Oh man but I'm so tired of silly people on YouTube telling us that the new TAG Heuer Formula 1s should only have cost £600... honestly, anyone that ever believed they were going to charge £600 for a 'vintage' inspired re-issue of a beloved watch with upgraded materials and a solar powered movement need to give themselves a good talking to. Have these people ever bought a watch strap from TAG Heuer? Do they know how much they charge for two small pieces of rubber? Come on, be serious. This is not a Swatch and the Moonswatch was not an Omega, just get a grip. It's fine to want them to be cheap, of course... but actually being disappointed when they aren't is just silly.
How could they possibly sell a Solargraph F1 for £600 when the Solar Aquaracers are nigh on £3000? Sure they are overpriced, but show me a Swiss watch from any of the big players that isn't. It seems the problem here is that there is an expectation that TAG Heuer were relaunching an 'affordable, entry level model to the mass market' when it's actually nothing of the sort. Most of the watches are limited to between 1000 and 3000 pieces, hardly 'mass market' and primarily they are aimed at middle aged people like me who remember them from the first time around (just about) and perhaps younger people drawn in by the Kith release last year.
But look, there's nothing wrong with wanting to buy a decent TAG Heuer for around £600 and it can be done. In fact it's surprising what you can find if you're willing to wait and keep your eyes peeled.... and you can do it without exposing yourself to the cess pit that is Ebay. No you're not going to get a Monaco or a Carrera at this price point, but there are watches available that in their day were pretty high end, for example this minty looking Kirium chronometer chronograph which is currently on the H&T website with a discount of 20%.
Unlike the three handed WL511A I bought from eBay back in March, this one measures a solid 38mm and shares the BA0700 bracelet with my CL111A 'F1 Kirium'. Incidentally, if you're slightly confused by the nomenclature of the 'F1 Kirium' I'm sure you're not alone. But that model was launched when the Formula 1 was in a period of inactivity (2001), and so TAG Heuer decided to use the 'F1' name to differentiate its high end quartz chronographs, and so we had the 'F1 Kirium' and also the (less well known and not as widely used) 'F1 Microtimer'.
Oddly the chronometer version of the Kirium chronograph didn't appear in any of the catalogues so it's hard to pinpoint when it was actually released, but the Kirium itself was launched in 1997 and retired in 2007 so there's a ten year window. The three hand chronometers appeared in the 1997 catalogue and the non-chronometer automatic chronograph first appeared in 1999, so I'm guessing it was probably released around 2001/2 but I really don't have any evidence to support that. In fact, I've just realised that this bracelet version is missing from my History of the Kirium post, so that needs to be corrected!
These Kiriums are unusual in that their bracelet is designed to stay solid like a bangle when you take it off and it actually supports itself and can be stood up. Despite what you might think they are also extremely comfortable on the wrist, with the bracelet being made of individually curved links. In fact when I visited the TAG Heuer factory back in 2018 they told me that one of the reasons the Kirium was discontinued was the high cost of manufacturing these curved links.
The clasp doesn't feature the classic micro adjustment you'd find on a 2000 or similar, but there is a funny little adjuster hidden in the folding part of the clasp. Personally I've never used it and the adjustment it appears to offer is probably not worth the effort of getting the pin out... and to be honest I've never really struggled to get a good fit with any of my Kiriums, in fact it was only when I lost a huge amount of weight that I needed to remove a link from each of them.
It's slightly odd, considering the trend for integrated bracelets in recent years, that the Kirium hasn't yet had its moment in the sun again. Is it really so different looking to an Ingenieur? Better looking to my eyes, especially the bezel which is actually also very functional as it requires being pushed down before you can move it; you wouldn't believe how long it took me to realise that the bezel on my F1 Kirium moved!
This watch is currently on sale at £676 (reduced from £845) which is a pretty decent price considering the condition and spec. However one reason I held off adding this to my collection is the cost of servicing a chronometer chronograph. This one comes with a one year warranty, but after that you are looking at least £500+ to service one of these at TAG Heuer. Of course you could get it serviced elsewhere and that may be cheaper, but it's still something to consider.
Personally, if I didn't already own the F1 Kirium and the plum dial quartz chronograph I might have bought this myself, but I gotta be strong and save my pennies for when that elusive CBN2A1E Carrera turns up at a bargain price...
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