ON THE WRIST: Heuer Autavia 'Viceroy' Heuer 02 Chronograph

 

CBE2118.FC8246

TAG Heuer Outlet / Bicester Village, 11th May 2024

The Heuer 02 Autavia was a funny old thing. Launched in 2017, the watch was warmly received but at 42mm it was probably a little large for the Heuer types it was aimed at, and it was also a bit on the thick side. Despite that the watch seemed to have a lot of fans and TAG Heuer released several variations in quick succession including the UAE L/E, the Watches of Switzerland L/E, the Orange Boy L/E and this particular one, the 'Viceroy' Edition.

As far as I remember (and this seems to be confirmed by Watch Base) the 'Viceroy' was released in 2018 and was only available in US boutiques. I seem to recall several people moaning about that on the THF Forum at the time, but now for those in the UK (at least) the opportunity to purchase is finally here! Oddly the 'Viceroy' was not actually a 'limited edition' as such, but I can't really imagine it would have been made in huge numbers.

The model is based on a watch from 1972, which rather amusingly, was part of a promotion to sell 'Viceroy' cigarettes and should surely appeal to many who find the standard model's three dial layout rather cluttered and busy. With the running seconds subdial at the 6 position removed the date has space to sit nicely as an hour marker and I must admit the layout does look much better overall (as long as you are happy to forego a running seconds of course...).

I never liked the bezel on these (and I'm definitely not alone there, the later bezel found on the JH85 was much nicer) and it does feel rather thick, but that aside this wears well on my 7.5" wrist. The red really pops but I could happily live without the fauxtina. I assume here the watch is set to 10pm and the date has started it's changeover... but bear in mind the Heuer 02 date seems to have a bit of a reputation for never being well centred - so worth checking before you buy. 

The strap is a little bit on the short side though, if you have an 8" wrist you will definitely struggle with this one. Saying that I've tried on watches with shorter straps, I believe the recently discontinued Gulf F1 (the one with the black pushers and crown - see below) was the worst of all, IIRC I was only just able to get it round my wrist and pin the very last hole.

The Viceroy is currently on offer for £3400, which is just a shade over 40% off TAG Heuer's 'current' list price. 

While I was at the store I took a few more pictures and also don't forget if you are in the UK you can request access to the WhatsApp stock list so you can keep your eye out for any bargains. We were quite lucky on this visit as they had just received quite a large delivery so there was plenty to look at. Unfortunately such is the nature of the outlet that new stock tends to disappear quickly and old unwanted stock tends to stick around. Still there were good discounts here on lots of watches that are recently discontinued or in some cases still in stores...

Sadly the 2017 Link collection never really caught on did it? These two Calibre 17 chronographs were finally discontinued a year or so ago. I'm not sure I ever really liked them very much... 

I do like this one though, I remember trying one on a few years ago at Bicester Village. Still not sure it's really me though...

Bronze Calibre 5 Autavias, the green looks fantastic when the bronze is fresh out of the box - but unfortunately these have already started to go a little bit brown.

A fairly recently discontinued Carrera 44mm Sports with the olive green dial... pretty cool this one.

The 2020 Year of the Rat Autavia, with bronze case, red strap and 'rat' backplate... funny how you don't hear much about bronze watches anymore isn't it? I guess everyone finally realised that a watch that starts out looking like gold and ends up looking like it belongs in a dumpster isn't really 'luxurious'!

Bicester Village stalwarts, God knows where they keep finding these. Tried both on many times but never taken the plunge. Still would if money was no object, probably the Calibre 16 for me as the Calibre 5 wears a little small on my wrist.

The Formula 1 Gulf is available both on the super short blue strap and the bracelet, a great opportunity to get one of these as there are a LOT of fakes of these about...

As you can see I tried on the 2017 Camo Aquaracer (WAY208D) for the seventieth time, but still couldn't quite convince myself to pull the trigger (I should have bought it when it was down to £1500, now it's £1750 - which to be fair is still a lot less than it was in 2017). I love the dial and the strap is actually very comfortable, but that flappy strap-end would drive me nuts so I know I would end up putting it on the same black rubber strap I have on my WAY208C and then it would be just too similar. 

Long time readers will know this has been torturing me for years, I love both but I made my choice way back in 2019 and honestly I made the right choice. I've had countless opportunities to buy the WAY208D again, the WAY208C not so much.

Well there we are, it was a fun time visiting the store after a good while and it's always nice to see Evan. As it turns out the visit wasn't solely window shopping as my wife actually bought a very heavily discounted Aquaracer, I will cover that one in a separate post soon...