Okay, hands up who else spat out their coffee when they read that the latest Monaco from TAG Heuer had a price tag of from* £121,000? I mean, we knew something was coming based off last year's 'Only Watch' Monaco Rattrapante so it wasn't exactly a 'surprise' (especially as TAG Heuer had been dropping hints left, right and centre), but I don't think anyone was really prepared for the jaw-dropping price tag the brand attached to this new model... even when you take into account the £3000 premium TAG are already charging for their current skeletonised Monacos over the solid dial variants.
*Depending on the level of customisation required, in case you were wondering....
I mean, had I been asked to guess the price I might have plucked £25,000-30,000 out of the air (especially since before this I wasn't terribly au fait with what the going rate for a rattrapante was), but I would never in my wildest estimates have gone over £100,000! And I wasn't alone, both 'A Blog to Watch' and (ex Watchfinder 'hands' guy) Andrew Morgan absolutely ridiculed the brand in their 'Watches & Wonders' YouTube round ups (though with their combined knowledge and industry savvy they should perhaps have been a little more 'informed').
But initially I too did not get it, especially when rattrapante chronographs are readily available from other brands such as Breitling at under £10,000 and from 'better' brands like IWC for not that much more. So there has to be more to it, doesn't there. It can't simply be that TAG Heuer are applying a Monaco premium the likes of which we've never seen before just because?
Well yes, of course there is...
Honestly, you could make the same argument about plenty of other watches, couldn't you? I mean, how can a three hand AP cost in excess of £40,000 when a Calibre 5 Carrera can be had for less than £3000? Well obviously because you're not comparing apples with apples, and so it is the case here when trying to compare with the Breitling and the IWC. They simply aren't in the same ballpark.
Perhaps the best way to put things into perspective is to look at which other watches use the Vaucher VMF6710 on which the Calibre TH81-00 is based. First we have the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda Chronor Anniversaire, then the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Split Seconds Chronograph and perhaps most tellingly the Richard Mille RM65-01.
All of these watches cost more than the Monaco Rattrapante.
And they didn't just throw this into a standard Monaco case either, in fact TAG Heuer have created a case specifically for this model using four slabs of sapphire glass and a titanium frame to achieve the avant garde look of the watch. All very clever (and pretty spectacular when it comes to being able to see the impressive movement I'm sure) and it's true that a split seconds is something of a glaring omission in the TAG Heuer catalogue given their illustrious racing heritage.
Actually it's quite strange when you think of the amazing machines TAG Heuer created in the 2000s and 2010s, pieces like the V4 Monaco and the Flying 1000 (to name just two) that they never did produce some kind of split seconds chrono. But then those pieces were genuine attempts to move horology forward, whereas the rattrapante is actually something that has been around for a very long time, (you can easily find Heuer rattrapante stopwatches for sale on sites like eBay for a few hundred pounds).
Okay so leaving aside the price, which is obviously easier said than done... this is clearly aimed at a certain kind of buyer, with a certain kind of wealth - and perhaps more importantly, this is also intended as a kind of 'halo' product, designed to raise the brand's standing in the watch community in the same way that previous haute horlogerie pieces did ten to fifteen years ago.
Why does this matter? Because for better or worse TAG Heuer (like seemingly every other Swiss watch brand who isn't Tissot) wants to be perceived as proper luxury now (with prices to match), rather than the 'entry-level' luxury that Jean Claude Biver espoused when he was in charge a few years ago. Of course that's a tough move to make and there are many hurdles the brand will need to navigate to get there... assuming they don't decide to reposition themselves yet again of course.
Will it work? Possibly, but given some of the reactions we've seen from the watch media I mentioned earlier, I'd say they need to do a much better job of explaining exactly what it is they are selling. Perhaps they could start by updating the product pages on their notoriously sparing website to give some indication of why the watch is actually priced as it is rather than just dumping it on there and inviting incredulous eye rolling from casual visitors who probably see it simply as TAG Heuer taking the p*ss!
Again.
Okay, I've given TAG Heuer their due. Honestly it's pointless laughing and saying you can buy another watch with the same complication for a tenth of the price because you could say exactly the same about a Patek Philippe tourbillon, (because - ironically - TAG Heuer). But I hope we're all smart enough to know that that is a reductive argument that only ends when someone says something patently truthful like 'everything more expensive than a Casio F91 is overpriced'.
So what is the problem exactly?
Well for one thing, as Andrew Morgan so inelegantly put it 'TAG Heuer is the brand of choice for airport lounges and best-man wedding gifts'. A bit harsh admittedly, but you get the picture. A brand that sells watches for under £2000 is always going to struggle when it suddenly starts trying to make super-watches for the prices you expect to pay for complicated watches from the Holy Trinity.
Now, I would be the first to pipe up and say, yes but Patek, Vacheron and AP don't make anything that look like this, but unfortunately using the CWB2181/2182's looks as an argument for why you should buy it instead of an elegant watch from one of the Swiss masters is just asking for trouble... isn't it?
But what if we instead consider the watch as an affordable alternative to a Richard Mille? Then it starts to make sense, right? Well, maybe. Except the Richard Mille will probably keep or increase it's value over time.
As I mentioned earlier, we saw the blueprint for this design last year when TAG Heuer announced their contribution to the ill-fated 'Only Watch 2023' charity auction. As such, while normally I would qualify my comments with the caveat that 'maybe we just need some time to get used to this new look' the truth is we've already had six months to get used to it.
Okay, once you've got over the initial shock it's not completely terrible looking. Yes the bottom subdial is a bit odd and definitely looks disturbingly like a mouth; but that I can get over. What I cannot, and never will get over is the worst subdials in the history of subdials. I mean, what the hell were they thinking there? It's like an optical illusion; they honestly look like they are sliding down the dial with the hands at the top and the awful text at the bottom. I actually thought they were oblong shaped at first, until I saw a head on shot. I'm sorry but I just can't find anything positive to say about them and as I've said a million times or more essentially I am a watch enthusiast that is driven first and foremost by aesthetics.
So the design of the watch is, let's say challenging, but can we at least all agree that the black/red model is least heinous of the two? I mean, at least the subdials are harder to see on that one and thus slightly less offensive to the eyes? The blue one (homage to the SMQ, of course because it absolutely cannot just be blue for no reason) literally makes my eyes hurt.
I can only put it down to the people working on this being so focussed on the micro-details of the watch that no one stood back and took in the whole thing.
And yet, the people who have actually seen it and held it say it is amazing. So is this actually one of those watches that genuinely need to be seen in person to appreciate? I mean anything is possible, right? TAG Heuer generally make good looking watches so how can it possibly be as bad as it seems?
I will say, in all fairness, that the watch looks slightly better in the Revolution video than it does in the computer generated renders you see on the website. This of course is nothing new, TAG Heuer's renders are notoriously bad and often make half decent watches look like absolute dogs.
But how many of us will ever get to be in the same room as one of these, let alone hold it or strap it on the wrist? Not many for sure, which rather undermines its effectiveness as a halo product if it doesn't come across well in photographs and videos. After all, I'm not exactly hearing a chorus of 'it's too expensive... but it looks amazing' from the council.
Ultimately though, I feel like this is a precarious move from TAG Heuer. I was thinking earlier that if your brand is considered to be 'reaching' when you try to sell a £10,000 watch (like the skeleton Monaco) then perhaps a £121,000 uber watch isn't the best move. Unfortunately the general reaction in the wider watch world seems to be one of utter incredulity and I couldn't help but think how different the reaction would be if say Omega had released this watch. That seems to be TAG Heuer's first hurdle that they need to navigate, getting people to actually listen and understand what they've done, rather than simply spluttering and moving on to the next thing.
I'm sure TAG Heuer don't expect to sell more than a handful of these and the underlying idea is clearly to lift perception of their more mainstream offerings; whether that will work or not I'm not sure, at the moment it seems to be backfiring a little - so they really need to strongly explain why this watch is priced as it is. Unfortunately, living in this social media led world where the finer details are often lost and first impressions are hard to shift, it may be an uphill climb from here... especially when less than ten years ago the brand aggressively repositioned themselves as 'affordable luxury' with the Heuer 01 Carrera Skeletons launched at just a tad over £4000!
It's perhaps telling that the man who was responsible for that repositioning (Mr Jean Claude Biver, the man who made Omega and Blancpain what they are today) is considered an absolute GENIUS in the watch world. Perhaps they should stop and consider how much they really want to mess with his vision for the brand?
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Right, that was a LOT longer than I anticipated, so let's stop this now and turn it over to the Council of Considered Opinion. Apologies in advance to anyone from TAG Heuer who happen to be reading this.
Red 7.5/10, Blue 6/10: "I'll give TAG Heuer an "A" for effort, but the end result is something less. It seems those who have seen it in person are dazzled by the watch, but this magic aura doesn't shine through to me in pictures or video. So these are best scores I can give for now."
Red 8/10, Blue 8/10: "I would never buy one, but I like when TAG shows some technical skills that they absolutely do have."
Red 4/10, Blue 5/10: "I like them. But if I'm paying £121k for a watch, I want the blue dial with a black case please. Absolutely ridiculous pricing and I suspect these watches only exist to pull up the rest of the brand. Very few are actually going to be sold. Unfortunately I have to take the price into account whilst scoring..."
Red 2/10, Blue 2/10: "Bloated and too busy. And laughably priced, for a titanium case rattrapante when IWC offers many flavours of them in ceramic or ceratanium for about 15k US. And they look way better."
Red 6/10, Blue 5/10: "8/10 for the tech, which is its most important trait, but the design is its Achilles heel, once you notice the face; it's hard to unsee."
Red 4/10, Blue 3.5/10: "At first I thought I quite liked these Monacos; it was something different with the added rattrapante complication. However on closer inspection it's a bit of a mess. It's a shame but it's not great and for £121,000.00 I would want a lot more watch than is on offer here, it's just too much! The dial is messy and not very legible, more so on this blue version. An extra point for both for the case back which is actually quite nice and well done. However, that is hidden when on my wrist and it doesn't justify the ridiculous price or change my opinion on these Monacos. The red and black version is the best out of the two but its not saying much."
Red 2/10, Blue 2/10: "Just pure ugly."
Red 4.5/10, Blue 5.5/10: "These are a fail compared with the Monaco 24, IMO and fail on the partial skeletonisation compared to the Carrera MP4-12C. Also, I'm not sure what is going on with the left hand side of the case, opposite the crown, but it looks like some sort of carbuncle. Nice complication though. Tough to score to be honest, but the blue gets it over the red this time."
Red 1/10, Blue 2/10: "Aesthetically unpleasant; ridiculously absurd prices; bloated size. Subdial at 6:00 looks utterly stupid. My apologies for my blunt response on these."
Red 4/10, Blue 4/10: "I like a skeleton watch in general and these look ok (although I can’t unsee Deadpool), but the price is laughable."
Red 5/10, Blue 4/10: "Initial score is a 5 for black 4 for blue. My score may change at the end of the year as I learn more about these. They seem pretty steep in price for just the rattrapante added."
Red 7/10, Blue 8/10: "I don't think you can really read the time on this, lol. And that saggy eyes look on the blue. Jeez. And the price, O M G!!!! But well, this is haute horlogerie, it has it's price. Well. It's a flyback in a Monaco, a new movement. It has its cost to develop of course. I guess, TH has to make a statement here to get its respect from the filthy rich."
Red 2.6/10, Blue 2.1/10: "The black gets a strong 2,6. The blue gets a weak 2,1."
Red 9/10, Blue 8/10: "I kinda like it. I think this is modern Monaco with anti shock (it not's like it wasn't done before but...). It just looks modernly Monaco in my opinion."
Red 5.5/10, Blue 4.5/10: "I’m too ignorant to pronounce myself on the R&D effort for the complication (or rather: I haven’t read through the heated discussion in the corresponding thread yet). So judging from a almost purely aesthetic point of view - and liking it less than last years skeletonized versions: Deadpool: 5.5, Avatar: 4.5. I feel in THE PRESENT day & age TH has just no business doing such pieces anymore..."
Red 3/10, Blue 2/10: "The Time & Tide (other YouTube influencers are available) video shows an interesting caseback which I did enjoy. That’s where my positivity ends though. Red gets 3/10, Blue gets a droopy 2/10."
Red 5/10, Blue 4/10: "I see a hidden face with an open mouth in the dial. And he doesn't look happy!"
Red 8/10, Blue 7/10: "Both are like last year ONLY WATCH Monaco Rattrapante but with different colours. I gave 7.5 to that one and I prefer the red, so it’s a 8/10. The blue is odd, in Munch 😱 style..."
Red 0/10, Blue 0/10: "I will never buy these watches and I don't think it's worth buying. It's a high-functioning model called the 36000rpm Rattrapante, but even so, I can't find any more outstanding elements than the Pendulum or V4. I think the Monaco 24 is more organized in terms of design and is cool, including shock absorbers."
Red 5.5/10, Blue 5.5/10: "8/10 on being different, 3/10 visually - I can’t unsee the sad clown face in both."
Red 6/10, Blue 4/10: "Well I could get used to it, but a busy face, colours ok, price dependent. The blue one is less endearing than the other one, doesn’t do it for me."
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