Tag Heuer | Aquaracer Professional 200
The company from La Chaux-de-Fonds presents the Aquaracer Professional 200, an elegant and daring all-terrain tool-watch that perpetuates the rich heritage of the high-level sports timepiece launched by the company four decades ago.
The story of the Aquaracer Professional continues
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 unidirectional 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, ice skiing or ice climbing 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 40 years ago.
At every turn, the new watches are about refinement. The larger of the two models that debut is 40mm across and 11mm thick, giving a sleeker silhouette and a slenderer profile compared to the outgoing model it replaces. 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.
Drawing the lines
The relationship between the Aquaracer Professional 200 and Aquaracer Professional 300 is easily defined. Both have the famous and now upgraded bezel with 12 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 12 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.
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.
Insider knowledge
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 sweep 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.
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 caseback 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.
Keeping it in the family
The new Aquaracer Professional 200 carries some further, albeit not immediately obvious engineering refinements first seen in the Aquaracer Professional 300. For example, the bezel improvements detailed in the Aquaracer Professional 300 are also present in its sister watch. The bezel’s rotating mechanism is almost fluid, and yet still has a reassuring click that signals its reliability under pressure.
Both watches feature a slimmed-down, more elegant bracelet that follow the natural curvature of every wearer’s wrist. As well as being highly flexible and durable, the Aquaracer Professional 200’s bracelet comes with a comfort link comprising a 7mm extension that can be adjusted quickly using a beautifully engineered push-down-and-pull release mechanism.
Both pieces in the Aquaracer Professional Series also have intelligently designed fluting on the bezel’s facets so it can be easily gripped and adjusted. The riders from previous generation bezels have been removed, giving the Aquaracer Professional 200 its uninterrupted bezel profile.
As a result, both Aquaracer Professional Series models offer the same refined haptics and aesthetics, delivering an intensely rewarding user experience. These are tool watches, but they recognise the imperative behind any luxury product – to deliver a sensorial, human experience every time they’re brought into service. Delivering on this brief was the product of both decades of experience and a new season of design study.
A dedicated campaign
To introduce the Aquaracer Professional 200 story to the world, TAG Heuer has collaborated once again with filmmaker Thierry Donard, director of the celebrated extreme sport series of films Nuit de la glisse. The 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 spirit of adventure
Designed for explorers, the new Aquaracer Professional 200 is available as a range of 11 references, all in stainless steel. Regardless of the case size or the accompanying details, these bold and dynamic watches are equally suited to extreme sports and urban wear.
Each has been heavily tested at the Manufacture for accuracy, resistance to water and abrasion, and to ensure the bracelet can withstand accidental stresses. The primary guarantee of the Aquaracer Professional Series is performance under pressure.
The Aquaracer Professional 200 opens up a new chapter in the storied tale of TAG Heuer watches designed and engineered for life’s greatest adventures.