09/11/2018

Hands-On With the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Carbon Collection

The Aquaracer gets even more rugged with this special carbon series.

By Benjamin Teisseire

Contributor

Faithful to its acronym, TAG - Avant-Garde Technics, ‘’TAG in French’’ - unveils a new special carbon series. Stainless steel and ceramics often found in dive watches get a modern lifting in the Aquaracer family. An enhanced feeling of strength coupled with the lightness of titanium. Let’s go hands-on!

Lightness, ruggedness, and comfort

With these three new models, TAG Heuer succeeds in perfectly marrying modern and rugged style with a true lightness when worn. The characteristic dodecagonal bezel of the emblematic family comes in carbon for a dynamic and vigorous look. The 41mm black PVD-covered Grade 5 Titanium case offers a subdued thickness which confers an undeniable comfort on the wrist.

The dial stands out with its face dressed in imitation carbon sprinkled with colorful touches of rose gold, blue and yellow. They cheerfully brighten the dark black and grey look of each model. Thanks to the random injection of carbon fibers into a resin pressed at high temperatures – each piece will unveil a unique marble motif. Future owners will be able to admire at leisure the details of this seemingly personalized face. It can evoke as many rocky seabeds as slices of rocky strata. Quite fascinating.

Legibility and sport chic

Even if the dark marbled dial does not ease the legibility, the latter is enhanced by the faceted indexes and hour and minute hands polished and lacquered in rose gold or plated with black gold with grey SuperLuminova. The faceted central seconds hand is also polished and lacquered in rose gold, yellow or blue with grey SuperLuminova pairing the color theme of the watch. Likewise, the TAG Heuer logo is adorned with the same tones and is highlighted against the textured background. Finally, the magnifier at 3 o’clock provides optimum readability.

The models assert their sportiness of true divers’ watches and come with a black nylon strap with topstitching echoing the colors of the dial. Once again, comfort is optimized with a rubber lining and a Titanium Grade 2 deploying buckle with double safety push-buttons and diving extension.

Waterproof to 300m, this useful timepiece embodies sport chic TAG Heuer style. It will give wings (or should I say flippers) to the young adventurer’s aficionados of the brand. So will its fixed price of $3,900 USD for the blue and yellow versions, and $3,950 USD for the gold.