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Victorinox Boutique / London, 28th October 2023
As I dedicated TAG Heuer collector and blogger, it's quite rare for me to talk about other brands. It does happen from time to time of course and I have written about watches I've tried on from brands such as Tudor, Rolex, Breitling, Maurice Lacroix, Bell & Ross, Chopard and even Roger Dubuis (their £168,000 twin tourbillon Exoskeleton is still the most expensive watch I've ever tried on, and probably always will be!) but over the course of seven years it's not much.
But I've been intrigued by the I.N.O.X. range from Victorinox ever since I saw the video where they drove over it in a tank, and while the bezel styling is 'interesting' shall we say, it's so refreshing to see a watch that doesn't look like something else. For that alone I would have to say well done Victorinox, thank you for looking forward in an industry that is OBSESSED with repeating the past.
I've been meaning to visit the Victorinox boutique for years, but every time I'm in London I seem to be running short of time and somehow it just never happened. Then last time I was in London I made a point of walking down Bond Street but the store seemed to have gone... as I now know that's because the boutique had moved to Oxford Street (one block East of the big Selfridges).
Very nice it is too, and apparently.... if you're into Swiss Army Knives (which I'm not) there's a veritable museum of pieces upstairs for you to drool over. I must say, I don't get the enthusiasm for knives. These YouTubers who delight in showing you their collection of scary looking knives which they only seem to actually use to open the next parcel containing even more knives.
But anyway, I made a beeline for the watches, obviously... and having looked at some steel models in the flesh quickly decided I didn't really like them. However, before I could make good my escape, a salesman accosted me and asked if I wanted to try something on. I thought, well, why not... I've finally made it here so I really should. So I perused the cabinet for a moment and then selected this carbon and titanium automatic.
Honestly if I had been here eight years ago there's a very good chance I would have bought this one. Let's just take a moment to recognise that this is a 43mm forged carbon case watch, with some titanium elements, a tapisserie dial and a Selitta SW200 (or a Calibre 5 movement - as found in most three hand TAG Heuer watches). It also comes on a cool rubber strap with a push button release system. Now how much would this be if it was an Aquaracer? I would suggest the best part of £4000 if not more... but this, this is on sale at £1195. And you get an exclusive Swiss Army Knife with it too!
But okay, crucially you aren't getting the TAG Heuer branding, and admittedly that does add a lot to the cost. Which brings me to my final point... actually. You know when you visit watch forums and there's always someone asking 'what should I buy?' and there's always some know-it-all who can't wait to recommend something completely different, usually so different that the person asking the question probably won't even like it. You know what I mean; '...don't buy that 43mm green dial quartz Formula 1 with a rubber strap, for that money you can get a 37mm Hamilton automatic field watch which is 'so much better'.
That's kind of how I feel about this. For what you could get from TAG Heuer for £1200 this is way better value for money and it is kinda cool in it's own way... but the problem is it doesn't make me feel anything. I simply don't care. And even though you know this is probably the price the Calibre 5 Aquaracers really ought to be, it simply doesn't matter because cool as it is, it just doesn't have that 'X' factor that TAG Heuer does. But, if you're not a sucker for a particular brand like I am, then maybe this is worth a look?
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