Aquagraph
·Let's be honest, unless TAG made a like for like reissue of these old models there's always going to be something 'wrong' and even if there isn't they will be too expensive.
The 844 tribute was a flawed idea. Too big/modern to appeal to vintage enthusiasts and too retro to appeal to Aquaracer fans. And yet I seem to remember a lot of people here were excited about it when it came out.
Let's be honest, unless TAG made a like for like reissue of these old models there's always going to be something 'wrong' and even if there isn't they will be too expensive.
The WOS Aquaracer is kind of what the 844 should have been. I mean is the Aquaracer paying homage to the 1000 series anyway? TAG tried to tell us the 1000 became the Aquaracer but that is nonsense. They are both divers. End of.
Agreed.
Also (but I mighty wrong about that…) TH had not tried to establish that “heritage-lineage” in the past. So it really felt like coming out of thin air…
Correct. A lot of people loved the panda when it was released, but... 1. wish it was slimmer; 2. too expensive for what it is.
It sold out pretty quickly but I'd suggest everyone who really wanted one got one, so I don't see a lot of residual demand.
I definitely think any heritage re-issue has a sales ceiling and probably quite low. Still 600-1000 x £6000 is not to be sneezed at.
The 844 tribute was a flawed idea. Too big/modern to appeal to vintage enthusiasts and too retro to appeal to Aquaracer fans. And yet I seem to remember a lot of people here were excited about it when it came out.
Exactly. The F1 is nearly 40 years old, it has been in continues production except for 4 years in the early 2000s. Do we think they will celebrate 40 years of the F1? I doubt it. Only Heuer can have heritage.
It's not, but Tag Heuer definitely found the optimum number after several glassbox releases. But price is a big factor. I think they would have sold several thousand at half the price. Of course there's no real way to prove this and it's highly theoretical but I think that many watch enthusiasts who don't usually buy Tag Heuer, plus casual shopping mall buyers would have snapped one up at that level.
The 844 tribute concept is sound, the success of the black bay shows there is a market for heritage divers. The issue with the 844 is the half-assed design, trying to create a heritage watch in the cheapest way possible by cramming a retro dial into the standard AR case.
Watch companies will use/invent any heritage they can to generate hype and sell watches, I’m optimistic for a plastic f1 tribute to celebrate the 40th anniversary.
Well you could be right, but it's also extremely risky and again they can't halve the price because it would make everything else in the range look ridiculous. Plus you have to work out how many they have to sell to halve the price, let's be generous and say the watch costs £1000 to make (probably waaay over), at £6500 they make £5500 per watch. If they sell it for £3250 they make £2250. Based on selling 600 at £6500 they have to sell 1466 at half the price to make the same profit. So they would need to sell at least 2000 to be worth their while. Plus it damages their 'luxury' image selling a watch like that at a 'cheap' price. Plus all the other glassbox owners would be pissed.
...and it works.
£1000 to make (probably waaay over)
Well they haven't gone bust yet. So yes, it's working to a degree. We'll never know if they could have done even better with a different strategy I guess. I still think most of their sales are probably cheaper pieces from shopping malls, i.e. people who just want the brand. Tag is pretty unique in that they try and cover all price points from cheaper luxury quartz up to £100k tourbillons.