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When looking at stainless steel sports watches, almost all of them are associated with racing. Whilst the Tag Heuer Aquaracer joins this club, it differs slightly as the name suggests. Whilst you will be hard pressed to find a Tag Heuer Aquracer being used on a jetski, it has become a very fashionable watch to wear in every day life.
The only real negative point associated with the Aquaracer is the price tag. Compared to other entry-level luxury watches, Aquaracers are a lot more expensive when you look at the specifications. Brands such as Mido and Oris generally offer a lot more value for money than the Tag Heuer Aquaracer.
Thankfully, there are many cheaper alternatives to the Aquaracer and you do not need to spend thousands of dollars to get hold of a Swiss-made sports watch. Although it is somewhat of a unique looking watch with its 12 sided bezel, thankfully there are still quite a lot of other homeage watches that look like the Aquaracer.
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Tag Heuer Aquaracer History
Tag Heuer is a historic watchmaker who have been making luxury level timepieces since 1860. As a brand, they have a strong association with modern day sports watches and are well known for producing the Carrera, Monaco and of course the Aquaracer.
As the brand has so much history, it is somewhat surprising to learn that the Aquaracer has only been around since 2004. Although the Tag Heuer watches in 1990s were clearly used as an inspiration for the Aquaracer, there are still some distinct differences between the two models such as a textured dial and colored bezel.
Over the years, there have been many variations of the Aquaracer, including a chronograph, alarm, GMT and ana-digi models. However, when you think of a typical Aquaracer, this generally means a watch with a simple dial layout with no real complications and either a quartz or automatic movement. Of course, it also must be waterproof given that it was designed for watersports.
Is The Tag Heuer Aquaracer A Good Watch?
First of all, there are two types of Aquaracer, so to say they are either good or bad would be silly, since they use completely different movements.
The more expensive Aquaracer uses the calibre 7 movement which is a modified ETA 2893-2. There is no doubt about the fact that watches that use automatic ETA movements can be considered “good”. However, whether this watch is worth approximately $2500 is up to the buyer.
There is also a cheaper variation of the Aquaracer which uses ETA quartz. This movement is more accurate than the mechanical version but is a lot cheaper to make as it is battery powered. If you prefer low-maintainance watches then quartz is a much better option since you don’t need to look after it and it is inexpensive.
Quartz Aquaracers list in the region of $1500 – which is extremely expensive given an ETA quartz movement is worth approximately $75 on its own. ETA quartz is by no means a bad watch, but once again this is a steep price for such average specification.
Is The Tag Heuer Aquaracer A Good Investment?
Due to the depreciation of Tag Heuer Aquaracer watches, they certainly are not a good investment. When compared with most luxury watches, this is normal as watches are a product that is meant to be purchased for enjoyment and will generally depreciate in line with general wear. This is seen in many similar brands such as IWC, Hublot, and Omega.
Best Affordable Alternatives To The Tag Heuer Aquaracer
Tissot Seastar
Known for making good quality Swiss watches for reasonable prices, Tissot is a brand that has truly stood the test of time. As you can see from the dial, the Seamaster uses a slightly different layout with a two-tone color scheme and the date window at the 6 o’clock position.
However, both the hands and the bezel are very similar to the Tag Heuer Aquaracer.
Considering this watch is under $600, it is a great alternative, especially when compared to the quartz Aquaracer. The Seastar has exactly the same 300 meter water resistance but uses an ETA powermatic 80 automatic movement – which is vastly superior and more complicated to a simple quartz movement.
Sturhling Prodiver
Without a doubt, the Sturhling pro diver is the cheapest alternative to the Tag Heuer Aquaracer that you can buy. Other than the shape of the bezel, the rest of the watch is very similar to the Aquaracer. The hour indicators, hands and color scheme are all very similar to the original.
The point where the pro diver diverges is the movement. Sturhling uses a standard Miyota quartz, which is certainly nothing special but is both accurate and reliable.
For under $75, this is really a no brainer if you’re after a quartz based Aquaracer alternative. This is considerably cheaper than pretty much everything else you can buy.
Pagani (HaiQin) Seamaster Homage
Although this is a watch based on the Omega Speedmaster, it also looks quite similar to the Aquaracer. The dial, hands, and hour indicators are all based off the Speedmaster and it is very clear what Pagani are up to with this piece.
However, the case shape and bezel are very similar to the Aquaracer, making this a very affordable alternative. Not only this, but the watch is a lot higher quality than you would imagine and very good value for money. The reason being is that this uses an Epson NH35 movement, which is used in the classic Seiko 5.
By no means is this a luxury watch, but it is a great price given the specification.
Raymond Weil Tango Divers
There are not too many good alternatives to the all stainless steel quartz Aquaracer, but the Raymond Weil Tango dive watch is an exception to this rule.
As this is a Swiss-made watch from a brand that makes entry-level luxury timepieces, you would expect it to cost significantly more than it does. The fact that this watch is available for under $400 is really thanks to the internet, as you would never find this price in an authorized dealer.
Given that the specifications of the Raymond Weil tango are so similar to a quartz Aquaracer, this makes the deal even sweeter. You would typically expect to pay around $1500-$1800 for a stainless steel quartz Aquaracer. The fact you can get a watch that is very similar for over $1000 cheaper is excellent.
Longines Hydroconquest
Although the Hydroconquest is not an inexpensive watch, it is still quite a lot cheaper than an automatic Aquaracer. Given that Longines use very high quality ETA movements when you directly compare the inner workings of an Aquaracer to a Hydroconquest, there is not too much difference.
The hydroconquest is 100% a luxury level watch and is priced accordingly. Overall it is better value for money than a Tag Heuer aquaracer since it uses a very similar movement.
Citizen Promaster Diver
Citizen offers a good series of dive watches in their promaster series. This specific model is a great and lightweight alternative to the aquaracer, as well as being very practical.
As this watch uses an eco-drive movement, this means that you won’t have to change the battery, nor service the movement like you would with an automatic watch. This offers a little more convenience than both of the Aquaracer models.
The hour indicators and bezel are very similar to that of an Aquaracer, which is a positive for those looking for a visually similar watch. Lastly, this costs around 10x less than a typical Tag Heuer watch.
Hamilton Frogman
The Hamilton frogman is a luxury watch in its own right. Hamilton are far from a cheap brand but are still considerably cheaper than any Tag Heuer watch.
Even though Hamilton watches cost less than Tag Heuer, they are made to a very similar quality. Hamilton uses their own modified ETA movements which are Swiss made and finished to a very high standard.
The frogman is a legitimate dive watch with a very similar color scheme to the Aquaracer. This theme is continued with the bezel shape when put alongside that Tag Heuer timepiece.. It obviously has some very distinct visual differences too, but is a good choice for those who want something which is both high-quality and a little different.
