While I know it’s sort of in the name of the website, since I got this thing, it has rarely left my wrist, and it’s caused me to neglect some of the other watches in my collection. It isn’t without faults, though, so let’s d(r)ive in.
Overview:
Case: 43.5 mm diameter stainless steel, with a screw down crown and 200 meters water resistance
Bezel: Ceramic, fixed bezel
Bracelet: Stainless steel with ceramic inserts
Clasp: Foldover clasp with three micro adjustment slots and a single link quick adjustment
Movement: Quartz chronograph
Identification #: CAZ1011.BA0843
What’s it like to wear:
The watch wears really well in my opinion, despite the relatively large 43.5mm diameter. For reference, I’ve included a picture of it on my 6.5 inch wrist. While it’s definitely got some wrist presence, it’s not the biggest watch I’ve had, and the weight and thickness make it very wearable. I will say that I wish the lugs would curve down a little bit more to look slightly more natural on the wrist, because they have very little curve to them, meaning if you have a smaller wrist, the lugs will definitely hang over a bit.
The watch is quite comfortable, though, and I have no complaints with wearing it, and it’s become my daily wear. My arm hair is never pinched, and the crown doesn’t dig into my wrist at all.
What I’ve Liked:
I think this watch looks great and wears great. I’m personally a fan of Tag Heuer, despite the reputation that they get sometimes in the watch community. My opinion is that every luxury watch is going to be overpriced for what you’re getting, and Tag is no exception. I did get this watch used, though, which, especially being a Tag, I got what I thought was a pretty decent deal, and if you’re in the market for one of these, I would say that the second hand prices make the watch much more reasonable. If you are buying second hand, though, make sure you do your vetting, know what you’re talking about, and be very cautious about who you buy from. There are some awesome communities online with people who will help you out, but there are also people who are just as happy to screw you over, so if you’re new to watches, please do your due diligence.
Now, back to the watch. One thing I love about these Formula 1 watches is that in a few ways, they’ve kept the roots to some of the first F1 watches, especially the chronographs. One of those is the 1/10th of a second counter, which was found on some of the first F1 watches, and while it’s not something that I personally have any use for, it’s quite satisfying to start the chronograph and watch the 1/10th second counter whizz around for the first thirty seconds. The chrono response is also good, and the pushers are quite smooth. They’re not clicky and mechanical, like some chronographs I’ve had, which actually caught me off guard a little bit, but after getting used to it, I really like the pushers on this one.
I also quite enjoy the ceramic bezel and bracelet on this. I think it adds a bit of depth to the watch, and the ceramic scratches a lot less than the steel on the bracelet, but if the two tone isn’t your thing, this probably won’t be your thing. I also really like the dial on this. The small details like the sunburst dial, and the texture of the subdials work very nicely together. Overall, I think the fit and finish of the watch is good, and mostly what you would expect when you’re paying a good amount for a watch. All the print on the dial and subdials is very clean, and the applied indices look great, with generous lume applied to the hands and indices. I’ll go into some of the finishing that I don’t like in the next section, though.
What I don’t like:
This watch has a lot of polished surfaces. Don’t get me wrong, I think that polished surfaces on watches look great – as long as they stay that way. That hasn’t happened with this watch for me. With this being my daily wear, the polished sides of the case have just managed to pick up a good amount of hairline scratches, which I recognize are not very visible as there aren’t many people looking at the sides of my watch case, but I definitely notice them, and I think that this watch would be a lot better with some brushed sides to go with the brushed aesthetic that the rest of the watch has. The other issue that I have with this watch is some of the minor quality control issues that I’ve noticed that I don’t believe should be present on a watch- especially a quartz watch- at this price point. One of the most noticeable ones is that the tachymetre second hand doesn’t quite perfectly align with the 12 o’clock indice. I’m sure there’s a way to resolve this like on the Moonswatches, but it’s not something I think should be fixed on a watch from Tag.
The consensus:
I definitely have enjoyed my first Tag Heuer, and despite the scratchability of this one, I think it’s a pretty solid choice for someone who wants a watch with a racing history without breaking the bank. That being said, I don’t think this watch is worth the $2550 USD price tag at the time of writing this article. Fortunately for some, Tags are like luxury cars and lose their value very quickly after they’re bought, meaning there are definitely good deals to be had on the secondary market with these. Check out our used watch buying guide here for some tips on buying used watches. I’m a big F1 fan, so it is kind of cool for me to see the logo I’m wearing on my wrist on Formula 1 weekends, but that’s just marketing at work. The quartz movement is also not for some, but I appreciate that I don’t have to worry about winding this if I don’t wear it for a couple of days as I don’t have a winder for my automatic watches. There’s definitely a time and a place for quartz, even in high end watches in my opinion. Having a ‘racing heritage,’ though, I think I would prefer something with a mechanical movement because I think that the mechanics of auto racing and the mechanics of a watch have a bit of overlap, and I can appreciate the engineering put into mechanical watches. Either way, the type of movement doesn’t make or break this one for me, but I can appreciate the need for mechanical for some.
At the end of the day, I don’t really see myself getting rid of this watch anytime soon, and I think it’ll continue to be a regular wear for me for the foreseeable future. It goes with just about anything, and stands out just enough in my opinion. Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below, and please don’t forget to check out our other reviews!
