If you had to choose your TAG Heuer fighter, chances are it would be between a Monaco, Carrera and Formula 1 – three staples to the brand's automotive heritage. But there’s another popular option: “The Aquaracer stands out for combining aesthetic design, as well as commitment to innovation and the environment, making it just as worthy of the spotlight," shares Instagram fan @tagheuer_page about TAG Heuer's accessible dive watch. "It's a model that continues to innovate, using anti-magnetic mechanisms and professional diving systems. It’s been designed to be easy to read underwater, and is also very elegant.”
Any Aquaracer fans out there are in for a treat as the brand has just dropped some new versions – Professional 300 Dates and Professional 300 GMTs. The 300 Date is a robust 42mm, has an updated minute track, a date window at 6 o'clock and a reworked hour hand, making it even easier to read underwater/in the sea. The 300 GMT similarly serves you with an updated crown, a new movement (calibre TH31-03 for those who get a tick from calibres) and the split-colour bezels give a likeness to Rolex's sought after ‘Sprite’ and ‘Batman’ GMT-Master IIs.
The latest line-up epitomises TAG Heuer’s ability to refresh the aesthetic of a watch while ensuring its tool-bearing capabilities remain the key draw. Case in point: the brushed blue, green and black sunray dials mimic the ripple of the ocean. “Unlike the Carrera and Monaco, the Aquaracer has its own rather contemporary design language,” says watch expert Kristian Haagen. “The Aquaracer is in a unique position, appealing to people who don’t care about the chronograph complication and would rather own a good-looking sporty watch from one of the most important Swiss watch brands. Some will undoubtedly see the TAG Heuer Aquaracer as their ‘first Swiss watch,’ and the price of around £3,000 [for an automatic version] adds to that perception.”
Haagen isn’t the only expert who feels the Aquaracer pitches itself as a solid option for your first Swiss grail watch. “When I was looking for a watch to buy, I stumbled across the Aquaracer models and thought about buying the steel bezel model because of the similar looks it shares with the 2000,” says @wristdreamer, who got the Aquaracer bug when his father passed on a TAG Heuer 2000 diver to him.
The story of the Aquaracer has ebbed and flowed in unexpected directions since Jack Heuer launched his first series of dive watches in 1978. Through various iterations like the 1000 series and the hugely popular 2000 series in 1982, the Aquaracer was born in 2004 and has been riding a wave ever since. “The 2000 series really took off after Techniques d’Avant Garde bought Heuer, and became a huge success for the brand as it paved the way for the Aquaracer we know today. This current version is truly the best of that evolution,” says Alon Ben Joseph, co-founder of The Real Time Show and co-owner of Ace Jewelers. “It’s a deserved design masterpiece.”
For other watch lovers, the heritage behind the Aquaracer is what earns it the most plaudits. “These new Aquaracers are the contemporary interpretations of the brand of one of my favourite last purchases; A TAG Heuer 3000 Professional made at the end of the ’80s,” says Maxime Couturier, co-founder of heist-out. “Since then, the case design has grown from 37mm to 42mm, but it has the same angular and robust aesthetic, my favourite attribute of this watch: super masculine and technical. Today, it holds a more premium positioning with a bold and distinctive look.”
So whether you’re scouting out your first Swiss Made watch or in the market for a dive watch that can handle being bashed about in the waves, these Aquaracers will take your collection from novice to pro.
