TAG HEUER Aquaracer Professional 300 NIGHT DIVER [80s kid]

How do you catch a polar bear? Cut a hole in the ice and put peas around it. When the bear goes to take a pea; you kick him straight in the ice-hole!

Yeah, I know don’t give up the day job but I couldn’t help myself; anyway whilst we’re on the subject of ice-holes; 

they can get quite dark inside which is why it isn’t the worst idea to equip yourself with a watch that has a full-lume dial; like say, this new Night Diver from TAG!

And speaking of the 1980s (yeah we were, remember, a few days back?) are you guys ready for yet another 80s revival watch?

The TAG Heuer enthusiast’s among may or may not remember the Night Diver, name which was first introduced in the mid-1980s – well its back! 

Actually I don’t remember it, as I was still in short trousers, but as an 80s kid, this watch still has my attention.

Today TAG Heuer has resurrected the Night Diver name and bestowed it upon a new variant of their latest Aquaracer Professional 300 series of which the TRIBUTE TO REF. 844 watch also belongs.

In full, this is the new TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 Night Diver Caliber 5 Automatic, recently released along with a couple of other new models from the same series. This was the coolest of the three, so here it is.

The Stainless-steel case, bezel, crown, case-back and clasp of this standout model have all been coated in matt black diamond-like carbon AKA DLC, while its bezel insert is in black ceramic. 

The Night Diver’s other signature feature is its fully luminescent dial, which has been coated with green Super-LumiNova for that full glow-in-the-dark effect.

And to ensure ultimate legibility in extreme low-light conditions, the watch’s minute and central seconds hands have been filled with blue glowing lume to contrast with the green of the dial. 

Meanwhile the hour hand and octagonal hours at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock are also filled with green lume while the remaining octagonal hour markers are all framed with black lacquer.

The triangle on the unidirectional rotating bezel at 12, a crucial feature used to accurately and safely measure dive-time, has also been filled with striking blue lume to match the blue of the minute and central seconds hands. Each of the three new Aquaracer Professional 300 references also come equipped with a beautifully engineered integrated rubber strap equipped with TAG Heuer’s newly developed adjustable clasp system. These straps will be cut to length as part of a fitting process at a TAG Heuer boutique or by an authorized dealer. The wearer will then have the freedom to adjust their strap to accommodate a wetsuit. The fine-tuning system developed by TAG Heuer’s engineers means this adjustment can be made to extremely small tolerances. This is done by pinching and sliding the button on the side of the clasp. The clasp also features double safety push-buttons that prevent it from being unlocked by accident. As the watch full name implies, the Night Diver is powered by TAG’s Cal. 5 automatic movement. Thoughts? I must admit I have been more enamored of TAG Heuer’s recent diver’s watch forays than I have been in a good decade or two.

Both the Aquarcer BAMFORD and the aforementioned TRIBUTE TO REF. 844 watches were well received - even by me (who is no Aquaracer fanboy) as I am sure this will be. 

Btw those were LEs, whereas this is a regular production model, so you’ll actually be able to get one. Now, where was I?

Going back almost a decade there was the Aquagraph which first dropped in 2003? 

It was flawed to say the least. So not exactly one of TAG’s most celebrated of divers but it did have toolish appeal. 

I am not at all hopeful of a 2023 reissue for its 20th b’day but worse things could happen.

However, just one year on from then; 2024 will see the 40th birthday of TAG’s most celebrated diver, the Super Professional 1000m which was produced between 1984 and 2000ish. 

I am literally praying for a re-issue and if done right i.e. 1000m, massive dial markers, same hands and that vault-like bezel; I’ll be all over it like a cheap wet-suit.

Meanwhile we still have the new Night Diver; another good looking 80s baby that is a worthy stand in until (with any luck) the SP 1000m gets a reissue. 

But what do you think; this or the Bell & Ross BR03-92 Diver FULL LUM? I love the B&R but the Night Diver as the edge just because it’s a TAG.