GALLERY: TAG Heuer S/EL Quartz Chronograph

 

INSTRUCTIONS: Removing the Backplate of the 2021 Aquaracer

Some of you will no doubt have read my post yesterday (ON THE WRIST: Aquaracer Tribute to 844) in its original form. Contained in that post there was some information which it now turns out was erroneous and as such has been removed. This originated in a conversation I had with Darnell at Harrods TAG Heuer about how the backplate is removed on the 2021 Aquaracer. 

Darnell (rightly) told me that the movement is accessed from the front, which I (wrongly) took to mean that the whole movement was 'front loaded' and inspection of the case seemed to support that since it was quite hard to see the join between the backplate and the case. I now realize this was because of the flanges which surround the backplate...

The truth is that to remove the backplate, first you must remove the bezel and undo some screws which go through the case and secure the backplate in the upright position; this seems a lot of hassle to go to just to make sure the helmet is exactly the right way up, but there we are, at least the mystery is solved!

Presumably once the screws are released the back plate is not screwed down tightly and it can be removed using a rubber friction tool. Makes me wonder though, how many backplates are going to get damaged down the line by people who do not know about this new quirk!

Many thanks to David at Calibre 11 for finding out the answer, much appreciated!

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Link Calibre 17 Chronograph by Brent L Miller Time

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Tribute to 844' Calibre 5 Limited Edition Watch

 

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Harrods / London, 15th September 2021

Last time I visited Harrods, the room at the end of the corridor which houses the TAG Heuer (and other assorted) watches looked like a bit of a dump. Well that's a bit unfair, it wasn't a 'dump' as such, it just looked like a spare room that the 'rest' of the watches had been put in while they waited for the decorators to visit. This time that had all changed and the walls and ceiling were nicely finished so that they matched the rest of the 'boutiques' along the bottom floor corridor.

So I was more than a little surprised to be told that all this was about to be ripped out to make way for a dedicated TAG Heuer boutique, fitted out just like the one on Oxford Street. The man who told me this was the manager Darnell, a great guy who seemingly has almost as much enthusiasm for TAG Heuer as I do. Impressive!

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Titanium Chronograph by Jim Dollares

 

Instagram @ JimDollares

VIDEO: Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 160th Anniversary Limited Edition by Black Tag Watches

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: 2021 TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 Watches & Calibre 7 Twin Time

 

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Way back in 2015 TAG Heuer (then under the control of the legendary Jean Claude Biver) announced a new cleaner and 'wider' logo for the brand. At the time some people loved it and some people hated the loss of the classic 'arrow' logo which had been with us since the 1985 takeover, but now six years down the line its kind of water under the bridge. What is surprising though is that even now you can still buy a brand new TAG Heuer watch with the old logo on the dial. Indeed, just a quick look at the TAG Heuer website reveals 8 different Formula 1 models (out of 35 available) still wearing the old logo and there is also at least one Aquaracer still on the site wearing the old badge too. 

(Does that not seem weird to anyone else? I was once told that everything made after 2015 would have been made with the new logo and so every dial that still carried the old logo must have been manufactured prior to that. I guess the dials could have been made in bulk at the start of the line, but it seems a bit odd to think that six years down the line there's still a mixture of logos available. I mean, I know that back in the 1980s watches left the factory with a mixture of Heuer and TAG Heuer branding on the crowns, dials, clasp and backplates, but back then it was a case of using old stock to survive.)

The Carrera still has the odd floater in the line-up too, but it's heading in the right direction and last week saw a further rejuvenation of the slightly tired range with the introduction of a selection of new Calibre 5 pieces all of course now wearing the updated TAG Heuer shield.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Aquagraph Calibre 60 Chronograph

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph by Edgar the Jeweler

 

FEATURE: Is Trying On Expensive Watches a Good Idea? (featuring Jim Dollares)

Chopard Alpine Eagle

When I was in London recently I had the opportunity to try on a 'Chopard Alpine Eagle' which while not SUPER excessively expensive, is still something that I could not really contemplate buying without some serious saving and some intense soul searching. I was very impressed with the quality of the watch in the hand and I could totally understand why people who can afford to drop £11,000 on a watch without too much heartache would, but it also made me question whether trying on watches you know you can't really afford is a good idea. Does it make you dissatisfied with what you can actually afford or is it all part of the fun of being a watch enthusiast?

To find out, I thought I would ask our Swedish friend Jim Dollares,..

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Red Bull Special Edition Quartz Watch by Jim Dollares

 

Instagram @ JimDollares

VIDEO: The TAG Heuer 2021 41mm Carrera Day/Date Collection by Monochrome Watches

 

FEATURE: TAG Heuer Watch Boxes

 

'Kingsman' Limited Edition Connected

A slightly off the wall post today perhaps, but maybe something worth exploring briefly. As watch enthusiasts we all know the pleasure and pain of watch boxes, because after you get more than three or four watches you realise that you need something to put them in because the boxes they come in take up too much space. Suddenly those super cool multi-part boxes become less of a joy and more of a hinderance and as the pile mounts up it gets harder and harder to find somewhere to keep them all.

Or maybe that's just me? 

Anyway, today I thought I'd take a look at the boxes that TAG Heuer have offered through the last 35 years, using my own collection to illustrate (with a little help from the internet here and there). So let's start with the obvious...

WATCH HUMOUR: Steel Daytonas and Submariners Now In Stock!

 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Quartz Chronograph

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Titanium Heuer 02T Tourbillon Chronograph by WatchBox Studios

 

FEATURE: The TAG Heuer Enthusiast Blog is Five Years Old Today!

 

Well today is somewhat special because it marks the fifth anniversary of the TAG Heuer Enthusiast blog... and believe it or not, this is the 2101st post! Wow, no wonder I never have any free time any more! But still, how enriched has my life become since October 2016?

Looking back, my very first post was an 'On the Wrist' for the 41mm PVD Calibre 5 Aquaracer and one of the first comments I made was 'I can't believe how small it looks'. Well at least that opinion hasn't changed... plenty of others have though as I've researched oodles of TAG Heuer things, and of course my collection has grown from a starting point of four to its current 'bloated' state of fifty pieces... I certainly didn't expect that!

And nor did my wife!

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 1000 Series 844/5 Automatic Watch by Thingz I Like Too

Instagram @ thingziliketoo

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Automatic by Birth Year Watches

 

ON THE WRIST: Bell & Ross BR05 Automatic Watch

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Ernest Jones / Milton Keynes, 13th September 2021

Entering an entirely empty Ernest Jones today I was presented with two choices; either talk to the man who two years ago told me that the 'Omega Dark Side of the Moon: Apollo 8' didn't have a date because 'there is no date in space...' or talk to Charlotte. I chose Charlotte and was very glad I did as she was interesting to talk to, friendly and generally excellent - I only wish I could have bought a watch from her! Unfortunately today was only window shopping... 

Charlotte showed me two watches today, this striking Bell & Ross BR-05 and a Breitling Endurance Pro (which I will talk about another time). If I'm 100% honest, I chose the Breitling because I really liked it and this one because I thought it would make for an 'easy' target. I mean look at it. Have you ever seen such a stupid looking watch in all your days? Hmm?

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Pilot Quartz Chronograph

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional Calibre 5 Watch by Edgar the Jeweller

 

FEATURE: Is Rolex Reaching Critical Mass?

A few weeks ago I got a call from a work colleague wanting my advice. She said 'My son in law wants to buy a watch as an investment and I told him that you know about watches, so I said I'd ask you what to buy'. To which my immediate answer was 'Don't buy a watch as an 'investment, either buy a watch because you like it or don't buy one at all, because the chances of any watch you buy from a shop window going up are absolutely miniscule'. I ranted for a while until she got the message, not sure if her son in law bought a watch or not, but it just shows that the 'myth' of the appreciating Swiss watch persists.

Of course there are watches that appreciate, but as a rule they aren't the kind of watches you can pick up in your local Goldsmiths or Ernest Jones. No, for those you have to run the gauntlet of the boutiques and in particular the Rolex boutiques.

It's a funny thing, but recently I've noticed that the You Tube watch gurus are starting to subtly change their stance on Rolex. As long as I've been watching they've all been all about Rolex and the unstoppable rise in value that the steel sports models represent. But now all of a sudden, it's reached a point where even they are starting to question the 'value' of these ridiculously overpriced models.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Titanium Chronograph by Jim Dollares

 

Instagram @ JimDollares

VIDEO: Heuer 2000 Series Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

ON THE WRIST: Tudor Black Bay Automatic Watch

 

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Goldsmiths / Milton Keynes, 13th September 2021

So some of you saw a version of this post on Friday morning, before I took it down and replaced it with the 'Timeline of TAG Heuer Production'. The reason for this was that somehow, I thought I had tried on a Black Bay 58 and it seems that what I actually tried on was a normal 41mm Black Bay. Bizarrely I somehow managed to get all the details right, and every single picture I used was also the watch that I tried on, but none of them were a Black Bay 58.

I now know that the easy way to tell the difference is that the Black Bay 58 has a gilt bezel whereas the original Black Bay does not, and of course it is 2mm smaller. Honestly I don't think it would make a lot of difference to my opinion, though it does appear from photographs that the gilt numbers on the bezel do liven it up a bit. 

But still, I couldn't leave a post up that was clearly wrong in every way (except that one that matters) and so I decided to rewrite it...

It's been a long time since I tried on a Black Bay (of any kind) and on this shopping trip I had already decided (since there wasn't that much new TAG Heuer available) that I would try out some different watches to spice things up. So on this day I also tried out a Bell and Ross BR-05 and a Brietling Pro Endurance Super Quartz, both of which will be reviewed at a later date.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Tristar Quartz Watch

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 by Random Rob

 

HISTORY: The Timeline of TAG Heuer Production

CHART UPDATED IN JUNE 2024

This is something I've been thinking about creating for a long, long time (ever since someone told me that the Carrera and Monaco had been in constant production since their release in the 1960s). But every time I started it seemed like quite a difficult chart to achieve. But now, finally, I've done it and I think it's turned out quite well.

Admittedly you will probably need to open the image in a new tab to see everything properly, and the most important thing to note is that the numbers at the bottom of the chart represent the years from 1986 to 2024.

As you can see, there is not one single watch model that has survived from 1986 to now without falling out of production for a while, but the one that has been around the longest is the Formula 1 with just four years out of the range.

Obviously this is not really an exact science since watches can be 'available' even after they have been removed from catalogues and websites, but this is a good 'guide' to which models were available through the years from 1986 to date. 

Some models have a longer history of course; in fact every watch bar the Formula 1 which was available in 1986 was a carry over from the Heuer era and can also be found with a Heuer logo on the dial. 

Finally, in case you are wondering, the colours have no deep meaning, they are just there to make it easier to read.

GALLERY: Heuer Carrera CV2119 Calibre 17 Chronograph by Anthony Ranalli

Instagram @ Anthony_Ranalli

VIDEO: TAG Heuer S/EL 1992 by Erased Culture

 

HISTORY: TAG Heuer 6000 Series (1992-2001)

The 6000 Series was launched in 1992 as the brand's new flagship model (although oddly did not appear in any catalogues until 1994). To modern eyes it can either look glamorous or ostentatious depending on one's viewpoint. I will admit that I hover between the two viewpoints at various times of the day.

As you will notice, some pictures are missing, this is because TAG Heuer show two strap options in the catalogues, but only provide pictures of one variant. If I can find pictures at a later date I will add them in. 

Straps for the 6000 Series are rather confusing, I will talk about these more at the end of the post. One contributing factor was that TAG Heuer mixed up the codes in the 1996 and 1997 catalogues, showing FC straps with BC numbers in 1996 and then swapping both pictures and codes in 1997! Thankfully by the time I'd got to 1996 I had grasped the basics and realised what had happened!

Speaking of the catalogues, I've had to use quite a lot of catalogue (drawing) shots, I always prefer actual photographs if possible but some of these were just not available in head-on shots.

GALLERY; TAG Heuer 6000 Series Quartz Chronograph

 

Tomorrow we have the 'History of the 6000 Series' post... 

VIDEO: Bamford Watch Department by Design Atelier

 

ON THE WRIST: Maurice Lacroix Aikon Venturer Blue Automatic & Fiaba Ladies Moonphase Quartz Watch

 

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Ernest Jones / Milton Keynes, 13th September 2021

Over the next few weeks I will be posting six posts* focusing on watches I tried on during my recent visit to the 'MK' Centre in Milton Keynes. I haven't been there since September 2019 and much has changed in the meantime; thankfully the John Lewis is still there, but there are quite a few empty shops along the sides of the centre unfortunately. The MK Centre is still quite well served for watch shopping though as it has Beaverbrooks, Goldsmiths, Lyons (which has Hublot and Rolex as well as TAG Heuer and Tudor) and not one but two Ernest Jones! 

Even so, I knew there probably wasn't going to be a lot of fresh TAG Heuer to try on, because there really doesn't seem to be much new coming out this year, and what has appeared seems mostly to be limited editions that are never going to make it to the shops. Undaunted I decided this was the perfect opportunity to try out some other brands and so with that in mind I took the trouble to try on a Tudor Black Bay, a Bell & Ross BR05, a Breitling Endurance Pro and this Maurice Lacroix Aikon Venturer. I also tried on a couple of TAG Heuers too, but we'll get to those later.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Carrera by Thingz I Like Too

 

INSTAGRAM @thingziliketoo

VIDEO: Heuer Carrera CS3111 Chronograph by Marshall Time

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Automatic Chronograph

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As time goes by I become more and more attracted to collecting the older watches from the TAG Heuer back catalogue; there's just something about the 80s and 90s pieces in particular that catches my attention - could it be the 'relatively reasonable' prices compared to the prices of the newer pieces I wonder? So when EST1897 sent me an email inviting me to take 'another look' at their ongoing sale, this one jumped out at me...

The email seemed to imply that the prices had been reduced again, but it looks like it's still a blanket 20% off the original asking price and so this beautiful 2000 Series is currently standing at a pretty decent £715 (down from £895). I'm not sure I would pay nearly £900 for this one, but at £715 it seems pretty reasonable and you do get a one year warranty when you buy from EST1897 so that's worth taking into account - especially for an automatic watch of this vintage.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Classic Quartz Watch

 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Watch by One Man Reviews