Wow, this watch looks vastly different from the one pictured in the renders. Almost like it's a cheap knockoff. Are you sure it's not a pre production thing ?

The dial went from a deep, textured black to a cheap, plastic like grey, which is a complete mismatch with the black bezel, as opposed with the renders where bezel & dial are a perfect match of color.

Some applied markets seems to be smaller, but maybe it's their white color that no longer produce a striking contrast with a black dial.

The bezel also went from matte to glossy. The inner ring went from deep red to washed out .

It's a complete disaster. I hope this is from either very poor lightning or disastrous quality from your device.

Because I mean, I'll attach both renders and your live picture below and let you decide.



Also, any chance this piece comes to Europe ? Cause I was very interested and I'm sure the live pictures are wrong somehow.



Lemme know what your guys think.

 

You can't always trust TAG Heuer's renders, the watches do often look slightly different in real life. Sometimes better, sometimes worse.

But part of it may have been the lighting of @abrod520's pic. The TH Boutiques often have very bright indoor lighting.

Here's another live pic that I found on Instagram. What do you think?

 

Thank you for your indictment of my photography skills. Quite a way to introduce yourself to the forum

I'm always the first to say I'm not the best photographer and yes, the lighting in the Boutique is difficult. However, this is what the watch looks like - If you pay close attention to the renders, you'll see the grained 'asphalt' finish of the dial rather than a "deep textured black", which is also very much not the same glossy color as the bezel. (Why TAG did not render the bezel as glossy I do not know, but it is. Not the highest gloss but it is definitely not matte)

The numerals: look smaller in my photo than the renders because they're polished and not reflecting the light around the edges. In the render, they appear white which is not the case.

With the red ring on the dial, it's definitely not as deep as on the renders. My photo shows more or less what it would look like in bright sunlight, but as you can see in the other IG photo it isn't always going to look washed out.

As I always tell people though, TAG's renders are often not even close to what the end product looks like (usually to their detriment) and if you're interested in the watch you should definitely go try it on, you might like it a lot more than even live pics suggest.

 

That's a lot better but still a departure from the renders.

I'm a "what you see is what you get" kind of guy. Tag already did this with the recently unveiled CAZ101AC F1 chrono.

Almost like the render doesn't use the same materials as the real deal.

On the other hand the WAZ2011 F1 Calibre 5 is pretty much the same in the flesh.

Go figure

 

Yeah sorry that intro might've lacked finesse haha

I've been tracking the new Indy 500 ever since it was announced, and I've been on the hunt for wrist shots, especially from the YouTube channel Watchonwrist, they do a lot of Tag.

This isn't the first time this happen, not so long ago I was about to get the CAZ101AC F1 chrono "Yellow ring". Loved the carbon weave on the dial.

Showed up at my A.D just to realise the real deal isn't what I've seen online, almost to a fault.

The watch on the render was a premium rugged quartz chrono with high end finishing and materials.

The watch I've met at my A.D was a cheap looking chrono that could be sold at Walmart next to Casios and the likes. Yellow went from Giallo Modena to "pee after a long party"'. Carbon weave looks not any near as sharp, and so on

I mean does Tag expect us to believe it's the same ?
I'm not criticizing the watch itself, I'm sure it's pretty good, the problem is the damn renders that makes it look like something it's not.

 

Is the bezel insert ceramic ??

 

The more time you spend here, the more you'll find complaints about how terrible the renders have gotten, especially lately it seems. Watches that look hideous in renders come out looking pretty good, while in some cases (like the F1s in particular) they come out looking worse. I think with the F1s, materials have gotten cheaper and that's why they don't look as good.

According to the website, it's aluminum.

 

Thanks for the input. A bit disappointed we didn't get a ceramic bezel but whatever.

I'm also looking for Intel about the Ronda 5040d
Is the 54 months battery life elusive or achievable ??
Is it as accurate and tough as nails as its sold by TH ?

At first I was pissed to see Tag selling quartz chronos for 2 grand but it is a fact that they're technically above mechanical options in every aspect. So perfectly suited for F1s. Maybe thermocompensated could be nice but that would drive the price up.

 

At this price point for a major brand, ceramic bezels aren't going to be included - even for a quartz.

For intel about Ronda movements, well... why not try Ronda's website?

I'm sure with the proper spec battery 54 months is achievable.

Accuracy? It's quartz.

Tough? Ronda is an esteemed movement maker, and I'd expect it'll hold up to anything you'd subject a $2,000 watch to. But if you're gonna be smashing it around I'd recommend a G-Shock or similar instead

 

Well, think again regarding ceramic, the tag F1 CAZ101AC quartz chrono priced below this Indy 500 does come with a ceramic bezel.

Regarding accuracy, there's different grades of quartz just like there's different grade of mechanical movements.

 

I don't think they're making any more of those, plus we're looking at yearly price raises too so I'd say it's more of a "from now on" prospect. We'll see what happens in years to come but the quartz F1s being released this year all have aluminum bezels (some will be DLC). It looks like the plan is to offer ceramics on the Cal 16 models though.

That's fair, I don't pay much attention to quartz beyond "regular and Grand Seiko" but you can probably find some info Googling around. Doesn't appear to be included in Ronda's technical documentation on the movement.

 

Dude, check your facts please
This very watch has been on sale for 2 years now, and it still is widely available
A bunch or F1 Quartz chronos have the ceramic insert, even more so than the Calibre 16 F1s. Even the Calibre 5 F1 does come on ceramic.
Ceramic was a big deal in the early 2010s but now you can find bezels made of it on a $500 Tissot.
So yeah it's expected to be on a $2000 watch.

I've found the accuracy on the product PDF from ronda.
10 to 20 sec per month. You were right, it's a quartz.

 

Not here at least:


It may still be widely available in stores, but that doesn't mean it's still in production. And from the release schedule the only new F1s due with a ceramic bezel are Cal 16.

Some of the 3-hand F1s may have had ceramic bezels, and we may see that going forward but for now it seems that aluminum is what they're doing with the F1. Perhaps because the Aquaracer now has a ceramic bezel. Who knows.

Sure, at $2k we can expect that from a micro but from an established brand like TAG, they can usually get away with offering less for more. Not saying I like it, not saying I agree with it, but that's the way it is.

 

Well it still is available here in Europe, and out of stock doesn't mean discontinued
At least there's hope.



The Aquaracer had a ceramic bezel since 2016.
And I agree about micros offering ceramic for 2K or less but I'm talking about Tissot, an established brand, offering ceramic on theirs $500 divers.

And I agree about Tag getting away with offering less for more. But if you want more for less you might end up with a toothpaste (Formex) or frozen pizza (Titoni) name on your dial. It's always like that unfortunately.

 

Orange F1 has a ceramic bezel, just sayin.

 

Is that the two tone Calibre 6 RS in your profile pic ?

 

Yes. I don't have it, just the blue dial L/E Cal 6...

 

We'll see. It looks like very soon we're going to see the next evolution of the basic F1 with PVD steel bezels, though. I don't think ceramic is a part of that plan

 

Carrera and Aquaracer are already renewed, so you're right, F1 is next in line.

Any leaks ??

 

It seems that not only their online renders are not depicting reality. I love a good ol' Calibre 5 but "made in house" not sure about that one.