Posted by Lee Sullivan on 25/01/2022
TAG Heuer returns to the reborn Aquaracer Professional Series with the Aquaracer Professional 200, a bold, stylish, all-terrain luxury tool watch that continues the rich legacy of the historic Swiss Manufacture’s high-functioning sports watch, which began four decades ago.
The Aquaracer Professional 200 will be available with either a 40mm or 30mm stainless steel case. Every model will have a uni-directional rotating bezel with twelve facets, water resistance to 200 metres, and either an automatic mechanical or quartz movement. The Aquaracer Professional 200 is a robust but sophisticated tool watch for life’s many challenges.
“The Aquaracer is every bit as much a TAG Heuer signature as Carrera or Monaco. Its codes and the philosophy behind it were defined decades ago and continue to be as relevant and exciting as ever, particularly in this season of new beginnings and new journeys. The Aquaracer Professional 200 is a companion for a fast-paced, unforgettable life full of adventure and achievement, a life lived beyond the edge.”
Frédéric Arnault, TAG Heuer CEO
Geneva, January 2022
Last year, TAG Heuer breathed new life into the Aquaracer story with the Aquaracer Professional 300, the brand’s ultimate luxury diver’s watch.
That story began in 1978 when Jack Heuer introduced the Heuer Reference 844. Designed for men and women who loved outdoor sports and adventures in nature – on land or in the water – the watch defined a new high-performance category of versatile wristwatches that could be relied on in extreme conditions.
The Aquaracer name was added in 2004 and continued the legacy of the family’s six design codes: a uni-directional rotating bezel; a screw-down crown; water resistance to at least 200 metres; luminous markings; a sapphire crystal; and a double safety clasp.
Hot on the heels of the Aquaracer Professional 300 comes the Aquaracer Professional 200, a sister model designed to be as comfortable speed flying or ice skiing as it is pounding the pavement. Like the larger 43mm Aquaracer Professional 300, it too picks up on those six design codes established more than forty years ago.
At every turn, the new watches are about refinement. The larger of the two models that debut today is 40mm across and 11mm thick, giving a sleeker silhouette and a slenderer profile compared to the outgoing model it replaces, which was 41mm in diameter and 12mm thick. TAG Heuer’s design and engineering teams have delivered a watch consistent with the Aquaracer’s fundamental principles, only with greater sophistication and even more durability.
“If you look at the Aquaracer Professional 200, you can see our intention to create an everyday watch that still has the tool watch look that TAG Heuer lovers came to expect from the icons of the past, such as the Reference 844, 1000 and 2000 Series models. It’s an evolution of all this history.”
Guy Bove, TAG Heuer’s Creative Director
The relationship between the Aquaracer Professional 200 and Aquaracer Professional 300 is easily defined. Both have the famous and now upgraded bezel with twelve facets first introduced in 1995; both feature a refined, repeating horizontal line dial decoration; both have sculpted, chamfered, shorter lugs with brushed and polished finishes; both are fitted with a three-link bracelet, and both have a screw-down crown with twelve facets and protection.
Closer inspection reveals a series of subtle, but definitive differences, all of which give the Aquaracer Professional 200 its unique character and versatility. For example, the Aquaracer Professional 200 is appreciably more compact at 40mm (compared to 43mm), with the further option of a smaller 30mm case. The bezel still features a diving scale, only now it’s engraved into a steel insert, rather than one in ceramic. The central bracelet link is polished rather than brushed, lending the Aquaracer Professional 200 its more formal feel, intended to help it cross codes, from sea to mountain, via the office and a weekend hangout.
“Our eyes can read shapes quite well when they have a matt finish. The contrast we created between the brushed vertical finishes and the polished finishes on the case means that your eye doesn’t see as much of it, with the effect that the watch appears to have a slimmer profile.”
Guy Bove, TAG Heuer’s Creative Director
The differences continue in the display geometry. Where the Aquaracer Professional 300 has octagonal hour markers, an oversized hour hand, and yellow detailing, the Aquaracer Professional 200 adopts more classic sports watch codes with straight-edged, trapezoidal hour markers, sleeker sword-shaped hands, and crisp white detailing. For dial legibility, the hour markers and hands are still coated with Super-LumiNova, but to create a more sartorial look, no luminescent material has been applied to the bezel.
Movement options, diamond settings, and a new case back design
The new Aquaracer Professional 200 models offer a choice of movements. In the 40mm collection, there are two automatic and two quartz references, while at 30mm there are two automatics and five quartz options. This marks another departure from the Aquaracer Professional 300, which is only available with an automatic mechanical movement.
The choice of movement changes the watch’s layout and functionality. Automatics are distinguished by their fumé (smoky) gradient dials, date windows (but without a magnifier – to maintain the watch’s streamlined profile), Super-LumiNova sweeping seconds hands, and more detailed minute tracks. The quartz models have no date and a pared-back look by comparison, while otherwise retaining the same aesthetic and technical characteristics.
“With both the automatic and quartz versions, we’ve played on the theme of elegance, giving the watch a narrower bezel, longer indexes, and stronger markers at 3, 6, 9 and 12. It’s more of a street watch in the sense that it’s more elegant and refined, and something you might more readily consider wearing with a suit. That’s why we gave the automatics a fumé dial, for instance.”
Guy Bove, TAG Heuer’s Creative Director
In the 30mm range there are further playful, elegant options. There are three quartz models with a light silver colour, light blue or black sunray dials; a quartz model with a diamond- dot white mother-of-pearl dial; an additional quartz model that adds a diamond-set bezel to a diamond-dot white mother-of-pearl dial; and then two automatics with either a black or blue fumé diamond-dot dial. Again, the automatics feature date windows.
One attribute shared by every new Aquaracer Professional 200 reference is the case back design. Because these are watches designed to capture the go-anywhere spirit of exploration, the watch’s reverse is engraved with a compass, replacing the scaphander diving helmet that has featured on Aquaracer case backs (and its predecessors) since 2002. The backdrop to this remains the repeating engraved hexagonal motif seen on the Aquaracer Professional 300.
