TAG HEUER Aquaracer Professional 300 TRIBUTE to Ref. 844

Making a step in the right direction? TAG has gone back to the drawing board with their flagship sports diver, the Aquaracer and given it a complete design and engineering overhaul for 2021, and the result is pretty impressive. The new Aquaracer collection which launched last week is now known as the Aquaracer Professional 300; but despite all the work that went into redeveloping it, it’s still just an Aquaracer, right?

Well on paper, the new series seems impressive: it has a new case design, improved ergonomics, new materials, better lume etc etc. but at a glance; I’m afraid it’s still a bit of boring watch – 

HOWEVER of the eight new references that complete the new Aquaracer Pro 300 series, there is one gem.

Dive back into the 1970s with the sexy new Limited Edition Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844, the only Aquaracer we need concern ourselves with (at least for the moment). This, TAG Heuer’s potentially most collectible diver in decades, an LE variant of the Aquaracer Professional 300 is the result of a happy fusion of time and technology with its nostalgic style that harks back to the 70s while its use of Grade 5 Titanium and Ceramic while not cutting-edge are at least current. As its name suggest, the Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844 references the OG model known as (you guessed it) the Ref. 844, a quartz GMT divers’ watch that was first introduced in 1978.

The 2021 watch has been created by TAG Heuer’s design team by mixing a high-tech Grade 5 titanium case with a number of visual elements from the archive piece. 

There’s the red scale, which was originally intended as a quick conversion chart for on-the-field professionals reporting the time against the 24-hour clock.

But despite the watch’s trendy vintage-colored lume; it doesn’t get the OG model’s cathedral hour hand nor its elongated arrow minutes hand because that would be way too quirky, right? No lollipop seconds either. 

It does however get a rather cool old school style texturized rubber diver’s strap with portholes.

Finally power comes from TAG’s Caliber 5 automatic movement which is protected beneath a solid G5 Titanium case-back with TAG’s famous “scaphander” diving helmet that first appeared on the Aquaracer case back in 2004; which has been given a more modern look thanks to a new angular design.

Just 844 examples of the Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844 will be made. 

While most of the models in the new Aquaracer Professional 300 series will be available from June 2021, you’ll have to wait a bit longer (September) to get your hands on one of these lovely Tribute to Ref. 844 watches.

Thoughts? While I absolutely love the Tribute to Ref. 844 which isn’t perfect (those hands belong on an SM Diver, the Cyclops, too is horrible); 

I’m still no fan of the Aquaracer in general; and here’s why. When your starting point (which for me was in 1996) was the Super Professional –

then I’m afraid the bar has been set so far in terms of what a TAG tool diver is / could be then it can only go downhill from there on which is where TAG diver’s watches have been going ever since, but this is not a bad effort.

I never really fell in love with the Aquagraph but it least it had more character then any TAG Aquracer has until this came along. 

I wonder how old and decrepit we’ll be before we get a Super Professional Tribute watch – hope I get to see one in my lifetime.

But what do you think?