S25.706C
Earlier this year Revolution Watches released a video interview with new TAG Heuer CEO Julien Tornare in which when asked about the 'Senna watch' he replied 'Yes, we're going to take care of that'. What, exactly, do we think was meant by that?
Until recently I would have said any notion that TAG Heuer might be about to resurrect the S/EL was 'pie in the sky' at best, but following the pretty faithful re-release of the classic Formula 1... well why not? After all, the Link is a dead watch walking at this point, so maybe TAG Heuer does what the watch industry always does these days - looks backwards and releases a 'new' S/EL? Well maybe not, maybe that's pushing the idea a little far... surely it must be. But still the question remains, what was Julien alluding to when he made that comment?
The thing is, I don't really see a massive demand for a 'new' S/EL, but as a stand alone 'special' model in honour of Ayrton Senna it makes a lot of sense. After all, there have been countless TAG Heuer 'Senna' models, at various price points from quartz Formula 1s to £20,000 Carrera Tourbillons and at this point it kinda feels like the thing has run it's course. At this point every new Senna that comes out feels like a patchy Xerox of what's gone before and barely causes a ripple of excitement.
So maybe like with the 60th anniversary glassbox panda last year it's finally time to knock it on the head, go out with a BANG and drop the 'BIG ONE'? The one that people will really get excited about? Or maybe I'm just reading way too much into what Julien said? But why would he say 'We are going to take care of that' if he just meant 'We are going to release another blah Senna watch'?
And then there's the Instagram posts. Excitable TAG Heuer enthusiast George Bamford and middle-aged dream boy Patrick Dempsey were both seen wearing the original Senna watch on their wrists at the recent 'Historic Monaco GP'. Hilariously, (as pointed out by the ever-so-slightly-Senna-obsessed 'Mspeedster' on the THF Forum) when it was on Dempsey's wrist the watch wasn't actually working; good job they were only long shots - I don't suppose they thought anyone would notice. Hah! Not so TAG Heuer! Not so!
But is it a realistic possibility? Honestly I have no idea. I'm certainly not knowingly 'leaking' anything here and if this turns out to be true I will be as surprised as the rest of you. But while it's a nice idea, I can't help but think that there are a lot of obstacles to making this a reality; unless TAG Heuer are going to go all out and make a 100% faithful re-issue complete with the exact same movement? While this seems incredibly unlikely it's probably the easiest way to make a 'new' Senna watch.
Way back in 2020 I wrote about this very subject (though I'm not linking it here because I am appalled by the poor quality of my writing back then - what do you mean 'back then'?) and really nothing has changed. On the face of it this watch is not really attractive to the general market, it's a two-tone quartz chronograph with a brown leather strap, if it wasn't for the fact that Ayrton was seen in it in some iconic photographs almost no one would care.
No, the entire draw of this model is to the Senna fan, but how much will they be willing to pay? Second hand models can be had for around £1000-1500 (cheaper for later CG1123-0s), but sure a 'new' piece would be much more than that (and rightly so). But with TAG Heuer seemingly moving away from gold plating, a watch with a solid gold bezel and end-links is not going to be cheap no matter what the movement.... and then if the watch is going to cost upwards of £4000 are people going to pay that for quartz?
The watch cognoscenti will of course say 'it must be automatic', but how on Earth do you make a famously 'ana-digi' (look Michael I finally got it right!) quartz split-seconds chronograph an 'automatic' without completely compromising the whole project? Are they just going to 'draw' the 'displays' on the dial? That would surely invite ridicule from the watch community and I can't believe TAG Heuer are foolish enough to entertain that.
Well, if indeed there is to be a new 'Senna watch' it will certainly be interesting to see how they go about resolving these problems. But you know what would be really cool? How about a limited edition 'Senna' helmet box-set containing re-issues of his 2000 Series, 6000 Series, red classic Formula 1 and the S25.706C - now that would be truly EPIC.
And no doubt very, very expensive!
FURTHER READING: TAG Heuer's 'Senna' Branded Watches
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