The Kenissi-Powered TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver (Live Pics & Price)

TAG Heuer’s new Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver is a big brother to the Aquaracer Professional 300 with upgrades across the board. The depth rating of 1,000 metres is suitable for the most hardcore saturation divers, while a partnership with Kenissi Manufacture SA brings an all-new movement to the brand as well. This watch follows icons from decades ago like the Heuer 1000m diver from 1982 and Super Professional from 1984, both designed for professional divers and a bit ahead of their time. The brand is no stranger to pushing boundaries when it comes to deep-sea exploration. 

The case of the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver is sizable with a 45mm diameter and height of 15.75mm, although that’s rather decent for such a deep diver. The majority is made from grade 5 titanium with the caseback and a few small elements having different materials. This keeps it lightweight on the wrist for long dives and titanium is incredibly corrosion-resistant. The unidirectional rotating bezel is a dodecagon, or 12-sided shape, and the ceramic insert is black with a special orange composite for the 15-minute scale. A steel crown protector fully surrounds the screw-down crown, which is coated in black DLC and features an orange seal around the crown tube. This allows divers to visually check if it’s screwed down.

A rectangular steel helium escape valve at 9 o’clock also has a black DLC coating and “He” engraved, which is helium’s symbol on the periodic table. The steel caseback has the familiar vintage dive helmet engraving that’s seen on current Aquaracer models. The watch has an ISO 6425:2018 certification for saturation divers (thus compliant with the latest update) and water-resistance is again rated at 1,000 metres. It’s fitted with a 3-link titanium bracelet with a double safety clasp and fine adjustment system. 

The black sunray dial has the same recessed horizontal stripes as the Aquaracer Professional 300, although they’re a bit further apart on this model. Bold applied indices are filled with Super-LumiNova SLN Grade X1, along with the hour and minute hands (and tip of the seconds hand). The silver hour hand is a wide arrow, while the minute and seconds hands are orange to highlight their importance during dives. The minute and seconds hands also have a contrasting blue glow, while the rest of the Super-LumiNova is green. A date window sits at 6 o’clock and there’s a notable absence of the cyclops window under the crystal that’s seen on the Aquaracer Professional 300. It would’ve been compromised during deep dives. 

Powering the watch is the calibre TH30-00, an automatic movement produced for TAG Heuer by Swiss manufacturer Kenissi. It’s the first time the brand has used a movement from Kenissi, which was founded in 2016 and partially owned by Tudor and Chanel. It’s a COSC-certified chronometer, has 28 jewels, beats at 28,800vph (4Hz) with a 70-hour power reserve. Functions include central hours, minutes, seconds and date. 

The Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver comes with a 5-year warranty and custom protective case that’s waterproof, crash-proof and features a rescue dive torch. The watch retails for CHF 6,500 and will be available in July 2022. For more information, please visit TAG Heuer’s website.