At Watches and Wonders last week in Geneva, TAG Heuer debuted six new gold Aquaracer Professional 200 timepieces enhanced with gold.

The Aquaracer Professional 200 Gold comes in either a 40 mm 18K rose gold or yellow gold case, and the Aquaracer Professional 200 Steel and Gold are available in either 40 mm bi-color steel and rose gold or steel and yellow gold. There are also two bi-color 30 mm versions, with diamond set mother-of-pearl dials.

The four 40 mm diameter Aquaracer Professional 200 models feature what TAG Heuer is calling fumé dials. The two 3N Yellow gold variants come with blue sunburst dials with a stamped horizontal motif and the two 5N rose gold variants come with gray-black sunburst dials and the same horizontal motif. Similarly, the 30 mm models are blue for the yellow gold and black for the rose gold, respectively, though these jeweled dials are smooth, with no horizontal motif.

Interestingly, TAG Heuer chose to power the four bi-color steel and gold Aquaracers with outsourced 4Hz Swiss automatic movements (Sellita) with 38-hour power reserves and solid casebacks, whereas the two upscale solid 18K gold versions are powered by TAG Heuer’s new caliber TH31-00 4Hz COSC-certified chronometer level (-4/+6 accuracy) automatic in-house made Swiss movements that offer an 80-hour power reserve and exhibition caseback.

Considering the starting price of $4,700 for the bi-color jeweled 30 mm models and $5,050 for the bi-color 40 mm references, it would have been nice to see TAG Heuer include an in-house caliber, considering Tudor and Omega both offer numerous in-house models in the same or even lower price ranges.

You do get the benefit of 18K gold bezel inserts and crowns on the four bi-color models, and interesting sunburst fumé dials on the two non-jeweled versions, though consumers may find the premium quite steep relative to the rest of the market. With the two 18K solid gold Aquaracer Professional 200s, the price is more than three times higher at $18,450, though you do benefit from the upgraded chronometer-level 80-hour in-house movement with a sapphire crystal and black DLC grade 2 titanium screw-in back, a black DLC-coated steel crown, and a black DLC-coated grade 2 titanium clasp which will be less likely to scratch than the steel clasp on the entry-level Aquaracers.

 

Photos by TAG Heuer.