ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 200 Professional 'Solid Gold' Calibre TH31-00 Watch

 

WBP5152.FT6210

TAG Heuer Boutique / Sheffield, November 2023

One of the least reported surprises of last year in TAG Heuer land must surely have been the introduction of not one but two solid gold cased Aquaracers. This is the first time TAG Heuer have ever produced a full gold Aquaracer, with the material recently only used for special pieces in the Carrera range (there have been various solid gold pieces in the past including Monacos, Monzas, 6000 Series and 2000 Series).  

Why has there never been a solid gold Aquaracer before? It's a good question isn't it... with no satisfactory answer. Perhaps because most people would balk at paying £16,000 for a solid gold TAG Heuer that isn't a Carrera or Monaco... and yet here we are, finally, with an almost solid gold 40mm Aquaracer. I say 'almost' because clearly that black coated crown isn't solid gold and that's my first and actually main issue with this watch. I just don't get it. Clearly a solid gold watch should have a matching solid gold crown, it's a no brainer - so why on Earth did TAG Heuer decide to give these solid gold pieces black crowns?

Okay it's not so bad on the black dial version (which comes on a black rubber strap of course), but here it looks silly, mismatched and dare I say cheap. If they didn't want to use gold for the crown for some reason, then why not a blue coating or ceramic? At least then it would match...

Okay, I'm not going to say any more about it because I feel like I've banged on about this issue quite enough already, so let's move on to the secondary issue - the clasp. It's bad enough that my green 40mm Aquaracer doesn't have the quick adjustment system found on the 43mm and 36mm models, but if you're paying £16,000 for this Aquaracer wouldn't it be the very least you would expect? Well, maybe... but I'm sad to report that all you get is a coated titanium clasp with three micro adjustment holes. Which is odd when you consider that the two-tone 40mm models do have a quick adjust clasp. Strange huh?

But I guess all this could be forgiven if the watch blew my socks off on the wrist, but sadly it doesn't. The thing is, the two tone does such a good job of giving you the 'gold-watch' feeling for a quarter of the price that this just feels like a step too far. Yes it has a better movement (designed in partnership with AMT) than the two-tone, and that's definitely a step in the right direction - I don't think many would be happy dropping 16 G's on a Sellita SW200 after all... but somehow casting this (non)diver in gold seems like an odd move. 

I'm actually surprised that this was available in the Sheffield boutique, somehow I only really expected to see this in the main Oxford Street store... but there it was and yet again trying on a gold watch I really struggled to engage with it. I don't know whether it's the price or the material or both, but I just really can't seem to get excited about full gold watches. The one notable exception being the 'JH90' Carrera which was stunning, to be honest if I was going to drop £16,000 on this I would keep saving and get that for sure. 

Ah well, that's the last post hanging on from last year... it surely can't be much longer until the first of the 2024 releases breaks cover.