The Three-Time Charmer – Mind, Body & Soul review of the new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 2020 Special Edition
Editor’s note: This is a Mind, Body & Soul review of the new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 2020 Special Edition. In addition to our standard long-form reviews, we sometimes preview watches in the form of short descriptions, technical specifications and a creative infographic. These short form reviews, or Mind (stats), Body (design features) & Soul (what’s special) reviews as we like to call them are meant for those who are in a rush and wish to get their watch fix fast. For our standard reviews, please head to our review section here.
What is it: The new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 2020 Special Edition
Why: To mark the 104th Indianapolis 500 race
When released: August 2020
Where: Global but limited edition of 1500 pieces release
Who is it for: For motorsports enthusiasts
How does it do: Besides the quartz movement, excellent bang for your buck. Love the asphalt and brick dial. We don’t like the placement of the date window though.
The Mind
The new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 2020 Special Edition in the black DLC steel and sandblasted case (reference: CAZ101AD.FT8024) features a Swiss-made Quartz movement with a battery life of approximately 24 months. Given it’s a quartz movement, the watch has an unlimited power reserve for the duration of the life of the battery. The movement is encased inside a 43mm black DLC steel and sand-blasted case with a flat sapphire crystal covering the face.
The dial shows the functions of hours, minutes, seconds, date at 4’o clock, and a chronograph with a tachymeter scale bezel on a black textured dial with asphalt and red bricks pattern. The three sub-dials feature silver “azurage” sub-dials showing: a permanent seconds indicator at 3’o clock, an hour/1/10th second chronograph counter at 6’o clock, and a minute chronograph counter at 9’o clock. Besides the nice asphalt and red brick pattern, another nice detail is the INDY logo at 6’o clock. On the dial, the rhodium-plated applied indices, hour and minute hands with white Super-LumiNova® provide for enough legibility to tell time on the go.
The fixed ceramic black sandblasted tachymeter bezel matches the black dial colour and I like the added touch of INDY 500 being in a dark red on the bezel. It blends well with the case and dial face and works for people who don’t wish this watch to shout.
Owing to the high water-resistance the watch also thankfully features a sandblasted black DLC steel screw-down crown and a steel screw-down case back with special Indy 500 engraving.
The Body
It’s not that this watch is especially unique in any sense or form. It maintains the design language of a TAG Heuer Formula 1 watch and features a quartz movement which many will frown upon. But where it does score is the treatment of the dial and the fact that for 3k AUD one gets a watch with a hell lot of features.
The dial is the main source of charm here, nicely framed by a black case. It features a brick motif that pays homage to the long and storied history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track. For the uninitiated, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway racetrack has been known among fans as “The Brickyard”.
Over the course of years its seen a few changes in the treatment of the race track, that now features the famed asphalt paving except for a 1-yard strip of bricks at the start/finish line that remains exposed.
The Soul
The new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 2020 Special Edition scores on three fronts. The first charm is the mixture of three celebrations: one, the avant-garde watchmaker continues to celebrate its 160th anniversary; two not only does it celebrate that milestone, but it also marks 16 years as the Official Timekeeper of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES; and three, it also marks the 104th Indianapolis 500 race. The second charm is that it is the three watch we are reviewing that linked to the 160th anniversary; it comes in hot on the heels of the Carrera 160 Years Montreal Limited Edition and the Silver Limited Edition. The third charm is the dial; characterised by a racing-inspired dial, the new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 2020 Special Edition may have a quartz heart but in aesthetics has a dial par excellence, that’s loaded with inspirations from the world of Indy 500. This dial includes eye-catching red accents including a brick motif to honour the Indy racetrack’s “The Brickyard” nickname and history.
And talking about three charms, coincidently Indy 500 not only is one of the oldest automobile races in the world, but is also a part of the “Triple Crown” of motorsports, that includes Indy 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Monaco Grand Prix.
For more information on this and other TAG Heuer watches, please head to their website here. All images unless stated otherwise are courtesy ©TAG Heuer.
