Tag Heuer is a Swiss watch brand that is known for manufacturing fashion and luxury watches. But also timing sports events since 1860. With a solid reputation in the sports industry for its very concentrated timing innovations, you would expect somewhat good quality for their products. We did research and took a look at the question; Is Tag Heuer a good watch brand?
TAG Heuer is a good watch brand for a first (luxury) watch. TAG Heuer is known for its good price to quality ratio, but models do reflect their price tag. The Carrera or high-end Monaco watches have incredible quality. You can expect less quality if you pay less for the lower models.
Tag Heuer has been manufacturing watches since 1860. And it’s safe to say they’ve managed to maintain their quality over the years. We have considered a number of factors to determine whether Tag Heuer is a good watch brand, and discuss them in the following paragraphs.
Why TAG Heuer is a good watch brand
Tag Heuer has been manufacturing watches for years and is especially known for its roots in automobile racing. But also manufacturing chronograph innovations. The brand is also known for its Swiss watchmaking expertise and carries a status for world-renowned quality that radiates a powerful legacy.
Swiss-made watches are a great indicator for watch collectors that the brand’s quality is trustworthy and reliable in the longer run.
Tag Heuer is also known for manufacturing entry-level luxury watches that offer good value for money compared to its competitors. This entry-level price does usually mean it is seen as a low-end watch in the high-end luxury watch market.
To determine whether a watch is good or not it would be a good idea to list all of its pros and cons. Since we have some experience with the watch industry. We can determine exactly which factors are needed to make a watch good. We have listed these points to compare this brand with its competitors and determine the quality of the brand’s products.
- Materials
- Price
- Accuracy
- Potential investment
Materials
The materials are a very important factor that determines the quality and luxury of a particular watch model. Materials could be expensive, and luxurious, but how long they last is also important for the quality of the materials.
When we look at the materials of a watch, we look at the type of materials, the movement of the watch, and the overall build quality. The use of stainless steel from the 316L family of steels, and the alloy is made from low carbon content, makes it particularly resistant to acid-induced corrosion. Tag Heuer also uses ceramic which is known to have great hardness and strength, and titanium for cases and bezels.
It is safe to say that Tag Heuer made considerable changes through the years, but this has happened in a positive sense.
The movements that they use used to be ETA movements and most of them were not COSC certified. This changed over time and they now use their own in-house Heuer 01 and 02 movements. The materials they use to change the model, where the price is also adjusted to the different materials.
List of possible materials used in Tag Heuer watches:
| Materials: | Applicable Models: |
| Bronze | Autavia |
| Carbon | Carrera, Aquaracer |
| Ceramic | Formula 1, Carerra |
| Gold | Formula 1, Carerra |
| Grey Gold | TH Formula 1 |
| Steel | Aquaracer, Formula 1, Link, Carerra, Autavia |
| Titanium | Carerra, Aquaracer, |
| Aluminium | Formula 1, Auqaracer |
| PVD | Tag Heuer Formula 1 |
Price
The price of a watch is important, it indicates whether the watch is of good quality or perhaps has other specialties than other models or its competitors. Tag Heuer is known to have a good price/quality ratio for a widely popular luxury watch.
When you look at That Heuer and compare it to the high-end models like Rolex and Patek Phillipe, you can already get Tag Heuer watches for an average price of $3000 USD, which is an amazing choice for the amount of luxury, and legacy this watch caries with it. With average prices of around $3000 USD, you might be in for a very good first-time watch.
The cheapest Tag Heuer watch you can get is the Tag Heuer Formula 1 which is a men’s sports watch with a black dial in a brushed steel case. This watch will set you back around $1300 USD. We put together a table where you can see the different price ranges of the different models that Tag Heuer offers.
For more information on how much it costs to own a Tag Heuer watch, you can check out this article. It will give you the exact numbers of the service costs for your new Tag Heuer watch.
| Model: | Price: |
| Aquaracer | $1450 – $7000 |
| Autavia | $3000 – $7000 |
| Carrera | $1750 – $30000 |
| Connected | $1800 – $2000 |
| Formula 1 | $1300 – $3600 |
| Link | $1750 – $4900 |
| Monaco | $6750 – $7100 |
With the amount of luxury in Tag Heuer watches and the quality of their materials, it is safe to say that their watches are relatively affordable for what you get for what you pay for.
Accuracy
Accuracy and durability are also important factors when it comes to watches being good or not. The accuracy of a watch is quite subjective as there are different types of movements that cannot be compared to each other.
Tag Heuer offers Quartz movements and Mechanical movements, the quartz movements are usually way more accurate than the mechanical ones as quartz movements are battery-powered. You can expect an accuracy of about 1-2 seconds per month which is an acceptable range. For mechanical watches, you might be expecting 1-2 seconds per day which is a lot more but also acceptable.
The fact is that Tag Heuer owns certified chronometers which we talked about before. This is a good indicator that the watch has incredibly well-manufactured chronograph movements that are very well worthy of keeping time as good as possible.
If your priority is a watch that will keep its time as good as possible, we would recommend you look at one of their Quartz movements. Tag Heuer watches are also known to perform well in terms of durability.
Potential investment
A potential investment for a watch doesn’t particularly have anything to do with the watch itself being of good quality. But the fact that Tag Heuer is seen as a luxury watch brand, makes the heart of watch enthusiasts beat faster, as luxury watches could be potential investments.
The fact is that watches are usually seen as cars. When you buy them from the store and you walk out, you can expect significant value drops the moment you leave the store. However, this doesn’t apply to all watches. It is usually the higher-end luxury watches that can be used as an investment for the future.
Whether a watch could be an investment usually has to do with the price, materials, hand-made products, and brand awareness. Tag Heuer manufactures watches that are not great investments. You can expect a value drop of about 20% every year for the first three years.
This has to do with the mass production rate and them not being hand-made. This causes the supply to be higher than the demand for these watches, which causes prices to depreciate over time.
How long do TAG Heuer watches last
Whether a watch lasts long could be a deciding factor that determines how good a watch is. A watch won’t last long if you don’t use the proper maintenance every once in a while.
The fact is that Tag Heuer watches could easily last several decades when treated right. Batteries could last up to six years but are recommended to be changed every 1-2 years in every single Quartz movement that Tag Heuer offers.
If you are curious more about this and how much it actually costs to get a Tag Heuer serviced, we have an entire article on how much it costs to own a Tag Heuer and how often you should get it serviced over here.
So, is TAG Heuer a good brand?
With all of these factors being reviewed and checked on their quality, price, and accuracy, it is safe to say that Tag Heuer watches are a good watch brand. Tag Heuer watches manufacture watches that offer an amazing price/quality ratio, use qualitative and strong materials, and have an accuracy for their chronographs that is comparable to some of the best on the market.
Other than that, they have a wide history of watch manufacturing and innovations in the field of chronograph watches, and will always be the leader in timing huge sports events like the formula 1 and Chicago and New York City Marathons.
Is a TAG Heuer worth it?
After reviewing the brand and seeing the different pros and cons of Tag Heuer watch models, you can determine if Tag Heuer is buy-worthy. We would really recommend a watch like this to the people who are willing to own a luxury watch for a relatively affordable price.
With an average price range of about $3000 USD, you can expect good quality for their models. But with a price range like this, you can also expect less than the likes of Rolex or Patek Phillipe. The differences are usually seen in the materials and investment opportunities.
This could be a good thing if your budget stands a little bit lower than the tens of thousands of dollars that a very high-end watch comes with.
So, for a first-time luxury watch, Tag Heuer is an amazing start to your collection. Also, for people who just want to buy a good watch that is durable and has a very well-established name in the industry, Tag Heuer might also be a good call. The fact is that Tag Heuer offers very good watches that people are where it goes without saying that people leave good reviews.
If you have more queries on Tag Heuer watches or just any watch questions, make sure to check out our site over here for all of your watch questions. We have a lot of in-depth answers on watches and things that come with that.
