Tuesday 30 July 2024

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 02T 'Shanghai' Limited Edition Chronograph

CAR5A8AC.FT6231

Tourbillons seem to be ten-a-penny in TAG Heuer world these days, maybe one day I should do a post about all the tourbillons that have come out since JCB introduced them about seven years ago? At first glance this one doesn't look particularly different or even particularly exciting, but here there's more than first meets the eye, and I'm not just talking about the pink and blue highlights on the hands and tourbillon.

Saturday 27 July 2024

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre TH20-00 'European' Limited Edition Chronograph

 

At the end of my half year review I mentioned that I thought the 'COCO Watch of the Year' would be some sort of Carrera, but one we hadn't seen yet. Well in the last couple of weeks we've had four more Carreras and I believe that one of those could be 'WOTY', but probably not the one I'd like it to be. 😜

More on that anon, suffice it to say that the watch I am referring to is perhaps the most Marmite watch of the year so far. I love it, and a couple of others do too, but unfortunately the majority of the Council of Considered Opinion get a case of the vapours when you mention '44mm', 'Carrera' and 'diamond bezel' in the same breath...

Wednesday 24 July 2024

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre TH20-00 'Sparks' Chronograph

 
CBL2188.FT6261

TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield June 2024

It's odd. This is clearly one of the best TAG Heuers released in 2024 (any fool can see that), so why am I finding it so hard to come up with something to say about it? In person those yellow hands pop much more than the renders suggest and indeed the whole watch has more 'life' to it on the wrist. But I don't know.... somehow it doesn't grab me like the 'Bling Lord' does, or indeed the turquoise model. I'd also perhaps put it behind the 'Monaco Boutique' model released earlier this year. Yes it's a more inventive combination of colours than simply black with red highlights (for the ten millionth time), but there's a reason why those colours get used again and again and again.

Sunday 21 July 2024

FEATURE: Fifteen to None (How My Classic F1 Collection Got Bought & Sold).


Long term readers will probably recall that at one time I had a pretty mighty collection of the classic 'plastic' 35mm Formula 1 watches. In fact at one point I had fifteen of the little buggers and was gradually closing in on a complete set of the standard models (beyond that there's lots of Japanese limited editions with all sorts printed on the dial and there are others too like the 'Van Halen 5150' one that I wrote about previously, but that's a rabbit hole I had no intention of falling down). IIRC I needed the resin cream/navy blue one, a red/black one with a steel case and most notably of all the multi-coloured 'Ukyo Katayama' with the 'signed' glass.

I remember finding a few of the navy/cream on eBay but they were always either battered or expensive, and some times battered AND expensive, but I kept looking. The red/black steel was basically the same as one I already owned with the resin case so I was never in a hurry to pick that one up (and again, usually battered and expensive for some reason) and the Katayama I could only find for sale in Japan, usually mint but way more expensive than I wanted to pay.

But still, I had a very solid collection and they were all in great condition. I replaced countless straps (while they were still available from TAG Heuer at £32, not any more apparently - now it's £90 a piece on eBay which is ludicrous!), interestingly there seemed to be three kinds of these. First there were the very thick 'rubbery' ones that always seemed to come on anything I imported from Japan. Then there was the thinner, less rubbery ones that seemed to be the norm, and later some very thin and crappy ones that deteriorated extraordinarily quickly. In particular the dark green one which looked absolutely knackered after just a few days on the wrist.

So while my collection wasn't quite 'complete' it was in very good order. In fact I even bought a couple of watches twice to get a really good one.

Let's take a look at all the watches I owned...

Thursday 18 July 2024

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph

 

TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield July 2024

While clearly there's little genuine 'excitement' to be had from trying on an entry level quartz Formula 1 chronograph at this point, I will admit that this is, while by no means a contender for my hard earned sponds, a marked improvement over the red, yellow and green models released way back in 2022. This one just has a little more... class about it. The blue manages to be bright enough without screaming its head off at you like a 1999 Subura Impreza (surely a gold bezel and pushers/crown would work wonderfully here though?), and as such it successfully treads the fine line between fun and, well gaudy.

The previous models didn't so much tip-toe up to that line as run screaming across it while dressed head to toe in Gucci and clutching a diamond encrusted cane, but yet they still managed to find favour with the fantastically unpredictable Charlie/Imagwai (you remember his curious Top 10 Aquaracers a little while back); to this day I cannot fathom how this slight fellow who counts a tasteful blue Rolex OP and until recently an original Carrera re-issue in his collection could lust after something as outrageously gauche as the 43mm green rubber clad Formula 1. But there we are.... there's nowt so strange as folks as my old dad used to say!

Monday 15 July 2024

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Porsche 963'

CBU2010.FT6267

By my reckoning this is the eighth 'Porsche' branded watch to emerge from the partnership between TAG Heuer and the German automotive manufacturer... and with the 'Orange Lava Racing' Carrera being my watch of the year for 2023 this one has a little bit of an uphill battle to fight if it wants to win me over. But first impressions are good. At £8050 this one is rather expensive, but it looks it - though I still don't like all that empty space at the 12 position; to my eyes the TAG Heuer shield looks a little lost, even with the 'steering wheel' framework behind it. 

But I do like the carbon bezel, the 'Porsche' engraving in the side of the case and the 'integrated' looking strap is interesting; albeit it turns out that the integration is something of an illusion, since what looks like the middle 'titanium' section (where it says '963') is actually part of the strap. But maybe that's a good thing since it allows you to use regular alternative straps and also allows you to remove the '963' if that's not to your taste.

Friday 12 July 2024

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Three Handers & Batman GMT

 


TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield June 2024

I wasn't exactly 'effusive' about the new 42mm 'wave dial' Aquaracers when I wrote my 'First Impressions' post last month, but I was open to being persuaded by a hands-on experience and that came at the tail end of June when I visited the superb TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield's Meadowhall centre. Did I come away converted? Or did getting them on the wrist simply reinforce my initial grousing? Well... somewhere in between perhaps.

Tuesday 9 July 2024

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 02T 'Australian' Limited Edition Tourbillon Chronograph

CAR5A8AK.FC6570

According to the TAG Heuer website the CAR5A8AK 'incorporates design elements that encapsulate the essence of Australia'. What they might be beyond the colour blue I'm not entirely sure, but it's slightly odd that this watch looks almost exactly like the CAR5A98.FC6471 'Nordic Edition' (save for the DLC coating) released a few years ago. I mean, I'm no expert on Sweden or Australia but they don't immediately strike me as obvious bedfellows. 

Leaving that slightly contentious claim aside, this (like the Nordic edition, oddly enough) is quite a nice looking Carrera, and reminds me slightly of the old Red Bull Heuer 01 Special Edition that I've considered on numerous occasions. The CAR5A8AK though is limited to just ten pieces, so a truly 'limited' Limited Edition (unlike the Nordic edition incidentally, which ran to a massive twenty pieces!). 🤣

Saturday 6 July 2024

FEATURE: My Top Ten Aquaracers by Imagwai

 

Once again in this 20th Anniversary year for the Aquaracer it's time to invite a COCO member to choose their top ten and this month it's our old friend Imagwai/Charlie M's turn. Unfortunately for various reasons Charlie wasn't able to supply text with his choices, so I will supply the commentary for his selections today. Yay!  

Oh and I suppose I should mention that Charlie submitted these to me a while back, before the new wave dial Aquaracers came out. But judging by his scores for those I don't honestly think anything would have changed...

Wednesday 3 July 2024

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer's 2024 Releases (Jan/Jun)


So it's been a 'busy' year for TAG Heuer already, with nearly fifty new watches added to the catalogue since January the 1st. Unfortunately we haven't actually caught up with all of them yet, such is the pace of the recent launches... but I don't want to delay this post in the hope that I catch up because you know exactly what will happen. So, grab a beer (or a coffee, or whatever you like to drink while pondering your next purchase) and join me in reviewing 2024 so far.

What has surprised me this year is how forgettable many of the new releases have been. This is almost certainly partly due to the sheer amount of new products being made available. I mean, not only have we had nearly two watches per week (on average), but we also had a new range of sunglasses - I mean did you even remember that? It just feels like there's always something else on the horizon, and I can't help but think this is counter-productive.