VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph by Mitch Lui

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Heuer Monaco 'Stopwatch' Calibre 11 Limited Edition

Of course the 'Gulf' Monaco wasn't the only Monaco TAG Heuer launched at the (somewhat anachronistic) Monaco Grand Prix, in fact it was only one of three. There was also a new colour variation on the eye-wateringly expensive 41mm rattrapante that literally no one paid any attention to, and then there was this black DLC coated titanium cased Calibre 11 'Heuer' Monaco that seems to have garnered almost as much attention as the Gulf. Which kinda makes you wonder why they released them both at the same time honestly, given that they are probably aimed at a similar buyer. Oh well, I'm sure TAG Heuer know what they are doing... perhaps the cache of launching it at the Monaco GP outweighs the conflict and perhaps some well heeled harbour-dwellers will take both?

This particular Monaco recalls the designs of emblematic Heuer stopwatches from the 1960s and 1970s (so it says on the website), which is fine if you like that sort of thing. Personally I care less about the inspiration and more about the visual appeal and in this instance I'd say they did rather a nice job. This is certainly one of the more appealing Calibre 11 Monacos we've seen of late and I'm not remotely surprised by the positive reaction issuing forth from the THF Forum.

Those who've seen the watch in person have mentioned that the dial has a surprising depth to it, and I must admit the 'cut out' effect is quite appealing. Different photos give different impressions of the colouring, sometimes the surround looks grey, sometimes it looks silver, but I'm told it is actually an off-white that again recalls vintage stopwatches. Overall it certainly has kerb appeal, but I don't quite think it has quite the impact of the white dialed Gulf Monaco somehow.

Like the Gulf (almost) this one is limited to 970 pieces (again rather pointlessly 'inspired' by 1970...) and like the Gulf I imagine this will be available relatively easily; it certainly seems like the days of limited editions selling out in a week or so are long gone. Remember those purple and green LE Monacos? I remember being offered one of those but I had to put down a deposit without even seeing it! Ha, as if...!

And look at the limited edition TAG Heuer X Hodinkee Seafarer, limited to 968 and yet still available on the TAG Heuer website ten months down the line... and that's with the might of Hodinkee behind it! Clearly the times have changed. Thankfully. The only people to benefit from that was flippers and who really wants to commit to buy a watch costing this much money (£8600, in case you were wondering... that 'grade 2' titanium case is expensive hey) without the chance to see it and think it over? No thanks. 

But anyway, it's nice to see TAG Heuer breaking out a 'new' take on the Monaco Calibre 11 rather than giving us the same watch as last year in a different colour, though it did somewhat bring to mind the fourth of the five 50th Anniversary Monacos at first glance. I think it's safe to assume the Council will look favourably on this one, let's find out.

8/10: "It's a cool watch. Although I miss the seconds-numbers."

8/10: "Not my colourway but it is still good looking."

8/10: "This is a nice release but the Gulf edges it out."

8.5/10: "Nice watch, clean dial. Probably one of the best "modern recreation" watches released in a long time."

7/10: "I'm surprised by how highly everyone rates this watch, but I think there are too many of them available. I think TAG should reduce the number and make it more exclusive."

5/10: "Another Monaco - yay!"

9/10: "I’m glad to see TAG doing what people really want."

10/10: "This one really impressed me a lot more than I thought it would when I saw it in person. For me, it's the best all new Monaco dial design in the last 7 years. Which means I like it more than any of the five Monaco 50th Anniversary editions. It's a worthy candidate for WOTY, even though the new Gulf is the one I'd rather buy if spending this kind of money."

9/10: "I like the new C11 Gulf a little bit more, so half a point less for this one."

8/10: "I prefer the new white Gulf over this one, but this is another well executed Monaco (price remains a negative as with all TAG Heuer releases these days)."

5/10: "Uninspiring and boring."

8/10: "Stunning piece with the subdials adding a welcome 3D depth to the dial. Looses a couple of points due to pricing, I’d own this if it was a couple of K cheaper. As it is, I’m still tempted."

6/10: "Quite nice, but there are nicer Monacos."

7/10: "Not for me personally but I think they did a good job. Still, pushing $10k is just a non-starter."

9.5/10: "I'm still considering buying one."

7.5/10: "As I mark in relation to each other, without factoring price, this gets a 7.5 from me…but…the Monaco’s are so ridiculously positioned now that I would NEVER BUY."

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 Series 'Moon Dust' Restoration by The Nekkid Watchmaker

 

OWNED: TAG Heuer 1500 GMT Quartz Watch

 

As I've mentioned recently, I'm still in the process of trying to reduce my TAG Heuer collection to something approaching a 'sensible' size (20 would be perfect, really) and that obviously means selling more watches. That's fine, but obviously the further I go with that the harder it's going to get to convince myself to let go of watches that I've collected, especially watches that have been with me for some time and which (to me at least) represent the 'best' of a particular model line. 

And that's exactly how I feel about this GMT variant of the 1500 Series, at 40mm it is the perfect size for me and much better than the vast majority of 1500 Series models which are 37mm in diameter. As such, me selling this is basically ruling the 1500 Series out of my future collection because I'm not going to buy an inferior piece or buy another one of these again, so unless I win the lottery and money no longer matters, this is it. 

While there's nothing inherently wrong with this 1500 GMT Quartz, the sad truth is that I only really wear it when I realize I haven't worn it in a while and even then I only ever wear it for a day and then put it back; it's never really tugging at me to keep it on for a second day. Which is perhaps not that surprising when you look at my collection as a whole and what it's up against. When I had five or six other watches it was probably quite exciting, but now... sitting next to Grand Carreras and multiple Aquaracers it's just a bit underwhelming. 

I guess this is what happens when you collect watches as a hobby, you aspire to greater things and eventually things you once cherished become a bit tired and uninspiring and since you can only really wear 1 or 2 watches a day, it gets ignored and eventually you wonder why you are keeping it around when you could be using the money to buy something more stimulating. 

As such, it has been on the chopping block for a while and a week or so ago I finally bit the bullet and put it on eBay; as a result it is now sold and awaiting despatch to it's new home. I must admit I have slightly mixed feelings about that, since this one has been with me for quite a long time and ideally I would love to keep every watch I've ever owned... but I'm trying to get away from that 'collector' mindset and this is another necessary step on the path, so off it goes.

It's funny, I did a chart recently showing the comings and goings of all my watches and it's almost like I started my journey well, buying watches that were 'keepers' and gradually I started amassing 'stuff' to fill out my collection, and for the most part that later 'stuff' is the 'stuff' that has fallen by the wayside. There have been some exceptions, like my blue 6000 Series which was a very early purchase (I ended up keeping my silver dial chrono instead), but on the whole if you look at say the first 15 watches I bought I think I still have more than half of them today.

So yeah, I must admit when I packaged it up to go I was a little bit wistful, wondering if I was doing the right thing... but I still need to get rid of probably another ten watches and when you look at it like that this one was definitely in the bottom three, so it had to go. 

It always amazes me when I sell watches and then go back and look to see what I've posted about them on the blog, and as usual this one has barely warranted a mention since it was bought in February 2019. I guess that says a lot about where it ranks in my affections and probably justifies it's departure, but it's still slightly sad to see it go. 

I know the 1500 Series has its fans, and I don't want to offend anyone, but the watch was designed as an 'entry level' piece with all models being quartz and no chronographs included. This is kind of reflected in the dial, which is quite plain and looks a little like it's made of white card. I know it isn't but it kinda has a 'paper-like' appearance which I actually found quite endearing... but luxurious it definitely is not.

That said, the unique (to the 1500 Series) bracelet is surprisingly nice, featuring as it does a five link design where the central link is the smallest and then the intermediate links are in-between that and the outer links. The bracelet and case are finished in that 'budget conscious' (but actually quite cool) sand-blasted finish that these days TAG Heuer use on £8000+ titanium Monacos... 🤣

Being a GMT, the bezel on this one is bidirectional and it moves very smoothly. As someone who rarely leaves the country of his birth I have very little use for a GMT, and the only reason I bought this one was because it gave me that 40mm case size, but actually the extra red hand is kind of cool too. For a moment there I wondered if there were any 40mm three handers, but I don't think there were. TAG's numbering suggests that all the WD models were 37mm and I assume if they had added a 40mm three hander it would have been given the code WD0*** (rather than WD1***). The post 1992 number for my watch was WS1111, but that just means that in the WS range the 1 signifies 40mm, whereas in the WD range the '1' signifies 37mm. Clear as mud, eh?

Well there we are. I must admit the watch looks great in these pictures and I'm kind of wondering why I sold it! And so it goes... but as it's taken me a couple of days to write this the watch is now in its new home, so that's it for me and the 1500 Series... (probably).

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 300M Professional by Bruce Williams

 

ON THE WRIST: Colourful 36mm Aquaracers & Miami/Spanish Formula 1 Solargraphs

 

TAG Heuer Boutique / Milton Keynes, 31st May 2025

My second visit to the Milton Keynes boutique this year and this time I was lucky enough to find not only a couple of the new 36mm colourful dial automatic Aquaracers but also two limited edition Formula 1 Solargraphs. Sadly there was no sign of the blue dégredé dial on the white rubber strap, and it seems like perhaps it's not actually released yet - though I notice TAG Heuer have added it to their website with the option of a steel bracelet now.

But we (my wife and I) did get to see both the purple and the pale green versions and honestly we thought they looked rather nice. I was expecting the purple dial to look a bit wishy washy in real life, but it's actually quite a strong, vibrant tone and while it's certainly not going to be everyone's cup of tea I thought it was quite effective. My wife really liked it, but unfortunately (like the 'Tiffany' blue model before it) at 36mm it's just too big and chunky for her wrist. And of course a 36mm diver is far too small for me, not that I particularly want a purple dial Aquaracer anyway...  

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Day/Date Watches by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Gulf' Limited Edition Calibre 11 Chronograph

There's always quite a lot of excitement when TAG Heuer announce a new 'Gulf' branded Monaco and even I (someone completely untouched by the romance of Le Mans, Steve McQueen, etc) am not immune to the lure of the striped, square dial. However I did find the most recent regular 'Gulf' model a little disappointing (for me it was perhaps the least interesting of all the 'Gulf' models we've seen to date) so it's nice to see a really good one this time around, even if it is a limited edition.

For the 2025 edition we've gone right back to the start with another white dial Monaco embellished with red and blue stripes (as seen on Steve McQueen's race suit in the film Le Mans). It's funny but every time we get a new Gulf Monaco it always descends into a debate about how they never use the right shade of pale blue (with most agreeing that the 2018 limited edition of 50 pieces was the most accurate from that point of view), but thankfully here we don't have to worry about that, phew!