We’re still in the first month of 2022, and it is already the year of the Aquaracer.
Earlier this month, TAG Heuer launched the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 Naomi Osaka Limited Edition – a collaboration between the Japanese tennis star and the Swiss luxury brand. Priced at $3,950 and launched exclusively in the United States, Japan, and Australia, the 36mm Aquaracer Professional 300 Naomi Osaka Limited Edition was a smash hit because it spoke to the wants and needs of many enthusiasts by offering a practical watch at a sensible price point. Plus, with its bold green color scheme, the timepiece showed TAG Heuer’s commitment to revitalizing the Aquaracer line. And now, at LVMH Watch Week, the manufacture continues to boost its Aquaracer Professional Series with the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200, a collection of high-functioning sports watches.
“The Aquaracer is every bit as much a TAG Heuer signature as Carrera or Monaco,” said TAG Heuer CEO Frédéric Arnault in a press release. “Its codes and the philosophy continue to be as relevant and exciting as ever, particularly in this season of new beginnings and new journeys.”
The Aquaracer Professional 200 and 300 collections, no doubt, share essential elements, such as a bezel with twelve facets, horizontal line dial decoration, and sculpted, chamfered lugs with brushed and polished finishes. However, the 200 line feels a little more formal thanks to finely observed details like the bezel’s diving scale being engraved into a steel insert instead of a ceramic one and the polished rather than brushed central link of the stainless steel three-row bracelet. The dial display has also been elevated. Instead of the Professional 300’s octagonal hour markers, oversized hour hand, and yellow detailing, the 200 models have straight-edged, trapezoidal hour markers, sleeker sword-shaped hands, and crisp white detailing for a more elegant effect. Plus, to preserve legibility, the hour markers and hands are generously coated with Super-LumiNova. The cumulative effect of these differences? TAG Heuer’s Creative Director Guy Bove described it this way: “It’s more of a street watch in the sense that it’s more elegant and refined.”
The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 family is also inclusive, with options even extending to a choice of movements. In the 40mm size, there are two Calibre 5 models and two quartz references. Meanwhile, at 30mm, there are two Calibre 9 options and five quartz iterations. The type of movement also impacts the look and feel of each Aquaracer Professional 200. On one hand, the versions featuring automatic calibres have blue or black fumé dials, unmagnified date windows, and diamond-dot indices on the 30mm or the standard trapezoidal markers on the 40mm. On the other hand, the quartz options come with white mother-of-pearl or light silver, light blue, or black sunray dials. Plus, in addition to your choice of diamond-dot or standard trapezoidal indices, there is also a quartz model with a diamond-set bezel. Finally, one characteristic the new Aquaracer Professional 200s all share is a caseback engraved with a compass, replacing the diving helmet that has been the signature on the Aquaracer and its predecessors.
