FEATURE: Hodinkee Says 'Bring Back the Original TAG Heuer Formula 1'

I'm sure it was no coincidence, but three days before Swatch unveiled their latest riff on the plastic Omega Speedmaster the great and omnipresent 'Hodinkee' posted an article proposing the rebirth of the original TAG Heuer Formula 1. Yes really. But would that actually be such a good idea? In all honesty I am not remotely convinced.

Let's think back to the mid 1980s for a moment. Swatch was killing it, Heuer was (sorry to say it) dying on its arse. This is when popular fables tell you the big bad TAG corporation swooped in and undid all Uncle Jack's good work. In truth, TAG saved and re-invented the company, and key to this success story was the introduction of the resin bodied Formula 1. 

When it was launched the Formula 1 cost £79 and whenever this is discussed today it seems like people expect a new 'plastic' F1 to be available for £200-300. To put things into perspective £79 in 1987 is equivalent to £285 in today's money, so right out of the blocks that's a non starter. Things have moved on and there's simply no way that TAG Heuer could launch a watch of the same 'quality' in 2023 as in 1987 and not get lambasted for it by the watch press.  

For a start it needs to be bigger. No one is buying a 35mm sports watch in 2023, least of all the 'youngsters' this release would supposedly be aimed at. But it probably shouldn't be as big as the 'real' 43mm models either, so 40-41mm perhaps? Secondly the strap quality has deteriorated over the years, older ones were thicker and more rubbery in texture, but the latest replacement I bought had the texture and feel of a cheap watering can (it was dark green too, which only hammered the point home), so that needs improvement for sure.

Then there's the crystal which, as anyone who has owned an original F1 knows, had all the scratch resistance of butter, At the very least TAG would have to upgrade to sapphire crystal to have any kind of credibility, after all unlike Swatch 'TAG Heuer' is a luxury brand and while this would be a cheap entry level piece, if it was priced as I suspect it would be (nearer the £750 mark) then customers will have high expectations. Yes £750 is cheap for a TAG Heuer, but it's not cheap for a 'watch' and the watch community would be all too quick to point to all manner of 'proper' watches one could buy for that money, instead of wasting it on that plastic rubbish.

And then there's that stigma, the stigma of the plastic watches that TAG Heuer has been trying to distance itself from ever since LVMH took over in 1999. Indeed, one of the first things LVMH did when they took over was to discontinue the Formula 1 presumably as it felt it was harming the brand's 'high end' image (only to reverse the decision in 2004 when it relaunched the line). I really cannot conceive that the management would ever allow TAG Heuer to chase (relatively) small profits at the risk of plunging the entire brand back into the 'cheap watch' abyss they've been struggling to escape from forever.

When I really started to take an interest in watches back in 2016 you could buy a base level quartz chronograph F1 on a rubber strap for £875, now that same watch is £1350. While some of that is 'inflation', a lot of it is TAG Heuer pushing up their prices and their status in the watch world, I don't see how a range of 'cheap' plastic watches is going to help that. The idea goes that these cheap, fun watches would draw in a new generation of watch enthusiasts... but I'm not so sure. 

In reality, my belief is that the people who love the original watches, will still love them and spurn the new ones for being too big and too expensive. Meanwhile the youngster who wants a TAG Heuer will most likely balk at the idea of paying a still not insignificant sum for what is perceived as a 'cheap' watch. Let's not forget that younger people are very 'status' conscious and while the new 'F1' could become the 'hot' new item to be seen with on Instagram, equally it might not, in which case it could backfire on the company. After all, it's not as if the original F1s are fetching sky high prices, really nice examples can be found on eBay daily for about £300 with minimal effort. 

Then there's the Moonswatch to consider. Surely any new 'plastic' Formula 1 has to contend with being seen as jumping on the Moonswatch bandwagon, and while the Moonswatch has material quality issues of its own to consider, the fact remains it costs less now than the original Formula 1 cost in 1987 (adjusted for inflation). Nobody really gets upset if their £200 'Omega' breaks, because nobody expects anything more than what they got. My fear is that if TAG Heuer were to dangle their toes in this arena they would come a cropper with a watch that was too expensive to be 'disposable' fun, and too cheaply made to be even 'base-level-entry-level-affordable-luxury'. 

Perhaps a better idea would be to make a small number of current era Formula 1 quartz watches using the best designs from the 80s as inspiration, either using coloured PVD or maybe even a resin coating (if such a thing was possible) to get the maximum authenticity. Put these on rubber straps - the current generation of rubber straps would be okay, but perhaps they could style them after the originals to some degree, with TAG Heuer shields stamped into the surface and perhaps for maximum nostalgia they could even, just this once, use the old TAG Heuer logo with the arrow.

Maybe, they could even produce a very limited number of coloured ceramic-cased pieces with automatic movements, ideally for the upcoming 40th anniversary of the Formula 1. But now we really are getting into the realms of fantasy... besides, I really can't see TAG Heuer going down this low-profit, high-risk rabbit hole when they have far easier ways of making money. Like, for example, sticking a purple dial in a Monaco and selling 600 pieces over a weekend! Some people think that kind of thing cheapens the brand too, but it has nowhere near the potential for damaging TAG's reputation that a revived 'plastic' Formula 1 has.

As much as we all love the classic Formula 1, maybe this is something that should just be left well alone...