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.

Firstly, I was pretty vocal about the new 'wave' dials last month and honestly my position hasn't really changed. The concept is fine, but the execution is off and that flat bit near the 3 o'clock position is an eyesore that I simply can't unsee. Furthermore, ChrisRed71 on the THF forum remarked that the dial looks less like waves and more like wrinkled bedsheets... and I agree. I had already commented myself that it looked more like fabric than water, but this poster even illustrated his point by contrasting pictures of the dials with similarly coloured bedsheets. PMSL.

Anyhoo... the good news is that the wave/fabric dial details on the black three hander and the blue/black GMT are less noticeable than on the blue and green models and so those two immediately became my favourites of the ones in front of me. Unfortunately the green/black ('Sprite' in Rolex parlance) GMT wasn't available and I believe isn't actually coming until August, which is a shame because that was the one that I really wanted to see the most. But from reading articles by 'BIG WATCH MEDIA' who have been able to see the watches in person, it seems the green GMT is similar in tone to the blue so fingers crossed.

The first thing to say about these watches, well... okay second, I guess, since I've already moaned at length about the dial - is that the new 42mm dia / 48mm lug to lug case wears a LOT smaller than the previous model. It's not 'small' as such, but it's sure to please those who complained at length that the 43mm ceramic bezel was too big and the 36mm too small for their wrists. I won't go as far as to say it wears like my 40mm steel bezel Aquaracer, but if pressed to guess I think I might have said it was a 41mm rather than a 42mm. It certainly felt a lot smaller than the 43mm Aquaracer I was wearing at the time and it was baffling to hold them up next to each other and find the difference was literally 1mm.

I got to see both the black and blue models on the rubber strap and the bracelet (as yet the green model is only available on the bracelet) and I have to say I preferred it on the bracelet. The rubber strap is similar to the one on my carbon bezel Solargraph and while it's fine on a black DLC coated watch, here it just looks a bit of a shortcut. If I bought one of these I might buy a rubber strap for occasional use, but I'd definitely buy the watch on the bracelet first.

As you can see from my (admittedly rather poor) photographs the dial on the black model is a bit less 'in your face', and while initially I found it a little odd that TAG Heuer chose to give this one a pale blue second hand (since this is generally a calling card for the 'Solargraph' solar powered quartz models), in person the blue is quite different and works rather well with the black background. 

I'm undecided on that hour hand. I can ignore it for so long, and then I notice it again and get that feeling of vomit tickling the back of my throat. I dunno, the jury's out on that. I don't think I'm ever going to 'like' it, but the fact that it takes me longer to notice it every time suggests that I'm gradually getting used to the weird shape of it. 

True story, I sent these pictures to my good friend Jim Dollares on the day of the visit and he came back to me and said 'So they didn't have the green one?'. And then once I explained that I had sent him a photo of it he came back with 'So the black one with the yellow hand is the green one?'. Kinda sums it up, hey? 

Well in person it does look 'greener', but it is by no means 'GREEN'. Maybe that's a good thing? Maybe that isn't? But either way it feels like we've had enough green watches already this year (which is funny because another one has just arrived) and while this seems to be everyone's favourite, I just found it rather underwhelming to be honest.

Clearly though, I have saved the best until last... and here it is. Again it's such a shame they didn't have the black/green GMT as I would have loved to have been able to compare them side by side. But as it stands, this is easily the best of the bunch, I just wish they had stuck with the slatted dial (and possibly the old hour hand). I still have reservations about the odd colour of the GMT hand too, I would prefer it a contrasting colour (yellow or orange) or just polished steel but at least it is visible enough for those that would use the function. But again, it does kinda follow the template laid out by Rolex, so... yeah.

While I'm sure many will be pleased that the new Aquaracer has shrunk, I can't help but think it seems a bit small now. I guess I will get used to this over time, but it just goes to show that you really can't rely on the diameter mm as an accurate indication of how a watch will wear on the wrist. But if you've always wanted a ceramic bezel Aquaracer but couldn't stomach the 43mm, now may be the perfect time to get down to the jewellers and try one on, I'm willing to bet you will be surprised.