Showing posts with label Automatic (unspecified Calibre). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Automatic (unspecified Calibre). Show all posts

Saturday, 3 May 2025

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Kirium Chronometer Chronograph



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%. 

Saturday, 2 July 2022

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Link Automatic 'Tiger Woods' Limited Edition Watch

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It's fair to say that the 'Link' series of watches doesn't get a lot of love these days, but back in the 00s the 'Link' was a pretty popular watch. Today the line has dwindled to a handful of pieces and seems destined for extinction or possibly retention only as a 'female' focussed range. Which is a shame really, but the seeds of change were perhaps sowed by Jean Claude Biver when he famously said in an interview that the 'Link' bracelet should just be a bracelet that could be used on other watches. Since then we've seen the famous bracelet used on several Formula 1 'Senna' models, but as for the Link range itself, except for a few ladies pieces there has been nothing new for years.

Thursday, 12 May 2022

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Fumé Dial' Automatic Ladies Watch

 
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Goldsmiths / Victoria Centre, Nottingham 23rd April 2022

After our visit to the TAG Heuer boutique on Clumber Street, my wife Rose and I made our way up the hill and into the 'Victoria' shopping centre. The first impression was not the best since the area near the door smelled inexplicably of fresh fish... I have no idea why since there was no obvious source, but it can't be very pleasant visiting Chisolm Hunter with the stench of halibut assailing your nostrils!

Once further inside the centre thankfully the aroma receded and we passed plenty of jewellers, albeit mostly stocking cheaper brands like Tissot, Gucci, etc. until we eventually came to Goldsmiths which had some more luxury-friendly brands in the window. Rose's eyes immediately fell on the 'smoke' fumé dial 30mm Aquaracer with diamond hour markers and before I knew it we were heading inside for a try on!

Monday, 14 February 2022

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 200 Professional Ladies Watches

 
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While the new 40mm Aquaracers were stealing all the headlines in the watch press, TAG Heuer quietly slipped out a bevy of 30mm Aquaracers on the side... admittedly there was nothing particularly newsworthy about these, since they pretty much followed the standard template: diamonds, mother of pearl dials, mother of pearl dials with diamonds, mother or pearl dials with diamond hours and a diamond bezel, etc. But one model caught my eye, that being the opaline blue dial, which stood out for it's elegant simplicity.

Wednesday, 19 January 2022

ON THE WRIST: Seiko Prospex Padi Automatic Watch

 
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An unusual 'On the Wrist' post today, because this was not the result of a shopping trip or a soiree around London... no, this watch actually belongs to my friend and work colleague Rich. Some of you may remember that in the dim and distant past Rich and I went to London for the day, looking at all the watches we could never hope to afford (and maybe a few we could). Rich is building up quite a collection of watches now, he has a TAG Heuer 2000 Series, a Tudor Pelagos LHD, a Pagani 'Aquaracer', a blue dial Seiko Automatic, a Casio digital watch and this Seiko Turtle.

Now I find Seiko massively confusing so apologies in advance if I make any glaring errors in this post, unfortunately my knowledge of Seiko is in no way comparable to my knowledge of TAG Heuer, but Rich assures me that this is a 'turtle, though exactly what that is supposed to mean I'm not 100% sure. I think it's mainly to do with the shape of the case. Which is... an 'acquired' taste, perhaps?

Friday, 17 December 2021

ON THE WRIST: Oris TT1 Automatic Watch

 
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Peter Stephan / Leamington Spa, 16th October 2021

A slightly random, opportunistic try-on this one. My wife wanted to look at the necklaces in 'Peter Stephan's' window and I happened to notice that along with several 'fashion watch' and lower echelon watch brands (Certina, etc) they also stocked some (slightly out of date) Oris pieces. This TT1 caught my eye, so while she tried on some jewellery I had a look at this quirky looking thing.

First thing to note is that officially this seems to be regarded as 43mm (at least on all the websites I've found - this model no longer features on Oris' website) but I think that is incorrect. I was wearing my Calibre 16 Carrera and this was 1-2mm smaller on the diameter. I've tried to see if they made this watch in more than one size, but I can't find that they did - so I am going to say this is more like 41.5mm than 43mm.

Monday, 6 December 2021

ON THE WRIST: Dior Grand Bal Automatic Ladies Watch

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Harrods / London, 15th September 2021

Ever since I showed my wife a photograph of a 'Dior Grand Bal' in a copy of the now sadly defunct 'QP' magazine a few years ago it's been right at the top of her 'dream watch' list. Unfortunately, despite much searching we'd never actually found anywhere in the UK that stocked them, until today... when we unexpectedly came across them in the 'Fine Jewellery and Watches' room in Harrods!

The Grand Bal comes in many different designs, all of which are very limited (for example this one is a run of just 88 pieces, though strangely this isn't mentioned on the website) and most of them are extremely beautiful. There are Grand Bals that come on ceramic bracelets or more traditional leather straps, but the defining feature of the Grand Bal is that it wears it's rotor on the front of the dial. Many examples are decorated with feathers, but there are also some other variations such as bows, intricate lattice-work and other fancy embellishments...
  

Thursday, 11 November 2021

ON THE WRIST: Chopard Alpine Eagle Automatic Watch & L 'Heure du Diamant Ladies Automatic Watch

 
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Harrods / London, 15th September 2021

This was my wife and I's first visit to Harrods in over two years and for the first time ever we decided to stop and look around the 'Fine Jewellery and Watches' room instead of simply walking through it on the way to the more 'regular' watch boutiques. I'm really glad we did too because we found all sorts of goodies there including a Dior boutique selling the ladies Grand Bal, all manner of bejewelled Hublots and Roger DuBois (many of which were clearly pushing the boundaries of taste) and the Chopard boutique which was well worth a visit.

I've never been a big fan of the brand if I'm completely honest, because the Mille Miglias left me pretty cold and nothing else spoke to me much either. However, that all changed today when I came face to face with the Alpine Eagle for the first time (and our Swedish friend Jim Dollares was first in line to tell me 'I told you so)'. He did actually, although I had completely forgotten about it since I saw the release photos a while back... so it came as a welcome surprise and the perfect start to a great day out in London.

Monday, 8 November 2021

BUYING EXPERIENCE: Tudor Black Bay 58 Automatic Watch (featuring Jim Dollares)


Hi everyone, Jim Dollares here! You might wonder why the TAG Heuer Enthusiast blog posts a Tudor 'Buying Experience' today? Well, this one is as much about the Aquaracer, as it is about the Tudor Black Bay 58... 

Buying Experience: The Time I Almost Bought the Aquaracer!

Background

Going back four or five years when my obsession with watches started, the TAG Heuer Aquaracer was one of the watches I admired the most. I remember one of my first watch loves to be the WAY211B with its superb combination of blue and black, paired with a super comfortable and stylish strap. Since then the Aquaracer has always stuck in the back of my head and I knew that one day I would get one. 

Fast forward to 2021 and I decided I was ready to pull the trigger on another watch and this time I was going to get myself a nice proper dive watch. I enjoyed summer but was missing a good piece to just wear and not worry about and I was now pretty sure that the sexy looking blue dial 41mm aluminum bezel Aquaracer (WBD2112) should be the one. I was also feeling a bit stressed since TAG Heuer had recently launched a new version of the Aquaracer and time was running out to get the one I truly wanted: the previous generation has always been the absolute best Aquaracer in my opinion and the thought of buying a pre-owned version with all the super fakes around now gives me nightmares!