FEATURE: A Look Back at 2025 with Jim Dollare$

Editor's note, this was written over the course of a couple of weeks and things were released in the meantime so there may be some contradiction in comments! Also, fair warning, this article is typically rambling and may contain silliness, irreverence and general nonsense. You have been warned!

Rob: Hi Jim and welcome back to the TAG Heuer Enthusiast Blog, we've missed your unique insights into the crazy world of watches (and really you still owe us a couple of 'Buying Experience' posts, but I guess we'll let you off those now 😁).

Jim: Hey Rob, thanks for reaching out, I am excited to reflect on the year of 2025. For me this has been a big year in my personal life and I kind of feel bad for not keeping up with watch releases as I would have wanted during the year. Well, I have seen the new releases, but half are already forgotten! Perhaps it just means that half were forgettable?

Rob: Could be that, yes...

Jim: How about kicking off with some highlights? Tell me one watch that stood out to you and why, and perhaps I will tell you why you are wrong. I know without doubt what my 2025 favourites and highlights are.

 

Rob: Okay, well the most obvious 'stand out' recently has to be the Mexican Carrera tourbillon. Clearly it's not for everyone, but it's so nice to see something really 'out there' because this year there's been an awful lot of meh watches from TAG Heuer, and it feels like half the 'new' watches have actually been watches from the last few years, but now on bracelets.

Jim: Sometimes I wonder and think to myself, has a decade of watch obsession ruined me? Am I unable to appreciate and feel joy related to new releases? Is it me getting closer to 40 and therefore consider so many of the watches to be absolute shitters? Then I see things like the Mexican Carrera and remember that no, I am not the issue here. The main problem is that TAG Heuer is lacking the balls to be brave. The irony that they keep using "avant-garde" in their marketing. Anyway, I could not agree more that this watch is an absolute homerun! Cool, fun and an absolute joy to behold.

Rob: I think there probably is an element of ennui, which is inevitable I suppose and probably why people feel compelled to 'move up' through the brands even if they can't really afford to do so. And I'm sure there's an element of that in LVMH's thinking too, like 'we'll give you a little bit of that now and again, but if you really want this kind of crazy then you need to be thinking about moving up to a Hublot'.

Jim: Thinking about moving up to Hublot has been on my mind for years! You are probably right about that. But does this mean Mexico Carrera is your number one for 2025? For me it isn't, I am even more excited about something shaped like an ugly big square. In the cheapest nastiest grade 2 titanium, finished in the cheapest way - sand blasted. As white as the day is bright. With connections and outdated links to an old actor who was famous 50 years ago. Yes, I speak of course about the Gulf Monaco. What an over priced piece of junk, yet I cant help falling completely in love with it!

 

Rob: I mean look, the Mexico is great, but if I had the money would I buy it? Absolutely not. Leaving aside that I'm not into wrestling (Mexican or otherwise) it's the sort of watch you probably buy to wear once a month or something. So actually (as of the time of writing) I'm a little undecided about where to cast my vote because there isn't really one watch that demands my support. I will admit that the white dial Gulf Monaco is pretty cool, and it might ultimately get the nod, but I haven't actually seen one in person so... I dunno.

Jim: How excited have you been about the killer carbon releases with both a new Carrera and Monaco? Between the Gulf Monaco, carbon Monaco and my blue C11 Monaco, one would be able to build a pretty sweet three piece watch collection.

Rob: You know, when I saw the render for the carbon Monaco I wasn't too fussed with it, but then I saw it in a live video and it looked really cool. It's definitely much preferable to the carbon Carrera tourbillon which despite being carbon is another one of TAG's rather meh 2025 releases. You know I keep meaning to do a post about all the Carrera tourbillons, cos there must be about thirty of them by now...

Since you mentioned your (recently purchased) Calibre 11 Monaco, how did that come about and how are you enjoying owning that particularly iconic timepiece?

Jim: Oh man, it still feels unreal that I have a calibre 11 Monaco in blue. I remember back in 2017 or 2018 when my watch addiction started, I ordered this beautiful canvas showing a photo of this watch and ever since it has been on my wall next to my bed. It is basically the first thing I see every morning when I get out of bed. I remember romanticising over how my kid and grandkids would link that canvas to me and how I would always keep this beauty in my bedroom. 

During the years I tried on the real thing and always adored how the majestic crystal stood nice and tall above the case and how unique and baller the fat square package looks. However, I never bought one because the price always seemed too high. Fast forward to 2025 and I had been noticing for a while that the LVMH executives are clearly on something that is affecting their sense of reality! Constant price increases year after year mean that since I bought the canvas, the Monaco has DOUBLED in price. 

*The CAW211P was £5050 in July 2020, today it is £7500 (with another price hike on the horizon)

I panicked before summer and realised that it is now or never. Soon the Monaco will forever be out of reach. I managed to buy brand new at 30% off, which is still way more than I feel the watch is actually worth. Buying this watch is like asking TAG Heuer to whip me in the face with a dildo and not only thank them for it but also pay insane money for it. I despise everything that the Swiss "affordable luxury" industry stands for, but I still love my Monaco. I get hard just from touching it. The only confusing thing now is that I feel a bit lost on my watch journey. I made it to my final goal. The long-term goal. Where do I go from here?

Rob: I kinda know what you mean, since I have bought two watches in the last eighteen months that have kind of killed any need to add any more pieces to my (already too large) collection. It's a weird feeling ain't it? Until now there's always been 'something else' out there to chase, but even though I still look and I sometimes get a bit jittery I eventually calm down and tell myself 'you don't need it or even really want it, you just want the buzz of buying again'.

Especially right now when the watch industry is struggling to sell watches, I mean I saw a mint (PVD coated) Grand Carrera a few days ago for under £2000, that's a crazy good deal and so I felt like I should jump on it. But I resisted and now I'm relieved that I did because it was the right decision (plus I put my watch fund into my ISA not realising that I can't actually get the money back for two years without paying a HUGE penalty, so that sucks).

Where do we go from here? Well, I guess we just enjoy the watches we have and wait for our interest to fade to the point where we decide to sell up and find something else to occupy our time. Or do we just start again? Sell up and buy one or two baller pieces from Hublot or AP or something?

Jim: I don't think I will ever be 'done' with watches and move on to something completely different. In all honesty, me being a handsome, humble and rather perfect human, young and fresh at only 36 years old, for sure I expect that in ten to 15 years, I will have a smaller collection of a few more high end pieces. I am thinking something solid gold, definitely something Hublot and probably something with diamonds. I can sense that it is inevitable. Thats where the whorological gods will eventually bestow upon me to go. Before I go there though, my plans revolve around other things like buying a bigger house, perhaps get a summer house, I am also horny for an apartment abroad to extend the insanely short Swedish summers.

There will obviously always be TAG Heuer in my watch box, TAG Heuer is after all the Alfa Romeo of watches. Expensive shitters that look good, and that kind of romance will always have a place in my life. Do you expect to remain a TAG Heuer only collector for the rest of your life?

Rob: Well, honestly, as much as the current range of TH watches don't ring my bell, it's not like I am tempted by Tudor, Brietling, Omega or anyone else really. There are a few off-brand watches that I have the occasional flirt with, but never anything remotely serious. I can see why people would think collecting one brand to the exclusion of all others is restricting, but I could easily think of a hundred TAG Heuers I would like to own before a Breitling Avenger or an AP Royal Oak Offshore. The only watch I keep coming back to again and again is a Chopard Alpine Eagle, but it's a lot of money and probably more than I will ever want to spend.

So yes I expect to remain faithful to the TH brand, but I could see my collection being whittled down to the key pieces and perhaps a few more 'quality' pre-owned pieces being added. But they will almost certainly be pre-owned, because the gap between new prices and pre-owned is now so huge that I cannot even contemplate buying an £8,000 watch that's really worth £5,000.

Okay, let's get back on track, this year we saw a brand new creation from the avant garde maison of TAG Heuer, that being the Carrera Astronomer. So, is it a hit or a miss?

Jim: Can I go with 'maybe'? I am sort of a fan and I appreciate to see something that goes a little bit outside the box in terms of presentation. Can't help but think the moonphase design looks like a spider or something but overall I am giving it a thumbs up. Would I ever buy one? No, but it makes sense why someone else would enjoy this one.

Are you planning to find a used one for £1500 in two years?

Rob: Well, you know what... I might just do that. As it stands I can't find one to look at despite the fact that it came out months ago and despite that I've visited at least two different TAG Heuer boutiques and various ADs in the meantime. I mean, where is it? I'm not even talking about the limited edition models, I can't even find the basic steel one to try on. This reminds me of when they 'launched' the OG Solargraph and by the time it actually got in the stores everyone had forgotten about it and they had to start the hype all over again. In fact as I recall, the OG carbon Solargraph and the 'follow up' titanium model actually arrived in the stores at the same time, which was just weird.

Anyway, yes the moon display is a bit... kookie, and it does kind of look like a spider, but what I like about it is a) that it's not a glassbox Carrera and b) it has it's own personality and a distinctly different aesthetic to anything we've ever seen from TAG Heuer (despite them pulling their usual desperate marketing nonsense of 'inspired by some fusty old Heuer').

It's certainly a lot nicer looking than that God-awful green and white GMT Carrera. That is hideous. It looks even more like a Seiko Alpinist now... I just can't. And while we're on the subject are you not bored shitless of green dial watches? It needs to stop now. A few years ago green dials were rare and magical and now they are just 'done'. In fact I'm kind of glad my green dial Aquaracer looks black most of the time now.... 🤣

Jim: Haha well maybe, I probably don't notice green watches in general, they usually don't grab my attention. I hear you about the Astronomer though, it showed up like a breath of fresh air. I am genuinely surprised that the watch industry can still surprise me. Which version of the Astronomer is your favourite and why?

Rob: Well obviously the one with the lumed moons is cool but I don't like the cheap looking grey strap. The two tone one is silly, either do all three links in gold or don't bother... so I guess the steel version is actually the best all round. What about you?

Jim: Lumed moon all day for me baby! A nasty looking strap is easily fixed.

Rob: So as we've been conducting this interview TAG Heuer just changed the game with the release of their Las Vegas Monaco. I was unsure what I was going to pick as my Watch of the Year, but now I know... are you as taken with it as I am?

Jim: I know! Great to see another example of TAG daring to be fun. I am probably not as smitten by it like you are but it is definitely one of the best in terms of 2025 releases. I am actually wearing my Monaco today and can't help but think how cool it would be to have a black coated Monaco too. However, I might prefer the one with pink only accents.

Rob: Yes I am very impressed with this one, but at the same time I am a little scared that in person it won't look as good (like the pink highlight one in my opinion), but then I keep seeing live photos and it looks great so fingers crossed. I mean the price is... preposterous, like all these coated skeleton Monacos but maybe in ten years when the hype is well and truly dead, maybe then I can buy one for £4000 or something?

Jim: No doubt that long term these skeleton Monacos will not hold their value particularly well. Especially when you consider that the black coating will start to show some wear and tear, suddenly these will have a real tough time in the preowned market. For you my friend I know mint condition is the only option so I am not sure that will be possible in a decade LOL

Rob: True... I need someone like me to buy it and keep it mint and then sell it, taking a huge loss. Hahaha.

And what about that other Las Vegas LE Carrera? Most everyone seems to hate it, but I don't see the logic. Is it not the absolute embodiment of Las Vegas? The biggest, loudest, tackiest place on Earth? Surely a place like that deserves a watch like this, it would make no sense to produce a tasteful 36mm enamel dial Carrera with a tiny 'Las Vegas' logo on the backplate.

Jim: Could not agree more. This is the most Las Vegas watch I have ever seen, in a good and absolutely lovely and brutally tasteless way! Man, I still hope to be able to visit Las Vegas some day, it has always been a dream of mine. I have never traveled to a scary place like America though, with extreme levels of poverty, crime and homelessness, who knows if I will dare to take the risk. Should I win the big bucks, you can count on me celebrating with a gaudy baller watch like this Carrera.

Rob: It is spectacularly in your face, and yes it's probably giving the black diamond bezelled, roulette wheel rehauted H02 tourbillon from 2018 a run for it's money in the most Las Vegas watch ever stakes. I bet Jacob and Co have made something even better though, didn't they make a watch with a working roulette wheel on the dial or something?

Jim: Oh yes they sure did! But if I had Jacob and Co money you know where my money would go, right?

Rob: Of course, haha. Wow, that is quite something eh! 

So, the big story this year was undoubtedly the rebirth of the classic Formula 1 (using patented Gretagraph technology), this really seemed to ignite a lot of interest in the brand and built on the hype following the launch of the 35mm Kith models last year. So far, so good... but as ever there was a lot of nonsense spoken online about how they should be priced at £400, so that everyone could collect all nine of them. As if that was gonna happen...

Personally I 'thought' I was going to like them, but when I got them on the wrist I was a bit like 'nah'. I thought the increase in size was a great idea, but somehow it went awry and those applied circular lume pots... I hate them. My favourite now is actually the blue and white one, and I think the reason for that is that it looks the least like a bad redo of an old model. The worst is undoubtedly the white dial one with the 'grooved' strap. I get that they wanted to make a statement that they could develop the design and it didn't have to remain eternally faithful to the original, but that strap sucks giant donkey balls.

The other thing that surprises me a little, is that they all still seem to be available despite two thirds of them being limited editions. Perhaps £1600 was too much for a watch people will perhaps always perceive as a posh Moonswatch?

Jim: My impression in general was that the "watch world" embraced the new F1 with positivity and many seem to like them. However, don't you think the price is a bit too high for children; kids naturally being the target audience of quartz powered plastic watches, right? I get that old people, who were young back in the day when the original F1 was popular, now enjoy these new ones since it allows them to relive some happy memories from when they were young, but for someone young like me I have zero connection or emotional response to the colourful plastic F1's.

I am honestly not at all surprised that they are still available, a recurring theme in the last year or two is that TAG Heuer seems to struggle with selling their watches, with many limited editions being available a long long long time after release. Does this mean that the price is too high? I bet TAG Heuer's solution will be to increase the price 😉

Rob: That's a very good point, I'm 56 and while I do remember the old F1s (or think I do), I certainly wasn't a customer at the time. So yes, I think a lot of the appeal was for those old enough to have owned them the first time around. But I wonder how many have tried them on and come away disappointed? Undoubtedly the watches are better quality than the older models (as they should be for 20x the price, even allowing for inflation) but there's just something lacking in my opinion and some of the colours are just weird. 

The green bezel ones, who chose that green? It's horrible. They were selling it as the 'Silverstone' but it's completely the wrong colour, it should have been much darker (British Racing Green in fact) as they were the first time around. And then when you look at the watches the colours are kinda sketchy, the strap and case don't quite match on the red one, and when you're paying this much money that matters. 

I can't help thinking they should have made them proper quartz watches too, because obviously using the Solar movement increased the price quite a bit.

It is noticeable that a lot of the photos you see online are where people are posting pictures of their new 'F1' next to their 'classic F1'.

And I still don't understand the logic of launching all the watches in April and then spreading them out through the year... unless they thought people would buy multiple watches but would prefer to spread the cost out a bit?

Jim: Makes sense if you think of these as the 'poor man's TAG Heuer'. Folk with lower income might want to collect multiple colours but would not be able to afford getting more than one at a time, spreading them out means squeezing more money out of the pockets of the lower middle class.

But I ask again, where do we go from here? We already have this many colours in the launch year of 2025, will the next few years simply be a continuous flood of odd colour combinations? Or will this be it, once the original colours have been re-issued?

Rob: I think they will keep coming up with new variations, we've already seen the blue and white (which is a new one, kind of...) and we've just seen the black/pink (which is not, really). I also think they will want to try new dials and straps in a bid to make it less 'retro' and more current. Not sure how successful that will be, but there are only so many 'original' colourways to re-release so they have to progress somewhere sooner or later. Or not. Maybe. I don't know. I guess it depends how many they sell. Most of the limited editions are fairly low numbers but most are still available so maybe this isn't a 'long term' project?

While we're on the subject of Formula 1, a few weeks ago TAG Heuer launched one of their better 2025 watches, the Calibre 16 Senna chronograph. I got to try this on at the Milton Keynes boutique a couple of weeks ago and it looks great in person. As someone who likes bright colours that yellow rubber strap and carbon bezel must have tickled your fancy I'm guessing?

Jim: Despite the extremely odd use of branding and name of an old race car driver who died decades ago, I am a huge fan of this watch! It almost gives me the same vibe and satisfaction as a proper good Breitling used to do 10 to 15 years ago.

 

Rob: Okay we briefly touched on this earlier (but I totally forgot), so six or seven years ago TAG Heuer launched the carbon hairspring in the Carrera Nanograph and the Autavia Isograph. As I'm sure you remember the Autavias were recalled due to unacceptable failure rates (I believe the technology was incompatible with the Calibre 5 movement) but they've continued working on it and this year saw the return of the tech in two new carbon cased watches. Is a carbon hairspring something that gets you excited and did the carbon cased Monaco in particular tickle your fancy?

Jim: Brochacho, I can not stress enough how little I care about a carbon hairspring. Or movement technology at all for that matter. I am by no means a nerd, I am a flawless gentleman who appreciates sparkling and good looking things. Don't judge a book by its cover, no, but a watch will solely be judged and appreciated based on looks. I don't get sexually excited about a carbon hairspring. I will always get in the mood if I see a sexy lil' watch tho. I am only in this game to please my desire to stare at good looking watches.

Rob: Yeah, it's cool but... I'm just as happy with a quartz on my wrist to be honest.

Jim: With that said, the carbon Monaco is proper badass and looks amazing! Did it get you excited?

Rob: It didn't, until I saw a video and then it was like 'WOW!' Pity it costs like six months wages... but there's only fifty of them and I doubt I would be at the front of the queue. But then again, when did that come out? The end of September, it already feels like old news because TAG have been spitting out watches like grape pips over the last few weeks. No joke, there's been like eighteen watches released since those two carbon pieces came out. I mean far be it for me to criticise, but it definitely feels a bit manic lately.

Okay, I think we've covered everything we needed to cover, so before we finish up I wanted to discuss the state we both find ourselves in as regards being 'collectors'. As we discussed earlier you finally got your SMQ Monaco, the watch you always wanted and promised yourself you would own one day. I recently bought a watch I've wanted for the last five years (the blue Dato160 Carrera) and prior to that the other watch I've always wanted (the Grand Carrera Caliper), so it kind of feels like we've both come to this point now where we are no longer actively 'collecting'... but rather we've 'collected' and now we are just owners. Is that how you see it? Do you still get that tingle in your balls when a new watch comes out? Even though I love that new Las Vegas Monaco I know I'm never going to buy one. Have we reached this point of 'maturity' where we've realised that we don't need to 'own' everything that we like, that it's okay to admire something without feeling the need to cripple yourself financially to have it in your watch box?

Jim: These are good questions you ask and may I say also a bit concerning or even scary. A part of me miss how I could go for months hyping up for the annual Basel world fair, spending hours going through releases and doing everything I could not to miss any news. That sensational feeling comes more seldom, whereas I used to be excited as long as there were new watches presented. I suppose nowadays my taste has shaped into my own and I know what I like and dislike. Add to that that most releases I get excited about cost ridiculous prices. I mean, these new plastic colourful F1's for sentimental old men and kids, I am positive I would have loved them ten years ago and probably got myself one.

I guess I try to look at it as me being in a new phase of watch enthusiasm, where it takes more to impress me and I can be comfortable knowing that perhaps I might only buy one watch in the next 2 to 3 years. I am not in this hobby to get temporary adrenaline rush satisfying a shopping addiction where I feel I MUST BUY SOMETHING. Rather, what I eventually buy will be thoroughly researched, something I have dreamt about for a long time and know I will admire for years to come when on my wrist.

Rob: Yeah, in a way it's kind of sad that we've both progressed past that point of being easily excited. I guess it's a bit like when you're a teenager and the sight of a girl in a tight T-shirt is enough to get your attention. When you get a bit older you still look, but it's not making you reach for your wallet... and when you get to my age you know there's no point reaching for your wallet because you know there's nothing in it, hahahahaha.

But seriously, I do miss the fun I had trawling eBay and buying watches every two to three weeks... but I feel like now that's all gone anyway. Everything over £500 and under £1500 is a red flag, especially Aquaracers and Formula 1s and because of the bloody reissues everyone thinks their shitty old Formula 1 that looks like it's been dragged down the street is worth a grand.

It's funny, I was watching the A Blog to Watch podcast earlier and they were having a big moan about the sheer number of watches the brands are releasing these days. I have to say I agree. We've had 82 watches for consideration this year (actually ended up being 87!), which is about one every five days on average, and of those, 30 plus were numbered limited editions. Which seems a hell of a lot, doesn't it?

Jim: That is proper crazy and shows the desperation of the Swiss watch industry. I wonder how many, or few, timepieces TAG Heuer is able to sell in a year these days. More than a third of the releases being limited editions also further proves why the whole concept of limited editions no longer means shit. Why rush to get a limited release when you know there is another one coming the next week, and the week after that and the week after that.

I think I will end by asking you if you remember that Seafarer watch they released last year in collaboration with Hodinkee? Was it limited to 968 pieces? Still available to buy on the TAG website 16 months after release...

 

Rob: That is kinda crazy, I gotta admit. LOL. I really thought that one would sell out quickly, especially with the connection to Hodinkee.

Well, once again, this has been wonderful fun Jimbo and I hope you will come back to the blog soon. I wish you a splendid 2026 and I look forward to our daily chats (with Ben and Charlie also of course), and I look forward to seeing what TAG Heuer has in store for us next year. 

Jim: Thank you, and no matter what anyone tells you, you should always remember to wear socks! 

Rob: Don't worry, I always do.