Aquaracer Professional 300 Date e GMT: a pair of aces for TAG Heuer

TAG Heuer’s Aquaracer collection is an excellent example of a product strategy effectively positioning the brand in a segment in which, historically, its presence was not as strong as in other sectors. Since its launch almost 20 years ago, the Aquaracer has steadily evolved to become a benchmark among divers for both amateur and high-performance use. And the evolution continues this year, with the new Aquaracer Professional 300 Date and Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT references. We’ll get to that in a moment. First, however, it is good to take a step back to learn about the origins of TAG Heuer’s divers watches.

TO THE ROOTS OF THE AQUARACER

Historically, much of the brand’s catalogue has been focused on watches dedicated to motor sports or aviation, such as the Carrera, the Monaco and the Autavia. The more recent Aquaracer collection, on the other hand, was designed and made for water sports, from diving to sailing. Today, the Aquaracer is the collection that has kept the six characteristics that have distinguished it since its launch, making it the direct descendant of the Heuer divers watches introduced in 1978: water resistance to at least 20 bar, screw-down crown, double safety clasp, unidirectional bezel, sapphire crystal, luminescent indices. 

TAG Heuer‘s divers watches, first introduced in the late 1970s, have gone through many developments, changing with the years, with the evolution of technology, and with enthusiasts’ tastes. As mentioned, Heuer launched the first series of divers watches in 1978; a collection that was rapidly developed, thanks to the popularity achieved by those timepieces.

Buoyed by the success of the first 1000 Series, Heuer created the 2000 Series in1982, which was in the catalogue until 1998 with several generations of products. It was a very elegant collection that added a fashionable touch to the divers watch category with a wide variety of styles, colours and materials. The third generation of the 2000 Series was divided into three sub-collections: Classic, Exclusive and Sport. The former carried out the traditional style of the 2000 Series, while the Exclusive models were bolder, with a heavier, more robust-looking bezel, redesigned hands, and oversized indices at 6, 9 and 12 o’clock. The Sport models had an aluminium bezel with raised, lume-filled numerals, and took some elements from early Heuer divers watches, including Mercedes-style hands, and a red and black bezel. There were relatively few models in the 2000 Sport series and the line was discontinued in 2002; however, it returned in 2004 with the 2000 Aquaracer: the 2000 Series thus incorporated the features of the Sport sub-collection and lived on to the fourth generation, which we know today as the Aquaracer.

Its main features were an aluminium bezel to match the dial, a yellow seconds hand to allow divers to easily read the time, and water resistance increased from 20 to 30 bar. On the very first Aquaracer models, the dials were labelled Professional rather than Aquaracer, but the name was still in the catalogues; TAG Heuer understood its evocative power – connecting the brand’s racing vocation to the aquatic world – and decided to keep it. Indeed, the first 2000 Aquaracer models were so successful that TAG Heuer, in 2005, relaunched the 2000 Series as the Aquaracer.

TAG HEUER AQUARACER PROFESSIONAL 300 DATE

Currently, the Aquaracer collection is divided into two main lines; one designed for outdoor use, the Professional 200, and one for real diving, comprising the Professional 300 and Professional 1000. If in the former there are, among others, watches equipped with the innovative solar-powered quartz TH50-01 calibre, it is in the Professional 300 line that we find two of the most interesting novelties launched by TAG Heuer for this summer season: the Aquaracer Professional 300 Date and the Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT. While they share similar aesthetic traits, what sets them apart is the complication they hold.

As suggested by the name, the Aquaracer Professional 300 Date’saesthetics and functional idea are focused around the date display, positioned at 6 o’clock and clearly visible thanks to the magnifying lens inside. Readability and ergonomics are among its strengths. The former is ensured by the updated design of the hour markers and hand, whose tip recalls the shield of the TAG Heuer logo. The latter is the result of a steel case with a satin-brushed and polished finish, and revised dimensions: the diameter was reduced from 43 to 42 mm and the thickness from 12.5 to 12 mm, an interesting size for a professional diver water-resistant to 30 bar.

The aesthetics rely on the combination of dial and bezel. The former features an embossed wave motif, brushed and with a sunburst finish, with which TAG Heuer tries to recreate the feeling of ripples over the sea, thanks to the play of light when it strikes it. The latter is in polished ceramic, with the hour-markers clearly visible and matching the dial, thanks to a palette of colours that is essential but consistent with the watch’s underwater vocation and the sea world. You can choose between a beautiful shade of blue – like the surface of the sea –, green – like the hues of Caribbean waters – or black – reminiscent of the depths of the abyss. Each colour of the dial and bezel is matched by a different one on the central seconds hand: orange with blue, yellow with green, blue with black.

The blue and black references are available with either a three-row steel bracelet with asatin finish or a matching rubber strap witha micro-adjustment buckle. The green reference comes only with the bracelet. As is always the case, strap or bracelet affect the price: 3,750 euros for the bracelet versions, 3,550 euros for those with the rubber strap.

TAG HEUER AQUARACER PROFESSIONAL 300 GMT

The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT’saesthetics are similar to the Date ‘brother’ display and plays versatility and robustness as its aces. Same diameter as the brushed and polished steel case – 42 mm – but slightly thicker – about 1 mm more – due to the presence of the GMT module inside the calibre. If the appearance of the dial and the legibility given by the hour markers and hands is the same as that of the Date version, as is normal, the difference is made by the twelve-sided rotating bezel. Which is still in polished ceramic but which, as for any respectable GMT, is two-tone to distinguish day from night, and the 24-hour markers are clearly visible.

Unlike the Aquaracer Professional 300 Date, which comes in five references, the Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT has three: two with a blue dial and two-tone black and blue bezel, one with a green dial and black and green bezel. The GMT hand is beautiful, matching the dial but in a brighter shade, benefitting legibility. From the information available on specialised sites, it appears that the GMT hand can be adjusted independently, although TAG Heuer has not specified this. Also here, as for the Date version, the green reference comes only with the steel bracelet, while you can choose a bracelet or a strap for the blue one. The price ranges from €4,150 for the model with bracelet, to €3,950 for the model with rubber strap.

MECHANICAL EXCELLENCE AND PRODUCT INTELLIGENCE

The mechanical heart of both series is the calibre TH31, which can boast chronometer certification from the COSC, as proudly displayed on the dial at 6 o’clock. Calibre TH31 comes in TH31-00 for the TAG Heuer Professional 300 Date and TH31-03 for the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT. Both movements are produced by AMT – Sellita’s partner company – exclusively for TAG Heuer; they work at 28,800 vibrations per hour and have the remarkable power reserve of 80 hours. We already found the TH31-00 inside the Aquaracer Professional 200 Gold with its solid gold case. Unlike that watch, on which the case back is made of sapphire crystal and allows a full view of the calibre, the two new Aquaracer references have a closed, screw-down case back (like the crown), bearing the diver’s helmet, the emblem of the collection; the minimum to guarantee a 30 bar water-resistance.  

In essence then, the new TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 Date and GMT represent a significant upgrade over previous models. The reduced case size, the more than doubled power reserve and the chronometer certification intriguingly position them in the divers watch segment, demonstrating the great work the brand has done in this area over the past decades. These Aquaracers also remain attractive and modern thanks to their updated dials and colours. And to the fact that they are positioned within an attractive price bracket.

By Davide Passoni