Welcome, dear friends, to the fifth annual 'Council of Considered Opinion Watch of the Year'... or to keep it snappy, the COCO WOTY!
Now this year is actually quite exciting because unlike previous years (and especially last year when the 60th Anniversary Carrera Panda absolutely annihilated the opposition) we head into the final reckoning with a good spread of votes. Indeed, no less than 14 watches have picked up a 'First Place' vote and a total of 30 different watches have picked up a first, second or third. This is completely unheard of in the history of the competition and I guess proves either that TAG Heuer are making a wide range of watches that appeal to different people, or perhaps just that they didn't make that one killer watch this year that almost everyone wanted to own.
Personally I feel like this year has probably been the least exciting collection since I started my blog way back in 2016... and for a long time I thought it was just me. After all everywhere you look it seems people have finally stopped using TAG Heuer as the industry's whipping boy and with the new glassbox Carreras in particular YouTubers seem to be falling over themselves to declare 'TAG Heuer is back'. Similarly, TAG Heuer is featuring well in 'watch brand ranking videos' and even previous TAG Heuer bashers like Nico Leonard seem to have changed their minds about the brand.
Of course as the internet's #1 TAG Heuer fanboi, I'm happy that people are finally giving the company the respect it deserves and not bashing it for historical or tenuous reasons, but at the same time it's confusing to me that the wider watch community seems to love this year's releases that I'm a bit underwhelmed by. I mean, yes I've always tended to swim against the tide, especially where the heritage releases go, but still it's reassuring to see that I'm not alone in my general indifference. If we consider this year's C.O.C.O. scores, it's apparent that the overall trend is definitely down, and for the first time ever, this year's 'Watch of the Year' scored less than an 8/10.
I do think that this is at least partly due to the ever increasing prices. You only have to look at the comments under each 'First Impressions' post to see that over and over again people find TAG Heuer's current pricing to be unjustifiable. Case in point has to be the recent two tone Solargraph Aquaracers, where the gold plating adds a staggering £1550 to the retail price. For me this is actually more offensive than a steel cased tourbillon at £31,000 because once you get into that kind of market the price isn't really the main issue. In fact, as we know, pricing 'luxury products' is a dark art that makes little sense to those of us who can't afford to buy them.
But whatever the reasons, scores are definitely down and nowhere more so than with the Kith TAG Heuers. This was a big story this year, and while it was undoubtedly a huge PR success for the brand, I wasn't alone in my dislike of the abomination that was the 'KITH Heuer' logo. Some of the watches looked nice, some of them were pretty dreadful, but all were cursed with the 'KITH Heuer' logo. I know this is what 'Kith' do, but to my mind removing the 'TAG' part of the logo was a slap in the face. After all this was the very first 'TAG' watch that was ever released, so it really should have been a celebration of 'TAG Heuer'. But we don't do that do we?
But then again, the C.O.C.O. isn't infallible. My personal favourite this year, the extremely under the radar CBN2A12 Sports Carrera with a double row diamond bezel, scored a ridiculous 4.1/10. I gave it a 10, and clearly everyone who didn't is a fool or drunk, and honestly it's times like this when I see the value of a benign dictatorship! 🤣 Unfortunately that's not what we have, so I must defer to the Council's whims once again, however errant they may be.
Okay, so without further ado, let's take a look at all this year's watches. As usual I have held back the scores for the top 10 pieces, and these will be revealed along with the 'Watch of the Year' on the 27th of December. Once again I've included list prices where available since this post will act as a reference point for the future.
NB - There were no new Links or Autavias in 2024.
FORMULA 1
Well obviously the big story for the Formula 1 range this year was the KITH collaboration, which I've already mentioned. I must admit, after my initial negative impression, I did soften a bit throughout the year, but recently my position has hardened again. Having seen one of the watches in person, and having owned a huge number of the original 80s and 90s models, I found them a little inauthentic somehow, something that wasn't helped by their decision to make two of the pieces with 'non-lume' lume dials. Not cool.
Aside from that, the Formula 1 range produced two of the better received watches of the year in the green and blue Calibre 16 chronographs. This was reflected in the scores from the COCO with both of them initially cresting the 7/10 rating in the First Impressions posts (albeit this fell to 6.3/10 at year's end).
There was also another Indy 500 Formula 1 (which sounds as dumb as it always does), and this one was actually quite nice. Certainly a lot nicer than last year's model. Apart from that we had a blue version of the 'Gucci' Formula 1 chronograph, offered on both rubber and a bracelet and a couple of limited editions in the form of the 'OneLife Rally' Formula 1 and the Max Verstappen/Red Bull Champions Formula 1 (neither of which were available to the public).
Finally, just a few weeks ago we saw this year's 'Red Bull' Formula 1, which for me is the best one since the original launched back in 2018. Granted the dial is a bit messy and it's hard to read, but at least the colours are pretty accurate and it definitely feels like a proper 'Red Bull' themed watch.
WA121F.BA0023 (3.6/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (Eggshell Dial) - £1350
WA121N.BA0023 (3.5/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (Eggshell Dial/Green Bezel) - £1500 approx
WA121P.BA0023 (4.3/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (White Dial/Blue Bezel) - £1500 approx
WA121J.BT0012 (3.6/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (Black Dial/Blue Bezel) - £1350
WA121L.BT0014 (3.6/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (Black Dial/Green Bezel) - £1350
WA126A.BT0005 (3.7/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (Black Dial/Black Bezel) - £1500 approx
WA126B.BT0006 (4.2/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (Grey Dial/Red Bezel) - £1500 approx
WA126C.BT0007 (4.1/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (Yellow Dial/Black Bezel) - £1500 approx
WA126D.BT0008 (3.0/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (Pink Dial/Cream Bezel) - £1500 approx
WA126E.BT0009 (3.9/10): 35mm Kith Heuer (Blue Dial/Green Bezel) - £1500 approx
CAZ201G.BA0876 (6.3/10): 44mm Chronograph (Blue Dial/Blue Bezel) - £3300
CAZ201H.BA0876 (6.3/10): 44mm Chronograph (Green Dial/Green Bezel) - £3300
CAZ101AV.BA0842 (6.0/10): 43mm Chronograph (Blue Dial/Black Bezel) - £1850
CAZ101AV.FT8077(6.4/10): 43mm Chronograph (Blue Dial/Black Bezel) - £1750
CAZ101AY.FC6591 (5.7/10): 43mm Red Bull Champions L/E (Blue Dial/Bezel) - N/A
CAZ101AZ.FT8090 (6.0/10): 43mm, Red Bull L/E (Blue Dial/Bezel DLC) - £2350
AQUARACER
2024 was, of course, the 20th Anniversary of the Aquaracer. In truth, the Aquaracer is a little older than that, realistically beginning in 1982 with the launch of the 2000 Series and rebranded the 'Aquaracer' in 2004. Will TAG Heuer ever acknowledge the anniversary of a non-Heritage model? I somehow doubt it. It will be 25 years old in 2029, but inevitably that will be ignored in favour of the Monaco's 60th. Such is life... even when the Aquaracer turns 40 it will be 75 years of the Monaco, so I doubt we'll ever see a celebratory Aquaracer. Assuming the Aquaracer brand lives that long?
The story of 2024 as far as the Aquaracer was concerned was the continued expansion of the Solargraph, with new models in steel in 40 and 34mm sizes. But while the move away from replaceable battery cells is a step in the right direction unfortunately the coloured dial versions left more than a little to be desired... the green one in particular having all the aesthetic appeal of a painted garage door.
Thankfully there were plenty of positives, with the new 42mm Aquaracers and the GMTs in particular scoring very well. And of course there was also the very likeable 'Time & Tide' limited edition which sneaked out just a few weeks ago.
WBP1312.BA0005 (5.3/10): 34mm Solargraph (MOP Dial) - £2050
WBP1313.BA0005 (5.6/10): 34mm Solargraph (MOP/Diamond Dial) - £2600
WBP1314.BA0005 (5.0/10): 34mm Solargraph (MOP/Diamond Dial/Dia Bezel) - £4400
WBP1311.BA0005 (5.7/10): 34mm Solargraph (Blue Dial) - £1900
WBP1315.BA0005 (6.2/10): 34mm Solargraph (Polar Blue Dial) - £1900
WBP5110.BA0013 (6.4/10): 42mm, Three Hander (Black Dial) - £3300
WBP5111.BA0013 (6.5/10): 42mm, Three Hander (Blue Dial) - £3300
WBP5116.BA0013 (*.*/10): 42mm, Three Hander (Green Dial) - £3300
WBP5114.BA0013 (*.*/10): 42mm, GMT (Blue Dial / Batman Bezel) - £3650
WBP5113.BA0013 (*.*/10): 42mm, GMT (Green Dial / Sprite Bezel) - £3650
WBP5111.FT6259 (*.*/10): 42mm, Three Hander (Blue Dial) - £3150
WBP5114.FT6259 (*.*/10): 42mm, GMT (Blue Dial / Batman Bezel) - £3500
WBP1115.BA0000 (5.9/10): 40mm, Solargraph (Green Dial) - £2050
WBP1120.BB0002 (5.9/10): 40mm, Solargraph (Blue / Two-Tone) - £3600
WBP1121.BB0003 (6.2/10): 40mm, Solargraph (Black / Two-Tone) - £3600
WBP1181.FN8024 (*.*/10): 40mm, Solargraph (Time & Tide Limited Edition) - £2700
WBP231J.FT6234 (5.3/10): 36mm (Pink / Diamond Dial) - £3150
CBW2181.FC8322 (4.7/10): 41mm, Skeleton Rattrapante - £151,000 / POA
MONACO
It's been an up and down kind of year for the Monaco, hasn't it? My favourite Monaco this year was the Monaco Boutique Limited Edition (actually took my second place vote that one) and the other two TH20-00 powered models got decent scores from me too. But the 'Racing Green' Calibre 11 Limited Edition was a disappointment and no matter how clever the case construction is on the £121,000 Rattrapantes it doesn't change the fact that they are plain ugly. Sorry, but for that money give me a Richard Mille any day of the week.
CBW2182.FC8339 (4.4/10): 41mm, Skeleton Rattrapante - £151,000 / POA
CBL2018C.EB---- (6.5/10): 39mm, Skeleton Chronograph (Monaco Boutique) - £N/A
CAW218E.FC6565 (6.1/10): 39mm, Chronograph (Racing Green Limited Edition) - £8150
CBL218B.FT6236 (*.*/10): 39mm, Chronograph (Skeleton Dial / Las Vegas Edition) - £9850
CAR5A8AC.FT6231 (5.1/10): 45mm, Tourbillon (Shanghai Limited Edition) - JP¥174,600
CARRERA
As always there were a LOT of Carreras released this year, and there were also a LOT of tourbillon Carreras released this year. Eleven in fact. Now that seems like a hell of a lot to me, and while some were extremely limited (the Watches of Switzerland exclusive piece is limited to just 10 pieces) some were 'limited' to 250 pieces and some weren't limited at all. Is there really a big enough market to absorb all these £20-30,000 TAG Heuers?
My pick for Watch of the Year was obviously the stunning diamond bezel Carrera Sports, but I also liked the Swiss Alps tourbillon, the Shanghai boutique tourbillon and the ThreeC Limited Edition. Much praise was also given to the Glassbox Carreras (naturally) with the silver Panda doing particularly well.
We also saw the release of the new Carrera Extreme Sports watches, which drew mixed reactions from the C.O.C.O. They do seem to be exactly the sort of avant garde watches that I want the brand to focus on making, but at the same time I don't really like them all that much somehow. The Porsche 963 is definitely the best one and I was lucky enough to get to try that on recently in the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield.
Elsewhere we saw a new Plasma Carrera in the smaller 36mm size, this time with a yellow diamond crown and shield adorning the lab grown diamond dial; a pair of ladies and gents watches with green dials for Saudi Arabia and a green dial 42mm chronograph with brown subdials that is described as a 'European Exclusive' yet seems to be available all over the world.
The big release and one to watch in this year's 'C.O.C.O. Watch of Year' is the Hodinkee Seafarer. As soon as I saw that I knew it would be the one to beat this year and so it has proven. Did it take the crown? You'll have to come back on the 27th to find out.
But before I do go, I have to mention the Senna and Porsche Limited Edition Tourbillons. I'm not particularly keen on either, but the real issue I have with them is their pricing. There's just no justifying £31,000 for a steel cased watch, or £33,000 for a titanium watch. I can only assume that TAG Heuer subscribe to the logic that the more expensive a luxury watch is the more people want to buy it. Well, maybe they're right, but when you start to think what that kind of money could buy you elsewhere it must be a tough pill to swallow.
CBS2211.FC6545 (4.6/10): 39mm, Dato Chronograph (Green Dial) - £6000
CBS2216.BA0041 (6.2/10): 39mm, Chronograph (Silver Panda Dial) - £6100
CBS2241.FN8023 (6.5/10): 39mm, Gold Case Chrono (Blue Skipper Dial) - £18750
WBN231C.BA0001 (5.1/10): 36mm (MOP Dial / Diamond Bezel) - £4200
WBN2350.BD0000 (4.8/10): 36mm (Gold Dial / Bezel / Two Tone) - £4350
WBN2351.BD0000 (5.5/10): 36mm (MOP / Diamond Dial / Bezel / Two Tone) - £6050
WBN2017.BA0640 (5.7/10): 41mm (Qatar Limited Edition) - £N/A
WBN2016.BA0640 (4.1/10): 41mm (Kuwait Limited Edition) - $3,350.00
WBN201B.BA0640 (5.6/10): 41mm (GMT Limited Edition) - CHF3990
PLASMA DIAMOND (6.6/10): 36mm, Diamond Dial, White Gold Case - £POA
CBS5011.FC6566 (5.0/10): 42mm, Tourbillon Chronograph (Green Dial) - £20950
CBN2A1P.BA0643 (6.6/10): 44mm (ThreeC Limited Edition) - £N/A
CBS5016.FC6566 (5.9/10): 42mm, Tourbillon (Watches of Switzerland L/E) - £22050
CBS5014.FC6573 (6.0/10): 42mm, Tourbillon (Ice Blue Limited Edition) - A$36,550.00
CBS5013.EB0375 (6.3/10): 42mm, Tourbillon (Swiss Alps Limited Edition) - €25200
CBU2050.FT6273 (5.4/10): 44mm, Chronograph (Skeleton Dial / Two Tone) - £10750
CBU2080.FT6272 (5.2/10): 44mm, Chronograph (Skeleton Dial / Black DLC) - £7350
CBU2081.FT6274 (4.7/10): 44mm, Chronograph (Skeleton Dial / Titanium) - £7150
CBU2082.FT6275 (4.1/10): 44mm, Chronograph (Skeleton Dial / Titanium) - £7150
CBU5050.FT6273 (5.2/10): 44mm, Tourbillon (Skeleton Dial / Gold Case) - £28600
CBU5080.FT6272 (5.1/10): 44mm, Tourbillon (Skeleton Dial / Titanium) - £22800
CBS2014.FT6293 (*.*/10): 42mm, Seafarer Black Dial (Hodinkee Limited Edition) - £6950
CBS5012.FC6571 (6.3/10): 42mm, Porsche Tourbillon (Limited Edition) - £31300
CBU2010.FT6267 (6.1/10): 44mm, Porsche 963 Chronograph (Skeleton Dial) - £8050
WBN2315.FC8331 (5.7/10): 36mm (MOP Dial / Gold & Pink Accents) - £4250
WBN2316.BA0001 (*.*/10): 36mm Three Hander (Blue Dial) - £2850
WBN2452.BD0569 (4.6/10): 27mm (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia L/E) - €5450
WBN2018.EB0366 (4.4/10): 41mm (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Limited Edition) - €3750
WBN2317.BA0001 (5.8/10): 36mm (Green Dial / Diamond Hours) - £3800
WBN2318.BA0001 (*.*/10): 36mm (Pink Dial / Diamond Hours) - £3800
CAR5A8AK.FC6570 (4.3/10): 45mm Tourbillon (Australian Limited Edition) - A$35200
CBN201K.FC6569 (5.6/10): 42mm, Chronograph (European Limited Edition) - €6200
CAR5A8AL.------ (3.1/10): 45mm, Tourbillon (Las Vegas Limited Edition) - £N/A
CBN2A12.BA0643 (4.1/10): 44mm, Chronograph (Diamond Limited Edition) - A$18000
CBS2240.------ (*.*/10): 39mm, Chronograph (Solid Gold Case and Bracelet) - £N/A
CBN201M.EA0016 (5.4/10): 42mm, Chronograph (Japan 24 Limited Edition) - JP¥990,000
Right, well that's me done. I've been writing this post for the last twelve hours on and off and I'm rather sleepy now. Think I'll have an early night and don't forget, when we come back on the 27th we will be crowning this year's C.O.C.O. Watch of the Year. It's gonna be a nailbiter!
Thanks for time and effort into keeping us all up to date.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading!
DeleteRob
Merry Christmas!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd to you... sir?
DeleteRob
Pfff. I'll have you know that I identify as a kitchen table!
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