TAG Heuer Formula 1 Review: The Retro Classic Returns

The twangs and pangs of nostalgia are a powerful emotional experience, and as we’ve seen across nearly every commercial industry in recent years, they make for an effective marketing strategy. We’ve been subjected to the ploys of the nostalgia scheme for the past decade and some change, and there has been no other watch release this year that has channeled it more intensely than the revival of TAG Heuer’s Formula 1.

I would also say that, despite being something people wanted to see happen for years now, the new 2025 reimagining of the brand’s colorful, so-80s-it-almost-hurts line has been one of the most polarizing releases of the year – a mixed bag of people welcoming the collection with open arms, and others who were already exhausted from the hype of the limited edition KITH collaboration that predated it by just a few months. Today, we’ll be running through the controversy and sentimentality of the current TAG Heuer Formula 1 collection, making a pit stop in the '80s to trace the evolution of the line before racing into the quick and dirty of what you need to know about it as it stands. 

TAG Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph Context

Our story begins with the ultimate crisis point for the watch industry – the quartz crisis. Heuer was becoming a casualty in the advent of quartz movements, and, in spite of its racing history, the brand was struggling to keep up the pace with Japanese brands like Seiko and Citizen that were pumping out cheaply priced quartz watches, and effectively, lapping them and their market share. Enter Techniques d’Avant-Garde in 1985, an engineering company that wanted to break into the luxury watch game and had the technical expertise to take the flailing Heuer and bring it up to speed with the rapidly changing landscape of the watch industry. Just one year after the acquisition, the newly renamed TAG Heuer launched its first fully quartz-powered collection, fusing the longstanding Heuer connection with the racing world with a look and price that was made to appeal to a younger generation of consumers. Thus, the original Formula 1 collection was born, defined by its playful, sporty design, bold use of colors, all with a price tag that was one of the most accessible entry points to the brand’s catalog. 

Design-wise, the Formula 1 was an aesthetic evolution of Heuer’s 1000, 2000, and 3000 professional series of divers, which hit the scene shortly before TAG was in the picture. Key design elements were established across these collections that would form the bedrock of the Formula 1 identity, most significant being the case shape, slim profile, and unique dodecagonal bezel (which was used on the 3000s series), and a Mercedes-tipped hour hand. But that series of divers was ultimately quite utilitarian in their looks, and despite some architectural quirks, they were more on the low-key and minimal end of the stylistic spectrum. For the Formula 1 line, TAG Heuer would take details of those collections, and get a little inspiration from a colorful competitor on the block – Swatch.

From its vibrant use of colors to its use of synthetic materials in the case construction, you can very fairly argue that the Formula 1 was a Swatchification of the Heuer professional series, and a highly successful one at that. Cleverly advertised, mass-marketed, and bolstered by its longstanding Formula 1 sponsorship chops,  the original TAG Heuer Formula 1 did exactly what it set out to do – capture the spirit of 80s youth culture, more fully embrace quartz, and deliver a collection that was a product completely in step with the wants and needs of the time. 

TAG Heuer’s technicolor collection was presented in a fun array of color combinations in two sizing options – a tiny 28mm and 35mm. The cases mixed a steel inner case with a fiberglass coating to achieve all the bright hues, and the knurled, scalloped unidirectional bezel was made entirely of plastic. Given the breakout success of the collection, TAG Heuer would, like all smart brands, ultimately do, and double down on expanding the line, most intensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s. A new stainless steel case, along with bracelet options, was introduced just a year later in 1987, and the first chronograph take on the collection in 1989. The end of the 90s was a transitional time for both the Formula 1 series and TAG Heuer, with the original three-hander models being discontinued in 1998, followed by the acquisition of the brand by megagroup LVMH in 1999. In the year 2000, the entire Formula 1 collection was phased out of production. 

Despite being reintroduced in 2003, the Formula 1 collection was having an identity crisis. A far departure from the design codes of the first models, the brand released several pieces that carried on the Formula 1 collection, mostly in name only. The Formula 1 primarily moved on to embrace larger case sizes and more luxurious builds and movements, rather than the accessible pricing that was a key part of the original models. But in 2024, TAG would go all the way back to the collection's roots, releasing a limited edition capsule collection in collaboration with New York-based lifestyle brand Kith, which brought back the old beloved, vintage design of the Formula 1, along with new color combinations specific to the collab. From the moment the Kith Heuer dropped, the people could smell that this was just the first step of the Formula 1 nostalgia-o-rama tour, and the brand launched the new solar-powered revival collection a year later in 2025. 

TAG Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph Case and Wear

From an aesthetic perspective, the revival of the Formula 1 collection is essentially TAG Heuer serving up all the retro '80s nostalgia one can stomach on a silver platter – but that isn’t to say that it's exactly a 1:1 vintage reissue. For starters, we have a case up to more contemporary sizing at 38mm – a bit bigger than even the large-sized 80s models, but still definitely ripe with unisex sizing appeal. The collection is also packed with more premium choices in terms of its construction and build, significantly departing from some of the more cost-effective choices made in the collection's early days in favor of something more in step with the luxury tool watch positioning that’s across the brand’s current catalog. 

Whereas the classic model cases mixed fiberglass with stainless steel, the Formula 1 Solargraph build has shifted to be offered primarily in all-steel that’s either sandblasted or hit with a DLC coating to achieve those bright pops of color (though there are a few with cases made in TH_Polylight with stinaless steel innercases and casebacks) The endearingly quirky bezel, which is often the key offender on this watch’s “plastic toy” critiques, has also undergone some changes and is now made in what the brand is calling TH_Polylight. The brand’s new polymer composite is, essentially, a fancier version of plastic, and maintains the collection's signature lightweight feel. Additionally, the crown has gotten a premium upgrade with a gear tooth design over the simple pillbox crowns of the early models. Each of the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph models is available on either a sandblasted, three-link steel bracelet or a color-coordinating rubber strap. 

Tag Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph Dial 

On the dial side, the layout is pleasantly familiar and largely unchanged from the original models, and still has all the playful boldness that has made the collection such an enduring fan-favorite. There are a total of nine distinct color combinations across the collection, with the white-red, blue-white, and red polylight being established as a core collection, while the other six are limited editions released around different Grand Prix events. 

The colorful minutes track, Mercedes hour hand, and mix of luminous hour pips and shield emblems marking the hours are all accounted for, as is the date window at three o’clock. Though the script above six o’clock takes up the same three lines of real estate, the text now boldly displays the Formula 1 title, along with the Solargraph movement and Swiss-made markings for this update. The dial is protected by a slightly domed sapphire crystal as another vintage callback, which has received an AR coating for enhanced legibility. 

Formula 1 Solargraph Movement 

Possibly the most significant update to this revival of the  Formula 1 is that we’re now solar powered, baby. We’ve seen the brand adding more solar-powered movements to its repertoire, like in the case of the Aquaracer introduced in 2023. The TH50-00 gets its charge from both natural and artificial light sources, and you can get up to 10 months of uninterrupted use on a single charge. The charging time is somewhat dramatic – it takes approximately 20 hours to fully charge. Theoretically, I guess you could wear it during the day, and leave it by a lamp at night, and then you won’t have to worry about it for almost a year.

Final Thoughts 

Though I’ve been a bit tongue-in-cheek throughout writing this article, I will say I am an enduring fan of the Formula 1 collection, and generally love a watch that isn’t afraid to embrace fun, so my impressions of the Formula 1 Solargraph were already skewed positively. Ultimately, I think it's a case of a watch that was made with affordability as its guiding principle(the original was priced around $125, which is about $425 adjusted for inflation), that now has a very modern and much less approachable price tag of nearly $2,000. Do all the premium additions to the watch justify that massive hike in price? I think the brand would obviously say yes, but my own wallet says no, not for me. From a purely experiential, vibes-based standpoint, I like it, I love to see it out in the wild, but it is not something I’m willing to spend my own hard-earned cash on at this point.

Though I did like how this looked on my own wrist, I think my preference is honestly with the Kith Heuer collab’s smaller, true-to-vintage sizing. I’m also drawn to the color options of the collab a little more (specifically the yellow dial model), and prefer the retro bracelets on those models over the contemporary ones used on the Formula 1 Solargraph. Ultimately, it’s a fun addition to the TAG Heuer catalog, and I’m guessing the brand will keep rolling out the limited edition colorways in the future. Personally, I would rather just get one of the vintage models on eBay or secondhand, which have definitely increased in price compared to the last few years, but you can still find them at reasonable deals. That’s just me, though. You can learn more at tagheuer.com