TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300
TAG Heuer revives an icon, inviting wearers to go even further beyond the edge and into the deep with fresh additions to the Aquaracer Professional 300 family with 3 colourways, including the return of the Night Diver.
This new launch follows the Tag Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 series released during Watches and Wonders Geneva in April, and TAG Heuer adds three new watches to the family, including an new iteration of the iconic, all-black, lume-dialled Aquaracer Professional 300 Night Diver.
This new launch follows the Tag Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 series released during Watches and Wonders Geneva in April, and TAG Heuer adds three new watches to the family, including an new iteration of the iconic, all-black, lume-dialled Aquaracer Professional 300 Night Diver.
Our initial reaction to the new releases were very positive, especially to the Night Diver model, with its full lume dial, which looks white in day light, but completely illuminates in the dark. The usual qualities associated with TAG Heuer watches, especially the Aquaracer series is ever present. This is a good thing, because the build quality is excellent, and the watches are robust, and equal to any task at hand as a diver watch, or a tool watch. The construction is always on point, and very well executed. We also liked the touch of using two different lume colours to differentiate the hour hand from the minute hand – making it easier to identify, especially in the dark, murky depths that the watch can be taken to, given its 300m water resistance rating. The black DLC coated case is very sleek and adds a character to the Night Diver. But all three are handsome watches.
Also released in April, TAG Heuer also introduced a highly collectible limited-edition version of the Aquaracer Professional 300 at launch to both complement the core collection and salute the design’s wonderful heritage. It’s called the Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844, and, as the name suggests, it picks up on the story of the fabled Ref. 844 divers’ watch introduced in 1978. Only 844 examples of the Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844 will be made and launched in September 2021.
TAG Heuer enthusiasts will recognise the name “Night Diver”, which was first introduced in the mid-1980s. Loved by active, style-conscious watch buyers who push their limits, exploring nature and going beyond the edge, it became one of the most celebrated sports watches of its era.
Today’s Tag Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 collection picks up this story. TAG Heuer’s design, engineering and heritage teams worked together to deliver a faithful update to a much-loved watch, retaining and improving signature details such as the famous 12-sided bezel and the dial’s horizontal engraved lines to produce a refined, highly versatile modern classic.
.Today’s Aquaracer Professional 300 drop adds three models to the eight announced in April, taking the collection to 11 references. All three new models are non-limited and go into the core collection, each with a 43 mm stainless steel case and rubber strap equipped with TAG Heuer’s innovative adjustable folding clasp.
The new black and blue versions pick up on the bracelet models introduced at Watches and Wonders: both are colour-themed with matching black or blue dials, ceramic bezel inserts and rubber straps.
The standout model of the release is the black DLC-coated Night Diver, joining the Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844 as the collection’s hero pieces. Its stainless-steel case, bezel, crown, caseback and clasp are all coated in matt black diamond-like carbon, known as DLC, a high- performance, hard-wearing finish designed for use in extreme conditions. The bezel insert is highly resistant black ceramic.
The Tag Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 Night Diver’s other signature feature is its fully luminescent dial, which is coated in green Super- LumiNova to deliver exceptional glow-in-the-dark performance. To ensure ultimate legibility in extreme low-light conditions, the watch’s minute and central seconds hands are filled with blue lume to contrast with the green of the dial. The hour hand and octagonal hour markers at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock are filled with green lume, and the remaining octagonal hour markers are all edged with black lacquer. The triangle on the unidirectional rotating bezel at 12, which is crucial to accurately and safely measure dive times, is also filled with striking blue lume to match the blue of the minute and central seconds hands.
The detailing doesn’t stop there. As with the eight pieces in the launch collection, the three new references pick up on the six signature features that have defined TAG Heuer dive watches since 1983: a unidirectional rotating bezel, a screw-down crown, water resistance to at least 200 metres, luminous markings, a scratch-resistant crystal and a double safety clasp. These real-world functions became the model’s design pillars and have been reassuring underwater explorers for almost four decades.
The form carries a number of further details that enhance its luxury feel and performance. The 12 sides of the bezel are all faceted for grip, the crown is protected to prevent accidental damage and there’s a magnifying glass over the date, which is integrated into the underside of the sapphire crystal, making it smooth to the touch.
All this is set against the backdrop of the Aquaracer’s dial with its trademark horizontally engraved lines. These have also been refined for the new generation of watches and are now set slightly further apart than in previous Aquaracer iterations, giving the watches their elegant, sophisticated look.
As with the launch collection, the three new Tag Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 references are powered by TAG Heuer’s Calibre 5 automatic movement. They all have solid casebacks stamped with the famous scaphander diving suit, complete with a 12-sided faceplate. All Aquaracer Professional 300 models are water-resistant to 300 metres (30 bar, 1,000 feet).
Each of the new Aquaracer Professional 300 references comes with a beautifully engineered integrated rubber strap equipped with TAG Heuer’s newly developed adjustable clasp system.
The fine-tuning system developed by TAG Heuer’s engineers means this adjustment can be made to extremely small tolerances. This is done by pinching and sliding the button on the side of the clasp. The clasp also features double safety push-buttons that prevent it from being unlocked by accident.
These straps will be cut to length as part of a fitting process at a TAG Heuer boutique or by an authorised dealer. The wearer will then have the freedom to adjust their strap to accommodate a wetsuit, or simply to reflect changes in ambient conditions that make the wrist expand or contract.