Did TAG Heuer Just Launch the Summer’s Best Dive Watch?

The brand finally has a competitive luxury diver in the new Aquaracer.

Published June 3, 2024

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Updated June 3, 2024

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TAG Heuer’s comeback tour continues. After blowing away everyone last year with the stunning “Glassbox” makeover of its iconic Carrera Chronograph and reviving its cult-favorite original Formula One watch earlier this year, TAG has now turned its attention to its Aquaracer dive watch collection.

To be fair, the brand hasn’t exactly been ignoring its diver during its renaissance. The compact, solar-powered Solargraph versions of the Aquaracer have been a surprise hit since making their debut in 2022, but the automatic Aquaracer Professional 300 felt like it lagged behind the competition.

Well, no more. TAG Heuer has unveiled a refreshed version of its flagship dive watch with a new movement, a more striking dial, a smaller case and a more refined feel overall.

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 Date

$3,600 at TAG Heuer

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT

$4,200 at TAG Heuer

Subtle changes add up to a very different diver

There were many legitimate quibbles I had about the Aquaracer that were shared by other watch enthusiasts. It’s too big. The design is too boring. It doesn’t feel premium enough. It was never a bad watch, but it just wasn’t compelling compared to what else was out there for the money.

The new Aquaracer Professional 300 changes all that. First of all, the case has been shrunken down to a more wearable and crowd-pleasing size. While the outgoing model was oversized at 43mm across, 12.5mm thick and 50mm from lug to lug, the new version is much more palatable at 42mm across, 12mm thick and — here’s the biggest difference-maker — just 48mm lug-to-lug.

The design has also gotten a slight but significant revamp that leads to a more luxurious-feeling watch. The indices and hands are rhodium-plated for a bit of flash, and the hands have been slightly redesigned to be a bit sleeker.

tag heuer dive watch in water — The new wave dial is the most stunning visual change in the revamped Aquaracer.

The biggest visual changes arrive via the dial. The horizontal line pattern of the previous generation has been replaced by a new 3D lacquered wave pattern that looks spectacular. It’s somewhere between the laser-etched waves of Omega’s Seamaster Diver 300M and the more subtle ripples of the Grand Seiko Lake Suwa, and it feels both very high-end and properly fitting for a dive watch.

Other features from the previous versions — such as the twelve-sided bezel with ceramic insert, the bi-color lume, the bracelet’s micro-adjust clasp and the cyclops date window at six o’clock — have carried over to the new version.

A pair of new engines … including a GMT

The new time-and-date Aquaracer diver is joined by a svelte new GMT.

TAG Heuer

The new Aquaracer has also received a heavily-upgraded movement. Gone is the ETA-based Calibre 5 and in its place is the Calibre TH31-00 manufacture movement. This automatic engine boasts an 80-hour power reserve, more than double that of its predecessor, and is a COSC-certified chronometer — which the outdoing Aquaracer was not.

Alongside the Aquaracer Professional 300 Date is the brand-new Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT. It’s essentially the same watch as the new diver and is powered by a modified version of the same movement: Calibre TH31-03, which is also a COSC-certified chronometer with 80 hours on tap but which adds a fourth hand for tracking a second time zone.

Pricing and Availability

The new TAG Heuer Professional 300 Date is priced at $3,600 on a rubber strap and $3,800 on a bracelet, while the GMT version is priced slightly higher at $4,000 on rubber and $4,200 on metal.

The diver comes in black, blue and green colorways, and the GMT is available in black-and-blue “Batman” and black-and-green “Sprite” renditions. All are available now from TAG Heuer and are non-limited.