FEATURE: A Review of 2023 with Jim Dollares

 

Hello again dear readers, we're really knocking on the door of 2024 now so it's time to take one final look back at 2023 in the company of our favourite Swedish Aquaracer enthusiast Jim Dollares. 

ROB: Hey Jim, are you excited to look back over this massive year for TAG Heuer?

JIM: Merry Christmas from a snowy, cold and beautiful Sweden! Yes indeed, what a year it has been for fans of TAG Heuer. Plenty of highlights but also some of the worst releases in modern times.

ROB: Controversial stuff from the start, but yes I have to agree with you on that one... but oddly we seem to be in the minority when it comes to talking about the new 39mm Glassbox Carreras. Why is it do you think that everyone and his dog loves these new ones, when they are clearly inferior to the old glassbox re-issues?

JIM: I truly don't know and it confuses me. For years, all we heard was that the Heuer logo and vintage inspired pieces were what they all wanted, 'Sure it looks decent, but I wish it had the Heuer logo', was what they told us on repeat. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Solargraph in Steel by Time & Tide

 

FEATURE: The C.O.C.O. Council Watch of the Year 2023

 

Welcome back everyone and I hope you all had a great Christmas... I'm sure you have barely been able to sleep thinking what could possibly be the C.O.C.O. 'Watch of the Year' for 2023 and so without further ado, let's get right into that!

This year for the first time the Council was asked to vote not only for a 'Watch of the Year' but also for a runner up and a third place too. The 'Watch of the Year' though could only be won by 1st place votes, with the other placings only coming into play once that was decided. 

FEATURE: The Best and Worst of TAG Heuer 2023

 

Hello everyone, it's Christmas Eve again and we're into the final countdown for the 2023 C.O.C.O. Watch of the Year award. As usual I will be revealing the Council's scores for everything bar the top ten performers, but before I do I would like to pause and take a moment to thank all the members of the Council of Considered Opinion for their valuable contributions this year. It's one thing for me to sit here and proclaim my preferences, but quite another to get 26 others to regularly score and comment on each new release as it happens. So thank you to all of you in supporting me on this continuing journey of discovery and for helping to make The TAG Heuer Enthusiast the best TAG Heuer blog on the internet.

Well, pretty much the only one actually. But still...

I would also like to thank anyone who contacted me or who posted about new releases on the THF Forum. I believe (hope) we have managed to snag every release of 2023 (though given I only recently found out about two that came out six months ago I can't swear to it) and that is only possible because people all over the world have given me/us a heads up. Without this help I don't know if we'd even know of the existence of the Monaco Boutique Monaco, the Hawaiian Aquaracer or the Year of the Tiger Carrera chronograph. So thank you, and please if you see something you think we've missed drop a comment below a post or better still come join the THF Forum and shout about it.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 Day/Date Watch by Random Watch Dude

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Heuer Monaco 'Las Vegas' Calibre 11 Chronograph Limited Edition

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You may remember a very recent 'First Impressions' post I did for the China/SKP Monaco, a piece that was limited to a run of 25 units. Well, now we have this 'Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023' Monaco (limited to just 23 pieces, see what they did there?), which is almost identical save for the display-back engraving and the strap (which has smaller perforations than the one found on the China/SKP model).

So, okay this is obviously aimed at rich guys visiting the Las Vegas Grand Prix who presumably have little knowledge of the brand and the CAW211C on which this is based. And they probably also don't realise that the watch is supplied in what looks incredibly like a recycled wooden Autavia box - I mean I can't see why else that TAG Heuer plaque is there, other than to cover up the 'Autavia' cut out in the insert! And while we're on the subject... why is the box branded TAG Heuer not Heuer? 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 6000 Series Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Chronographs (Now on Bracelets!)

 

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This post has been kicking around for a few weeks, but since there were (frankly) a lot more interesting things to talk about I never got a round to posting it.

Initially released last year on some rather nice colour coded rubber straps, nevertheless these three were scored very low by the council in the end of year poll (and rightly so in my opinion). A year on and TAG Heuer have decided to re-release them on the standard Formula 1 bracelet and, well... I'm not entirely sure it's a positive move.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm 'Pink Dial' Calibre 7 by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Dubai Skyline' Heuer 02T Limited Edition

 

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Last year's Dubai Boutique edition Carrera tourbillon was not a particular hit with the Council of Considered Opinion, scoring a rather lowly 4.9/10 in the end of year polling. This was most likely at least in part due to the slightly garish red a green colour scheme. This year however, TAG Heuer have toned it down a little (no really, go check out last year's HERE) and produced this limited edition of just twelve pieces.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Porsche Chronosprint' Chronograph by Monochrome Watches

 

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Solargraph' Solar Quartz Watch

 

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When the original Solargraph came out I was more than a little intrigued. A cool black Aquaracer with a lume infused carbon bezel - count me in! But God-damn it took a long time to come to market, and by the time it did there was suddenly a rather nice titanium version on offer too. Unfortunately, right at the point when the watch finally broke cover was right when I was saving hard to buy myself something 'special', and so I was reluctant to part with the necessary £2500 to buy it because I knew it was going to take a long time to replace that in my TAG fund.

But still I sat in the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield for what must have been nearly half an hour, pondering and debating. I liked it, but... it seemed a little small, and a little expensive and I wasn't 100% sold on that light blue hand. Of course since then I have bought the green dial Calibre 5 Aquaracer which is also 40mm (all my other Aquaracers are 43mm) so I came back to the watch better prepared from that perspective, and as for the blue hand well I think I like it now... it's kinda cool that it marks out this Aquaracer as a solar-powered model and I also like that this is the original 'Solargraph' and always will be.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 4000 Series Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre TH20-00 Solid Gold Chronograph

 

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TAG Heuer Boutique / London, 28th October 2023

Oh boy, here we go again with another 39mm glassbox... why do I do this to myself?

Now I don't want to sound like a broken record, but even though I've tried on all three previous 39mm Carrera glasboxes (the reverse panda, the blue dial and the Skipper) for some reason it still shocks me when I get one on the wrist and I realise just how small and toy-like they are. Yes 'toy-like'. Sorry if that offends, but these are just hilarious on my 7.5/8" wrist.

Now you might be thinking to yourself, 'Pfft, Rob... you're such a thug. Truly there is nothing finer in life than a delicate, slim 36mm Patek Philippe, but I suppose you wouldn't appreciate something as elegant and timeless as that'. And you'd be wrong. I can totally appreciate something like that, but these watches aren't timeless and elegant, in fact while everyone else is falling over themselves to congratulate TAG Heuer on their wonderful new direction, I honestly think these are going to age badly.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 36mm Automatic by Brent Miller Time

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Carrera 'The Race Never Stops' by Nicholas Biebuyck

 

As part of the 60th Anniversary celebrations for the Carrera, Nicholas Biebuyck (heritage director at TAG Heuer) has written a large-scale book detailing the history of the model. Most excitingly for me it also contains a large number of illustrated references showing many of the pieces right back from the start and up until 2023, with pieces such as the CBN5A91 Plasma and even the Porsche Chronosprint (albeit unfortunately in that particular case the dial design changed between the book being finalised and the watch being released).

It's a stunning looking book, satisfyingly large in size and weight and while I'm sure I will read the first half of the book eventually, my main interest was of course the guide to references contained in the latter half of the book. As most of you will know, I have been working on my 'History of the Carrera' posts for a very long time and as a new (and official) resource this was prime fodder for finding references that might thus far have slipped through the net.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Skipper' Calibre TH20-00 Chronograph

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Night Driver' Calibre Heuer 02 Chronograph Limited Edition

 

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TAG Heuer Boutique / London, 28th October 2023

I must admit the CBL2181 'Night Driver' Monaco wasn't at the forefront of my mind when I entered the Oxford Street boutique, in fact it had pretty much slipped my mind completely, until Ingrida asked me if I'd seen it. I'm glad she prompted a try on because I have to say I was rather pleasantly surprised. You may remember when I wrote my 'First Impressions' post I likened the dial to the sheet you print out when you're setting up a new printer; but in actual fact, the watch is much nicer in person than in any photo that I've seen - including my wristshot below.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 1000 Series Restoration by Tyranth

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Year of the Dragon' Heuer 02 Chronographs

 

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At the tail end of 2019 TAG Heuer surprised us all with their 'Year of the Rat' bronze cased Autavia. Surprised us because a) it was the first 'Year of the ...' the company had ever produced (as far as I'm aware) and b) because the backplate had a rather amusing rat-racing driver motif on it! Now I'm not sure if there ever was a 'Year of the Ox' piece planned for 2021, I always assumed the Ox was a hard sell (being neither cute, cool, comic or particularly endearing), and with China in lockdown for a lot of that year I guess if there was an Ox-watch then presumably TAG Heuer took the decision to abandon it.

We then got the 'Year of the Tiger' Carrera for 2022 (well the Calibre 5 version, the chronograph turned up half way through 2023 for some reason) and the 'Year of the Rabbit' H02 Carrera for 2023 (complete with peculiar fur-flecked dial), so now it's the turn of the mighty dragon. Now to me the dragon should be a no-brainer, it's what us Westeners think of when we think of Asia, so you'd kind of imagine there would be some kind of dragon on the dial of these new 42mm Carreras.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 1500 Series by Joseph Cooper Watch Repair

FEATURE: Finally the Orange Dial Formula 1 Becomes the Watch I Always Knew It Could Have Been

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As a rule I'm not one for messing about with watch straps. I know a lot of people derive a great deal of pleasure from switching them out and spending lots of money on the finest Italian products, but to me it's almost impossible to bring to mind any watch that looks better on anything other than its original strap. So when I bought my orange dial Formula 1 a couple of years ago it was a source of great irritation that the very cool 'looking' nylon strap was not only massively uncomfortable but also handicapped by two huge, shiny and very sharp strap retainers!

I tried, I really did. But the nylon strap really irritated my wrist and I needed an alternative; so I did what any sensible person would do, I looked at which other straps were available for the 43mm Formula 1 range. I believe I asked at the time if the BA0842 bracelet would fit and no one could tell me for sure, so instead I plumped for the perforated rubber strap found on several current and recent quartz and automatic Formula 1s and which I had tried previously on the black PVD Calibre 5 Formula 1.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 1000 Series - 34 Year Review by House & Car Hacks

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 7 Watch

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TAG Heuer Boutique / Oxford Street, London, 28th October 2023

One subject that is guaranteed to get watch enthusiasts talking / arguing / nodding their heads sagely is watch diameters... you can barely a visit a watch forum without someone saying 'this is too big' or 'this is too small'. Actually it's usually the former, but with the release of the supposedly 'unisex' 36mm Carreras we're heard a little more of the latter, because honestly a pink 36mm Carrera looks kinda ridiculous on most men of any size.

And of course, watch sizes are not an end in and of themselves, there's a lot more to it than that. Case thickness also plays a huge part, as does design. For example, I thought this watch would look colossal on my wife's wrist; the biggest watch in her collection is a 32mm Aquaracer and when she tried on one of my 35mm plastic F1s she said that was too big too. So I was expecting her to like it, but to dismiss it on the grounds of it looking too big. Especially as she doesn't seem to like the 'oversize' look that some ladies go for. 

VIDEO: You're Wrong About TAG Heuer, TAG Heuer is Great by This Watch, That Watch

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Blue Dial' Quartz Chronograph

 

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When TAG Heuer released their 40mm quartz chronograph Aquaracers at the start of this year they made the curious decision to release it in black, silver... and a slightly effeminate metallic pale blue. I'm not quite sure why they did that, but it was a no brainer that eventually they would release it in a darker blue and sure enough here it is (as usual, sneaking onto the website without a word). 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Solargraph' Solar Quartz Watch by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Watches of Switzerland' Calibre 9 Limited Edition Watches

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Earlier in the year TAG Heuer & Watches of Switzerland released what is almost certainly the coolest Aquaracer of 2023, the titanium Calibre 5 WBP208D.BF0631. But not content with just one exclusive model this year, they've only gone and done it again... with not one but two new ladies automatics!

Now, let's not get too excited, after all these are basically the same old 30mm Aquaracers with different dials; but still it's nice to see the ladies getting a limited edition for a change. However, it seems that (as usual) the renders promise one thing but the reality is quite different...

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Solid Gold' Glassbox Calibre TH20-00 Chronograph

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Heuer Monaco 'SKP/China' Calibre 11 Limited Edition

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If you're thinking this Monaco looks kinda familiar, then you're not wrong. Back around 2016-2018 when I was a (very) regular visitor to the TAG Heuer outlets at Bicester Village and Cheshire Oaks you could barely escape without seeing a Monaco CAW211C; but of course they've long since gone and so it was rather a surprise to see these pop up again with a slightly different part number and as a limited edition of 23 for the Chinese market (and only available from three 'SKP' stores).

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Solargraph' by Chisolm Hunter

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02T 'Chinese' Limited Edition Tourbillon

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A bit late to the party on this one, as this apparently came out back in April... but I only stumbled across it the other day while looking for pictures of another very limited Chinese edition (not yet written about but which also came out at the same time). These 45mm tourbillons are very Marmite it seems and since they've stayed pretty much the same since their release several years ago all we seem to get are various gaudy decorations in small quantities made to appeal to the Eastern markets. 

VIDEO: Heuer 501.213 Stopwatch by Birth Year Watches

 

FEATURE: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Green Dial' Calibre 5, Six Months Down the Line

 

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After three solid years of frantic watch collecting, it's still something of a shock to me that in 2023 I have only bought but one solitary watch. One. Uno. Unbelievable! For a moment I thought I'd bought two, but it turns out that I bought my SLR Calibre S Laptimer in November 2022... so no, it's just one. At the same time, my collection has halved to 'just' 31 pieces, which I know is still a stupidly large number, and yet it looks kinda small compared to what it was. Which it is... 

As I've said several times on the blog this year, things started to change last year when I picked up my utterly gorgeous Grand Carreras, the Japanese limited edition blue dial Calibre 6 and the black dial Calibre 17 chronograph. These watches showed me the difference between good watches and great watches, and in the process turned me right off collecting plastic quartz watches from the 80s. Which was a shame as at the time I already had 16 of them. Oh yes.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Automatic Chronograph by Kirby Young

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Peach' and 'Hammered Silver Dial' Automatic Watches

 

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Are we still going to pretend these 36mm Carreras are unisex? We are? Okay then...

Many years ago my wife and I were lucky enough to see an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in Selfridges that had a hammered finish. It looked nothing short of spectacular and my wife loved it. Unfortunately it cost about four times her yearly salary and as such was completely out of the question. But now, finally, TAG Heuer have (partially) embraced the look with this new 36mm hammered dial Carrera. And while I haven't seen one (yet) I have seen a photo and it looks pretty damn cool!

VIDEO: TAG Heur Aquaracer Two Years on the Wrist by One Man Reviews

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche 'Chronosprint' Calibre TH20-08 Chronograph

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TAG Heuer Boutique / London, 28th October 2023

You know, I may not have mentioned it before, but I really don't like the 39mm glassbox Carreras. But the 42mm ones aren't so bad and this one in particular is actually not bad at all. I've definitely said before that you will never really know if you like a watch until you get it on your wrist, and in this case that is 100% true. I really wasn't expecting to enjoy the gimmicky/clever (delete as applicable) chronograph on this one being that I am a miserable old man with no soul, but damn me if it wasn't rather entertaining. Kind of... 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

ON THE WRIST: Victorinox INOX Carbon Mechanical Watch

 
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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. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Porsche 2.7' Heuer 02 Limited Edition Chronograph by Swiss Watch Expo

 

OWNED: TAG Heuer 3000 Series Quartz Chronograph

 
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Yet again I am writing an 'Owned' post as a formerly cherished watch heads out the door to its new keeper, and yet again I am surprisingly unmoved by the latest defection from my collection. Which surprises me in a way because I was so excited when this one arrived two and a half years ago from the USA. But over the last year or so my attitude to collecting watches has changed considerably and right now I'm sitting at 31 pieces, which means I've almost (but not quite) halved the number of watches I own with still probably more to face the door.

In my naivety I thought I could just keep collecting forever, amassing more and more pieces until either the money ran out or the wife left me... but then one day I realised that these things break, especially the older ones I was collecting - and when they break they cost money. Sometimes more than they are worth. Now that wouldn't be a problem if I had one or two cheaper watches that I really, really loved but when you have sixteen plastic F1s that are 30 years old you start to wonder if it wouldn't just be better to sell up. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Dark Lord Tribute' Heuer 02 Chronograph by WatchBox Reviews

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Gold' Glassbox TH20-00 Chronograph

 

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Back in May I visited London to meet up with my good friend Jim Dollares and together we spent a pleasant hour in the TAG Heuer boutique trying on lots of watches. One of the watches we tried on was last year's 42mm solid gold reverse Panda - the one we all thought was going to be for Jack Heuer's 90th birthday but ended up just being a regular gold R.P. Jim and I really liked that watch and my Swedish buddy suggested I should start saving for it for my 60th birthday (thankfully not until 2029 I hasten to add - but I'd still need to put away over £3000 a year!).

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 6000 Series Quartz Chronograph by Birth Year Watches

 

CORRECTION: A Correction and a Small Bit of News

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Some of you might have been a little surprised to see that the recently released Monaco 'Night Driver' (as pictured above) achieved an oddly low C.O.C.O. score of 5.8/10 in my recent 'First Impressions' post. But luckily, one of the aforementioned C.O.C.O. members brought this to my attention and on re-checking the scoring I found that it should have read 6.8 and not 5.8. I don't know how I managed to mess this up, I added up the scores correctly but an error crept in when it came to dividing the total by the number of scores. I have checked the other recent scores and they are all bang on, I will correct my original post as soon as possible.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera WV211A Automatic Watch by WatchBox Studios

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Watches of Switzerland' Calibre 5 Limited Edition

 

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WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND / Regent Street, London, 5th September 2023

With just over ten weeks remaining of 2023, it seems timely to remind ourselves that last year a 'Watches of Switzerland' limited edition Carrera 'Panda' (CBN2018) managed to snag the much coveted 'C.O.C.O. Watch of the Year' for 2022 - joining previous winners the CBK221B Silver 160th Carrera and the CBK221D Dato 45 at the top of the C.O.C.O. tree. 

Now, obviously I'm not for a moment suggesting that this 'Watches of Switzerland' limited edition Aquaracer is about to repeat that feat, because frankly we all know there's only one watch in the running this year... the CBK221H 39mm Glassbox Panda. The watch that not only heralded the start of TAG Heuer's 60th Anniversary celebrations for the Carrera of course, but also the one most likely to blame for the six-eight months it took W.O.S. to sell a measly 250 pieces of what was and remains a very nice watch!

Honestly I still think TAG Heuer well and truly stitched W.O.S. up there, releasing a 42mm Panda when they knew there was a more desirable 39mm one coming (and let's not pretend we didn't know about it too). But hey, it's water under the bridge now... and as far as I know the W.O.S. Panda is now sold out - so all's well that ends well.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Autavia Calibre 5 Watch by WatchBox Reviews

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer x Bamford Carrera x Rowing Blazers 'Yacht Timer' Limited Edition Heuer 02 Chrono

 

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I'll admit my knowledge of the 'Rowing Blazers' brand is pretty limited but even a cursory glance at their website tells you pretty much everything you need to know. £50 for a baseball cap, £135 for nylon shorts, £310 for a jumper.. and £9250 for a TAG Heuer x Bamford x Rowing Blazers Carrera. Wait, what? Oh yes, you think watch enthusiasts are easy to extract money from? Well that's nothing compared to fashion junkies...

VIDEO: What Has Happened with TAG Heuer by Teddy Baldessarre

In this video (at 0:41) I notice Teddy has used my photo of the TAG Heuer factory, you can clearly see my wife standing under the tree on the left.... :)

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Las Vegas' Limited Edition Heuer 02 Chronograph

 

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Every now and then TAG Heuer release something which makes you stop and stare, and the CBN2A1J 'Las Vegas' limited edition 44mm Carrera Sport is truly one such watch. Now obviously it's not for everyone, but when you consider the environment in which it was being sold it kinda makes sense. What better way to remember the night you went to the Casino and came away with a few thousand dollars tucked into your money belt, eh? But in the cold light of day, maybe it's a harder sell... and perhaps that's why it's currently for sale on the Watchfinder website for just £2550. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Link Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Heuer Monaco Calibre 11 'Monaco Boutique' Limited Edition

 

Can you think of a better place to buy your Monaco from than the TAG Heuer boutique in Monaco? Well if you happened to have been there recently then you might just have seen one of these, a grade 5 titanium 'SMQ' with gold subdials, hands and indices. The watch is limited to just 50 individually numbered pieces and comes with 2 straps in a special box... and I should hope so given the asking price is an eye-watering €11,000!

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre TH20-00 Chronograph by WatchBox Studios

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Tiffany Blue' Calibre 5 Watch

 

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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. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Green Dial' Calibre 5 Watch by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer/Bamford Carrera 'Team Ikuzawa' Calibre Heuer 02 Limited Edition

 

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You may remember me talking about the Wes Lang Bamford Carrera a while back and last year the RUF Carrera; when I spoke about them I explained that they did not constitute official 'TAG Heuer' releases as they did not have their own unique part number - rather they carried the part number of the base or donor watches delivered to Bamford to be modified. When I first saw this I assumed this would fall into the same category, but for whatever reason the TAG Heuer/Bamford/Team Ikuzawa Carrera does carry it's own original part number and indeed was sold on the Japanese TAG Heuer website. As such it is eligible for the C.O.C.O. Watch of the Year competition, though I don't think it's going to trouble the glassbox Panda somehow....

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre TH20-09 Tourbillon Chronograph by WatchBox Reviews

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Night Driver' Limited Edition Calibre Heuer 02 Chronograph

 

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You know when you buy a new printer and you have to print a sheet of paper out with all these grey squares on... and then you have to squint at it and work out which one has the thinnest white line down the middle? Well, I'm sad to say that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the first picture of this new limited edition Monaco. But then I saw a different picture and it looked completely different, and then I saw another picture and it looked completely different again.... all of which makes appraising this without hands on experience rather difficult.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Skipper' TH20-00 Chronograph by Worn & Wound

INSTRUCTIONS: TAG Heuer Calibre S Laptimer (SLR & Carrera)

While not overly exciting for most of you, this post is sure to make someone's day at some point in the future. The Calibre S Laptimer is the most complicated watch I own and makes the standard Calibre S look like child's play in comparison. Trying to work out how to use it without a manual could drive someone insane, .

I have been meaning to make a video showing you what the Laptimer can do, and sooner or later I will. But I'll probably need to brush up on the instructions myself first! 🤣

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Sports 'Porsche' Heuer 02 Limited Edition Chronograph by WatchBox Reviews

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Porsche Chronosprint' Calibre TH20-08 Chronograph

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If you've been around for more than a couple of years you will probably remember TAG Heuer's previous motorsport collaboration with Aston Martin. That was a bit light on product with only a Formula 1, a  couple of Heuer 01 Carreras (one of which was only available if you bought a specific Aston Martin) and a Heuer 02T Tourbillon emerging before the companies went their separate ways. If I remember correctly this was because Aston Martin stopped sponsoring the Red Bull Formula 1 team, which paved the way for a new love-in with Porsche (who TAG Heuer were already working with in Formula E). 

Of course, Red Bull Racing now seem to be getting in to bed with Ford, so it remains to be seen what happens to the Porsche tie-in in the next few years. Regardless, the TAG Heuer/Porsche collaboration has already produced more watches than the TAG/AM partnership ever did, with these two representing watches number six and seven to date.

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph vs Breitling Endurance Pro Superquartz Chronograph by Brent Miller Time

 

ON THE WRIST: Ulysse Nardin Diver X 44 Limited Edition Automatic Watch

 

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Watches of Switzerland Boutique / Regent Street, London 23rd Sept 2023

I've only ever tried on one Ulysse Nardin before as far as I can remember, that was also here in the Regent Street branch of Watches of Switzerland and a good few years ago to boot. In fact, despite visiting this store many times this was the first time I ever managed to get up to the top floor - where UN's boutique is now situated, alongside the Patek Phillipe store and a selection of pre-owned watches.

Well I say 'watches', mostly it was just 'Rolex'... perhaps unsurprisingly. There were a few other things, including a steel Nautilus for nearly £100,000 and a solid gold version of the same for nigh on £140,000. Neither of which I can get overly excited about if I'm honest. The Nautilus doesn't have anything like the presence of the Royal Oak (even though it's a bit passe to like it these days), and paying 2.5x list for a watch that starts at £35,000 is hilarious.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 1000 Series Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Monaco Skeleton Heuer 02 Chronograph

 
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TAG Heuer Boutique / Leicester, 7th September 2023

I know what you're thinking, and yes I did already try on a Monaco skeleton when I visited the Oxford Street boutique way back in June. But at that time they only had the 'standard' models in stock and what I was really interested to see was the funky black and turquoise model. As luck would have it, I finally managed to find one when I made my very first visit to the (not so) new TAG Heuer boutique in Leicester.

As is typical for these 'partner' boutiques that are tacked onto the side of a larger jewellery store, this isn't the biggest boutique - certainly nothing like the ones in Sheffield or Oxford Street, but it still had a good selection of watches to look at and the lady that served me and my wife (Raisa) was very friendly and welcoming.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Night Diver' Heuer 02 Chrono by Time & Tide

INSTRUCTIONS: TAG Heuer 1/10th Second Quartz Chronographs (Various 90s/00s Models)

While I appreciate that for most of you this will be irrelevant, someone visited the TAG Heuer Forums asking for this manual as they couldn't figure out what was going on with their watch. Since I was scanning it I thought I might as well post it here as well. This manual is for various 90s and 00s models including the Kirium, 2000 and S/EL quartz chronographs.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Gulf and Red Bull Special Editions by AMJ Watches

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Skipper' Calibre TH20-00 Chronograph

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I know that as a rule I am generally out of step with the watch community at large, but even I am flummoxed by the turnaround in opinion that's been brought on by the release of the new glassbox Carreras. To me these watches are inferior to the previous iterations, damned strange looking AND feel even smaller on the wrist than the old models even though they are in fact the same 39mm size.

And yet every time I go to YouTube I see video after video praising TAG Heuer to the skies for these new watches, even Teddy Baldassarre (who rarely even ever talks about TAG Heuer) recently posted a video praising the company for the direction it's heading since Frederic Arnault took over.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Skipper' Calibre TH20-00 Chronograph by Hodinkee

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Grand Carrera 'Caliper' Calibre 36 Chronograph

 

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Watchfinder & Co Boutique / Avery Row, London, 5th September 2023

Still smarting from the missed opportunity that was the H&T £1700 Grand Carrera Caliper, my attention returned to the steel CAV5115 and more specifically the one on offer on the Watchfinder website. Price wise this one was a much more realistic £3850, but... and it's a big but, it had some problems. Firstly the bezel has some marks, which is not a massive deal and in all honesty may be a good thing since I am more likely to actually wear it if I don't start with a 'perfect' watch.

Second of all, the red stripe is missing from around the left hand crown that operates the timing 'Caliper'. This I don't really understand since I assumed this red was paint, so how it's fallen off is a mystery to me. For me this isn't a massive issue either and again is something that could be rectified (presumably) relatively easily. Also I think there should be a small rubber o-ring around the crown, but I bet most of those disappear sooner or later - that one I really wasn't worried about at all. 

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche Special Edition by Time & Tide

 

FEATURE: Trying (and Failing) to Buy a Ridiculously Cheap Grand Carrera Calibre 36 Chronograph

 
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A few weeks ago I noticed that EST1897 (now called H&T) had a CAV5185 Grand Carrera Caliper in black PVD on their site priced around the £2500 mark. I remember looking at it and thinking 'that's quite cool, but I don't know if I want another black PVD watch'. Which, in hindsight was very, very stupid on my part. 

Why? Because that price was exceptionally cheap for a PVD coated, titanium cased Grand Carrera 'Caliper' with a Calibre 36 (or as it's otherwise known Zenith 'El Primero') movement inside. But I foolishly left it and didn't think about it again until a couple of weeks later when I got an email from H&T inviting me to peruse their wonderful sale, which featured (amongst other brands) over 600 TAG Heuer watches, all of which were substantially reduced.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Fragment' Heuer 02 Chronograph by WatchBox Studios

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Jamie Carragher 23 Foundation' Calibre 6 Limited Edition Watch

 

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You may remember a couple of weeks ago I managed to turn up a watch that I hadn't seen before and commented how unusual this is these days after years of extensive research. But of course there are always more oddities to uncover and today we have another truly obscure piece to talk about.

I won't pretend to know anything about football past about 1981; my last in-person experience was watching Leicester City defeat Manchester United during one of Leicester's brief forays into Divison One (as it was then called, now the Premier League). So I'm afraid Jamie Carragher, whose career spanned about 17 years between 1996 and 2013 was never on my radar. Until now of course.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre TH20-00 Chronograph by Monochrome Watches

 

FEATURE: Coming Up on Seven Years of the TAG Heuer Enthusiast Blogspot

 

Hello friends, and thank you for continuing to visit my blog. This year has been a bit different for me, with my watch collecting coming to (pretty much) a screeching halt as I came to realise that simply buying more and more and more watches simply wasn't sustainable, or desirable. This caused a bit of a dip in momentum since I wasn't constantly getting new watches to talk about and this coincided with an absolute glut of releases from TAG Heuer which meant it felt like I was constantly having to write one 'First Impressions' post after another.

While I do want to continue to cover every new release (excluding the Connected) recently it seems like the blog has become a little bit too much of a 'billboard' for modern TAG Heuer. I mean of course it is, but I also want it to continue to be a place to celebrate the last 37 years and not just the last 6 months. While I'm not buying any more older models at the moment, I still own plenty and my enthusiasm for the 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s models has not dimmed.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Alarm Watch by Wristwatch Dave

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Solargraph' Blue Dial Quartz Watch

 

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If you're thinking that there's nothing particularly different about this blue dial version of TAG Heuer's solar powered 'Solargraph' Aquaracer, you'd be right; it's literally the same as the black dial steel version released a few months ago. Yet the render caused a few ripples of excitment, suggesting as it does a sexy 'metallic' blue dial, always a winner with a three hand Aquaracer.

Alas, seeing this in the flesh was something of a disappointment. The blue is not 'metallic' at all, indeed it's very flat and I wonder if this is a limitation imposed by the solar panel dial? It's a shame really because this render looks great - if only the watch actually looked the same. I thought the solar panel was underneath the dial and the 'gaps' in the dial were for the light to get to the panel, but maybe I have misunderstood?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Red Dial' Calibre 5 Watch by Brent Miller Time

 

FEATURE: Why My 'Favourite' Watch Isn't My 'Best' Watch

 

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Allow me to draw a distinction between two of my watches; one of which I would consider my 'favourite' and one my 'best' watch. My favourite watch is, and probably always will be, my CAR2A1Z Carrera Heuer 01 Skeleton. This was the watch that really kicked off my watch collecting journey, not to mention this blog. I already owned two TAG Heuer watches before that, but it was not a hobby or a collection. The Heuer 01 changed that; as soon as I saw a photograph I wanted it - even though I didn't have a clue how much it was going to cost. After that it was all downhill as far as the bank balance was concerned, but on the upside think of all the joy my new found hobby brought me!

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Watch Repair Tutorial by Watch Repair Channel

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer/Bamford Carrera 'Wes Lang' Heuer 02 Limited Edition Chronograph

 

While Bamford Watch Department's watches aren't considered 'canon' (and thus are not appraised by the Council of Considered Opinion or eligible for C.O.C.O. Watch of the Year inclusion) their major collaborations are worthy of reporting nonetheless. Last year they produced a fairly Godawful green Carrera (RUF/High Snobiety) that had me reaching for the sickbag, but I have to say this is much, much better!

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Blue Dials Review by Swiss Watch Expo

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Blue Racing' Limited Edition Calibre 11 Chronograph

 

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Way back in May 2021 TAG Heuer launched their first titanium cased Calibre 11 Monaco (nicknamed the 'Titan') with what seemed like, at the time, quite an eye-watering price tag (if only we knew!). This was debuted at the Monaco Grand Prix (naturally) and World Champion in waiting Max Verstappen was presented with a special one-off 'Titan' that had the Monaco circuit printed on the display-back along with his race number of 33, and of course throughout that year Max could be seen regularly wearing the Titan on the podium.

I liked the Titan, although I couldn't really understand why a titanium cased Monaco would carry the 'Heuer' badge and the Calibre 11 movement; it seemed more logical to me that it would be powered by TAG Heuer's in-house Heuer 02 motor. But I guess the brand was of the opinion that the 'collectors' favour the crown on the left and so that's what we got. Fast forward to 2023 and there's a new 'Titan' in town, only this time it's a lot more colourful.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Skipper' Calibre TH20-00 Chronograph by Time & Tide

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Japanese MOP' Calibre 5 Limited Edition

 

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It's not that often these days that I come across an older TAG Heuer watch that I wasn't previously aware of, so to find this model on the Watchfinder website the other day was quite a pleasant surprise. I've seen black mother of pearl dial Carreras in men's sizes before (I tried on a Calibre 16 at Bicester Village years ago) and just recently we've seen a new limited edition 42mm Carrera with a MOP dial, again for the Japanese market - but I think this one is the nicest of the lot. 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco V4 by Tick Tocking

 

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Ladies Quartz Watch

 

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I never thought I'd see the day when my wife would own a two-tone watch. Every time I bought one she said nice things but I could tell she didn't feel the same way about them that I did. Then maybe a year or two ago she started to soften a little bit, started dropping things into conversation like '...well, I don't have any gold watches...', things like that. And so the long, slow slide towards 'ownership' began. I'm sure you know how it goes.

Then a couple of weeks ago I caught her looking at two-tone watches again, this time on Est 1897 (now H&T). Now one of the great things about ladies watches is that they are much less likely to be fakes, and even less so in two tone, but still of course you should be careful. The watches she was looking at on Est 1897 however I had no concerns about as they were 8-10 years old and mostly rather dreary looking.