FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 'Watches of Switzerland' Limited Edition

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There's something familiar about this new £4100, 500pce limited edition collaboration between TAG Heuer and Watches of Switzerland isn't there? It has a certain sense of deja vu about it, right? And the closer you look the more it starts to become tangible and real. Which isn't to say it's a bad design or even a bad watch, just that it feels a bit too 'familiar' somehow - or as some might say 'classic'.

Which is fine, of course, but it feels tremendously safe and honestly kinda like it's piggy backing off two very successful Tudor watches, the 39mm Pelagos and the ubiquitous Black Bay 58 (the watch everyone who says they want unique and interesting watches actually buys - as I rather amusingly heard it described recently).

In the case of the Pelagos it's mainly that 'unique' brushed ceramic bezel, and as for the BB58 well it's more of an overall feeling. Oddly when you try and pinpoint what it actually is it basically comes down to the red triangle and not much else, and yet an awful lot of people seem to have reached the same conclusion so it's not just my imagination. Of course, there's that disgusting fauxtina, but the BB58 doesn't even have fauxtina, so I can't really pin the blame on that!

You may remember when the 'Tribute to 844' Aquaracer came out I moaned about TAG Heuer putting fauxtina on a watch that originated in 2004. Yeah, yeah, we know it was a rebranded 2000 Series and the 'spiritual successor' of the much beloved 1000 Series (because it's like... a dive watch or something), but the truth is it looks sod all like a 1000 Series and I don't recall ever seeing a 2000 Series with creamy lume; could be wrong there of course... the 2000 Series goes way back to 1981 and the 'Heuer' days after all. Besides, if anything the Aquaracer looks more like a 3000 Series these days and they do tend to have creamy lume, but unfortunately the hype train hasn't really reached the 3000 station yet (will it ever?) so that's a bit of a dead end.

So you might be wondering why this model is retailing for £4100, considering you can pick up a regular 43mm Aquaracer in blue, black, silver or orange for around the £3000 mark. Well this is yet another titanium model; TAG Heuer are certainly all about titanium this year and this carries quite a premium due to the extra costs of machining the bracelet, case and bezel. The problem with that is it pushes the watch higher than either of the watches that it is alluding to, and with what the public perceives (at least) to be an inferior movement. 

But okay, it's a bigger watch than either of those pieces so maybe this isn't really in direct competition, but still, it's still going to come up... and is it me, but I'm not a fan of the mismatch between the red triangle and the 'orange' tipped second hand. Seriously guys... pay attention.

Photo: Maxine at TAG Heuer Sheffield

I'd still take this one over either of them, even with the fauxtina, but then I'm no fan of the BB58 or the 39mm Pelagos; unfortunately an awful lot of the potential clientele for this probably are. Bit of a worry that. Especially since this will also have to compete with the man-sized Pelagos which is also titanium, features an in-house movement (and nicer fauxtina on the LHD - if that's your bag)... and which is near enough exactly the same price. 

With all that in mind I can't help feeling it's going to take a while to shift 500 of the blighters, especially as you can still pick up a brand new 42mm WOS Carrera Pandas (COCO Watch of 2022 no less) and there was only 250 of those in the first place!

Oh well, let's pass it over to the Council of Considered Opinion (most of whom definitely are fans of the ladies Pelagos and the BB58) and see what they have to say. 

5/10: "This ticks a lot of boxes. Nice bezel, bead blasted titanium, slim. Vintage inspired. But the hideous cyclops and fauxtina lume kill it for me. Like the 844 tribute before, this is a half-assed wave of the vintage stick over a current design and some narrative modification to make it fit with an imaginary history."

7/10: "Its not bad...but I think the current generation of AR is way better and more consistent with the whole modern AR lineage."

7/10: "A nicely designed version of the super cool Aquaracer 300. The cheap looking sand blasted grade 2 titanium lowers the score a bit."

7/10: "I actually quite like it, even though it looks a bit boring at first glance. It’s clearly that I just love the Aquaracer design I guess. I agree with the blasting of Titanium comments, as it’s far less striking than brushing and cheapens it for me. Plus it’s impossible to get shiny marks out yourself."

5/10: "Mmm, not sure, would have liked a ‘whiter’ lume, and it spread on the bezel, not sure about ‘blasted’ finish, but maybe in real life it might look better, but a WoS ‘special’ isn’t special enough to me, just free extra advertising?"

5/10: "I score this a five. It's just..........................OK."

6.5/10: "I like this one more than I expected and more than the core green titanium model, but it does seem to take some design cues from Tudor. Priced higher than the green titanium, too."

4/10: "Looks like one for hardcore Aquaracer fans only. Don't see the point of the vintage lume - it's simply not a vintage style watch. To me it just looks a bit boring. From what I've seen of the case finishing, it doesn't look great, and isn't sandblasting what you do to titanium because it's too expensive to polish well? Extra cost not justified in my opinion."

6/10: "Of course I like the Aquaracers, and also this one. But it seems to be a bit of an arbitrary mixup of some other previous models. Like let's take a bit of the 844, put in the titanium case give it some red accents here and there. Personally I like the steel and titanium AR better, when the bezel colour is also metallic. The 844 tribute is an exception."

6/10: "I dislike the fauxtina and the cyclops. The rest is good."

8/10: "Agree on the the "fauxtina" could look pretty awful, but having not seen it in the metal hard to say. I don’t mind the cyclops and I am liking the.... what looks like in some renders, to be a sand(?) 'blasted' titanium case. I'm a fan of this Aquaracer series and this one I would give a 8/10 on the face of it."

5/10: "I'm not very attracted to this watch. Somehow it feels like a diversion from 844 and doesn't feel special."

7/10: "I quite like it, although I don’t know if that red triangle has some link with a previous Heuer/TAG Heuer watch, or it’s just taken from the Tudor BB… I still prefer the 844 tribute version."

6/10: "The red triangle in combination with those large nicotine coloured markers looks plain weird."

5/10: "I will stick with my 844. Might consider the bracelet from it for the 844. Bracelet gets 7/10"

7.5/10: "Overall it looks good and well. I like the little red accents and the whole watch looks clean and smart. The faux lume is ok, rather not have it but it's not too obtrusive. As is the cyclops date window, not fussed about it but again it doesn't spoil the watch. I'm getting Tudor Pelagos LHD vibes from this, which is not a bad thing in my eyes."

8/10: "I love the sandblasted Ti finish and brushed bezel. The price is definitely high but considering the green Ti will almost certainly be the same price after next year's price increases, it's not that bad. Still, I think this might be one to hunt in a couple years on the secondary market."

5/10: "Not a big fan of the Imitation factor here."

7/10: "I kind of like it - except for the mismatch between cream-colored lume and white bezel lettering. Price is a bit ridiculous, though."

3/10: "3 for me & I like the Aquaracer & Retro. This just doesn’t work. Could change once I see it in the flesh..."

6/10: "My initial reaction was quite positive, but the renders look better than the live pics. I think it would be nicer with white lume to match the bezel numbers. I prefer the 844 LE over this one, at least it's paying tribute to its Heuer roots. Also, for about $1000 less, the Hawaii LE is a much better buy and far more exclusive at 50 pieces vs. 500."

7/10: "I like it…solid 7. At 43mm and being titanium, it should wear nice on large and medium wrists. Fauxtina looks toned down and I like the red triangle. These may not sell quickly but will probably be a good buy on the secondary market later. Added to my watch list."