Tag Heuer watches

WrigleysExtra

Hi all. I've been reading a few threads here and it seems the general consensus is that Tag Heuer watches are overpriced. Any reason why people think that? I'm a complete newb but when I seen Tag Heuer watches in a jewellers window I think they look fantastic.

Also do people here buy watches in Ireland or is it cheaper elsewhere?

Shan_14

I just purchased a Tag Formula 1 Calibre 6 Automatic before xmas in a jewellers and got it for a great price, €1400. They knocked off €250 after my haggling. It's a fantastic watch and it looks great! I was after an automatic one and thought id need to spend €1900 on a Tag! Delighted with it!

art

Some watch brands tend to be more expensive in Ireland than abroad; Seiko for one, for whatever reason, and I think Tag also. As a "well known" brand, a jeweler knows they will sell and is also more likely then to go all hushed tones and "this is a genuine ..." as a pitch as opposed to some of the lesser known brands where they have to work harder. So, in turn, the punter has to work harder to disabuse them of the notion you are there to buy a brand and not a watch.

Overall though Tags have excellent quality finishes on the cases and the movements like Calibre 5 or 6 are quality movements that you can rely on and be proud to own. What has happened with Tag is a few things - they are well known so tend to attract less interest from people who wish to define themselves as being "in to" watches (and therefore more knowledgeable etc); they tend to be a lot of people's first "nice" watch, then at some point get sold on so they devalue fairly quickly as such people are less likely to buy second hand watch yet there's usually a good supply of s/h options out there; and Tag also have sort of lost their identity a bit, they used to be notable for having a cutting edge design sensibility but it's been a while since I remember anyone getting very excited over a new offering from them, hence interest declines.... A nice Tag is still an excellent watch though.

893bet

art wrote: »

Some watch brands tend to be more expensive in Ireland than abroad; Seiko for one, for whatever reason, and I think Tag also. As a "well known" brand, a jeweler knows they will sell and is also more likely then to go all hushed tones and "this is a genuine ..." as a pitch as opposed to some of the lesser known brands where they have to work harder. So, in turn, the punter has to work harder to disabuse them of the notion you are there to buy a brand and not a watch.

Overall though Tags have excellent quality finishes on the cases and the movements like Calibre 5 or 6 are quality movements that you can rely on and be proud to own. What has happened with Tag is a few things - they are well known so tend to attract less interest from people who wish to define themselves as being "in to" watches (and therefore more knowledgeable etc); they tend to be a lot of people's first "nice" watch, then at some point get sold on so they devalue fairly quickly as such people are less likely to buy second hand watch yet there's usually a good supply of s/h options out there; and Tag also have sort of lost their identity a bit, they used to be notable for having a cutting edge design sensibility but it's been a while since I remember anyone getting very excited over a new offering from them, hence interest declines.... A nice Tag is still an excellent watch though.

Some salient points above.

I guess peoples perception of value is distorted by marketing. Is a Rolex 4 times better just justify a 4x cost?

This only issue I have with Tag is their 2nd hand value is very poor if buying new. Expect to lose 40% + after a year especially in a small country like Ireland.

blindsider

Interesting article here on TAG

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a48df2c4-31d6-11e4-a19b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3PI2nP3Es

it mentions Sellita movements, which is interesting:

http://www.ablogtowatch.com/sellita-movement-makers-a-little-bit-of-china-in-switzerland/

Personally, TAG have never done it for me. I saw too many of them in London in the '90's, bought with large corporate bonuses by people who wanted an image - BMW, TAG, gold cufflinks and too much champagne. Fits well with their LVMH sister brands actually....

There's a LOT of TAG marketing going on...has been for years.

I think many TAG purchasers are buying into the brand and not the watch - Rolex are similar. That suits the company in many ways, but the purchase then is a lifestyle choice, not a watch choice.

In the last 3 yrs, I've seen 3-4 new TAG's on wrists, and commented politely on them.

I was wearing a Breitling on each occasion - none of the owners recognised the name - 1 didn't ask/notice what I had, even after a 5 min watch conversation.

I do believe that a watch choice is very personal - each to their own - but it's disappointing to see people spend €€€ on a brand statement without properly realising what they're buying.

Eoin

To be fair, I think Tag Heuer do push the boat out on some higher end models / concepts (like this), they use in-house movements in some of their watches (including a good bit of R&D to keep developing); and presumably it's the mass sales of the likes of the F1 that pay for those costs, not the more expensive models.

I don't know if they really depreciate that much more than other brands though? I'd say the likes of Rolex, IWC etc and then the niche brands like Steinhart (where the main problem is often availability of new stock) are really the exception to the rule, where you won't lose too much or might even break even or better.

There's also a quite a bit of snobbery around the brand because they sell to so many different segments, which does not reflect properly on the quality of some of their watches and I totally get why fans of the brand get pissed off with that. But at the same time, you will easily pay the guts of 500 quid for a mid-size F1 quartz, and personally I think there's just so much more out there that's far better value for money.

blindsider wrote:

I was wearing a Breitling on each occasion - none of the owners recognised the name

In fairness to Tag, I think Breitling would also very much be a lifestyle type brand to many people who just want to buy the label (I say that as an owner myself!).

Mredsnapper

Eoin wrote: »

In fairness to Tag, I think Breitling would also very much be a lifestyle type brand to many people who just want to buy the label (I say that as an owner myself!).

We all buy labels for one reason or another whether we want to admit it or not. If we didn't there wouldn't be a luxury watch market and we'd all be wearing f-91w ' s ( which are actually a great watch to be fair!)

CarltonBrowne

blindsider wrote: »

Personally, TAG have never done it for me. I saw too many of them in London in the '90's, bought with large corporate bonuses by people who wanted an image - BMW, TAG, gold cufflinks and too much champagne. Fits well with their LVMH sister brands actually....

I think this is where I am at really - my automatic association is with the loadsamoney culture in the 80s & 90s. Yet ~I know others who have a fondness for the brand because it was their first "proper" watch. Both views are valid and I know there is an element of snobbishness contained within my version. They are not a bad watch - they just conjure up the wrong image in my head.

Give me something vintage with just Heuer on the dial - preferably a chronograph - however and I'll rip your arm off for it. This is not a sane hobby...

Deep Thought

I do like Tag and have had several, i think the Tag Targa Florio is a stunning watch and would love to have one.

I think the snobbery kicked in when they launched the F1 models as they looked plastic and cheap

They were a good way to get a brand name at a cheap price

but they are now overpriced, my in law bought one for sons 18th and it was 1400

I tried to convince him to spend that money on a nice Omega SMP all be it second hand.

DT

art

Course the sure fire annoyance is I have a [insert brand here] therefore (sniff) your watch is wrong! :rolleyes: That can turn me off all kind of brands!

art

Deep Thought wrote: »

I do like Tag and have had several, i think the Tag Targa think the snobbery kicked in when they launched the F1 models as they looked plastic and cheap

They were a good way to get a brand name at a cheap price

but they are now overpriced, my in law bought one for sons 18th and it was 1400

DT

True, I forgot about those, the F1s did make a difference in this respect. Those have gone from Quartz to automatic though which is perhaps why the price went up? But that's confusing in it's own way anyway and would lend again to the perception they are over-priced.

Wibbs

I'll go further... *awaits flames* and I'm saying this as a vintage aficionado, IMH TAG Heuer are better than the "original" Heuer ever was. Oh yes, I went there.

The lauding of the original and the daft prices usually attached beggars my personal belief. They had precious few innovations, they were mostly an assembly of others movements and at many times in their history couldn't give their shít away. Never mind that their internal records are near useless. Real amateur hour. EG they had a 50th anniversary for their Carrera IIRC in 2004?, only for a few peeps to come out of the woodwork, including one of the writers on Hodinkee, who had examples from the year before their history suggested. Not likely to happen to IWC, Longines, Omega, Patek, Rolex....

Of their iconic models, the original Heuer "Steve McQueen" Monaco was OK, if flaky as fook in reality and only got it's rep off the back of a single film ad campaign where the watch was put on Steve's wrist because Mr Heuer had a propmaster in his pocket. Steve didn't wear Heuer himself(he was a vintage Hanhart, Omega, Rolex guy) and only wore the Monaco during filming and went apeshít when he found out the same bought propmaster was handing out examples in his name. Yet not so long ago a bunch of eejits with more money than sense bidded well over six figures for one of the "originals" from the film in question. You couldn't make it up, though it clearly shows the power of product placement and to be fair Heuer were one of those ahead of the curve on that score(Rolex were very reluctant to get into the Jimmy Bond franchise for example*, as were Aston Martin).

Now I have a pre TAG Heuer, an SG 1550 Bund as issued to various air forces(and armies) in the 1970's, most notably the German. Great old watch, IMHO way more legible than a Speedy and more modern looking with it(and is a flyback). However, it wasn't Heuer's baby in the first place, it was a result of them buying in the Leonidas watch company who had an near identical watch they sold to the Italian military. They basically changed the name on the face(and added in a movement that was more readiliy available). Near zero innovation on their part.

The old Heuer are now lauded as chronograph makers, yet their output wouldn't hold a candle to what say Longines have added to that field, Or Omega, or [insert any number of other makers here).

TAG Heuer on the other hand, for all the snobbery aimed at them from some quarters, has been and is IMHO a much more innovative company, both in design and tech. Their aesthetic doesn't usually appeal to me(though I'm odd), but mucho respect for turning what was once a small time name into the near go to for someone's first "real watch". And they have used the moola from that to try building innovation in their in house stuff. Kudos.




*Connery's James Bond Rolex, the watch that has launched a thousand imitators and anal types looking for the exact same model and ill fitting nylon strap(not a Nato, they hadn't been invented yet) was the Directors(IIRC) watch, because Rolex wouldn't play ball, so he offered up his watch and it had the crappy strap, bought for buttons in a local jewelers, simply because the directors bracelet was fitted to him and not the it goes without saying really more manly wrist of Sean.

WrigleysExtra

Some interesting replies. I guess at the end of the day if you like the look and feel of it and are happy to pay the price then who cares what anyone thinks. I think I have fallen in love with the longines brand.

Wibbs

WrigleysExtra wrote: »

I think I have fallen in love with the longines brand.

And at this point I think I've fallen in love with you. :pac: Oh yea, I'd have the major gra for the oul Longines I have to say. They have a history that many, if not most watch companies could only dream of, but for some reason are still under the radar for most these days. In aviation history, they make Breitling(who push that angle a lot) a mere also ran. They were right in there at the start of the wristwatch itself. In chronographs, they make Heuer look like a bad covers band. Design wise, they were usually pushing it, in both good and bad ways, but at least they were pushing it. About the only area where they were lacking back in the day was in divers watches, though they had some interesting models, they were behind the curve. And their records go waaaay back, further than IWC for example and they will give you a history report on a vintage based on your serial number for free, unlike most others(Zenith a notable exception there to be fair).

Eoin

WrigleysExtra wrote: »

Some interesting replies. I guess at the end of the day if you like the look and feel of it and are happy to pay the price then who cares what anyone thinks.

Absolutely! But you're right to do your homework. Some people want a watch from a brand that people will recognise, some people want something more understated that's all about the watch. Some, something in-between. Once you know what you're buying, then screw what anyone else thinks.

WrigleysExtra wrote: »

I think I have fallen in love with the longines brand.

Nice choice. Any models in particular? I've been humming and hawing over this one for a while now.