If you dive, there’s a fairly good likelihood that you just don’t do it in your personal yard — and even in your personal native time zone, for that matter. So, it goes with out saying that the added performance of an additional time zone on a dive watch makes an entire hell of loads of sense — it’s only a disgrace that there actually aren’t that lots of them on the market. TAG Heuer appears to be doing its finest so as to add to the combination with a brand new blue-dialed Aquaracer GMT (ref. WAY201T) outfitted with a bi-colored aluminum 24-hour bezel.
The Aquaracer Calibre 7 GMT ref. WAY201T
The Aquaracer Calibre 7 GMT ref. WAY201F
Not like the Rolex GMT Grasp II, which unofficially coined this bi-color blue and black “Batman” colour scheme, the Aquaracer is positioned as a real dive watch, providing thrice the water resistance at 300 meters. It additionally differs from the GMT Grasp from a useful standpoint, as its Calibre 7 engine makes use of the normal ETA 2892-A2 as a base — a motion finest characterised as a “cellphone GMT,” which permits straightforward studying of an extra time zone of your selection, because the date and the 24-hour indicator may be quick-adjusted through the crown. That is particularly helpful for these of you conducting enterprise between time zones through cellphone or Zoom in the course of the international shelter-in-place mandate. Nonetheless, a “true GMT” execution is what’s actually best for journey, because the hour hand may be shortly adjusted independently from the remainder of the watch’s capabilities — upon touchdown in a brand new time zone, for instance. This explicit execution is far much less widespread, often reserved for a pricing airspace (suppose Rolex, Omega, and Panerai) properly above the place TAG Heuer tends to function.
At 43mm and with a richly detailed blue dial, I’m happy to see that TAG Heuer didn’t improve the case measurement of the already very daring Aquaracer to accommodate the added utility of the GMT. That stated, it could have been good to see a 24-hour index within the chapter ring on the outer fringe of the dial, enabling the studying of three time zones concurrently, however one of many hallmarks of the Aquaracer line has all the time been legibility, so I respect the choice to protect as a lot of the dial’s visible identification as doable. Because it stands, you may merely use the bezel to learn a second time zone, operate as an AM/PM indicator, or use as a rudimentary (albeit considerably imprecise) timing gadget through the use of the pip at 12 o’clock as a cardinal marker.
Now in its fourth era, the long-running Aquaracer assortment started its genesis within the early aughts as an avant-garde luxurious sports activities watch, whose daring styling was married to a level of functionality that echoed the no-nonsense “Skilled” line of dive watches from 1982. Over the course of these 4 generations, the platform has seen at the least one main design revision each 4 or so years, although the general aesthetic of the Aquaracer, with its distinctive rider-tabbed bezel and multi-dimensional dials, has roughly remained constant. The gathering has additionally seen a variety of purpose-built problems through the years, starting from extremely specialised deep-sea divers, ana-digi quartz dive timers, regatta timers, and traditional mechanical dive chronographs. However there had by no means been a GMT — till 2017, when the Aquaracer GMT (ref. WAY201F), with its vivid two-toned “Pepsi” bezel, joined the fold.
It’s nice to see the Aquaracer begin to shift again towards these area of interest, albeit extra purposeful, designs, as the present era of the watch has felt a bit an excessive amount of like a “life-style” object, putting a larger emphasis on daring colours and using extra trendy case or element supplies — which was, with out query, the inventive affect of Jean-Claude Biver throughout his tenure as CEO. However I’d argue that a return to on a regular basis utility whereas remaining daring and interesting-looking might strike simply the best stability for the Aquaracer.
The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 7 GMT within the new blue dial is out there now, and carries a retail value of $three,050 — a $400 premium on the usual Calibre 5 stainless-steel Aquaracer. For extra data, go to tagheuer.com.
