Reflections on the S/el

Aquagraph
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Thanks I will do! Yes, the green looks pretty cool actually. I can't remember where I found them to be honest, it was done a number of years ago. I was probably just searching any combination of numbers I could come up with and generally doing image searches for S/EL... it's quite surprsing how few have turned up later, so I must have been reasonably thorough.
 
Mspeedster
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Aquagraph Aquagraph
I can't remember where I found them to be honest, it was done a number of years ago. I was probably just searching any combination of numbers I could come up with and generally doing image searches for S/EL...
That's one way to do it. The way I found them was searching on Senna S/ELs, because some Japanese sellers label any S/EL Ana-Digi as a "Senna" model, even the white, green & blue.

I tend to think of the white dial S29.006/CG1111 as the "Ron Dennis", he wore it a lot, and the cream & anthracite dials being Senna's. 😀
France 1990.webp

Although, Gerhard Berger also wore these Ana-Digis during his time at McLaren. E.g. Berger wearing the cream dial at the 1990 US GP.
Berger Senna USGP 1990.webp
 
Alohagrit
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Aloha to all! I stumbled on this thread this morning and wanted to sent a huge Thank you (Mahalo!) to everyone for the, umm, links, and enthusiasm. I recently purchased an s/el with the 1/100 digital counters. it was of course on the 2nd hand market, in remarkable condition, and after much research, I am content that it is an authentic, practically NOS, from the early 90s toward the end of the production run. Thanks to you folks, I now know it’s the “Ron Dennis” model, white face, and I have placed it on a black strap to honor Ayrton. Thank you so much for the information.

I have been an f1 fan for as long as I can remember (late 70s), and had the pleasure as a young lad of seeing Senna race in Dallas during the 1984 season at Toleman. Don’t get me started on what he means to me (hint: there is a Brazilian flag on every helmet I have ever owned). As for the TAGs, my other one is (I think) a 1200 quartz, from the mid 90s. Bought it when I finished my undergraduate college (university). It is the model that was positioned above the f1, but below the 6k and S/EL. That watch is permanently retired in a bank vault, not for value, but for sentiment. It was my duty watch during a former emergency services / special response career that sent me around the world for 15 years. Through work and play, including cliff diving, snorkling, surfing, rock climbing, mountain bike and motorcycle racing, two Ironman triathlons, and being shot down in countless (failed!) attempts to converse with the fairer sex in pubs around the world, it never left my wrist. It is priceless to me.

As for the rest of the discussion, I have been screaming for years that I wish they’d re-introduce the S/EL in some form. I don’t know if it’s like any other manufacturing process, do they still have the tooling to produce them? Was it destroyed? As much as TAG lives in Senna’s grave, I do feel they do a poor job compared to other premium brands like Mercedes, Rolex, Breguet and others in supporting the owners of their vintage products. And I fear their prices are hysterical these days.

great forum!
 
Mspeedster
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Alohagrit Alohagrit
Aloha to all! I stumbled on this thread this morning and wanted to sent a huge Thank you (Mahalo!) to everyone for the, umm, links, and enthusiasm. I recently purchased an s/el with the 1/100 digital counters. it was of course on the 2nd hand market, in remarkable condition, and after much research, I am content that it is an authentic, practically NOS, from the early 90s toward the end of the production run. Thanks to you folks, I now know it’s the “Ron Dennis” model, white face, and I have placed it on a black strap to honor Ayrton. Thank you so much for the information.

I have been an f1 fan for as long as I can remember (late 70s), and had the pleasure as a young lad of seeing Senna race in Dallas during the 1984 season at Toleman. Don’t get me started on what he means to me (hint: there is a Brazilian flag on every helmet I have ever owned). As for the TAGs, my other one is (I think) a 1200 quartz, from the mid 90s. Bought it when I finished my undergraduate college (university). It is the model that was positioned above the f1, but below the 6k and S/EL. That watch is permanently retired in a bank vault, not for value, but for sentiment. It was my duty watch during a former emergency services / special response career that sent me around the world for 15 years. Through work and play, including cliff diving, snorkling, surfing, rock climbing, mountain bike and motorcycle racing, two Ironman triathlons, and being shot down in countless (failed!) attempts to converse with the fairer sex in pubs around the world, it never left my wrist. It is priceless to me.

As for the rest of the discussion, I have been screaming for years that I wish they’d re-introduce the S/EL in some form. I don’t know if it’s like any other manufacturing process, do they still have the tooling to produce them? Was it destroyed? As much as TAG lives in Senna’s grave, I do feel they do a poor job compared to other premium brands like Mercedes, Rolex, Breguet and others in supporting the owners of their vintage products. And I fear their prices are hysterical these days.

great forum!
Aloha @Alohagrit and welcome to forum! Great to have another S/EL lover here, congrats on getting yours! 👍

FYI, by putting your white dial (S29.006/CG1111) on a black strap, you've changed it from the "Ron Dennis" to the "Jerry Maguire", as worn by Tom Cruise. 😉
cruiseandzelweger-jpg.webp

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/tom-cruise-wears-a-wacky-tag-heuer-in-jerry-maguire
 
Mspeedster
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One of my pet peeves was the name change from Sports Elegance (S/el) to Link. Which I suspect was LVMH's doing after they acquired the brand in 1999, the same year the new Link line was released. Sports Elegance better captured the lifestyle of the watch IMHO.

Ayrton wore his at work and at play (Sports)...
Senna Gray Dial.webp Ayrton with Bruno Senna.webp

...and also, at formal black-tie events (Elegance)! 😎
Soichiro Honda and Senna.webp

Pictured above with Soichiro Honda, founder of Honda Motor Co.
 
Alohagrit
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Also, does anyone know how to source the manual for this beast? I'm told you can get one from TAG, but they have not been very helpful. I have scoured eBay and Chrono24 and others. I am going to have to send this back to TAG anyone to get pushers/sub dials realigned, etc.
 
Alohagrit
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And since Renee is a fellow Longhorn, I'm ok with that. Btw the young lad with Senna is his nephew Bruno, who I had the pleasure of meeting at COTA some years ago. (Sorry, missed the edit window)
 
Mspeedster
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Alohagrit Alohagrit
Also, does anyone know how to source the manual for this beast? I'm told you can get one from TAG, but they have not been very helpful. I have scoured eBay and Chrono24 and others. I am going to have to send this back to TAG anyone to get pushers/sub dials realigned, etc.
It's easy to re-align the hands, once you know how. Seems I'm one of the few people on the planet with an original instruction book in English. LOL

I posted the instructions here:
https://tagheuerforums.com/threads/s-el-cg1123-0.136702/post-1898715

Some other threads that might interest you that are S/EL and/or Senna related:
https://tagheuerforums.com/threads/the-ayrton-senna-x-tag-heuer-appreciation-thread.155112/ Cover Image
Thread 'The Ayrton Senna x TAG Heuer Appreciation Thread' ·
We've got a lot of Senna fans on the forum and lots of Senna related content all over the place. Thought it would be nice to have a dedicated thread for all things Senna. Post anything you like...
Mspeedster ·
https://tagheuerforums.com/threads/the-senna-s-el-watch-spotters-guide-s25-706c-s25-706-cg1123.179668/ Cover Image
Thread 'The "Senna" S/EL Watch Spotter's Guide - S25.706C/S25.706/CG1123' ·
After purchasing my early version S25.706C, I went into Nerd Mode and carefully inspected the differences between this version and later versions of the watch. All can be considered the "Senna"...
Mspeedster ·
https://tagheuerforums.com/threads/senna-s-el-revival-coming-soon-dempsey-wearing-the-original.172307/ Cover Image
Thread 'Senna S/EL Revival coming soon? Dempsey wearing the original' ·
Patrick Dempsey spotted at the Monaco Historic GP wearing the Senna watch.

Hmmmm... 😗
20240510_173606.jpg 20240510_173702.jpg 20240510_173903.jpg
Mspeedster ·
 
mattp
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flawless flawless
CT1151 is the correct reference, and it is indeed steel & 18ct gold (solid gold bezel, pushers, crown, & links)

However, it is a first generation Link and not S/EL. Still a gorgeous watch!

Mspeedster Mspeedster
It's easy to re-align the hands, once you know how. Seems I'm one of the few people on the planet with an original instruction book in English. LOL

I posted the instructions here:
https://tagheuerforums.com/threads/s-el-cg1123-0.136702/post-1898715

Some other threads that might interest you that are S/EL and/or Senna related:
https://tagheuerforums.com/threads/the-ayrton-senna-x-tag-heuer-appreciation-thread.155112/ Cover Image
Thread 'The Ayrton Senna x TAG Heuer Appreciation Thread' ·
We've got a lot of Senna fans on the forum and lots of Senna related content all over the place. Thought it would be nice to have a dedicated thread for all things Senna. Post anything you like...
Mspeedster ·
https://tagheuerforums.com/threads/the-senna-s-el-watch-spotters-guide-s25-706c-s25-706-cg1123.179668/ Cover Image
Thread 'The "Senna" S/EL Watch Spotter's Guide - S25.706C/S25.706/CG1123' ·
After purchasing my early version S25.706C, I went into Nerd Mode and carefully inspected the differences between this version and later versions of the watch. All can be considered the "Senna"...
Mspeedster ·
https://tagheuerforums.com/threads/senna-s-el-revival-coming-soon-dempsey-wearing-the-original.172307/ Cover Image
Thread 'Senna S/EL Revival coming soon? Dempsey wearing the original' ·
Patrick Dempsey spotted at the Monaco Historic GP wearing the Senna watch.

Hmmmm... 😗
20240510_173606.jpg 20240510_173702.jpg 20240510_173903.jpg
Mspeedster ·
Mine has 6 languages.
Are there other instruction booklets?
IMG_8986.webp IMG_8987.webp
 
Mspeedster
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mattp mattp
Mine has 6 languages.
Are there other instruction booklets?
IMG_8986.webp IMG_8987.webp
Excellent! OK, so at least two of us on the planet. LOL
Yours is the same as mine, which covers the major western languages.

I also own a Japanese version, for my CG1111, which I bought new during a Japan visit in the late '90s.
instructions-webp.webp

It's only Japanese, no other languages. So, I assume there must also be other Eastern (Chinese, Korean etc.) and Middle-Eastern versions too.
 
Mspeedster
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Mspeedster Mspeedster
Not only did Senna love this watch, several of his contemporaries did as well.
IMG_20211219_070308_452.jpg IMG_20211219_070308_389.jpg IMG_20211219_070308_435.jpg IMG_20211219_070308_428.jpg
In addition, I just noticed that '90s F1 Driver Ukyo Katayama also wore the S/EL. Wearing the S29.006/CG1111 white dial ana-digi in these pics.
Ukyo Katayama SEL CG1111.webp Ukyo Katayama 1993.webp Ukyo Katayama 1994.webp

If the Autavia was the F1 watch of the '60s and the Carrera the F1 watch of the '70s, surely the S/EL was the F1 driver's watch of the late '80s & '90s!
 
Mspeedster
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Alohagrit Alohagrit
Ist that Roland Ratzenberger in the blue (Simtek?) coveralls?
Standing to the left of Katayama in the second picture is Andrea de Cesaris, his 1993 Tyrrell F1 teammate.
 
Mspeedster
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Mspeedster Mspeedster
Not only did Senna love this watch, several of his contemporaries did as well.
IMG_20211219_070308_452.jpg IMG_20211219_070308_389.jpg IMG_20211219_070308_435.jpg IMG_20211219_070308_428.jpg
Mspeedster Mspeedster
In addition, I just noticed that '90s F1 Driver Ukyo Katayama also wore the S/EL. Wearing the S29.006/CG1111 white dial ana-digi in these pics.
Ukyo Katayama SEL CG1111.webp Ukyo Katayama 1993.webp Ukyo Katayama 1994.webp

If the Autavia was the F1 watch of the '60s and the Carrera the F1 watch of the '70s, surely the S/EL was the F1 driver's watch of the late '80s & '90s!
I found that Schumacher also owned a white dial 3 hander, in addition to his cream dial ana-digi (like Senna's).
Schumi Estoril 92.webp

Senna, Schumacher, Berger, Alesi and Katayama, but let's not forget that Mansell was once part of team S/EL too!
Mansell Spain 1995.webp 1647561-210d67dad154cdd475bc1fb704964a73.webp

Nigel's S/EL of choice appears to be the CG1120. And if you're wondering about Hakkinen, he seemed to favor the 6000. However, it's likely that Mika may have worn the S/EL at some point during his long McLaren career as well.
 
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