VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera with Diamond Bezel by Jay Brokers

 

FEATURE: Five Women's Watches I'd Like to See in Men's Sizes...

When TAG took over the Heuer watch company it didn't really inherit much in the way of women's watches... in fact women's watches were basically smaller versions of the watches on offer to men. Or if you want to look at it another way, most of the range was of a 'unisex' design. While that continues today in some areas, most notably the Aquaracer, for the most part men's and women's watches have split into two distinct and easily recognisable product ranges. Which makes total sense if you think about it; for all that gender is a taboo word these days there's probably not many guys pining for a man-sized white ceramic Formula 1 with a diamond bezel, just as there's probably not too many ladies hoping for a 27mm Aquaracer 500M in black PVD with a rubber strap and lime green detailing!

But there are exceptions. My wife wanted a ladies Carrera Heuer 01 skeleton so much that she ended up buying an Oris Atelier Skeleton because TAG Heuer didn't make anything even remotely similar for ladies (I know right, an ORIS! It disgusts me that that thing is even in my house! I'm joking, it's actually very nice... ), similarly I've seen ladies watches that I've thought 'Now, why don't they make that just a little bit bigger?' So here are five TAG Heuer watches that I would like to see made in men's sizes...

WAH1210.BA0859

My wife owns one of these, but hers has the diamond hour markers. That wouldn't bother me, but for the sake of argument let's assume it would be better to go without. Every time I have to change the date on this for her it always strikes me as a lovely looking watch, but it's very small at 32mm. This version (WAH1210) is actually 37mm, which is bigger than my resin Formula 1 and around the same size as some of my 1990s TAG Heuers, but I think it needs to be bigger to determine that it is in fact a man's watch, cos guys are sensitive about stuff like that! They do make a much larger chronograph version, but I really don't like it all that much, I want this, exactly as it is, but 41mm please.

WBK1314.FC8261

This one may be a surprise, but I'm not set on it having to be purple (although why not if you can carry it off?). The reason this one gets the nod is mainly because of the textured dial; why haven't we seen this in the men's range? In black or blue this would look great, all they need to do is straighten up that date window and make it 39-41mm. 

WAY1355.BH0716

Back in the 80s TAG Heuer used to make a men's 3000 Series that wasn't a million miles away from this (see the top of the page). It wasn't ceramic of course, and that would be a massive plus given the state of the PVD on those vintage watches! Unlike the purple Carrera this one doesn't look overtly feminine and merely scaling the whole thing up to 41mm would be perfect. No doubt it wouldn't be cheap, but I'd certainly be interested!

And now my wife has seen this, she wants one... at least she has the choice!

WBG1313.FT6117

This is one from the recent Bicester Village stock list which I showed to my wife; she didn't like it much (probably because it doesn't have any diamonds on it) and said it looks more like a man's watch. I have to say I agree. I think I did try this on and it was almost wearable, but it's still a bit small. Scaled up from 36mm to 40mm+ this would look absolutely fantastic.

WAY1390.BH0716

Finally... it's another ceramic Aquaracer. I did toy with the idea of including the Alter Ego, but I don't think that would fly in 2020 and it's a very old model now. Besides, the Alter Ego was quite a feminine watch, although a Calibre 11 forum member claims to have a 'man-sized' prototype case in his possession (pics please James!).

Back in February I came across a diamond bezel version of this Aquaracer at the Bicester Village store. I couldn't actually get it over my hand to try it on (which is another issue when it comes to possibly wearing smaller watches with deployments), but it looked stunning with a polished bezel base and full ceramic bracelet. Personally I'd be quite happy to go for an upsized version of that, but for the sake of conservatism, let's go with the ceramic bezel in lieu of the sparkles.

Again this one is only 35mm, but at 41mm it would make a perfect pair with the gold bezel version and offer something a little less flamboyant. They could even go for a full ceramic bezel... which rather begs the question why haven't we had a full black ceramic men's Aquaracer yet?


Well, I hope you enjoyed my suggestions, if you have any of your own you could always leave me a comment. My wife suggested we should look at men's watches that she'd like to see in women's sizes, so that may be a post for the future!

SPOTLIGHT ON: New Arrivals at TAG Heuer Bicester Village (Part 1 of 3)

Phone the Store on (01869) 249008

It seems like forever since I had some new pieces to tell you about, but finally here we are - and there's no other way to describe this than COLOSSAL! I've never had this many new items to share, in fact there's so many that I'm going to split it over more than one post.

As always I don't know how many pieces of each individual item there are and there may well only be one, so don't delay if there's something interesting here. Currently the Bicester store is operating an appointments system due to the Covid 19 crisis, so please call the store before travelling.

CAR201T.BA0766

43mm Carrera Heuer 01 Skeleton

List Price: £4450

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £2670

CAR201V.FT6046

43mm Carrera Heuer 01 Skeleton

List Price: £4350

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £2610

CAR2090.FT6088

43mm Carrera Heuer 01 Ceramic Skeleton

List Price: £5050

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £3030

CAR2A5A.FT6044

45mm Carrera Heuer 01 Gold Skeleton

List Price: £8050

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £4830

CAR2A90.FT6071

45mm Carrera Heuer 01 Cermaic Skeleton

List Price: £5150

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £3090

CAS2111.BA0730

41mm Carrera Calibre 16 Automatic

List Price: £3950

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £2765

CAT2012.BA0952

43mm Link Calibre 16 Automatic

List Price: £3295

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £2305

CV2015.BA0786

41.5mm Carrera Calibre 16 Automatic

List Price: £3750

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £2655

WAC1215.FC6219

37mm Formula 1 Quartz with Diamonds

List Price: £2650

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £1725

WAH1219.BA0859

36mm Formula 1 Quartz with Diamonds

List Price: £4450

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £3115

WAT2114.BA0950

40mm Link Calibre 6 Automatic

List Price: £2395

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £1675

WAY1314.BA0915

32mm Aquaracer Quartz with Diamonds

List Price: £3395

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £2375

WAY1413.BA0920

27mm Aquaracer Quartz with Diamonds

List Price: £1695

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £1185

WAZ1116.BA0875

41mm Formula 1 Quartz

List Price: £1200

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £875

WBG1313.FT6117

36mm Carrera Quartz

List Price: £1650

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £1155

Please check back tomorrow and on Saturday morning for the second and third parts of this massive update!

SPOTLIGHT ON: New Arrivals at TAG Heuer Bicester Village

CALL THE STORE: 01869 249008

It's been a little while since the last decent delivery, but thankfully now there might be something to tempt you! Not 100% sure if this stock has actually 'landed' yet, but it's definitely due this week. Give the store a call for more information.. and don't forget you can take advantage of the 'Valentine's Day offer' and claim an extra 15% discount when you buy two TAG Heuer watches before the 23rd of February*.

*Offer excludes Zenith watches and watches which are already 'further' discounted, please check with the store for details

WAY2010.BA0951

TAG Heuer Link Calibre 5

LIST PRICE: £2595

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £1815

WAR2140.FC8159

TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 7

LIST PRICE: £6995

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £4895

WAR101A.BA0728

TAG Heuer Lady Carrera Automatic

LIST PRICE: £2050

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £1435

WAY2110.BA0928

TAG Heuer Calibre 5 Aquaracer

LIST PRICE: £1795

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £1225

WAW1313.FC6247

TAG Heuer Lady Monaco Quartz Watch with Diamonds

LIST PRICE: £4050

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £2835

CAR201W.BA0714

TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Chronograph

LIST PRICE: £4295

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £2577

CAR208Z.FT6046

TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Titanium Chronograph

LIST PRICE: £4550

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £2730

WBD2111.BA0928

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5

LIST PRICE: £1795

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE: £1225

SPOTLIGHT ON: The Winter Sale at Michael Jones (Northampton)

If you like the idea of a post-Christmas bargain, but you've grown weary of yet another email from Beaverbrooks, Ernest Jones or Goldsmiths imploring you to take yet another look at the same twelve 'entry level' Aquaracers and Formula 1s they've been peddling since Boxing Day (or in some cases before Christmas), perhaps it's time to look beyond the big boys on the high street and investigate some of the independents who rather than bulk-buying 'window' watches for exactly these purposes, might actually be trying to shift some more interesting pieces at healthy discounts. Case in point, one of my two local AD's in Northampton, 'Michael Jones'.

Their window on Gold Street has a decent and somewhat surprising bounty of TAG Heuer watches just at the moment, which might be of interest to those of you living in the UK. I did actually take some photos on my iPod but I can't work out how to get them onto my computer, and they aren't really worth wasting too much time on when stock photos will do just as well.

CAZ2017.BA0647

Top of the list, and most surprising of all for me is this Calibre 16 Formula 1 which has only been in store for a couple of months at the most. LIST PRICE: £2650 / OFFER PRICE: £1985

CAZ101V.BA0842

Another relatively recent release (and one I believe I predicted would end up in a sale sooner or later) is this 2019 Indy 500 Formula 1 quartz. LIST PRICE: £1395 / OFFER PRICE: £1050

WAR101B.BA0728

With the news that Cara DeLavingne is on her way out as a TAG Heuer ambassador, I expect to see plenty of these in the sales and outlets over the next little while. Not sure if this list price is correct either, it seems high, but it's been removed from the TAG Heuer website and I can't find it new anywhere else. LIST PRICE: £3895 / OFFER PRICE: £2925

CAR2A91.FT6121

Can't be 100% sure on this as I've only a photograph to go from, but it certainly looks like a CAR2A91 to me. LIST PRICE: £5395 / OFFER PRICE: £3895

CAR201Z.FT6046

Again, I'm pretty sure this is the model they have, but I could be wrong. 

LIST PRICE: £4100 / OFFER PRICE: £2995

CBC2112.BA0603

Rather surprised to see these Links in the sale, but on the other hand I'm not sure if they've really been that big a hit with the public. Beautiful watches, but as far as I can recall the only time I've seen anyone wearing one was when Colton Underwood was 'The Bachelor' (USA) and he wore a diamond bezel model every week. Fortunately for TAG Heuer he spent quite a lot of time with his head in his hands which meant the Link got a lot of on-screen time!  

LIST PRICE: £3695 / OFFER PRICE: £2775

WBC2112.BA0603

They also have the non-chronograph version, which is obviously quite a bit more affordable.

LIST PRICE: £2450 / OFFER PRICE: £1835

WAY211A.BA0928

They also have a couple of Aquaracers which I think are WAY211As, the price certainly matches the TAG Heuer website. LIST PRICE: £2095 / OFFER PRICE: £1575

WBJ1421.BB0648

Another very current ladies Formula 1, this one is two tone with hour marker diamonds and a mother of pearl dial. LIST PRICE: £1695 / OFFER PRICE: £1275

WAY1319.BH0717

This is one that I've featured in my Bicester Village reports, it's worth noting that while this looks like a good price, the Bicester price was £1470 (and as low as £1075 during their Christmas sale!) LIST PRICE: £2150 / OFFER PRICE: £1615

WAY131H.BA0914

Same story with this one actually, Bicester may well still have these at about £1330.

LIST PRICE: £1950 / OFFER PRICE: £1465

Michael Jones do also carry a fair stock of pre-owned watches, for example:

CV2A1M.FT6033

This tasty Carrera Calibre 16 Monaco Grand Prix Limited Edition on a tyre tread rubber strap.

PRE-OWNED PRICE: £2950

CAV518B.FC6237

And this classic black PVD Grand Carrera. 

PRE-OWNED PRICE: £2495

Of course Michael Jones isn't restricted to TAG Heuer, they also carry Omega, Longines, Rolex and Breitling, but the watch that catches my eye in the window every time I see it is this pre-owned Cartier Santos 100 in black PVD.

This is a watch I tried on in Watches of Switzerland on one of my trips to London and while I like it a lot and I know it's a considerable saving over the new price, I still struggle with the idea of parting with £4850 to make it mine. Besides, it will stick out like a sore thumb in my collection, so I'll probably just admire it from afar.

Well there we are, not sure how long the 'Winter Sale' goes on for, but here are the contact details for the store:

Michael Jones, 1 Gold Street, Northampton, NN1 1SA    PHONE: (01604) 632548

Incidentally, you can mention my blog if you like but they probably won't have a clue what you are talking about. I have been in there a couple of times, I bought a rubber strap from them once and they polished my Microtimer for me (lovely job they made of that), but I haven't 'identified' myself to them as yet. :)

FEATURE: The Best and Worst TAG Heuers of 2019

I really thought there hadn't been as many TAG Heuer releases this year as last, but once I started compiling this post it turned out there really has! Indeed, this is probably the longest 'Best and Worst' feature post I've written yet, so lets get on with it, we've got a lot to get through!

The Autavia Isograph Collection from Baselworld 2019

TAG Heuer hit Baselwold 2019 hard with the launch of the new, three hand Autavias. Last year saw pictures leaked of some (not very nice) Autavia Calibre 5s including a pretty grim looking 'Batman' GMT and a bronze cased model, and it seems like those watches were not well received because in the intervening year TAG Heuer have obviously had a serious rethink (thank goodness for that!) and replaced those ideas with the new 2019 Autavia Isograph. I wasn't crazy about the watches from the pictures, but having lucked into catching the entire range on 'show' at the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield I came away quite impressed with them. Actually, the response seems to have been overwhelmingly positive all round and it seemed like the company had a winner on it's hands, with a chronograph variant on the way to capitalize... but then a couple of months ago TAG pulled the watches from sale citing problems integrating the new silicon hairspring with the Calibre 5 movement. As it stands, the Autavia is missing from the TAG Heuer website, but is set to return next year without the silicon hairspring and word on the street is that the chronograph variant is dead in the water... which is a shame as I know a lot of people were quite looking forward to it.

CAR5A8K.FT6172

The other big news to come out of Baselworld 2019 of course, was the launch of the Carrera Nanograph which also featured the new hairspring. Strangely, while the Autavias failed to wow me in the pictures and then impressed me on the wrist, the Nanograph looked great in the publicity photos and disappointed when I got to try it on. I think it just didn't have enough green on it for me.. and the green it did have wasn't as bold and striking as I'd hoped. I also failed to see the logic of launching a watch with the new hairspring in it at £21,000 and then almost immediately making that same technology available in a watch that cost a fraction of the price... that just doesn't make sense to me, since it kind of undermined the Nanograph's USP. Still, I guess now the Autavia with the silicon hairspring is no more, that has kind of resolved itself, albeit (unfortunately) not in a way that reflects particularly well on the brand...

CAZ2018.BA0970

Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has had three 'quartz' Formula 1 watches dedicated to him over the last few years, although only a third of those have been readily available for the public at large to purchase. 2019 saw another Formula 1 watch added to Max's collection, only this time it was a Calibre 16 instead of a quartz, but again the watch was only released in Max's home country and sold out all 333 pieces immediately. Personally I think the watch is fairly unremarkable, it looks similar to the third one, benefits from the removal of the stripe from the dial, but still manages to be 'in your face' and a little bit dull at the same time, which is quite an achievement if you think about it!

CAZ101T.BA0842      CAZ101S.BA0842       CAZ101Z.BA0843

Beaverbrooks have gone a little bit TAG Heuer limited edition crazy this year, with not one but three models issued to celebrate their 100th birthday. The first two pieces were limited to 500 pieces and the last one to 1,919 pieces (ya see what they did there?), which sounds like a lot of watches to me, but then I guess they are a pretty big company... they certainly don't seem to be having trouble selling them and I guess they are quite eye catching, although it's not until you put them side by side that you can really see the differences between them. Hard to choose a winner here, they all have their good points and weaknesses compared with their counterparts; however I have recently seen an actual photograph of the CAZ101S and it did look surprisingly splendid actually...

CAR201F.FT6087

At a glance this 100 piece limited edition Carrera looks an awful lot like the Tokyo edition from last year, but turn it over and you'll see that the display back crystal is emblazoned with the word 'London' and to be fair there are some other material differences; IIRC this one has a matt ceramic bezel whereas the Tokyo edition has polished - or it could be the other way around... either way they aren't quite the same. Oddly, despite this one being limited to 100 pieces and supposedly an 'Oxford Street' boutique 'exclusive', I've seen it recently in the Sheffield boutique and more bizarrely Steffans in Northampton, which suggests that perhaps it's not selling quite as well as they'd hoped. I thought it was pretty cool personally, and I'm surprised they are struggling to shift it.

The Monaco 50th Anniversary Collection

2019 marked 50 years since the launch of the Heuer Monaco (we'll brush over the fact that the watch actually went out of production for about 20 years in the middle, eh!) so it was obvious there would be at least one Limited Edition piece to celebrate the occasion. Early predictions seemed to favour either a precious metal model or a re-issue of the legendary 'Dark Lord', but instead TAG Heuer surprised us all by releasing not one, but five '50th Anniversary' models throughout the year. Early leaked photos suggested a dire looking, brown-dialled piece for the first release, but when it eventually emerged the watch was an interesting and unusual green and a rather pleasant surprise!

The 80s model really caused a stir with its red dial and unusually shaped silver sub-dials and the 90s model stepped things up even further with its grey 'concrete' textured dial. Unfortunately the excitement seemed to fizzle out a bit thereafter as the 00s one was a little 'regular' in comparison to the first three and the the 10s model seemed like a 'Phantom' watch that had suffered from a slightly compromised design. Having said that, people who've actually seen the last one seem to really like it, and as I haven't been able to see one (or indeed any of these watches) and can only go from pictures it's hard to say for sure...

CAR5A97.FS6463

I was led to believe that this one (which is also available in orange, by the way) was a 'Germany only' release, but since I managed to try one on in Sheffield... that's clearly not the case. I really liked this one, it has a lot of character and a LOT of wrist presence. Too rich for my pocket unfortunately, but definitely one of my favourite TAG Heuers of 2019. The orange version is a little bit too orange in my opinion and I think this one, though still extremely bold, would be the easier of the two to wear every day; should that be a relevant criteria for you.

WAY2015.BA0927

Ah, the 'mythical' green Aquaracer Calibre 5. I was totally down for getting one of these, but thought I had all the time in the world to pick one up; alas I was wrong! From release these were seemingly only available in the boutiques and they couldn't keep them on the shelf for more than five minutes... and then suddenly, two or three weeks after launch I was told the UK's allocation was gone. What the hell is up with that? 

I haven't seen one (although my wife has the ladies model), but people who have tell me the green is extremely bright and vibrant, which just makes me want one even more. I've recently been told that more will be available in March, but I've also been told that that isn't the case as well... so I don't know what to believe! Apparently there are plenty available outside the UK though, so maybe they should bring some over here?

CBK221A.EB0171

I've always had a secret thing for 'Bund' straps, even though I've never owned or even tried one on... but for some reason this one was on display without the 'Bund' part of the strap so I didn't get the full effect of it. I did try it on but I decided not to write about this one in the end because it just isn't my thing and I couldn't really think what to say about it. I didn't dislike it as such, but it seemed awfully small and, well it just isn't my cup of tea I suppose. Interestingly, opinions on the Calibre 11 forum, amongst people who should have been more excited about it seemed fairly mixed as well. It definitely doesn't seem to be the 'hit' I was expecting it to be there, so maybe it's not just me after all? 

CBK2112,BA0715

You know, if I weren't such a scruffy oik, I might be more inclined to purchase one of these beautiful Calibre 16 Carreras. Honestly, if you are the kind of guy who wears a suit every day and you want one watch to wear day in day out, you really could do a lot worse than this. Elegant, smart and with a gorgeous dial, this is stylish beyond it's price point and a rather unsung hero of the current TAG Heuer range; I'd take this over the Link Calibre 16 any day of the week! This one is also available with a black dial if you are ultra conservative, but for me the blue dial is the way to go, definitely one to add to the list I think!

CAY101Y.BA0842

This is definitely not one of the better TAG Heuer watches released in 2019, and in fact if anything this render makes it look better than it actually is. That red isn't nearly as vibrant as this suggests and that bezel is kinda ugly if you ask me. I think I said something about this being 'betting shop' chic in my review... and somehow for me this is exactly the sort of TAG Heuer I expect to rock up in a pawnbrokers window. Next...

CBG2052.FT6143

I have tried to write a review of this one so many times, but every time I get stuck trying to explain why despite looking really attractive in pictures, in real life it just looks a bit odd. I can't quite pinpoint why, but it doesn't look right.. the bezel seems too small compared to the case and strap and those gold 'eyes' seem to bulge out at you. It's strange because I always liked the old Heuer 01 rose gold and black ceramic model and I can't really work out where they lost me.

CAZ2016.FC6473

Another one which didn't really work for me I'm afraid; green bezel, green dial, green sub-dials... I just think there's too much green and with the bezel being moss green and the dial being a distinctly un-mossy blue/green... well that really didn't work for me at all. No substitute for the green Aquaracer I'm afraid, this one is a definite no from me. At least the date wheel wasn't green as well I suppose!

WAY201M.FC6474

In watchmaking, history is everything, and since TAG Heuer have form for putting leather straps on dive watches, I guess we'll have to let them off this particular faux pas! And besides, how many of us actually exploit the water resistance of our watches? I have a couple of 500M divers and they've never even been wet, never mind submerged! So I really can't criticise TAG Heuer too much, and besides, this is a really nice looking watch. A limited edition of 250 pieces and only available from the boutiques... just remember to switch out the strap if you want to go swimming.

WAY201H.BA0927 (Shinji Kagawa)

Not being a football fan, I had zero clue who Shinji Kagawa* was... but apparently he has played for both Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund, and has also played for his country 97 times to date. I found this to be a colourful and cool variation on the Premier League 'Match Timer' Aquaracer, and certainly something I would happily wear, despite my lack of knowledge about Mr Kagawa. I'm pretty sure this one was only available in Japan, but you never know what might turn up at the outlets these days so I'll keep my eyes peeled!

*Interestingly, it seems that every other fake TAG Heuer I come across on eBay of late is listed as a Shinji Kagawa limited edition, I don't know what the poor guy has done to deserve this infamy?

CV201AS.FC6429

I'm not really a fan of the Indy 500, nor do I even really know much about it to be honest... but I'd take this over the regular Carrera it's based on simply because this one has white lume on the hands instead of that dreadful beige faux lume, which looks especially awful against the white sub dials... better yet could I order the regular watch fitted with these hands? That would be great!

CAZ101V.BA0842

I vaguely remember trying this on during one of my trips to Sheffield this year; looking back at my review I wasn't overly keen on the watch and that hasn't really changed. At the time I said I'd prefer the basic black and white model and I think that still stands today if I'm honest. Not sure why it has a '60' at the '12' position, but yeah... I guess it's a point of difference. Hmm, there's been a lot of Indy 500 TAG Heuer Formula 1s and they always seem to end up at the outlets or in sales, I expect this one will too, sooner or later.

UPDATE: This watch is in the Beaverbrooks Christmas Sale... (shocker)

https://www.beaverbrooks.co.uk/0117657/TAG-Heuer-Limited-Edition-Formula-1-Indy-500-Chronograph-Mens-Watch/p

WAY201K.BA0927 / WAY201L.BA0927

Two limited edition pieces sharing the same design but different backplates and part numbers. Kinda misses the point of a limited edition I guess and to be honest I don't understand why this isn't a regular Calibre 5 model. This red bezel / black dial combo is already available as a quartz and I would have thought this would be a good basic model to have in the range, but no I'm afraid if you want one of these you'll have to track it down!

Based on WAR201A.BA0723

Oh boy, I'm not entirely sure if this model actually got off the ground or if anyone placed an order, but this 'Freemasons' Carrera was definitely offered by 'AMJ Watches of Newark' and is basically a WAR201A Carrera with the 12 position occupied by a capital 'G' (which has particular relevance in the Freemason world apparently), and I guess it could also be a desirable watch if your name is Gary, Geoff or Gavin perhaps...? There's not really a lot else to say about this since it is literally a basic Carrera with a G instead of a 12 and 'Faith Hope and Charity' where you'd you would normally expect to see the 'Calibre 5' text... what do you want from me, we're barely half way through this and I'm getting tired!

CBG2080.FT6165

Only available with the Aston Martin Superlegerra 'TAG Heuer' Special Edition, so you won't be wearing this unless you have serious money to burn. Obviously I've never seen one, and there aren't too many pictures either which makes appraising this one a little difficult, but it looks pretty neat and that definitely looks like a carbon lug there. Black watch with red highlights, black strap with red stitching - you can't really go that far wrong, can you?

CAY111C.BA0927

Speaking of which, Beaverbrooks may have brought three limited edition TAG Heuers to the market this year, but for me it was Goldsmith's who got it properly right with this 250 piece exclusive quartz Aquaracer. It's slightly disappointing that this watch has an aluminium bezel, but that aside I really like the look of this one; in fact I recall looking at one on Watchfinder a few months ago and pondering a possible purchase. I decided against it in the end, but if one popped up again I definitely wouldn't rule it out.

WBK1314.FC8261

Another Baselworld leak and an interesting and unusual dial on display here, and one which would work equally well on a men's Carrera, albeit perhaps in black or blue. This one was a little darker than I'd hoped which meant the pattern wasn't as obvious as it could have been... and my wife wasn't overly enthused with it either, which surprised me. Sure this was partly because it is too big for her wrist, but again I don't think the colour appealed to her quite as much as the pictures suggested it might. Still, it's nice to see TAG Heuer trying something different, even if it's only a partial success.

WAY2016.BA0927

Another football related limited edition, and this one was extremely hard to pin down... even now Googling WAY2016 only seems to bring up random pages from my own blog! Indeed if it wasn't for the assistance of Aneta at the Oxford Street store I wouldn't even know the part number, and I still don't know if it's 41mm or 43mm.

This Aquaracer was made for Son Heung-Min (which caused me great confusion when it came to the 'HMS' initials) as a limited edition of 777 pieces, and what a fine looking piece it is; with just enough 'difference' to make it stand out without the need for ill placed stripes or suchlike. This watch is all about the number '7', with the '7' on the date wheel being rendered in red instead of black and watch number '7' having been given to Son Heung-Min himself. Unlikely to find one of these outside of Korea though, which is a bit of a shame...

WAY101F.FC6427

If you want a truly 'limited' limited edition, then this one could be for you. Just 25 pieces of this 'Alec Monopoly' Aquaracer were made, and all were available only from the gift shop in the Beverly Hills Hotel. Can't say I like the dial very much, but the strap is kinda cool; apparently it's modelled on the wallpaper at the Beverley Hills Hotel, which is a nice tie-in I guess! I wonder if it's possible to order a spare though because the strap is the selling point for me.

CAW211U.FC6356

And here we have yet another limited edition, this time made to celebrate the 40th anniversary of 'The Hour Glass' (a Singaporean jeweller) and limited to 50 pieces. I must admit, I think if you're going to make a limited piece then you might as well go for it; don't just give me a red second hand or something, let's have a completely unique yellow/cream dial with red markers! While I approve of this design, on closer inspection it does feel a bit of a short change; the markers are printed and the usual Monaco applied pieces are missing so it looks kinda like the dial isn't quite finished somehow. Also, that mirror finished '12' does look slightly out of place... like it fell off a quartz Formula 1 or something, but I still kinda like it all the same...

CAR5A99.FT6174

Not long released this one, and I find it to be an improvement over last year's red version... strangely the most striking thing about the watch though is the full colour back print which covers much of the sapphire crystal display back. Not for me I don't think (especially at tourbillon prices!), but probably a big draw for the hardcore Senna fanatic.

CAZ2017.BA0647

Speaking of the legendary Brazilian F1 driver, 2019 also gave us this latest Formula 1 tribute piece to the three time world champion, and my over-riding first impression was one of great... weight. Yeah, this watch is a chunky monkey for sure and you certainly know you are wearing it! The dial is a nice anthracite, although the sub-dial colouring seems a bit random and the red highlights look a little bit tacky to tell you the truth. But then again, placed alongside the Max Verstappen Formula 1 Calibre 16 this one definitely looks the better watch to me... no contest.

CV201AT.FC6475

Rather more tasteful is this Carrera Calibre 16 which features the patronage of five times F1 Champion Juan Manuel Fangio. There's been a few Fangio watches up until now, but none of them have grabbed my attention like this one did. I don't usually like stripes on chronographs that much, but because of the Calibre 16 dial layout this one looks fantastic and the (Argentinian flag) colours they've used really work against the black background. Definitely one of TAG Heuer's 2019 successes right here!

WBE5193.FC8300

A last minute addition to this post this one, released to coincide with the 'Year of the Rat', this one has a special backplate design featuring a rat wearing racing goggles and gripping a steering wheel... which has somewhat divided opinion on Calibre 11 it must be said. I agree it is a bit cheesy, but at the same time it's kinda endearing. I wasn't too keen on the first photo I saw, but this head-on shot looks better, the red looks darker and less orangey and that matches up better with the bronze case. Could have lived without the character on the dial, but it's not obtrusive enough to be a problem either. Pity it's missing the silicon hairspring of course, and actually this is one of the few Autavias you can buy right now, which surely adds to it's allure?

CAW211J.FC6476

So this is the end for the Calibre 12 Monaco, and it's fine. It doesn't really move me one way or another, it's... a perfectly nice, perfectly fine, tastefully done, grey dial Monaco with a few red details and it's limited to 1000 pieces. More than that, it's just... fine. Be honest, it's not all that exciting is it?

CBL2111.FC6453

Thankfully, the new Heuer 02 Monaco is quite exciting, it's a very nice blue and it looks and feels great on the wrist, I wouldn't hesitate to choose this over the Calibre 12 'Final Edition', and I really hope TAG Heuer give us a skeleton Heuer 02 Monaco in 2020. I mean, I really don't think that is going to happen, now or in the future... but I'd like to see it all the same. Even if it was just a limited edition, I mean come on... how hard can it be?

CAR5A8F.FC6478

Just three watches left in this epic post... can you even remember them all? I know I'm struggling, still, heads down, not long to go!

This one is yet another limited edition piece, and when I say 'limited' I really mean limited. Just ten of these are available from the 'Cortina' online jewellery website and they've come up with a pretty cool looking tourbillon here haven't they? Again it's a lot of orange, but cleverly this one also comes with a spare black alligator strap so you can switch it out for days when you feel like being a little less obnoxious!

WAZ1017.BA0842

Yet another jeweller specific limited edition and while this one doesn't exactly set my pulse racing, it does look like a nicer alternative to the Calibre 16 version which I really didn't like very much at all. A lot will depend for me on whether the bezel green matches the dial green, if it's as poorly done as the Calibre 16 then this one will also be a bit of a fail, if not, then its simple styling and orange second hand could prove a winning combination. Not that you're likely to see one outside of Switzerland of course...

CBG2017.FT6143

Well here we are, this is the end! Have I saved the best for last? Maybe, this is definitely one of my favourite TAG Heuers of 2019... and this is one that really works. I love the blue detailing and the carbon bezel and lugs and for me here everything is right that is wrong with the carbon and gold model mentioned earlier. The subdials don't stand out like eyeballs and the black lugs bring a cohesive overall shape to the piece. Truth be told I'm generally not a fan of the Heuer 02 Skeleton layout because it always feels to me that there is too much empty space in the top third of the dial compared to the remainder, but this is one of the few Heuer 02s where that has never bothered me, perhaps because that blue sub-dial ring at the 6 position draws your eye down and distracts you from it. So yes, overall I think this would probably be my pick of 2019, but unfortunately given it's £6000+ price tag I'm unlikely to be picking one up anytime soon.


Well, there we are folks, I hope you've enjoyed this look back at 2019! It seems there's still at least a couple of watches missing from this list, ones which were leaked at Baselworld and which even have a part number, but as yet can only be found on watch-selling websites. Oddly enough not the usual 'leaky' websites either, but some fairly respectable ones... hopefully these will become available early in 2020, or maybe they'll be properly released as novelties at this year's Baselworld fair? Or maybe they'll just quietly disappear as if they never existed.... who knows?

This will be my last post for a couple of days, I hope you all have a great Christmas and I'll see you back here on the 27th of December for more TAG Heuer related fun and frolics! Also, don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know what your favourite TAG Heuer of 2019 was...