The '90s Tag Heuer F1 Watch Is Back To Cash In On Your Nostalgia
Image: Tag Heuer
Everything that was cool in the 1990s has gone through the coolness cycle into dorky, ironically cool, and back to genuinely cool again. Watch enthusiasts and Formula 1 fanatics are falling over themselves to argue about the new collaboration between Tag Heuer watches and streetwear brand Kith, a retro-cool revival of the brand’s downmarket watch, typified by a rubber-banded plastic-bezel quartz-movement “Formula 1” lineup. This is a style of watch that Heuer sold before, and it’s been brought back in limited numbers for sporty watch dorks who want a bit more color on their wrist.
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Image: Tag Heuer
There are ten different colorways of the new Kith/Heuer Formula 1 available, and three of them even include a metal housing and bracelet. Each will cost you $1,500, but because some colorways are limited to just 250 pieces each, they’ll definitely go up on the second-hand market because we live in hell and rich people have more money than sense. If you are really dumb with your cash, you can get a metal case that contains all ten colorways, limited to just 75 pieces worldwide, for 18,000 Swiss Francs (about $19,500 at current exchange rates).
Image: Tag Heuer
My favorite of the run is also unfortunately the most rare. This red/yellow/green/blue piece above is a revival of a limited-edition in-period watch designed for Japanese F1 racer Ukyo Katayama. As much as I like it, I’d still probably have a hard time paying $1,500 for a plastic quartz watch with a rubber band. According to watch blog Hodinkee, these are more robust and of better quality than the wildly successful “Moonswatch” collaboration between Swatch and Omega, the price delta between the two is just too much for me to stomach. Maybe you feel differently.
Image: Tag Heuer
If I see one of these on your wrist, I’ll probably admire it, though on the inside I’ll probably also make note that you’re an easy mark. You’ll forever be filed away in my brain as someone I could run an easy scam on. Keep that in mind.
