WBP231K.BA0618
TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield 22nd April 2023
Admittedly, it's been rather a long time since my wife and I took a look at this one, but it's Thursday morning already and I need a post for Friday - that's how it seems to be at the moment, and so I took a look in my 'draft' folder and came up with this one. It was either this or my Top 5 Blue Dial TAG Heuers, and I really don't have time to sift through all the possible options right now!
It may have been a while ago, but I can say without fear of contradiction that my wife absolutely loved this one. A pity then that at 36mm it looked ridiculous on her tiny wrist - she doesn't own anything bigger than her 32mm WBD Aquaracers and even they look quite chunky on her. In fact she loved it so much that I think had it been smaller she might even have overcome her reluctance to buy another automatic.
I know most of you will be gnashing your teeth at the idea that anyone should prefer those dreadful 'battery' watches, but a) she's only bought one automatic and of course it broke - because it's an ETA 2824 and she probably wound it more than three times before she put it on her wrist, and b) she hates the faff of setting the time and date when she eventually comes to wear it. Add in c) the ridiculous premium an automatic adds to the purchase price and yes she prefers quartz. All day, every day.
I do wonder how it's going for TAG Heuer since they switched the majority of their ladies watches to automatic movements. Historically women have always preferred quartz, but since it's easier to justify a higher price with an auto movement I guess someone in Switzerland decided that women need to be 'educated' that automatics are 'better', if only for the betterment of the bottom line. Bit of a hard sell I imagine... I wonder how many women allow themselves to be convinced they are the 'luxury' alternative only to discover their spanky new automatic is inferior in many ways, including accuracy of timekeeping.
I can well imagine the scene, man comes home from work to find his wife stressed out because her brand new watch is not keeping time properly. She's worn it all week and it's a minute out already. And then the poor guy has to explain to his wife that the extra grand she spent on it (or maybe he spent on it) means that actually you need to correct it every so often... think of it like a living thing, with a soul. Because that's the true price of the luxury experience. Hahaha.
But I digress... and of course at 36mm this Aquaracer isn't only for women, but also smaller wristed men. You may scoff, but I'd definitely wear it - if it didn't have a 7.5" wrist. Unfortunately IIRC I couldn't even get it over my hand to try it on; make it 40-43mm with a full length bracelet and then we'll talk.
All joking aside, this is a truly beautiful looking watch, the dial is truly stunning and not as 'Tiffany' looking in the flesh as you might imagine. For weeks I kept catching my wife looking at it on the internet, despite the fact that she knew it was too big and she didn't want another automatic. Ultimately she decided on a pre-owned two tone 32mm Aquaracer for half the money, but I'm sure if this had been available in a 30/32mm she would have bought this instead. She definitely likes it way more than any of the 30mm Aquaracers currently available.
And so again we come back to this question of why TAG Heuer continue to resist making specific watches in different sizes for different people. I'm sure this watch in a 30mm and 43mm (perhaps without diamonds and maybe with a slightly different tone) would sell, and the same goes for the pink dial Carrera. Ah well, I doubt this is going to change any time soon, so I guess our household will just have to live without a 'blue lagoon' dial...
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