2024 KITH Heuer Formula 1 re-issue quartz watches

[Aquagraph]

I imagine there would be some variance in the models, as some will be more popular colour schemes than others. I doubt many are trying to 'collect them all' as ten is a lot, if there was three I could imagine that more.

 

[dtf]

Jemagloh

“KITH Heuer” still grinds my gears. The branding alone is an abomination IMHO, and yes, I think the pricing was too high.

Nonetheless, I’m happy for those of you that like it and these releases.

Agree. I didn’t buy one due to the branding.

It felt like a missed opportunity, make them slightly bigger ~38-39mm and brand them TH and trickle them onto the market like the moon watch. That way the hype stays alive.

Suspect TH have misjudged the luxury watch market and world economy, whereas a bunch of exciting $1500 watches would keep selling when people can’t afford a $10k Monaco.

 

[Jeff Stein]

bpsmith

I would be very pleased to see a 33% rise for the people who bought these.

Do you happen to have info on sold prices, rather than asking prices?

A quick search of eBay in the UK suggests a different picture of the latest ones which appear when I filter to sold. Bear in mind the ones with green lines are those which did not end up with the sale fully completing.

After I did the Chrono24 search, I had a look at eBay, but it gave me a headache. I was trying to get information on the current market, to avoid the ones sold in the early days when the hype was highest, and eBay also has a lot of the vintage TAG Heuer F1 watches being listed as Kith watches. I was not trying to present detailed, authoritative market information, but only to get a sense of whether the prices would "collapse" or gradually decline, as predicted by some of the folks on this forum. I don't see any evidence of that kind of softness.

Jeff

 

[Jeff Stein]

dtf

Agree. I didn’t buy one due to the branding.

It felt like a missed opportunity, make them slightly bigger ~38-39mm and brand them TH and trickle them onto the market like the moon watch. That way the hype stays alive.

Suspect TH have misjudged the luxury watch market and world economy, whereas a bunch of exciting $1500 watches would keep selling when people can’t afford a $10k Monaco.

I don't think they misjudged anything . . . it seems like the Kith collaboration was a success for both TAG Heuer and Kith. They were not making these watches for us, but for what would be a new group of enthusiasts. It will be interesting to see what comes next for the retro-style Formula 1, as this was probably only the first chapter.

 

[bpsmith]

Jeff Stein

After I did the Chrono24 search, I had a look at eBay, but it gave me a headache. I was trying to get information on the current market, to avoid the ones sold in the early days when the hype was highest, and eBay also has a lot of the vintage TAG Heuer F1 watches being listed as Kith watches. I was not trying to present detailed, authoritative market information, but only to get a sense of whether the prices would "collapse" or gradually decline, as predicted by some of the folks on this forum. I don't see any evidence of that kind of softness.

Jeff

It’s certainly an interesting topic. I agree that eBay isn’t ideal either, although they are actual sale prices rather than asking prices, so a step closer to true data.

It’s like looking at the Tudor Pink Chrono (not everyone’s taste I know) that I like. There were loads at 3x RRP on various websites, but how many actually sold and at what price?

If you do find more data on sold prices, then post up again as I am sure others will be interested in this marmite collab.

 

[Mspeedster]

Out of curiosity, I did a quick search on SOLD ones in eBay for August too. The result seems to indicate that the market hasn't really softened much. The average seems to be a few hundred above retail still. With the KITH exclusives typically going for more.

I noticed a few TAG originals sold for over $1000 as well. Such as the one circled below, sold Aug 21st for $1275.
This last one, KITH Paris, showing the highest sold price for Aug, at $2900.

Edited: Aug 30, 2024

 

[Aquagraph]

There were some super dumb purchases in the wake of the Kith watches, some really crappy originals going for silly money. Most likely bought by people who didn't know any better and hoping to ride the hype train.

 

[bpsmith]

That certainly shows the difference in appetite between the UK and the US. Very different numbers showing.

Interesting.

 

[Mspeedster]

Aquagraph

There were some super dumb purchases in the wake of the Kith watches, some really crappy originals going for silly money. Most likely bought by people who didn't know any better and hoping to ride the hype train.

Worked out well for you, didn't you sell your black one for about triple what you paid?

Here's 2 more OG TAGs that recently sold for silly amounts.

 

[Jeff Stein]

bpsmith

That certainly shows the difference in appetite between the UK and the US. Very different numbers showing.

Interesting.

some important numbers -- 14 Kith stores in the United States and only 1 in the UK. Might correlate to demand for the watches.

 

[Pitfitter446]

Or perhaps simply the huge difference in size of the countries?

 

[bpsmith]

Either way, it might explain the apparent lack of desirability here, in comparison to US, if prices are anything to go by.

 

[Mspeedster]

While the most recent UK ones sold for lower than the US, looking back at early Aug and July shows most sold for similar amounts in the UK.

So either the UK market has just very recently turned soft, or perhaps the low bidders were lucky that others weren't bidding hard on the particular listing. Also, there are far fewer KITH F1 listings in the UK compared to the US. Hence, it could just be a statistical blip.

It'll be interesting to see whether the trends continue.

 

[Aquagraph]

Mspeedster

Worked out well for you, didn't you sell your black one for about triple what you paid?

Here's 2 more OG TAGs that recently sold for silly amounts.

That's true... 3.5x what I paid actually, but still slightly disappointing considering it was mint and the utter that was changing hands for £1000+

 

[Mspeedster]

Mspeedster

After checking the specs, I don't think it can be the Ronda 515, because it's too large.

However, I did see that the Ronda 705 is listed on the TAG Heuer website under their vintage Formula 1 page. (Which I believe leveraged DC's Calibre11.com source material.) The Ronda 705 is approx. the same size as the ESA and ETA movements listed. Although I know my ESA is a 965.313, like Jeff's, not the 965.312 stated below.


I do know that the ETA is not interchangeable with the ESA. The hands and the dial's backside pegs will not fit from one to the other. That's why an ESA movement is a clear sign of an early first run F1.

A follow up on whether Ronda was used in the original F1. @Snowy found that some of his other OG F1s have the Ronda 705 movement, circa 1988. Unlike his white & blue F1 (shown again), these black ones have the TAG Heuer stamp on them. More reaffirmation that the likely order was ESA first, then Ronda, and then ETA in the OGs.