FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Monaco & Carrera Extreme Sports 'Las Vegas' Limited Edition Chronographs

 

Believe it or not we're pretty much set for 'First Impressions' posts all the way up to Christmas now. As you can see from the TAG Heuer Enthusiast Gallery we still have a ton of new watches to look at and I keep hearing there's still more to come. Quite why they've decided to release like TWENTY watches in November and December is beyond me! Anyway, we'll do what we can, and if I have to post more frequently to get through them all then that's what I'll do. So long as the Council get their fingers out and send me their scores fast enough of course! 🤣

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Chinese Zodiac' Limited Edition Chronograph

I don't really understand these watches, or rather the release logic of these watches. Why did we have a 'Year of the Rat' Autavia for 2020, a 'Year of the Tiger' Carrera for 2022, a 'Year of the Rabbit' Carrera for 2023 and 'Year of the Dragon' Carreras (one steel and one solid gold) for 2024 but we missed out the Ox (2021, well okay, maybe Covid killed that one) and the Snake (2025)? 

In a way I can understand the Ox, because after all there's nothing sexy about an 'Ox', but then there's nothing particularly sexy about a rat either, and 2027 is the year of the goat (or sheep). I just can't imagine a Carrera with a goat on the back, can you? Oh I do hope they prove me wrong... a Carrera Tourbillon with a goat skull (and maybe a candle) on the back would probably sell well to affluent members of the Metal community at least. 🤣

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Las Vegas' Limited Edition Chronograph by Armbanduhren

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Porsche 1964' Limited Edition Chronosprint

 

Way back at the start of the year TAG Heuer dropped two new Porsche Chronosprint models celebrating some race where Porsche came 2nd (or 5th, depending on how you read it) which I found very difficult to understand honestly. These watches were very popular though and the gold version sold out very quickly (albeit only 11 were made... because '911') so I suppose it's no great surprise to see this slightly different take on the same model coming out now. And it's surely indicative of the level of demand that this new rose gold version is limited to a slightly more accessible sixty four pieces (because 1964, of course.... do keep up).

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Solargraphs by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Senna' Quartz & Calibre 16 Chronographs

TAG Heuer Boutique / Milton Keynes, 10th November 2025

A few years ago I did a post about all the Ayrton Senna watches that TAG Heuer had produced, which included a poll of the C.O.C.O. and pronounced the Ayrton Senna designed (WH1114) 6000 Series the pick of the bunch. Since then we've seen last year's (oddly) predominantly blue tourbillon version... and now these slightly more accessible 'Formula 1' models (for those of us operating on slightly more real-world budgets). As luck would have it I visited the TAG Heuer boutique in Milton Keynes a few days ago and these two both happened to be in the store; as such this post is really not so much of a 'First Impression's' post for me, but since we all love to read what the Council's first impressions are I didn't want to skip to a full 'On the Wrist' post either.   

I must admit, despite the fact that I personally own a 'Senna' branded Formula 1 (the 2nd placed WAZ1014), every time I hear about a new watch coming out I roll my eyes. There's been so many of them (these are the twenty fourth and twenty fifth models in fact), which I suppose is quite incredible really and if nothing else illustrates the enduing power of the Senna brand. 

I know, I know... 'celebrity' endorsements are best treated with a degree of scepticism, but Ayrton did have a genuine connection to TAG Heuer, having driven for the McLaren F1 team (owned by then TAG Heuer shareholder Ron Dennis) and he continued to wear the brand even when he left to drive for Williams in the ill-fated 1994 season. Sure, if he'd lived and continued to drive for Williams it's possible that he could have switched to another watch brand (if say Williams had attracted a watch sponsor), but given that he did work with TAG Heuer to design the first 'Senna' 6000 Series, we can at least attribute a little more authenticity to the collaboration than say the ones with Chris Hemsworth, Bella Hadid or indeed Steve McQueen.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Full Collection Tour by Vintage Vega

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport I F1® 75th Anniversary Limited Edition

TAG Heuer are really doubling down on the Extreme Carreras aren't they? Clearly, someone, somewhere must be buying them... and so after the splendidly exotic 'Lucha Libre' limited edition launched a couple of weeks ago, we now have this 'F1 75 Anniversary' tourbillon. Oddly, my first thought was, doesn't it look like a Connected? And my second thought...? It looks way better than that terrible white ceramic Monaco Ratrapante with 'Lights Out and Away We Go' on the dial.

Surely there's no arguing with that, is there?

And yet, true to form the Council of Considered Opinion are laying into this one as well. It's funny, it seems that they are prepared to accept a certain amount of tomfoolery when it comes to Monacos; they might not really like it, but they'll let it slide a bit, but when it comes to Carreras... that's a different story. Because after all, Jack Heuer's original idea was to make a chronograph that was supremely legible on the wrist even when fishtailing through the Parabolica, and that's as relevant today as it was in 1963. Suuuuuuuuuuuure it is. 🤣

PRICE LIST: TAG Heuer Price List 2014/2015

 

FEATURE: Don't Trust AI to Tell You if a Watch is Genuine or Even If It Exists at All!

Quite regularly now I receive emails from people asking me to advise whether the watch they are thinking of purchasing is genuine or not. Of course I don't mind helping if I can, but honestly most of the time your best option is to join the THF forum and post the pictures there as there are much more fake-savvy people there who can advise you far better than I can. If a watch is obviously fake or it's an older model and I can be pretty sure it's pukka then I will give my opinion, but for anything recent, especially Formula 1 or Aquaracers, I generally can't say with any certainty.

However, when you get a watch like this 'TAG Heuer USA Air Force F-16 A/R Limited Edition' I don't really need to think too hard because this is clearly not a genuine TAG Heuer because this model simply doesn't exist!

But what if you don't know much about watches? Maybe you just think it looks cool? Some parts of it do look pretty cool I guess, if you like Breitlings... 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Max Verstappen Red Bull Champions' Limited Edition Quartz Chronograph

 

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A few weeks ago I got an email from a guy who told me that he was an ex employee of the Red Bull Formula1 Racing Team, he said he wasn't a watch enthusiast but he had received one of the 'Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Champions' watches and in researching what it might be worth he had discovered my blog and found it interesting reading my thoughts on his watch.

He said he had listed the watch on eBay for £3600, but perhaps unsurprisingly it did not sell and it was later relisted with a starting bid of £1025 and a buy it now price of £2800. Being that he wasn't into watches I tried to give him the best advice I could, but with a watch like this it's quite hard to advise on what he should expect because it's so difficult to assess.

First of all, who is likely to buy this watch? To me it's clear that it's probably more for a huge Max Verstappen fan than it is for a 'watch enthusiast'... much like the Alec Monopoly Formula 1s were, but this can work for and against you. A watch enthusiast is more likely to to be willing to pay 'thousands' for a wristwatch than a F1 fan who isn't really interested in wristwatches, but watch enthusiasts tend to be more invested in automatics than quartz pieces and with that rather clunky bezel this watch isn't exactly the best looking Formula 1 ever made either is it?