Watch collecting and nostalgia have always been connected – it’s a big part of how we craft such emotional bonds with these little timekeeping devices. Nostalgia is the emotional anchor point in the Paul Newman component of the Paul Newman Daytona; it’s a memory of wanting [insert watch here] when you were a kid – and hunting for it when you finally made enough to afford it. It’s also the reason we yearn for certain watches in ways that defy conventional wisdom, taste, or maturity. Perhaps it was a watch we did have as a child that we hope to get again so that maybe, just maybe, we can recapture that childlike feeling, that bit of magic.
A couple of weeks ago, we had a very special guest on Talking Watches who embodied that very ideal. His name is Ronnie Fieg, and he is the founder of Kith – you may have heard of him (you may also be wearing something from his brand right now). In our episode, Fieg showed us the more, let’s say, grown-up side of his collection via a specific mentality around solid gold, green dial Rolex Day-Dates, and an affinity for AP.
But things got personal as we delved into a very serious collecting corner for him: The TAG Heuer Formula 1 – the watches of his youth. We would soon find out and get a sneak peek at that very project, which is being announced today: The TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith. This is the F1 we have been waiting for… well, sort of. As you’ll soon see, there are twists and turns to this release that make it uniquely faithful to the past and uniquely Ronnie – and uniquely Kith.
I had the chance to chat with Ronnie ahead of this launch to get his take on the new release. As you might expect, this project was deeply personal. “I had my first watch given to me by my mother in ’95, the 28mm version of the F1,” said Fieg. “My second came in 1997. It was a 35mm watch with a red case and a silver band. I consider it to be my first real watch and was the one I had throughout my teenage years.” He ended this point in the conversation with a poignant detail about taste writ large, adding, “You know, whatever you love from the ages of 13 to 18 is what you’ll love for the rest of your life.”
And so Fieg and TAG embarked on a project to bring back a watch that has organically seen a revival in recent years, with plenty of our friends hunting down vintage examples in the best condition they can find (I’m looking at you, Dimepiece and Cam Wolf). Fieg had real clarity when it came to developing these watches. “I thought that working on a watch, my first watch would be a great story to bring back 1:1 the way people originally know it from the ’90s,” said Fieg. “I wanted to tell a story around a cultural icon that made a big splash in that era.”
Like I said at the top, these are, and are not, 1:1 recreations. So, let’s dig into the minutiae a little bit and see just what we’re working with. In total, there are 10 watches being launched today in a variety of color and material combinations that very clearly harken back to that ’90s F1 vibe. It’s important to note just how significant this watch is to TAG Heuer, the brand, as the Formula 1 line was actually launched in 1986 and represents the very first watch to have TAG Heuer branding (a departure from Heuer after the acquisition in the ’80s).
In our conversation, Fieg brought greater clarity to the definition of 1:1 in his mind going into this release. “When we came together to start designing, we didn’t bring this back 1:1 in terms of retro colorways – though there are some,” said Fieg. “We designed these based on cities where we have Kith shops, and we were able to do that in a very cool way. So it is 1:1 in terms of aesthetic and size.”
And faithful, these watches are – clocking in at 35mm, which is absolutely crazy when you think that most brands are marketing 37mm and 36mm watches as ladies’ pieces. This is bold in more ways than one. And before you go comparing this to MoonSwatch, just know that the new F1 models are a more premium offering, coming in at $1,500 apiece, and represent a real focus on the past for a brand that has seen a real yearning for it from the collecting community.
That premium price manifests itself in a few ways. First is the use of a more robust rubber material for the straps. Next is the use of arnite, a far stronger plastic material than that used three and four decades ago. You also get sapphire glass on these watches. What’s most interesting is that no matter the color or material combination, you pay the exact same price. I myself am a sucker for the full steel-on-steel bracelet models because my older brother had one like it when we were kids. He lost it somewhere along the way. No, I have not forgiven him.
The 10 TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith watches are broken down into three categories: references exclusive to TAG Heuer, references representative of locations with Kith stores, and a single reference shared by both brands. The shared reference is easily identifiable because it is the most conventional looking of the all-steel models with its black bezel. The TAG Heuer models are the two watches with DLC-coated steel cases in green and blue, respectively, with matching rubber straps.
Then there are the models exclusive to Kith: black with gradient numerals in the bezel represents New York, the full red is Tokyo, the creamy white is Miami, the yellow is for Toronto, the lovingly wacky and multicolored variant is for Hawaii, the green bezel in steel is Paris, and the blue bezel in steel is Los Angeles.
Everyone is going to have their own favorite. From afar, these look nearly identical to the F1 watches we know and love from our youth. But look closer, and you’ll see a very major change has been made to the logo. It now reads “Kith Heuer.” I asked the new brand CEO, Julien Tornare, about this because it is no small deal for a major watch brand to modify its own logo.
“TAG Heuer stands for Techniques d’Avant Garde,” said Tornare. “If we are not avant-garde in the way we are doing things, we kill the brand’s DNA.” That’s a strong statement, if there ever was one.
And so are these TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith watches. It takes serious guts to effectively revive a watch with such emotional importance to so many and make a meaningful design shift such as this one. But it makes sense. These are limited models, and there is as much brand affinity for Kith these days as there is for TAG Heuer F1s historically. This is why Fieg felt comfortable even adding little touches like the “Just Us” dial text. Every version of the watch will have a special engraving, whether it be the city it represents or the text that reads “Kith and Kin.”
But let’s touch on the limited nature of these, because it varies. The rubber city editions are each limited to 250 pieces, while the steel city editions are limited to 350 pieces. The TAG Heuer exclusives in blue and green with black DLC-coated steel cases are limited to 825 pieces. The shared model with its black bezel, steel case, and steel bracelet (my favorite) is luckily the most plentiful at 1,350 pieces. There is also the ability to buy a presentation box containing all 10 watches. I saw this box in Geneva – it’s quite a sight to see them all together, though that does come at a price, of course. The box sets are limited to 75 and are priced at CHF 18,000. We are still awaiting final U.S. pricing and will update the story once confirmed.
Each watch comes affixed with an arnite bezel and a quartz movement. The rest of the aesthetic details are really up to you to decide. Every watch has its own flare and story. For example, the red city edition for Tokyo is a nod to a rare variant from the ’80s made in partnership with Japanese F1 driver Ukyo Katayama. While I really like this one, I also fell pretty hard for the cream Miami edition. Overall, every single reference feel and wear just as you would want these to wear. It is almost like reliving a memory. But for every piece of vintage wrist-feel, there is also a very real sense of the material upgrades here. These are old-school but robust and new at the same time. This is the sort of 1:1 execution that I really appreciate.
Today marks the unveiling of these TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith watches, which will begin a series of launch dates. First is a Miami TAG Heuer boutique launch on May 3, and a global launch on May 6. Whether or not the Kith iterations speak to you, it is truly amazing to see TAG Heuer and Ronnie Fieg working together to manifest this sort of product. I have to think it speaks to a bright future for the Formula 1 line, and I’m here for it. But first, tell me, which one is your favorite?
