TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Launch

TAG Heuer’s first new introduction of 2022 comes in the form of the Aquaracer family and their elaboration of the Professional range re-invented in the Summer of 2021, with their release at the time of the Aquaracer Professional 300 series. As described by TAG Heuer this product is a bold, stylish all-terrain luxury tool watch. Available in both 40mm and 30mm sizes, both Ladies and Gents, TAG Heuer have a great selection of new releases to start the year.

It had been some time since TAG Heuer have used the ‘Professional’ naming of some their Aquaracers, mainly used to signify that the watch had a water resistance of 300 meters, but TAG brought that moniker back last year. However, now they signal a whole new era of the Aquaracer collection by naming their slightly smaller case sizes and water pressures Professional too. TAG Heuer tell us the Aquaracer is the brand’s ultimate luxury diver’s watch, it encompasses so much about TAG Heuer that it is hard to argue with the Professional name.

History of the Aquaracer.

Aquaracer by name has only been around since 2004, which is quite a short life-span when you consider the Monaco (Est. 1969) and the Carrera (Est. 1963) collections. Really its true heritage can be dated back to 1978 when Jack Heuer introduced the Heuer Reference Monnin 844. A handsome watch still by todays standards. The brand ‘Heuer’ at the time launched this watch for men and women who love outdoor sports and adventure in nature both on land or in the water. This watch defined a new category of versatile wrist watches, to be relied upon in extreme conditions and certainly look the part in more formal settings.

Heuer Reference Monnin 844 original watch from 1978 sat on denim jacket. Watch has a black dial and bezel and black strap

Other iterations of TAG Heuer’s divers watch heritage also came in the form of 1000 and 2000 series with the latter being discontinued in 2005 once the Aquaracer had got off the ground. Guy Bove, the Creative Director for TAG Heuer describes the relationship between this model and the past as this…

“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.”

To tie it all together, one thing has certainly been a constant in the historic models, the word Professional. When you study all previous models you discover that Professional is displayed on each dial and for this reason it’s great to see TAG Heuer pushing the Professional name once more.

TAG Heuer 1000 and 2000 series watch comparison. One watch is all steel with blue dial while the other has black dial and bezel made from steel

The Differences Between the 200 and 300

There are many more differences between these models than just water resistance. Many people often ask about water resistance, quite often asking is a watch water proof? Technically no watch is waterproof. But with the correct care, maintenance and usage, 200 meters will be more than enough for swimming and day to day use. 300 meters is where water sports and diving comes more into play. But it should be noted that meters is about pressure and not depth.

Aquaracer Professional 200 and 300 automatic models side by side comparison.

Appreciably more compact, the 200 is 40mm in case width, whilst the 300 is 43mm. The reduction in water resistance allows for a more sleek case in both width and depth as it does not need to handle as much pressure for the movement of the watch. The bezels are both divers scale ready in the 12 facets shape first introduced in 1995, the 200 is steel engraved and all the 300 models are steel with ceramic plates.

Making the Aquaracer Professional 200 look more formal is key to its design. The bezel and case size allow it to be more friendly with formal looks. One feature that stands out for us is the centre of the links that have been polished to create a distinguished multi finish and add a little extra luxury.

Even the dials of the watches differ in many ways. The colour choices of the 200 are more toned down and we particularly love the automatic models pictured above with the dials having a ‘fume’ (smoky) gradient to it. The choices of trapezoidal hour markers and thinner hands create a look more akin to both great adventure for the weekend and an office based weekday.

Variants and Features

At the time of launch, TAG Heuer present to us the usual crowd pleasers of silver, black and blue dials and for the ladies 30mm sizes, diamond combinations with mother of peal or colours feature too. For both the 40mm and 30mm sizes, TAG Heuer incorporate their Swiss-Made Automatic and Quartz movements.

Automatic Models

All Aquaracer Professional 200 automatic mens and womens models

The Calibre 5 sits in the men’s automatic Aquaracer case with a date window, whilst the impressively small calibre 9 sits in the ladies with a date window and diamond hour-markers. Both feature black and blue colours with the ladies presented in the form of a mother of pearl.

Quartz Models

All Aquaracer Professional 200 quartz mens and womens models

Quartz models for the gents feature sun-ray finishes in their black and silver dials and the ever-popular ladies Aquaracer quartz range has 5 beautiful combinations. Black and Silver make up to 30mm plain coloured dials along with a striking new light-blue addition. White mother of pearl is then featured in either diamond hour markers, or the full works diamond markers and bezel; both guaranteed to be a top seller!

Aquaracer Professional 200 in dark water with the hands glowing to demonstrate the Super-Luminova

Key features on all Aquaracer models are the uni-directional rotating bezel with fluting on the on the facets, so it can be easily gripped; a screw down crown to change the time and date and lock in the water resistance; a double safety push-button clasp fitted to an adjustable bracelet and a sapphire crystal that is scratch resistant, adding to this watches robust credentials. All hand and hour-markers feature white Super-Luminova for enhanced readability in dark settings.

Launch Campaign

TAG Heuer have really stepped up their game when it comes to photography and video over the last couple of years. Known as being the luxury sports watch brand, the ethos is now clear in powerful action shots showcasing the limits to which these timepieces can be worn.

Women wearing a purple jacket and white helmet climbing an ice mountain with a pick axe, also wearing a TAG Heuer watch on her wrist.

Once again teaming with legendary filmmaker Thierry Donard, director of the celebrated extreme sports series of films ‘Nuit de la Glisse’, TAG Heuer look to show the many natural elements that the Aquaracer Professional 200 is ready to tackle.

A man wearing a white ski jacket and black helmet with goggles holding orange skis and wearing a blue dial Aquaracer

Visuals focus on the sports of speed flying, ice skiing, and ice climbing, showing athletes putting the Aquaracer Professional 200 through its paces in some of the world’s wildest and most awe-inspiring natural locations.

A Flying Start

Man with snowy mountain background wearing a team red bull helmet, with black coat and black dial Aquaracer watch.

The Aquaracer Professional 200 is sure to get TAG Heuer off to a flying start for 2022. The Aquaracer is now the staple mid range watch of their collections and much to the envy of the rest of the watch world as it provides demand, name value and packs a lot of watch into a more than fair price point.

We expect to see many more launches from TAG Heuer this year and we anticipate to see where the Aquaracer Professional range goes from here.

You can start browsing our entire Aquaracer range here or link through to our main TAG Heuer page here. Keep an eye out for more of our blogs and social content for all the latest releases too.

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