Hands-on
Tag Heuer Formula 1 Grande Date Review
Getting my hands on the Tag Heuer Grande Date wristwatches is quite exciting, as Tag Heuer is a highly recognized luxury swiss watch brand, who have been known to produce some truly stunning timepieces, especially in the motorsport community. Over many decades the Tag Heuer brand have maintained their association with the motorsport community with their Formula 1 and Carrera collections – not to mention the highly publicised Monaco Model. Below is a hands-on review of the Formula 1 Grande Date and see how compares.
6.5
out of 10
- Quality
- Appearance
- Movement
Specifications
F1 Grande Date
| Case Diameter | 44mm |
| Movement | Rhonda 6004B Quartz |
| Water Resistance | 200m |
| Material | Titanium carbide, Stainless steel, Sapphire |
Price
£950 approx.
Pros & Cons
Smooth bezel action
High-Quality Bracelet
Basic Quartz Movement
Case
The case diameter measures at 44 mm wide, in a stainless steel construction, being surrounded by a 120 click unidirectional bezel.
The watch height of the watch is 13 mm and comes in at a weight of 176 grams.
The watch feels very heavy and solid, and just for fun the case back lid itself is 25 grams.
The case has been finished with a brushed stainless steel appearance and seems to pick up fewer scratches than most watches I have used.
The “Tag Heuer” typography logo engraving sits on the side of the watch in big contrasting letters which compliments the look of the watch quite nicely.
Bezel
The bezel is a 120 click unidirectional titanium carbide bezel, giving it a nice sturdy feel which aligns perfectly with the markers on the watch dial. The numbers along the bezel are finished with a brushed stainless steel which are raised above the engulfing black tone giving the bezel a very distinctive and sporty look.
Because of the shape of the bezel and the raised numbering, it makes the bezel extremely easy to grip, even wearing gloves. Although this also offers the downfall of being easily knocked by accident.
Dial
The dial on the Formula 1 Grande Date, it is black with vibrant white lettering, which is very pleasing to the eye. Tag maintained this noir look by also transforming their classic multicolored design into a more simplistic white outline.
The small sub-dial sitting at the 6 o’clock position shows the seconds hand, which is something I usually do not like in a wristwatch. But is a nice touch to mask the harsh ticking movement of a quartz watch. As I paid closer attention to the second’s hand, it appeared to not hit the markers dead on, but it was close enough.
Theres a large date window that is positioned on the sub-dial, is a very useful gesture, and appears unobtrusive.
Crystal
The watch window uses a simplistic flat sapphire crystal with AR coating.
Bracelet
The bracelet on the watch is made from stainless steel, paired with a locking clasp with a safety. The manufacture kindly left three micro adjustment positions on the bracelet and a puch pin system for adding and removing entire links. Although there are no half links in the bracelet, the small size of the individual links makes that little to no issue.
The bracelet clasp feels well designed and closes with a reassuring click.
Lugs
The lug width is 22mm, which sit quite close to the case – making it hard to use the watch with other thicker straps, such as the Nato strap.
If you do enjoy changing the straps of your watch to Nato or Zulu straps then this may not be the watch for you. Although it is possible to change the strap it may be more hassle than its worth, compared to other watches.
Lume
Sadly one of the letdowns of this watch is its lume. The dial lume does well to last for a few hours, however, the minute and second hand lumes are a different story.
The Formula 1 Grande Date read the time with neatly finished skeleton hands, which hold the lume on the tip of the hands. This small surface area of lume makes it difficult to see as soon as 30-60 minutes in the dark and is not usable after a couple of hours.
Overall thoughts
Considering that the movement is a basic Quartz calibre, and not automatic, I could almost be tempted to believe that this watch is slightly overpriced.
However the design of the watch masks the Quartz movement nicely, and it’s noir design, finished with a brushed stainless steel paired with it’s skeleton hands, makes the watch look quite sleek.
When reviewing the case, bezel and bracelet, they seem to give a vibe of great quality, and certainly feel like a robust design.
The position of the watch sits a bit low on your wrist but is almost balanced out by its 44 mm diameter.
Overall the sheer appearance and finish of the watch look so good I could almost forgive the poor lume display.
