TAG Heuer Aquaracer

This watch is ideally suited for those who prefer a classic 'minimalistic' look, without the clutter of a chronograph. Tag makes some of the best looking watches with a matte, brushed steel finish, without the 'bling' and 'shine' associated with the designs evident on luxury watches made by other manufactures, and a lot of fashion brands which are now into watch-making .

This watch has some essential functionality in terms of date and a tachymeter, and an anti-reflective coating on the dial, which makes it easier to observe the time (as reflection from external light sources is minimized). It symbolizes The 500m water resistance makes this watch ideal for diving. The radium dial is quite useful for observing the time in low light, including under water. A great all-purpose watch for wearing at home, at office, or outdoors.

Buying a TAG Heuer has always been a dream but I never really got around to deciding on one – that is until I saw pictures of the new TAG Heuer Aquaracer WAK2110.BA0830 (Most beautiful divers I have ever seen!). There seems to be a lot of interest in this watch, so I thought I’d give a shot at doing a review. I won’t bore you with the details of the packaging. It comes with the standard TAG Heuer box (with a thin line of wood frame inside) which I think is excellently presented. Now on to the watch itself – my first TAG.

Dial
I got this black version, but there are other colour combinations. Personally, I need the date complication in my watches and I love how TAG made it blend in perfectly with the dial (oh and this 500M does not have a cyclops on top of date, which makes it much more clear to look).At 41mm covered with scratch resistant sapphire crystal the dial gives the most stunning finish of lustre effect. The hour markers stand out brilliantly as they are pressed on the surface of dial. The seconds hand sweeps remarkably smooth and looks more so over better with a chrome finish on it as well as the borders of the hour markers, minutes and hour hand. The hands have a sword like finish with diamond cut look on edges making it look very sleek and futuristic. The Hands and Hour markers have a high treatment of luminescence, which turns dazzling emerald green in the dark.

Bezel
I really like what TAG did with the design. The last 500m Aquaracer had a much thicker and rubber bezel. This new one looks vividly lean with respect to the rest of the face. I like how the numbers and markings on the bezel are not printed on, but are actually stamped in the ceramic. Yes! It’s got a beautiful Ceramic (4% more scratch resistant than steel) dial with unidirectional motion of120 clicks. The clicks feel solid and secure. The rim of the bezel reminds me of Rolex Submariner as they have the typical cut on rims, TAG has however has gone ahead and modified it with alternated gloss and matt finish square steel blocks.

Crystal
The beauty of this TAG is the flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on it. I really like the flatness and sleekness of this watch as compared to other gigantic diver’s watches.

Case and Crown
The case is finished with polished steel on the front, while the sides carry a high chrome effect. On the left, at 10 O’clock you can see the helium escape valve. The value has also been given a high chrome look which looks splendid. On the right, we have the screw down crown with the TAG Heuer logo on it. It unscrews smoothly, but it is trickier screwing it back down. I do like the shape of the crown itself and it’s easy to grip. Overall, the case is grand.

Bracelet
The bracelet continues its polished steel look from the dial and gives the look of extreme masculine. The bracelet in itself is very lean; the great thing about the bracelet is that it carries a high gloss finish on the sides whereas the front is polished matt finish steel.

Movement
It uses the workhorse Calibre 5 (TAG’s in house movement) movement giving it a heartbeat of 28,800BPH. It has the typical hack and wind capabilities of this movement. However a minor drawback for some might be the case back as it’s covered and sealed with a diver’s helmet logo on it. As per my experience the movement is precise to 5/-2 seconds per day, which is ‘PRECISE’ in a word!

Conclusion
Overall, I really like this watch, and it’s still growing on me. I think this newer model is more of a dress diver because it is more subdued, which is not a bad thing at all. I wouldn’t mind wearing this one with a suit because of how clean and classy it looks. This review turned out longer than I planned, but I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.