Sometimes the past just comes charging into the present, like when you walk past someone in the street wearing an ex-lover’s cologne, and all of a sudden you are transported back in time in a flash. Sometimes the cue comes in audio format when an old song you haven’t heard for years comes on the radio, or as a visual when you stumble across an old photo.
Opening the press release for the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Series 1 did the exact same to me, taking me back to the late ‘80s when I was working as a broker in the City of London. As the only female broker among 16 male colleagues, it was a completely mad time. Without going into the details, let’s just say that the film The Wolf of Wall Street didn’t shock me in the slightest!
The exact year was 1989 and I was leaving a small broking firm for a bigger one and my colleagues all clubbed together to buy me this watch. I still remember the delight and the surprise like it was yesterday. The TAG Heuer Formula 1 Series 1 was the height of coolness. All the brokers had them and it felt like I had been accepted into this masculine world. I wore it with pride for years.
So, back to the press release, how wonderful it was to discover that TAG Heuer is actually re-releasing this model. And not only that, but they are doing it with the lifestyle brand KITH. It seems that KITH’s CEO Ronnie Fieg has his own “chapter” with the Series 1 to tell too: “It was an honour for me to be able to play a part in bringing TAG Heuer’s Formula 1 Series 1 back to life. The TAG Heuer Formula 1 Series 1 in red and black was my very first watch, the timepiece that helped me express the unique style that’s now manifested itself,” he shares.
Mine was green and I managed to find it in a box in the basement, only to discover that my colleague Camille also had one that was her husband’s watch when he was a child, so we took a photo for fun. Over three million watches were sold so imagine how many stories there are to be told, and now a new generation gets the chance to have fun with it too.
The new collection of 10 pieces comes in an array of striking colours that have been selected by KITH. The 35mm watches remain faithful to the original (even using the same mold from the same case maker), they have just received an upgrade in terms of materials (sapphire crystal instead of Plexiglass and rubber instead of plastic) and they feature a combined KITH/TAG logo to mark the collaboration. There is also the KITH motto “Just us” marked on the dial, which refers to the familial inner circle of the fashion brand, although I would like to imagine that it refers to all of us owners, both past and future, and our stories in time!
If you have/had a TAG Heuer Formula 1 Series 1 and have a story to tell or a picture to share, we would love to hear from you – sophie.furley@worldtempus.com
For more information about the new TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith watches, click here.
