Diving Deep With The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver

When it comes to dive watches, deeper is better, right? Although in reality that might depend on who you ask, in general, a greater depth rating means a more robust construction. But getting to greater depths with a watch isn’t simply a case of building a bigger, beefier, heavier watch. It requires a bit more than that, as you have to take things like legibility, compression and decompression, and ease of use underwater into consideration. So when TAG Heuer introduced the rather formidable Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver, we wanted to find out more about it. The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver relies on the revamped architecture of the Aqauracer family but puts a whole myriad of features to the table that make it stand out from its simpler sea-dwelling siblings.

The Aquaracer by TAG Heuer has a history tracing back to the late 1970s and early 1980s and has always had a focus on a more active, adventurous lifestyle. It started life as the Heuer Monnin Reference 844, introduced in 1978 as Heuer’s first-ever dedicated dive watch. Four years later, Heuer launched the 2000 collection, which was available in both quartz-powered versions and fully mechanical watches. It proved immensely popular and the collection ran for over 20 years through 4 generations. By 2004 it was revamped into the 2000 Aquaracer, the moment we first learned about the new “Aquaracer” designation, which was eventually the standalone identification ever since.

The Heuer 2000 series of watches (image from Calibre 11)

SIX FEATURES

In 2021, TAG Heuer drastically updated the Aquaracer collection and introduced several new iterations, including a reinterpretation of the original Ref. 844 watch from 1978. While the new generations of Aquaracers come in a range of colours and materials, all stay true to Heuer’s “Six Features” concept originated by the 844 and 2000 collections:

1. Water-resistant to 200m or more
2. Screw-down crown
3. Double safety folding clasp
4. Unidirectional bezel
5. Sapphire crystal
6. Luminous markings

The TAG Heuer Aqauracer Professional 1000 Superdiver takes all these elements, and ramps it up to eleven. The full titanium case follows the signature design of the Aquaracer family, with a 12-sided bezel on top, hexagonal indexes and horizontal grooves on the dial. Setting it apart, out of necessity, is the helium escape valve built into the baseband, the oversized hands and the screw-down crown construction. The overall construction ensured a depth rating of 1,000 meters and as such the Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver is ISO 6425-2018 certified.

An aquaracer like no other

Despite the fact it is visually identifiable as an Aquaracer beyond a shadow of a doubt, it looks distinct enough on its own. The purposeful build features a unique crown system, with an orange ring around the stem that’s visible when the crown is unscrewed. The unidirectional bezel is fitted with a ceramic black and orange ceramic insert. Moving to the gloss black dial, it is again very much recognizable as a member of the Aquaracer lineup, with a few changes. The hands are more pronounced, with a large arrow-shaped silver hour hand, and bright orange minute and seconds hands. The horizontal grooves are set apart a bit further, and there are no cyclops over the date window.

Kenissi-power

Inside the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver we find a movement made with Kenissi, a first for TAG Heuer. This Calibre TH30-00 features automatic winding, uses 28 jewels runs at a frequency of 28.800vph and provides a solid 70 hours of power reserve. It indicates the time through central hour, minute and seconds hands, as well as the date through the window at 6 o’clock. The COSC-certified chronometer movement is hidden from view by the solid caseback depicting a vintage diving helmet as decoration.

Another area where the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver takes a different route compared to its siblings is the folding buckle. The three-link titanium bracelet, brushed and polished, features a double folding clasp with an integrated fine-adjustment system. An extra set of pushers in the clasp allow for a few extra millimetres on the fly, if needed. The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver was presented during Watches and Wonders earlier in the year, and is available through TAG Heuer and authorized dealers worldwide as of now. It retails for CHF 6,500, which is on the higher end of the TAG Heuer portfolio.

final thoughts

It must be said that few mechanical dive watches see a level of activity in the neighbourhood of what they’re designed to do. Most are relegated to showers, jumps in the pool, the occasional snorkelling adventure or perhaps even a leisurely dive and don’t come close to the depths they’re rated at. What attracts us to these types of watches is the engineering that reassures us the watch can take a beating far beyond what we would survive, professional divers aside. Speaking about professional divers, as our resident diving editor Derek will testify, a robust dive watch does make for a solid companion next to a diving computer. It’s comforting to know you have a backup instrument should the primary one fail.

For more details about the 2022 TAG Heuer Aquaracer 1000 Superdiver, please visit TAGHeuer.com