TAG Heuer Adds Racing’s Most Classic Livery to Its Aggressive Titanium Chronograph

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, TAG Heuer and motorsports go together like peas and carrots.

The Swiss watchmaker has a decades-long history of deep involvement with auto racing. From its iconic, purpose-built racing chronographs like the Monaco, Carrera and Autavia to its current and historical status as the official timekeeper for Formula One and the Indy 500 to its pop culture iconography in Steve McQueen’s film Le Mans, TAG Heuer’s fingerprints are all over the past half-century of motorsport.

Now, the brand is adding to its legacy on the track once again by reteaming with Gulf Oil for another chronograph featuring the most legendary racing livery in history.

TAG Heuer

Ready for Le Mans

TAG Heuer has launched several watches in the past featuring Gulf Oil’s iconic light blue and orange paint job, with the Monaco being the best-known recipient of the treatment. After all, both the Monaco and the Gulf livery reached their greatest heights of fame through their association with McQueen’s character in Le Mans.

This time around, however, TAG has instead turned to its more contemporary Formula 1 Automatic Chronograph, marking the fourth Gulf Edition in the Formula 1 line’s history.

The watch’s aggressively angular case comes in at an oversized 44mm and is paired with a sharply angled H-link bracelet. Both are made of sandblasted Grade 2 titanium for lightweight performance and a rugged appearance.

TAG Heuer

A broad tachymeter bezel is made of forged carbon fiber and features the word “Gulf” to the right of an orange TAG Heuer logo at 12:00. Black DLC chronograph pushers are integrated into the right side of the case, flanking a prominent black crown decorated with a ring of orange lacquer.

The dial is quite busy, but everything works well in cohesion to present an aggressive, race-ready aesthetic. The base is black, with bold light blue and orange racing stripes applied vertically on the right side of the case, recalling the liveries of such iconic Gulf racers as the Porsche 917 and Ford GT40. The date window and dial text are both found within these stripes.

The three color-matched subdials are aligned vertically on the center-left side of the dial and feature a mix of orange and light blue hands. The bold center-mounted chronograph seconds hand is also orange, and there’s a light blue ring around the dial, framing the applied indices. Outbound of this ring is the minute track, which carries spillover from the aforementioned racing stripes, visually expanding the dial.

TAG Heuer

The rhodium-plated indices are uniquely curvaceous and shaped like mini sports cars, and they sport a shiny black finish. They, along with the matte-black, semi-skeletonized hour and minute hands, are filled with white Super-LumiNova. All hands of the watch, including those on the subdials, are lacquered.

The solid screwdown caseback features an engraving of the Gulf Oil logo, but no additional color. Hidden behind that caseback is the TAG Heuer Caliber 16, the brand’s most basic automatic chronograph movement that’s used in other Formula 1 Chronograph references.

Availability and pricing

I was never a big fan of TAG Heuer’s previous Formula 1 collaborations with Gulf Oil. They all featured an abundance of very saturated royal blue color that made the watches look, well, kind of cheap and tacky.

This new one, however, is a different story.

The heavy use of black paired with the darker gray of the sandblasted titanium case and bracelet provides a much better canvas for the tastefully added pops of color from the Gulf livery. This watch feels contemporary and aggressive in a way the previous collabs didn’t, and it looks a lot more like something someone racing a GT40 around Le Mans would want on their wrist.

The TAG Heuer F1 Automatic Chronograph x Gulf will go on sale on July 3 from TAG Heuer, just in time for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It’s priced at $6,300.

TAG Heuer

TAG Heuer Formula 1 Automatic Chronograph x Gulf

Specs

Case Size	44mm
Movement	TAG Heuer Calibre 16 automatic chronograph
Water Resistance	200m

• $6,300 at TAG Heuer

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