Introducing – TAG Heuer Aquaracer 43mm Calibre 5 ‘Tortoise Shell Effect’

Just in for summer… There’s nothing better than a robust dive watch to enjoy the holiday season, a watch that can look good during a dinner out next to the see or that can follow you in the sea. Summer is also a time for casualness and style, and TAG Heuer is today introducing something new and original. Probably not the watch made for hardcore enthusiasts, but at least the brand dares to create something novel. Meet the new TAG Heuer Aquaracer 43mm Calibre 5 Automatic with ‘Tortoise Shell Effect’ bezels.

The Aquaracer is TAG Heuer’s vision of an aquatic timepiece, a no-nonsense and relatively simple dive watch with a design inspired by the Heuer 2000 and recognizable thanks to its angular bezel with 12-sided profile and its dial with horizontal grooves. This watch, even though far from the usual motorsport inspiration of the brand, is also TAG’s vehicle for design experimentations, with colourful dials or unusual textures. And the base itself is a reliable, robust watch with serious diving credentials and all the equipment you’d need from such a timepiece.

This year, as a summer 2020 collection, the brand innovates and introduces a material that is rarely seen in watchmaking, yet associated with the holiday season; tortoise shell. Applied to the bezel, this effect is obtained from a solid resin with marbling pattern, on which the necessary 60-minute diving scale has been printed. Available either in ocean-inspired blue or in dark brown, a colour often associated with tortoise shell resin (specifically on sunglasses). The dial, available in dark blue (blue bezel) or in black (brown bezel), retains its signature grooved design and has a nice sunray-brushed pattern.

Other than these evolutions, we find back the same specifications as other models in the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 collection. The stainless steel case, which measures 43mm in diameter yet with short lugs, shows polished and brushed surfaces. The crown, protected by guards, screws down and the watch is water-resistant to 300m. The dial, with H-M-S and a date under a sapphire magnifier, features rhodium-plated applied indexes and hands, which are all largely filled with green or blue Super-LumiNova.

Under the solid steel caseback is a robust automatic movement, the well-known Calibre 5, based on the Sellita SW 200-1 architecture – 36 jewels, 4Hz frequency and 38h power reserve. These new TAG Heuer Aquaracer 43mm Calibre 5 ‘Tortoise Shell Effect’ are worn on rubber straps with alligator pattern, matching the dial’s colour, and closed by a folding clasp.

Price and availability

The TAG Heuer Aquaracer 43mm Calibre 5 ‘Tortoise Shell Effect’ will be available as of August 2020 from retailers and on TAG’s e-commerce website. Price isn’t revealed yet but expect around EUR 2,500.

For more information, visit tagheuer.com.