000M Super Professional, with good pieces still fetching prices well in excess of £1000. The Super Professional eventually left the range around the turn of the century and was briefly replaced by the 500M Aquagraph and subsequently by all manner of 500M Aquaracers, but for the last twenty years if you had your heart set on a 1000M hardcore dive watch you'd have to look for a pre-owned Super Pro or look elsewhere - perish the thought!

So it was with much excitement that we received the Aquaracer 'Superdiver' 1000M earlier this year, especially since it featured a Kenissi TH30-00 movement rather than the 'not-so-beloved' Calibre 5 automatic found in the regular Aquaracer range. Of course, along with the titianium case material this had a significant impact on the price, pushing this ISO 6425/2018 certified 45mm brute up to a more than substantial £5500; easily the most expensive Aquaracer there's ever been.

I imagine half my readers are shaking the head at the thought of a 45mm Aquaracer. I mean it's not like the 43mm models are shy and retiring, but actually it wears surprisingly well. My initial concern was that the crown looked a bit gnarly, but on the wrist it didn't seem to pose a significant threat to the back of my hand. Even so, I find it a little bit aesthetically awkward and I would happily have settled for a standard configuration. But then I guess the watch is designed first and foremost as a tool watch and as crown guards go I can't imagine a much better one.

Speaking of that most prominent feature, it is quite fascinating to see how the guard moves in and out when you screw down and unscrew the crown, I'm not quite sure how they do that and maintain the watertightness of the case, but it's pretty clever. And at least that's one innovation Zenith haven't stolen for themselves... 

The WBP5A8A features a two coloured ceramic bezel filled with blue lume (the minute hand is also filled with blue lume, all the other lume on the watch is green) and on paper this should be right up my street. Somehow though it left me feeling slightly underwhelmed. Perhaps I'm getting a little blasé in my old age, but to be honest it doesn't give me quite the same deep-sea buzz the Aquagraph does, or even my pre-owned, quartz powered, grey dial WAJ1111 500M Aquaracer.

I can't help thinking that may be partly down to the price. At £5500 this is in the same ballpark as the Heuer 02 Monacos and Carreras, and rightly or wrongly it just seems like way too much to pay for an Aquaracer, even if it is technically the 'best' Aquaracer yet. That said, I'm sure there's a market for this and I'm sure it will score well in our end of year poll... and while I sincerely applaud TAG Heuer for re-introducing a full-on proper saturation dive watch into the line-up, in this instance it just doesn't quite ring my (diving) bell.