FEATURE: The Best and Worst of TAG Heuer 2017

So with Summer turning into Autumn, my thoughts are starting to turn towards constructing my 'Best and Worst of TAG Heuer 2019' post, but as there's still plenty of time for that I thought why not go back and do 2017 in retrospect... seems like a good idea, let's see if it was.

Link Calibre 5 Automatic

From the vantage point of September 2019, it's slightly strange to say it but the Link range isn't really that buzzing to me. It seems to be like the forgotten range, I mean I can't remember the last time someone posted a thread about it on the Calibre 11 forum, it just might as well not exist. I wasn't overly blown away by it myself when I tried it on on in December 2017, finding the bracelet oddly wide in relation to the case. I like it, though I couldn't see me wearing it, but it seems a lot of money for what it is.

Carrera Heuer 01 Senna Special Edition

This one definitely left an impression, it really couldn't fail to with those white 'Drive Timer' numerals and that black PVD coated steel case and bracelet paired with a ceramic bezel. I really liked wearing this watch, but the thought of a PVD coated bracelet fills me with utter dread, especially when you consider the titanic £5150 price tag. It's a stunning watch, but that price definitely puts it up against some tough alternatives.

Autavia Heuer 02 UAE Limited Edition

Oh boy.... so I'm not the biggest fan of the Heuer 02 Autavia in the first place and turning it brown and putting it on a brown strap sounds like a recipe for disaster, but I must admit I do prefer this to the original model. The brown makes it a little softer somehow and (oddly) a little bit less 'retro' looking. I still prefer the Jack Heuer version with the tachymetre bezel and nothing is going to convince me otherwise, but this isn't a bad limited edition in the scheme of things.

Monaco Quartz Watch

Back in November 2017 this had the potential to be the Monaco I might one day own. Quartz made it affordable and I rather liked the simplicity of the black dial with small seconds sub dial. But alas it all fell apart when I visited the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield and tried it on. Firstly the 37mm Monaco case is just too small for a guy like me, indeed, this is basically a unisex model with the only distinctions being the colour schemes (and there's no reason a woman wouldn't wear this) and second of all, I found it extremely effeminate on the wrist. It's just too polished and shiny and while it might wear okay for your average metrosexual suit wearer, for a guy like me this was a definite no no.

Carrera Heuer 01 Air-K Limited Edition

A Japan only release for tennis star Kei Nishikori, this is a great looking Carrera with a super-cool tapisserie dial and splashes of red and green on the dial and pushers. This watch was limited to just 150 pieces and featured a signed crystal display back and additional rubber strap in bright yellow. Incredibly Global Rakutan have one of these for sale in Mint condition for just £2767, which seems like a hell of a deal to me, although I have to say the photos make it look a lot less in your face than I'd hoped. Then again, it still comes with that bright yellow strap... which is about as in your face as it gets!

Formula One Quartz 'Alec Monopoly' Limited Edition

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and with the benefit of hindsight I absolutely wish I had bought this before it sold out. But I hesitated and within a weekend they were all gone (only 200 were produced). That £1000 watch is now trading for way over that, and right now there is one on Chrono 24 for £4250! Drat and dammit. Simple truth is that I am never going to pay silly money for this so I am never going to get one. Such a shame, as I much prefer this one to the 2018 version with the white background. Bah...

Aquaracer Calibre 5 Khaki Special Edition

This was released at the same time as the white/blue camouflage model and I was always way more taken with that one, this didn't change when I finally got to see this in the Meadowhall Boutique. It's okay... but I really don't like Nato straps and the dial is a bit muddy. In certain lights the gold TAG Heuer logo disappears and I'm super glad I didn't buy this because the quartz model that came out in 2018 is much nicer in my opinion.

Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph Ayrton Senna Special Edition

This is one I struggle with a little, sometimes I like it and sometimes I find it a bit tacky. Those red hands are a bit much I think, silver hands would have been fine... and I don't really like the way the stripe and the sub dial interacts. The silver bezel looks great against the black case though, and I also like the strap a lot (even though it is slightly mad). 

Formula 1 Quartz Ayrton Senna Special Edition

I much prefer the three hand version, simply because you get the uninterrupted red stripe down the right hand side of the dial. It just looks cleaner to me and I recently had to restrain myself from buying one of these that I found pre-owned for about £800 in a local jeweller.

Aquaracer Calibre 5 Arctic Camouflage Special Edition

Long term readers will be well aware of this model as I have commented on it regularly over the past two years, but for me the strap is the sticking point and if you take away the strap it only has maybe half the impact it should. If they'd made a matching rubber strap (similar to the one Watch Gecko sell) then it would be a toss up as to whether I would have bought this or the WAY208C I eventually bagged a few months ago.

Aquaracer GMT Calibre 7

On paper this one looked a winner, but I've never quite been convinced enough to make the leap. I like it, but I don't love it... and I don't think I ever will 'love' it. I imagine this one sells well for TAG Heuer, pretty much anything with a 'Pepsi' bezel has an appeal, and maybe one day it might come together for me. For once I wonder if it might be better if it was a little smaller, maybe a 41mm version instead of a 43mm?

Formula 1 Quartz Calibre 6

I can't actually remember ever trying one of these on in any of the three available colour schemes (this one was produced with blue, black or white dials), but it's not one that ever really pushed my buttons. I will say that I think it's grown on me over the last couple of years, which might be partially because I'm very slowly coming around to the idea of watches with the running seconds on a sub dial.

Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph Max Verstappen Limited Edition

The second of Max's three TAG Heuers to date and another one which makes you wonder if Max is ever so slightly colourblind. Just 533 of these were produced (according to the internet) which seems not many at all for a guy who is surely destined to be a multiple F1 Champion in the future. Good luck finding one if you want one, I can't find a single one for sale and there's usually someone trying to make a quick buck on most watches so who knows how much this will be selling for when one does finally show up. 

Carrera/Skipper Hodinkee Limited Edition

Definitely my least favourite TAG Heuer of 2017, partly because it doesn't appeal to me aesthetically, but also because a) I'm not a fan of Hodinkee and b) from what people on the Calibre 11 forum said who do like the older style of watches it was a bit of a half-assed bodge up using cases that were already stamped as 'Carrera' when the Skipper was a watch in its own right. I don't want to slate it, it's clearly not my thing, but honestly I wouldn't thank you if you gave me one.

Carrera Heuer 01 Red Bull Special Edition

I do love me a Carrera Heuer 01 with the Arabic numerals, if I knew back when I bought my original Heuer 01 that they would evolve the model into the 'Drive Timer' then I might just have held fire. But, well... now I have my Calibre 16 Carrera so I'm good. Still really like these though, albeit for me the black and red colour scheme works better than this silver and blue 'Red Bull' version. And every time I see one of these I think I have to get myself one of these straps, they are so cool!

Aquaracer Calibre 5 'Polar Explorer'

Clearly designed to tap into the Rolex Explorer II 'Polar' market, this watch originally came out in 43mm with a Calibre 5 movement and later in 41mm with both quartz and automatic movements. I don't think I've seen a 41mm automatic as yet, but I very much liked this original version. But it was one of those things where you like something so much until you realise that it's just too close to something you already have, in my case the WAJ1111 (hour markers, orange second hand, slatted dial (albeit it vertical rather than horizontal). 

Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph 'Indy 500' Limited Edition

Never really been convinced by any of the Indy 500 Formula 1s I've seen (as far as I can remember) and this one didn't do much to sway my opinion about them. Again I don't despise it, I just can't bring myself to care one way or the other, which tells you all you need to know really.

Carrera Heuer 01 Indy 500 Limited Edition

So this is basically the red/black Heuer 01 Drive Timer I was talking about earlier, but with branding for the 2017 Indy 500 race. When you start with a stunning watch like this you can't really go wrong, and the Indy logo is subtle enough not to upset the applecart. I'd still choose an unbranded one myself, if only because I've never had any interest in the Indy 500.

Autavia JH85 Anniversay Edition

Again, not being of a 'Heritage' persuasion, the re-release of the Autavia left me a bit cold. But I did think this model produced to celebrate Jack Heuer's 85th birthday was a distinct improvement. My main gripe with the original watch was the bezel and more particularly the oversized numerals etched onto it. Making the numbers smaller gave the bezel a much more elegant look which really helped me like it a lot more. I'm still not crazy about the Heuer 02 Autavia in general, but this is definitely one of the better looking ones for me.

Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph Manchest United Special Edition

I like the strap. And that's about it... at least it doesn't have a close up of the 'Manchester United' devil on it... because that is rubbish.

Carrera Heuer 01 Manchester United Special Edition

Nope, if you wanted that you had to spring for the £4000+ Carrera Heuer 01. Jesus, you know what, maybe was a bit hasty saying the Skipper was my least favourite TAG Heuer of 2017. This is very nice watch, utterly ruined by that crappy logo on the running seconds subdial. Ugh... 

Aquaracer Quartz Watch

As a starter watch, you couldn't really do much better than this. It's simple, elegant and has a nice colour combination, I'm amazed it took them so long to bring this out as a Calibre 5, and even more amazed that when they did it was as a very limited edition. Makes no sense to me, should be a standard model. This one must have sold pretty well, what's not to like?

Carrera Calibre 16 Chronograph

Let's finish on a high, this was the first brown strap watch I didn't loathe, in fact I kinda wanted to buy this for a long time; at least until I picked up my WAY208C Aquaracer and scratched that sand/black colour scheme itch. It just really works, it's unconventional, but it works and this was also probably the first 'traditional' cased Carrera that I really took to, probably because it's anything but traditional; but then with that leather strap it seems to straddle both new and old worlds. I think I'd still love to see this fitted with the tyre tread rubber strap from the Senna Carrera Calibre 16 though... just because. :) 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 1500 GMT Quartz Watch

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Green Dial Unboxing by Bruce Williams

ON THE WRIST: Formula One Calibre 5 Watch

WAZ2115.FT8023

Goldsmiths / Milton Keynes, 28th September 2019

I've had this post on the back burner so long that it's turned from being a 'Spotlight On' post to an 'On the Wrist' post, so I guess waiting on this one kinda paid off in the end! So I found this one in Goldsmiths in their 'pre-owned' section, and it caught my eye on a day when really nothing was catching my eye at all; it was a sea of mediocrity all round to be truthful... and not a green Aquaracer in sight. Bah!

The watch itself is unfussy but smart. The black PVD gives it an edge that the stainless version simply wouldn't have and that combined with the small red touches on the dial, seconds hand and crown make this a nice little every day wearer. It does feel a little bit small on the wrist (I was wearing a 43mm Aquaracer on the day though) and black does tend to make watches look smaller than they are, but this one is only 41mm so it's definitely on the smaller side for a modern Formula 1.

I remarked to the salesman that it looked in amazing condition for a pre-owned PVD coated watch and he explained that in truth a lot of their 'pre-owned' watches are actually ex-display or just watches they want to sell, and so it seems they go through a process a bit like 'pre-registering' cars where a garage stamps the log book and sells it to themselves in order that they can discount it more heavily than they normally would. So in fact the watch had never been worn, but was offered at £1095, some £505 off the list price of £1600; quite a substantial saving.

I didn't even realise until I had it on my wrist that the watch is an automatic with the ubiquitous 'Calibre 5' movement inside, I just assumed it was a quartz! But, if I'm completely honest, after a couple of minutes I kinda lost interest in the watch, but the strap is another matter... I loved it. It's perforated rubber and it just looked and felt really great and I was mentally visualising it transplanted onto my WAY208C (even though I already have a black rubber strap for that one that I haven't yet tried out). I would definitely consider getting one of those for something...

On the whole then, this watch definitely didn't stir any great feeling in me, but it's not a bad little watch and this particular one is great value for money. 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 6000 Series Watches

ON THE WRIST: Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 Special Edition

Ernest Jones / Milton Keynes, 28th September 2019

I think I've made it reasonably clear over the years that I am not a big fan of Omega watches. There are a couple that I've liked the look of, mainly the white dial 'Snoopy Award' Apollo 13 Speedmaster which was limited to 1,970 pieces and trades up around the £20,000 mark nowadays and also this brand spanking new Speedmaster Apollo 8 edition.

Launched last December, 50 years on from the launch of the Apollo 8 mission, it's taken until now for these to start appearing in 'local' shop windows and while for me it doesn't quite live up to my expectations (based on the launch photographs) this is still a very nice watch.

Clocking in at a surprising 44mm diameter (it really didn't feel that big to be honest) and 12mm thick, this piece has a lug to lug of 49mm keeping it within the magic 50mm that can push a watch over the edge for those with smaller wrists. The ceramic case is highly polished, so much so that in some lights it almost looks like steel, and I like the modern edge this gives the classic Speedmaster design.

The yellow detailing is also right up my alley, again bringing the watch right up to date, and I very much approve of the yellow stitching and perforation highlighting used on the strap, although I found the pin to be very odd and hard to use. To me it doesn't seem to be the right shape, although the salesman (Sean) assured me it was because the strap was new and stiff. Not sure if I believe that or not actually, it just seems to be an odd shape, but whatever. The buckle itself appears to be ceramic but I am told that in actual fact it is a mixture of ceramic and titanium.

Until I turned the watch over I didn't appreciate that the watch is manual wind, this isn't something that would overly bother me as I hardly ever wear an automatic watch for more than one day at a time so every time I wear one I have to set and wind it. However, I think if I was going to buy a watch with manual wind, I'd like one with a power indicator, and sadly this doesn't have that feature.

It doesn't have a date either, which again, doesn't bother me - it's one less thing to set when I pull it out of the watch box, but Sean told me that it doesn't have a date because there's no date in space, which I'm pretty sure is cobblers. It doesn't have a date because it doesn't have a date, the Speedmaster wasn't designed to go to space, it was designed as a racing chronograph.

That aside I enjoyed talking with Sean, who was enthusiastic and accommodating and didn't seem in any rush to put the watch back in the window. We chatted about watches and his own Speedmaster, which he had fitted with a Longines strap, TAG Heuer (Sean's first good watch was a TAG Heuer Formula 1 he bought when he was 18) and my WAY208C Aquaracer.

I guess I should mention that the dial of the watch is somewhat skeletonised and textured, but not overly so. Indeed these photographs emphasise it more than it's noticeable in real life and the same goes for the contrast between the yellow highlights and the black background. It's certainly not as 'muddy' as the Aston Martin Formula 1... but it does share that watch's shortness of strap!

So, clearly this watch isn't going to change my mind about Omega. I'm just not a fan. I do kind of like the design of the new Bond watch, but can't get behind something that celebrates a fictional character as if it's real. And releasing a watch to 'celebrate' the 50th Anniversary of a film that was middling at best and that you had absolutely nothing to do with is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. The fact is George Lazenby wore a Rolex in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' not an Omega and no amount of 'partnership' money is going to change that (although, how long before they digitally impose Omegas into all the old films I wonder?).

That said, it's definitely one of my favourite Omegas, top five for sure... it's just that that doesn't mean all that much, and at £7450 I'm afraid there is zero chance of me learning to love it. But, before I conclude there is one thing that's worth noting, if you like the standard Dark Side of the Moon Speedmaster, this is actually £1500 cheaper due to it's use of a cheaper movement and... some other reasons which are not entirely obvious...?

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer HMS Limited Edition Automatic Watch

WAY2016.BA0927

Finding out about this one has been HARD! I've even resorted to searching the Korean TAG Heuer website but to absolutely no avail. Thankfully I did manage to find some information on it and Aneta at the Oxford Street boutique helped me out with the part number (thanks Aneta) which I hoped might unlock some more Google searches. It didn't, but at least I could list it on my Gallery Blog with it's correct part number.

I'm afraid this is also the only decent photo I have of this watch, and I don't even know for sure if it's 41mm or 43mm. The watch is made for a Korean footballer called Son Heung-Min, who apparently plays for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and also captains the Korean national team (my knowledge of football stopped around 1981 so I admit I had to look it up).

The piece is limited to 777 pieces with number 7 being given to Son Heung-min himself, while numbers 77 and 777 have been auctioned for charity in Korea with the proceeds being donated to youth footballing teams. The significance of the number 7 is not, as I thought, because that number is significant in Korea (as number 8 is in China), but because Son Heung-min wears the number 7 on his football shirt(s). 

(Unfortunately, the number '7' has taken on a new significance in the past couple of days when it comes to Totenham Hotspur, as they were rather humiliatingly beaten 7-2 by Bayern Munich. Awkward!)

As such, as you can see in the photo above, the number 7 on the date dial is marked in red instead of black, which is quite cool, and the dial colour has been specially designed for Son, and designated HMS Blue. Why you ask? Well, I wasn't entirely sure, and after wasting much time searching for an answer (I came up with 2 highly implausible reasons relating to HMS Hotspur and HMS Flying Fish*, my friend who actually likes football pointed out that HMS is Son Heung-min's initials. 

Erm, okay!

Anyway, I think it's a nice looking watch, I really like the red/blue marker at the 12, which gives it a real point of difference compared to so many other blue dial Aquaracers, and it's good that they've given it a matching red second hand as well. Hard to give an opinion on the special blue dial color from this picture, it doesn't really look any different to me, but I'm guessing it does when you see it up close. Also, it's pretty unusual to see an Aquaracer with blue printed numerals on the bezel, it would have been super easy to just slap on a regular bezel so I think that shows they've put some extra thought into this one.

Where I would have expected to see the text 'Calibre 5' on the dial of this watch, we see HM7 and 'Automatic'. I believe TAG Heuer are in the process of phasing out calibre names on dials, so this is clearly a foretaste of Aquaracers to come and... well, frustratingly, that's really all I can tell you.  I guess TAG Heuer don't see tremendous worth in publicising watches in markets where they aren't available, and I can understand that, but it makes it jolly difficult for me! 

One thing I would say though, wouldn't this look great on a blue rubber strap, or even a rubber strap where one side was blue and the other side red, eh???

*HMS Flying Fish, was apparently the ship that took sailors to Korea and who then introduced soccer to the Korean people. I did say it was a bit implausible!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 (WAY201M)

WAY201M.FC6474

This is another one that Hodinky Koscom leaked a while ago, but now that it's on the TAG Heuer website I guess we can finally talk about it. Details are sketchy, the website claims the strap is alligator, but also that the watch has a diving extension (that seems extremely unlikely...). It also says the dial is black gold, which is interesting and presumably goes some way to explaining the price, which is £650 higher than what me might call a 'standard' Calibre 5 Aquaracer.

The website 'Rattrapante.com' are listing this as a ladies watch, but at 43mm that's more than a little unlikely. The bezel is ceramic and appears to be either black or dark grey, as does the dial. I doubt TAG Heuer would fit a black dial watch with a brown strap, so I'm going to assume it is in fact grey.

Again at the moment we are limited to this one picture, so it's hard to draw conclusions but this one looks quite agreeable. I wasn't sure about the colour combination when I first saw it but I think it's growing on me, it will certainly be interesting to see one of these in real life and get a handle on what's going on with it and why it's priced so high compared to every other Calibre 5 Aquaracer out there...

The WAY 201M is priced at £2400 and is available on the TAG Heuer website.

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 Watches

WAR215E.BD0783     WAR215C.FC6336     WAR215C.BD0784

TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 19th September 2019

This selection of 39mm Carreras caught my eye on my last visit to the boutique, admittedly they aren't really the kind of watch I am likely to put my hand in my pocket for, but I can appreciate a nice watch regardless of that. The most noticeable difference between the watches is the dial, which is flat on the WAR215E and sunburst on the WAR215C. I kinda like both dials if I'm honest, but the matt dial of the WAR215E contrasts nicely with the gold bezel and gives a solid background to the gold hands, making the watch surprisingly legible.

WAR215C.FC6336 

Bicester have the sunburst dial version on a bracelet or a leather strap, but at present they only have the WAR215E on a bracelet. Besides the dial the other main difference between these two Calibre 5 Carreras is that the WAR215C is yellow gold whereas the WAR215E is rose gold. This is abundantly clear on the renders shown above and below, but in all honesty I really struggled to tell the difference in the lights of the boutique. I mean really struggled. It might be different in daylight of course, but from what I could tell there isn't that much to choose between them, so it will probably come down to your preference on dial finish. Incidentally, talking of dial finish, I'm glad I managed to get some photographs of these as you can see from the wristshots that the dial is much lighter than it appears in the renders.

WAR215E.BD0784

Personally I'd definitely go with the rose gold / flat dial combination and definitely on a bracelet. The leather straps these come on are super-thin and appear rather delicate for a big chap like me, though they do have a deployment clasp (in steel) which should extend their life, I wouldn't fancy their chances too long against a pin and buckle, but maybe they are harder wearing than they look..?

WAR215C.FC6336

(Yellow Gold / Sunburst Dial / Leather Strap) 

List Price - £2850

Bicester Village Price - £1995

WAR215C.BD0783 

(Yellow Gold / Sunburst Dial / Two Tone Bracelet)

List Price - £3350

Bicester Village Price - £2345

WAR215E.BD0784

(Rose Gold / Matt Dial / Two Tone Bracelet)

List Price - £3350

Bicester Village Price - £2345

While these probably aren't something I would buy, I definitely enjoyed trying them on and can appreciate the overall design. I do like the fact that the bracelets aren't too over the top; they only have gold on alternate centre links rather than a solid gold middle and the links that are gold are also smaller than the steel ones. Less is definitely more I feel and it works very well here for me.

As always I don't know how many of these Carreras they have, but they estimated they had enough to last a few weeks so they should still have one or two available if you're keen. Give them a call on 01869 249008.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Microtimer Quartz Watch

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer 2000 & Kirium Series Catalogues

I found another two TAG Heuer catalogues on eBay last week, both in excellent condition and both listed at £29.95. I thought that was a bit steep to be honest, so I tried a cheeky offer of £15 each and my offers were accepted straight away. The seller dispatched quickly and two days later they were in my grubby paws, and right enough they are in fantastic condition. The 2000 catalogue even still has it's transparent dust cover and all the transparent pages inside are intact (and there are quite a few of them).

I presumed the picture of the Kirium with the red leather strap was a woman's watch, and it is, but there is another picture in the catalogue whose part number identifies it as a 36mm, which means it was probably sold as 'Unisex' or 'Boys' originally. Oddly both have the same part number for the red leather strap which confuses me a little, since surely if the cases are different sizes then how will it fit? I quite like the idea of a Kirium on a red leather strap, even if it is a bit 80s retro, but while the watch is easily found on a bracelet, I don't much fancy a 36mm watch and finding one of those straps would be a challenge I'm sure (then again maybe TAG Heuer still have some NOS?).

The 2000 catalogue isn't quite as exciting as the Kirium one, but it is presented very nicely (with the aforementioned transparent pages) and has some nice pictures. Of course you don't need to own the catalogues to be able to view them, as David at Calibre 11 has already added both of these to his online catalogue collection (links below)

https://www.calibre11.com/catalogues/tag-heuer-series-catalogues/1995-2000-series-catalogue/

https://www.calibre11.com/catalogues/tag-heuer-series-catalogues/1997-kirium-series-catalogue/