VIDEO: TAG Heuer Is Back and Hunting Rolex and Omega! by Theo and Harris

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 'French' Limited Edition Chronograph

CBN201B.FC6541

Okay so this is the last in this ridiculous run of 'First Impressions' posts, but don't get too complacent because there's three more new releases currently being assessed by the tirelessly vigilant Council of Considered Opinion (those being the red/pink dial ladies Aquaracer, the blue dial Solargraph and of course the new limited edition Heuer Monaco that came out a few days ago).

So what do we have here then? Looks pretty sweet doesn't it? Yes, it's another one of those 42mm Carrera Chronographs with the white rehaut and (this time) subdials. Unfortunately it's only available to people living in France (I tried putting it in the basket on the TH website and changing my country and it took it right out again... ) and while it's sitting there right now I shouldn't imagine it will be for too much longer given that there are only 200 examples available.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 'Japanese Limited Edition' Chronograph

CBN201E.BA0642                                CBN201E.FC6544

Here we go again people, but thankfully we've nearly caught up with TAG Heuer's ridiculous release schedule and as of right this second I only have two more watches to tell you about. Well, two plus three more now I come to think about it!

So today I want to tell you about this new Japanese limited edition 42mm Carrera which you will no doubt have noticed comes with a mother of pearl dial. Yes really. And while you might think that's a little bit strange, believe it or not this is by no means the first time we've seen a mother of pearl dial on a modern Carrera. In fact, if you look back to 2004, TAG Heuer released two MOP dial Carreras (one with a diamond bezel) as part of their 40th Anniversary celebrations for the Carrera. 

Now I know what you're thinking... how can it have been '40 years' in 2004 when it's 60 years in 2023? Yeah, well... somehow everyone forgot what year the Carrera came out and they celebrated it a year late. I know, how does that even happen? 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Chronotempvs CC' Calibre Heuer 02 Limited Edition

 

CBN201G.FC6520

After a few lacklustre 'First Impressions' posts, it's actually rather nice to be able to bring you something overwhelmingly positive (with one small caveat). This, rather handsome looking Carrera, is a limited edition 42mm chronograph for the Chronotempvs Collector's Club - which is honestly something I know very little about. Their website says that they are '... a private watch collectors / enthusiasts / amateurs club which works hand in hand with some of the most important historic brands and independents that uphold the highest traditional horological values.'

I tried to find out more by clicking on the 'Membership' button, but it basically said 'We are full, go away!' Which is fine, because I doubt they'd have wanted me in their gang anyway... and besides, as Groucho Marx once famously said, 'I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.'

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Monaco Skeleton 'Rattrapante' Chronograph for Only Watch 2023

Fair play to TAG Heuer, when they commit to providing a 'unique' watch for the Only Watch charity auction (a biennial event to raise funds for research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy) they certainly don't muck about. No sir. For the 2021 auction we saw the first ever skeleton-dial carbon Monaco and this year they've pushed the boat out even further with the first ever TAG Heuer rattrapante (split time) chronograph, and in a 41mm skeleton-dialed, texturised titanium cased Monaco no less! 

Which is great, but while I whole-heartedly applaud the company for its charitable intentions; the effort expended and resulting technical achievement... I'm afraid I can't overlook the fact that the watch has one major Achilles heel. Umm, how can I put this delicately? Let's just say it has a 'face' only a mother could love - right? 

In fact, presented with yet another skeleton dial TAG Heuer that I don't like I'm actually starting to wonder if my belief that I like skeleton dial watches was solely based on the devilishly handsome Heuer 01 Carrera, because honestly I can't think of a single skeleton dial that's come out since that I've actually liked!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Solargraph' Quartz Watch

 
WBP1114.BA0000

Want a modern 40mm Aquaracer, but you don't want a Calibre 5 inside? Worried your watch snob friends will laugh at you if you buy a conventional battery powered quartz watch? Then the Aquaracer 'Solargraph' could be the answer to your dreams. Initially launched at last year's Watches & Wonders in a carbon case and then added in titanium this January, the Solargraph is now finally available in a conventional stainless steel case. 

And... again, despite this being a 'First Impressions' post this is a watch that I have already seen first hand in the TAG Heuer boutique on Oxford Street (back in June), so I struggle to understand why it is yet to make it onto the official TAG Heuer website. Especially as it is on all the main authorised dealer websites (Watches of Switzerland, Beaverbrooks, Chisolm Hunter, Banks Llyon, etc). Very odd that!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Skipper' Calibre TH20-06 Chronograph

 

CBS2213.FN6002

While of course it's refreshing to see any new TAG Heuer product garnering favourable comments in the wider watch community, the honest truth is that the new 39mm Carrera Glassboxes are by far my least favourite watches in the current TAG Heuer line-up (in fact I'm struggling to come up with much from the last 37 years I dislike more...). If anything these new so-called 'glassboxes' have made me realise how much better the older ones were than I ever gave them credit for. So, every cloud.... right?

But I realise that once again I am out of step with the the collective thinking and with that in mind I didn't really see the value in my writing a third post telling you why I don't like them. So instead I called on our good friend and devoted glassbox enthusiast Charlie M (also known as Imagwai on the THF Forum), to provide a much fairer and less antagonistic opinion.  

CHARLIE M: As someone who clearly favours both smaller and more traditional watches, I was delighted to be asked by Rob to put together my first impressions on Tag Heuer’s latest release, the 39mm Carrera Skipper. Tag have released a lot of new watches this year, but aside from the Carrera Panda, this was the one I was most looking forward to. Let’s take a closer look.

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Year of the Tiger' Limited Edition Heuer 02 Chronograph

CBN201A.FC6539

Yeah, yeah... I know what you're thinking and you're right, 2023 is indeed the 'Year of the Rabbit', hence the arrival of that bizarre 44mm Carrera with the 'hairy' dial at the end of last year. But, apparently... TAG Heuer intended to release a chrono version of their (rather cool I thought) Calibre 5 Carrera 'Year of the Tiger' last year, but for some reason it just wasn't ready. And since it takes 12 years to cycle through the various animals of the Chinese calendar putting it out now makes more sense than waiting until 2034!

Besides, does it really matter if you buy a 'Year' watch in that year? If you were born in the year of the tiger do you have to buy your 'Year of the Tiger' watch in a year of the tiger? Seems a pretty stupid prerequisite to me. So no, while the delay is a bit unfortunate releasing this now is perfectly fine by me.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Ladies 'Green Dial' Calibre 9 Watch

 

WBP2415.BA0622

Okay, here's the plan; starting today and for the next two weeks I will be posting a new 'First Impressions' post every other day, and then hopefully we will be in a reasonable state of up-to-date-ness. Unless TAG Heuer decide to release another six watches this month of course, which is entirely possible! 

So, let's start with this new take on the fumé dial 30mm Aquaracer, which is obviously meant to complement the incomparable WBP2115 that I bought a few months ago. Once again I have already seen this on my visit to the TAG Heuer boutique back in June and I have to say it didn't look quite as expected.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 24 Calibre 36 Chronograph by WatchBox Reviews

 

OWNED: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Orange Dial' Quartz Watch

 

WAZ101A.FC8305

TAG Heuer's relentless release schedule has really put pressure on my ability to post about things other than the latest releases (I'm posting this to give me some breathing space, expect 'First Impression's posts thick and fast from here on out), so with that in mind I am making a conscious effort to make time to write about older watches, especially the ones that I own. So with that said, today I'd like to focus on my orange dial Formula 1 quartz WAZ101A, which I bought in April 2021 (which I've just realised means that it's now out of warranty). 

Like all current Formula 1 models though, it is quite a big watch at 43mm, so it's not for everyone - but I think the logic goes that the generic Formula 1 customer is young and probably wants the world to know they have an expensive watch. I don't have a problem wearing larger watches, but I can see why people with smaller wrists might wish for a 40/41mm alternative. And while I can't really see why TAG Heuer couldn't offer a choice of identical watches in two (or even three sizes), my guess would be that if we could ask TAG Heuer they would tell us that of course they could make them, but the 43mm would outsell the smaller sizes to the point that it's not worth bothering. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'French Limited Edition' Heuer 02 Chronograph by 10ATM

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer's 2023 Releases (Jan/Jun)

 

Greetings dear readers, can you believe we're half way through this wonderful year already? And so of course it's time for a brief look back at our favourite Swiss watch brand's 2023 output so far. I'm not going to lie, it's been a very busy start and there are no less than FIVE June releases that haven't even been covered yet; as such I'm afraid I won't be including the ladies green dial Aquaracer, the steel Solargraph, the French limited edition Carrera, the 'Year of the Tiger' limited edition Chronograph or the Japanese limited edition mother of pearl dial Carreras in this round-up - but rest assured 'First Impressions' posts for all those are coming very soon!

In fact I might have to switch things up and fire out a few posts in double-quick time, because as it stands I'm scheduled to catch up on the June releases at the start of August, which is frankly ridiculous... (never mind the Monaco Rattrapante for Only Watch and the striking Chronotempvs Collectors Club Carrera which have both emerged in the last few days). 

Okay, with all that out of the way, let's crack on

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Sports 'Green' Heuer 02 Chronograph by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Red Dial' Calibre 5 Watch

WBP2114.BA0627: Packed with Adrenaline!

As regular readers will know, it's only been a couple of months since I put down my own hard-earned money to buy the green dial version of this 40mm Calibre 5 Aquaracer... and so obviously, when you've committed to what you think is going to be this year's 'winner', the thought of another striking dial coming out so soon afterwards is a bit daunting, right? After all, no one wants to feel like they've backed the wrong horse, do they?

Troubling times indeed!

Until fairly recently (before the brutal collection-cull of early '23) I owned a rare-ish red dial 37mm three hand quartz S/EL that I liked quite a bit (the water damaged lume - not so much), so I'm certainly not against red watches per se - but there are very few out there and they are extremely hard to get right. I'll freely admit the TH website renders did NOT fill me with much optimism; was the watch red, or a dark pink... it seemed unclear and honestly either way I felt pretty confident that I wasn't going to be regretting my purchase. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco Alternatives by About Effing Time

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Gulf' Special Edition Quartz Chronograph

CAZ101AT.BA0842

TAG Heuer Boutique / Spitalfields, London 15th April 2023

This post has been kicked into the long grass more times than I care to mention, hence why I'm now writing about a watch I tried on in April (you can blame TAG Heuer's relentless release schedule for that... still lots more 'First Impressions' posts to come, I just can't keep up with them!) and yes, of course you could be forgiven for thinking that perhaps I wasn't excited enough to make this a priority? Well maybe there's a little bit of truth to that, but to be fair I wasn't disappointed by the new 43mm Gulf Formula 1 quartz chronograph either.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Chronographs - Monaco or Carrera? by Brent Miller Time