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How do you view the Tag Heuer brand

  • They are a high end luxury brand

    Votes: 4 8.0%
  • They are an entry level luxury brand

    Votes: 24 48.0%
  • They are a mainstream company and not on the level of other luxury level brands

    Votes: 16 32.0%
  • They are an average watch company. More marketing then substance

    Votes: 6 12.0%

Where does Tag Heuer Rank? Is it a luxury brand? A mainstream brand? High End or not?

49K views 21 replies 21 participants last post by  Omegaman68 
#1 ·
Where does Tag Heuer Rank? Is it a luxury brand or A mainstream brand? High End or not?

http://us.tagheuer.com/en/home
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAG_Heuer

They are a Swiss brand with a very very long term positive reputation.



In most jewelry stores that sell watches Tag is given HUGE floor space and sold as an "upper level" expensive brand. The store I was in today had them side by side with Rolex and some of the new top models had price tags that almost matches those of Rolex.

They advertise as much or MORE then any other brand. You cant read a magazine, or walk though an airport without seeing one of their ads.

So where does the Tag Heuer brand rank among watch brands. What is your opinion?
 
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#2 ·
I've owned a couple of Tags and still own one because I got a good deal on it. It's a Formula I Grande Date Chrono. The Formula series is entry level within the brand. It looks great and it will not cost much to maintain in the long run since its a Quartz. That said, I know that with Tag Heuer I get three things at a reasonable price. Good quality, brand recognition and good resale value should I decide to unload it. :rolleyes:

There are some higher level Tags like the Carrera but at that price level there are other brands I'd be looking at... Omega and Breitling for example.
 
#7 ·
The brand has a lot of history and a lot of firsts in its favour. Real feathers in a cap stuff.

I think it has suffered in the previous 10 years or so from having some fairly ordinary & unispired designs.

Lately with an injection of funds, there has been a real increase in innovation at a technical level.

At the high end there are things like the V4, mikrotimer, & mikropendulum.

I've tried on the Mikropendulum and its movemet and action are mesmerising At $40k though, the style of the watch is lacking a certain something - it's to busy in the dial with too many levels and textures that cheapens it somehow.

The Mikrograph, similarly is a technical tour-de force, but is a fairly bland watch. It just doesn't have a certain something that turns it from plain to elegant and minimalist so ends up looking just kinda dull.

I haven't tried on a V4 so can't comment on that.

The Grand Carreras & Carreras are okay without being anything wow inducing for the most part.

They also make a huge deal at the mid level about their 1887 in-house movement - that is a Seiko - these are all solid performers and nice enough, but again - just kinda missing the mark & all seem rather bulky for the most part.

I've never been drawn to the divers they all look pretty unispired to my eye.

At the entry level, there are some good solid options, quartz & mechanical

The re-releases of some of there iconic models are pretty good, except when they start emellishing them too much, IMHO

I have a quartz F1 & the Steve McQueen Monaco

The rest have never quite inspired me to go further

To me they have diluted their prestige a little too much to be a "luxury" item, even though a $20k carbon fibre beast or $40k Mikropendulum is a technical achievement, Leonardo de Caprio staring out of the window of the boutique just doesn't do it for me.

I respect the brand & it's technical ability and they make a solid product, and have some impressive achievements.

Defitely higher end than Seiko, Grand Seiko anything Japanese or any of the fashion brands.

Does technical innovation with unispired aesthetics make them high-end?

I'm not sure either. It seems the engineering dept is outa sync with the marketing and design deparments.

I think, therein lies the problem.

As such, I' haven't voted in the poll above, because no one answer covers the situation as I perceive i.
 
#11 ·
No they aren't on the level of Omega, Breitling, etc. But I'd still say luxury. If your shelling out over 1000 on a watch I say thats a luxury purchase as no one needs an expensive watch. I also think they get a little bit of a bad rap in the wis community because they are a "mall" brand. to me they are good quality watches. Also apart from a Rolex these are the most recognizable and that helps if you sell it. Here is my well worn but well loved Tag (not for sale).

Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Wrist Fashion accessory


Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
Midmarket watches at the level of Longines, Oris and Glycine. Good quality!!
I have owned a few modern Tag Heuer divers, including two automatic AR500 models with grey dials. I have to say they were very nice and the quality was as good as other luxury brands.





Now vintage "Heuer" is a whole different story! They are fsntastic! The price point is high and the quality is fantastic!



 
#13 ·
Having owned two Tags, an Aquaracer auto and a Link Chrono auto, I would rate them entry level, and mid level in respective order of the models I listed.

Some of their higher end watches like the Mikrogirder are even of more horological significance then what Rolex puts out today, so in final analysis they are multilayer on the luxury scales.
 
#15 ·
Good point about Tiger since he really cheapened the brand ... now I would say ok Quartz brand but neither High end or entry... 15 - 20 yr Professional line pieces, especially titaniums, are timeless... Tag went modern as Tiger went "South".

Tag is in crisis style wise ... they used to be copied but now are copying more popular styles of other brands... I think of it as a bad business decision for the brand long run...

I would suspect that they are trying to market to younger 30 - 45 yr crowd, which unfortunately puts them against a lot of other brands who can beat them on price with the same Swiss quality...

-WW

Expect a lot of discounting of Tags after the holidays when they don't sell...
 
#14 ·
High end entry level. From Heuer to car racer Tag to a luggage company ownership
Tiger Woods ruined the image for me when his peccadilloes appeared
Something like how football is now not a favorite sport. Too much negative imagery spill over


Last one I bought, was in my possession one day before I flipped it
Was the high end model, chrono and Cal 5. Got it BNIB for $800 from a eBay seller who offered it to me after I bought a few of his other watches. Odd way to deal but I tend to make friends even in eBay. MSRP was what 4xs as much?
Buyer flipped it as well. It is a well made watch but for some reason it just did not click

I owned and wore one in the 1980s for maybe 10 years and loved the older models a lot more. I replaced it with a Rolex DSSD but kept it and gave to my brother

Exposure to other brands makes it difficult to justify wearing one now
 
#16 ·
They are entry level luxury brand IMO. They advertise a lot (Just like Rolex) and often appeal to non-WIS because of it. Their prices are too high, but if you can score one on sale for 50% off....they are worth it.

My first 'real' watch was a Tag-Heuer 2000 series automatic.....well made and beautiful. I still own it and can't ever imagine selling it. I didn't know anything about watches I just knew I had to have a Tag Heuer after my Citizen died....because I was a F1 fan and Tag Heuer was the official sponsor (just like Rolex is today). I had a factory service done on it after 5 years of daily wear.

Tag Heuer gets a bad rap for their over priced quartz watches...I say leave those for the non-WIS who just walk in and pay full price.

I have 5 Tag Heuers and 2 Heuers....(no photos of the Heuer Kentucky yet).













I sold this one because I needed cash and have regretted it ever since....

 
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