FEATURE: A Look Back at TAG Heuer 2022 So Far - Part 1 (featuring Jim Dollares)

 

Once again it's time for a sit-down chat with our Swedish correspondent Jim '4 gold teeth' Dollares, and this time we decided to discuss the year so far. This chat was done a few weeks ago so unfortunately we didn't cover the recent Mario or Porsche releases, but still there was plenty to discuss.

ROB: The end is nigh. The end of September that is, and by extension 2022! Yes, it won't be much longer before we're all huddled in coats, cursing the cold and selling watches to pay our fuel bills. But let's not dwell on such misery, because today we have our favourite Swede with us to look back at the year so far. Hello Jim, how are you doing?

JIM: Well isn't this awesome, good to be back! You know, I am quite good and doing my best to just enjoy life and maybe I shouldn't start off with giving everything away but you know that I have been very positive with TAG Heuer in the last year or so. Some killer releases to talk about indeed.

ROB: Great to have you back as always, so where shall we begin? Do you wanna pick something off the list or go straight to the new F1 Chronos?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Link Blue V White Dial Comparison by Brent Miller Time

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Monaco V4 Platinum Limited Edition Watch

 

WAW2170.FC6261

During the 00s and early 10s, and under the stewardship of CEO Jean Cristophe Babin, TAG Heuer flexed their horological muscles and produced a slew of hardcore time pieces including the Mikropendulum, the Mikrotimer Flying 1000 and the Monaco V4. The V4 was released in several different configurations (including a tourbillon) but this particular model was notable primarily for its platinum case.

Now, I had this quote in my head that all the platinum in the world would fit in an Olympic swimming pool... but I knew if I blithely slapped that into this post and it was wrong someone would call me out. So, like all good journalists, I Googled it... and it appears that I wasn't far wrong. Apparently it is estimated that there are 70,000 metric tonnes of platinum, mostly still in the ground in South Africa, but as far as how much has already been mined, well supposedly it would all fit in a room 25ft square.

Which probably explains why it's so bloody expensive! Indeed, the watch in question is currently available new from 'Watches of Mayfair' at a price of £89,279... I wonder if they have the nerve to charge carriage on top?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Chronograph by Bruce Williams

 

FEATURE: Who Would You Like to See TAG Heuer Collaborate With Next?

Following TAG Heuer's recent collaboration with MarioKart, I thought it would be interesting to ask the Council of Considered Opinion who they would like to see TAG Heuer collaborate with next and what they would like to see come of it. Here then is a brief insight into the minds of the members of the council...

KAPPA MD: "TAG Heuer x Nike / Jordan would be interesting for me, in the form of Connected, Aquaracer sports watch or some hype production? Just thinking out of the box. How about Lego?"

ANTHONY R: "Enough already.... just do what they are good at. Let's hope we see some classic stuff next year."

REMO:  "If they stay with Nintendo they could do a Link x Legend of Zelda (since the Hero of Zelda is Link if you didn't know)."

"After there were TAG Heuer x Art and TAG Heuer x games collabs there will most probably be TAG Heuer x music collabs. Bamford already did it with the Bamford Mayfair x Queen and Bamford x Kylie Minogue. I would appreciate a TAG Heuer x Young Gods edition with matching Soundtrack: Gasoline man!"

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: Watches Available at TAG Heuer Bicester Village

 
Call the Store on 01869 249008

It's been a while since my last 'Bicester Village' post, mainly because the stock seems fairly static these days. But I noticed yesterday that there a few new pieces filtering through and I thought I would share these with you. As ever, stock is limited so please call the store before driving long distances, I'm sure Evan and Frazer will be delighted to hear from you!

WAY108A.FT6141

List Price - £2100

BICESTER VILLAGE PRICE - £1400

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 Series by Erased Culture

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer x Mario Kart Formula 1 Calibre 16 and Tourbillon Limited Edition Chronographs

 

CAZ201E.FC6517                                    CAZ5080.FC6517

Oh Lord. Where to begin with this pair? Okay, cards on the table here... I think I played a Super Mario game once about five years ago at a New Years Eve party, and that is pretty much my experience of the admittedly very popular gaming franchise. As such, I really have zero investment in this, I'm solely viewing this from the perspective of a watch enthusiast and not a Mario fanboi. Which is probably not ideal and in fact I posted on the 'THF Forum' asking if anyone wanted to write a guest 'First Impressions' post for these because I felt it might be better written by someone who understood where TAG Heuer were coming from with these watches. Alas, no one volunteered, so I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and do it myself... though I can't honestly say I'm looking forward to it.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer MarioKart Watch Costs $25,000! by Watchfinder & Co

 

OWNED: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Baby Blue' Quartz Watch

 

388.513

Slowly but surely I am divesting myself of my excess of watches and unfortunately this classic F1 quartz is the latest to bite the eBay bullet. I can't deny it's one of the cooler looking colour schemes for the old Formula 1 range and mine was in lovely condition - but the truth is I never really felt that comfortable wearing it. For one thing, you just know that light blue strap isn't going to stay pristine-looking forever (unless you're very careful with how you wear the watch and indeed what you wear on your sleeve next to it as the plastic strap can take pigment from clothes).

VIDEO: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Quartz Chronograph by NeilPinkett

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Ladies Calibre 5 'Pink Dial' Watch

 

WBP231J.BA0618

TAG Heuer Boutique / Milton Keynes, 10th October 2022

My TAG Heuer enthusiast wife Rose was keen to try on this new pink-dial Aquaracer today, even though she knew that at 36mm it was probably going to be too big for her tiny wrist. Fortunately she was in luck as the TAG Heuer boutique had it in stock and actually it didn't look as ridiculous as she feared; which was a surprise given that we've always thought her 32mm green dial Aquaracer was pretty much her limit size wise. 

Maybe it's to do with the thickness, but others have commented about how well the 43mm Aquaracer wears, people who usually moan about oversized watches as it goes... so maybe the design philosophy applies equally to the 36mm versions? I know our Swedish correspondent (Sleazy) Jim Dollares tried a 36mm Aquaracer on recently as he thought he could get away with it and was openly mocked by the shop assistant! 😏

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monza CR2113 by Watch Once Over

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Stoplight' Quartz Chronographs

CAZ101AM.FT8054               CAZ101AN.FT8055               CAZ101AP.FT8056

 

TAG Heuer Boutique / Milton Keynes, 10th October 2022

My initial reaction to the press photos for these watches was fairly tepid, but over the following days they started to grow on me a little bit to the point where I was actually semi-excited to see them. After all, in recent times a lot of new watches seem to look better on the wrist than in photographs so I didn't want to make up my mind until I'd viewed them for myself (especially since these new pieces have strong metallic dials that can look different from different angles).

Well, now I have and I have to say the straps look fantastic, really nice colours and comfortable too... when they make a black one I will definitely be first in the queue (assuming it will fit my orange F1 WAZ101A?) because these are a definite improvement on the somewhat uninspiring perforated rubber straps that came before.

VIDEO: Heuer Super Professional 1000M Dive Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

https://www.birthyearwatches.com/product/c1984-heuer-super-professional-with-pouch/

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 'Porsche 2.7 Edition' Chronographs

 
CBN2016.EB0275                                         CBN2045.FC8316

To say it's been a busy year on the watch release front would be an understatement (more than fifty new watches already this year!) and we're not finished yet. Next up we have not one but two new 'Porsche' branded (and these ones really are branded) Heuer 02 driven Carrera Elegants... though whether you could describe these watches as 'elegant' is a different matter altogether. 

Okay, we'll scratch that part, but these are the smaller 42mm Carreras rather than the 44mm 'Sports' models (these 'Elegant' and 'Sports' labels seem to have fallen by the wayside somewhat) and so more befitting of a retro-vibe appropriate for pieces celebrating 50 years since the launch of the Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Watch by One Man Reviews

 

NEWS: TAG Heuer Catalogues Now Available Online

 

With the unfortunate demise of the Calibre 11 website we lost a fantastic long standing source of information about our favourite brand and while rumours persist that the data will eventually surface in some form on the TAG Heuer website, I very much doubt it will be as complete since TAG Heuer seemingly have little interest in the history of their less celebrated watches. I understand this since it doesn't help them sell their current watches and they are a business after all, but still.

Maybe they will prove me wrong and they will unveil a fabulous history section on their website... I genuinely hope so. But if there was one thing I wasn't prepared to lose access to it was the huge selection of TAG Heuer catalogues, and so once I knew that C11 was being closed down I spent many hours downloading each and every page of all 100+ catalogues (dating from 1959). It was a relief when it was over to be honest.

Now, thanks to Imagwai from THF Forums, you can access these once more by clicking the banner to the right of this post (or clicking the link in the CATALOGUES tab if you are reading this on a phone or tablet).

Alternatively you can click the link below:

http://medd.co.uk/th_catalogues

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 'Cortina/Singapore 50th Anniversary' Limited Edition

CBN2043.EB0261

Quite something, this one... perhaps a watch that could be described as 'Marmite'; something that's clearly borne out by the vastly divergent comments from the 'Council of Considered Opinion' below! And I guess it's easy to see why as this watch may not really hit the mark for Western audiences, but since this watch is specifically made for the Singaporean market and particularly for the 50th Anniversary of watch retailer 'Cortina' who are based there perhaps we in the West are not best placed to appraise it?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Grand Prix de Monaco Historique' Limited Edition Heuer 02 Chronograph by The Watch Village

 

FEATURE: My Top Five Diamond Bezel TAG Heuer Watches

 

CAR5A1X.BA0510 'Yoshida' Limited Edition (2017)

Supposedly 'diamonds' are a girl's best friend, but guys can wear diamonds too - it's just that not too many of us want to. I certainly would, but it's hard to wrap your head around paying £4500 for a watch that might otherwise cost £2800 just because it has a shiny bezel. Still, sooner or later I would like to add one diamond bezel watch to my collection, could it be one of these?

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Monaco 'Gulf' Special Edition Heuer 02 Chrongograph by Brent L Miller Time

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02T 'Singapore Boutique' Limited Edition

 

CAR5A8J.EBXXXX

Released back in 2019 I only came across this one about a month ago while researching the history of the Carrera. You may remember there was a Ginza (Japan) boutique edition which was similar but had red highlights instead of purple. Purple has been chosen here as it matches the colour which decorates the front of the ION Orchard Mall (where the TAG Heuer boutique is situated) and which was celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2019 - hence this special edition.

VIDEO: Two Ladies Aquaracers by Brent L Miller Time

 

FEATURE: My TAG Heuer Grand Carrera LE Gets a Service and Polish Courtesy of Watchfinder

WAV511J.BA0900 (Pre-Service)

N.B. THIS POST IS NOT A PAID PROMOTION OR IN ANY WAY 'IN AGREEMENT' WITH WATCHFINDER!

A few weeks ago, completely out of the blue, I received an email from Watchfinder offering me a free service and polish. It wasn't, as you might imagine, a 'personal' email for services to the watch community (...) it was a 'commercial' email that I assumed had been sent to all their customers at once, but after speaking to people at the THF Forum it seems not. To be honest I didn't really pay that much attention to it, because like most people I imagine, when you get an unsolicited email promising something for nothing... well, consider me somewhat skeptical.

So I kind of scrolled past it, but then a few days later I got another email reminding me that time was running out to book my free service and this time for whatever reason I decided to look into it a bit deeper. Naturally I assumed that if they were offering a free service it would have to be on a watch that I had bought from them, which, since all the watches I had bought from them (and still owned) were quartz, seemed a bit unnecessary. Plus I assumed I would have to pay the carriage and then there was the worry about it getting lost, and so on and so on.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 Chronograph by Swiss Watch Expo

 

FEATURE: My Love Affair with the Heuer Carrera 'Ice King' 160th Anniversary Heuer 02 Limited Edition Chronograph by Jim Dollares

Today we have another splendid contribution from our Swedish correspondent / TAG Heuer enthusiast Jim Dollares, and today he wants to tell you all about his most favouritest watch ever.

Mom, dad, I want you to meet the love of my life, this is the Ice King. We met in December 2020 and my life will never be the same!

Those who know me will roll their eyes, the nickname ‘Ice King’ has been used by me hundreds of times for this superb Carrera that TAG Heuer released in 2020 to celebrate their 160th anniversary. I am sick of watch companies looking for any “anniversary” as an excuse to release new limited editions but this time I didn’t mind, since the result is the most perfect and beautiful watch I have ever laid my eyes on. When I first received it, I remember saying that this might not only be the watch of the year, but the watch of the decade.

[click here to read about the 'COCO Watch of the Year 2020' post]

VIDEO: Heuer Carrera 'Montreal' 160th Anniversary Heuer 02 Chronograph by Watchfinder

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Stoplight' Quartz Chronographs

CAZ101AM.FT8054               CAZ101AN.FT8055               CAZ101AP.FT8056

 

Colourful watches have definitely been a 'thing' of late, and any maunfacturer offering up a steady diet of black, blue, white and silver/grey dials is at risk of looking like a complete dinosaur. Not that this is a major problem for TAG Heuer who have always experimented with colours, just look at their recent releases: Aquaracer and F1s in orange dials, Monaco in green and purple dials, Heritage Carrera in red and teal dials... and if we look back a little further you've had two different red/silver Monacos and a green Calibre 16 Formula 1. On the other hand we've also had the utterly hideous 'Tiffany Blueish' Monaco Riviera, which is the perfect example of how TAG Heuer's colour choices don't always hit the mark... thank God there's only 30 of those monstrosities out there!

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Ladies Watches by Brent Miller Time

 

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer GMT Calibre 7 Watch

 

WBP2010.BA0632

Steffans / Northampton, 31st August 2022

Right from the moment I saw the render for this (way back whenever that was....), I thought this could potentially be the one for me. I'd already tried several 2021 spec Aquaracers (including the green bezel titanium version and the Night Diver) and although I liked them, none of them spoke to me to the tune of £2500+ (or £3500 in the case of the titanium model). But I had high hopes for the GMT with its funky looking blue and white bezel and yellow accented GMT and second hands.... 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 by Random Rob

 

OWNED: TAG Heuer 2000 Exclusive Quartz Chronograph

CN1110.BA0337

For some peculiar reason, the TAG Heuer 2000 Exclusive range is one that is very overlooked and as a consequence rather undervalued in my opinion. I bought this immaculate CN1110 from Watchfinder back in January 2019 for the princely sum of £675 (or thereabouts: it was a three watch trade in deal, but that was the starting price) and even now you can still find these on Watchfinder (with a two year warranty no less) for about £750. 

If you are prepared to forego the chorongraph you can pick them up even cheaper: I saw a gorgeous blue dial WN1112 (another watch I own) recently in a sale on EST1897 for under £300 - which is insane value! I absolutely love that watch and would never sell it. Okay, the bezel was a bit scratched up (bit of a design flaw having a polished raised section) but at that price you could afford to replace the bezel and you would have a cracking Swiss made watch for very little money.

FIRT IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 Japanese Limited Edition Chronograph

CBN2019.BA0642

I was trawling YouTube for TAG Heuer videos the other day, when I came across a Japanese video... I don't really know why I clicked on it since I can't speak or read Japanese, but for some reason I flicked through it and right near the end I spied something which caught my eye. 'What is that?' I thought to myself, 'I don't remember an Elegant Carrera with rose gold on it'. However, I wasn't 100% sure so I spent the next 15 mins trawling my Gallery Blog and anywhere else I could think of to make sure this was something new and then hit on the idea of visiting TAG Heuer's Japanese website where my suspicions were confirmed.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 Chronograph by Brent Miller Time

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 2021 'Qatar' Limited Edition Heuer 02 Chronograph

CBN2015.BA0642

Unfortunately this one passed me by when it was released last year, so it didn't get its shot at the 2021 COCO Watch of the Year. Somehow I don't think it would have mattered much, but still, it's always interesting to get the feedback of the council whenever a previously unseen watch turns up and this one is pretty unique. It's also very exclusive, with just fifty examples made (although from what I heard very few were actually made available to the public for purchase).

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Omotesando Boutique' Heuer 02 T Limited Edition

CAR5A8AD.FT6415

To celebrate the re-opening of the Omotesando boutique in Japan, TAG Heuer have produced this limited edition Heuer 02 tourbillon with a coated titanium case and forged carbon lugs and bezel. It's somewhat reminiscent of the 'Mexico' model launched last year (one of which was personalized and presented to Red Bull Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez) but this time highlighted with red on the tourbillon and rear crystal.

VIDEO: Heuer Skipper by David Harper Art and Antiques

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Tudor Pelagos 39 200M Automatic Watch

 

M25407N-0001

Of all the non-TAG Heuer watches I have the closest affinity with, number one is probably the Tudor Pelagos LHD. This is almost entirely because my good friend Rich owns one and as such I have seen and handled this watch quite a bit over the last few years. It is not without it's faults; I'm not 'crazy' about the red/black date wheel and the (admittedly clever) clasp is a bit weird, but overall I like it a lot and it is pretty much the only watch in the world with fauxtina that doesn't make me want to puke in a bucket. 

But of course an awful lot of people wanted the Tudor Pelagos in a smaller size and so there is understandable excitement for the release of this 39mm variant. I don't doubt for a second that this will sell like hot cakes, indeed I'm sure the waiting lists are already growing since as ever these days Tudor will have done a thoroughly terrible job of providing adequate inventory on release. But then of course we all know a lack of stock only feeds the hype; nothing makes a watch enthusiast crave a watch like being told they can't have one after all...