TAG Heuer Aquaracer Carbon Watch Review

 

5 Total Score
Are you ready for it?

It’s the latest Tag Heuer’s accessibly priced Aquarace for the diver out there. The 300m water resistance and the automatic Caliber 5 movement are the selling points, and nothing within the category beats it at the moment!

User Rating: 2.67 (6 votes)

The quality of the materials, the experience, the overall performance or the design are essential when buying a watch. If your wallet is generous enough, the price tag is the last you check, and you take the plunge with the high-end options. Even if a high price doesn’t always mean high quality, some manufacturers are on top for an excellent reason as it’s the whole package that sells: the variety of materials, the impressive craftsmanship, and the reliable accuracy.

Why is Tag Heuer such a famous name?

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Carbon Watch Review

Tag Heuer is a Swiss luxury manufacturing company that isn’t just designing, but it’s also manufacturing and marketing watches and various fashion accessories. It also works with other companies that manufacture under license eyewear and mobile phones that carry the Tag Heuer name.

The company was founded at the end of the 19th century in Switzerland and is an equivalent for both astonishing and luxurious products, more than anything else.

How was the Aquaracer born?

Tag Heuer is a common name for the race track, but the determination of its team to find better ways to protect the movements of the watches from the water has always been constant. It’s quite impressive, but Tag Heuer filed its first patent for the first water-resistant case for a pocket watch at the end of the 19th century. It even developed the very first waterproof wrist chronograph in 1939.

It was 1942 when Regatta stopwatches hit the market, and it wasn’t even the 50s when the first models with complicated tide indications appeared on the market.

The iconic Carrera is a collection of dive watches that come with rotating bezel, screw-in crown and water resistance of 300meter.

The Aquaracer is a direct follower of the Series 2000, and it hit the market in 2004 for the first time. The GMT, the chronograph and the 3-hand models, are the main features, and Aquaracers stand out with the 12-sided bezels, the six claws invading the surface of the bezel and the screw-in case backs and crowns.

What’s the Tag Heuer Aquaracer Carbon series in a nutshell?

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Carbon Watches 3 colors

The watches within the affordable Aquaracer series impress with the 300m water resistance and the automatic Caliber 5 movement.

The series is the result of the collaboration with the customization master George Bamford. We’re talking about the sporty diving watch series that includes three new models with similar all-black carbon treatment. The variations come from the accents in yellow, rose gold or blue.

The watch is made from lightweight carbon and black PVD steel. The cases are made of grade 5 titanium, and it features PVD coating as well.

The new model has both a modern and a classic design, and some may doubt its legibility on a deep dive. That’s because of the carbon fiber dial motif which has a slight camouflage effect. At the same time, the bright yellow/rose gold/shiny blue indexes are going to dissipate the impact.

Some parts of the bezel are made from carbon fiber, which makes the name “carbon” rather interesting.

The basics

TAG HEUER AQUARACER CARBON WATCH best view

 

The diameter is 41mm, so the watch has just the right size. The case is made from black PVD grade titanium with carbon bezel and steel, which give the toughness of the watch. The carbon material on the watch’s unidirectional diver’s bezel is made with a random injection of carbon fibers into a resin. The resin was pressed at high temperatures for obtaining the black-and-grey marbled pattern that varies a bit on every finished watch. Every watch within the series is different. The watches take the intense use for a very long time as they’re made with grade 5 titanium with matte black PVD coating (as previously stated). They’re scratch-resistant as they’re lightweight.

The bezel is inscribed with the 60-minute scale typical for the Aquaracer and the similar models. The screw-down crown at 3 o’clock is made of matte-black steel as well, and the screw-on case back comes with PVD-coated titanium. The watches also come with a date window at 3 o’clock with a magnifying lens for more comfortable reading in dim light conditions or when diving.

The dial presents an intriguing carbon fiber pattern with blue, yellow or rose gold accents. The indexes are polished, faceted and lacquered in rose gold or black gold.

The watch features Super-LuminNova in hour markers and hands, making the visibility in dim light conditions excellent.

There are several options when it comes to the strap/bracelet as you can go with black nylon strap with black/yellow/blue topstitching for matching the dial. The folding buckle in black PVD-coated grade 2 titanium matches the durability and toughness of the strap/bracelet. There’s also a double safety-push button closure and a diver’s extension.

The watch displays hours, minutes, seconds and date and has a 38hours power reserve. The winding is automatic, and the clock includes 26 jewels.

All the three watches come with Tag Heuer’s automatic Caliber 5, which is based on the ETA 2824-2. They include a 42-hours power reserve.

What’s our final take?

There’s a slight disappointment to the reality that the watches aren’t made entirely with carbon, but only feature carbon elements and carbon pattern for the dial.

The price is a selling point for sure, and the watches become some of the most affordable options from Tag Heuer. The impressive craftsmanship, the beautiful looks, the reliability in the water or the attention to the details make the watch a representative for its brand.

As long as you stay focused on the goods (which outweighs the bad for sure), you should take a leap of faith and get yourself a dive watch that takes the deep dive for a very long time. After all, it’s Tag Heuer we’re talking about!

RESOURCES

Darkened for the Deep: TAG Heuer Launches Aquaracer Carbon Special Editions | WatchTime – USA’s No.1 Watch Magazine

The TAG Heuer Carbon Aquaracer – HODINKEE

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Carbon Watches | aBlogtoWatch

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