How many things can you do with a watch up to 300 metres deep?

You can do all water activities while wearing it on your wrist. Swim as much as you like and even dive to great depths. These prerogatives belong to the models commonly referred to as divers, and all the most important Swiss watch manufacturers cannot fail to have at least one in their collection. Also because they are loved by the public, for their technical features, with performance at the highest level (in addition to water resistance, there is also resistance) and for their aesthetic ones, with a striking design that is hard to forget. What's more, they are easy to wear in everyday life. At Tag Heuer, one of the iconic brands of sports watchmaking, the role of diver's watch has the Aquaracer name.

A sinistra, l’Aquaracer Professional 300 Date con cassa e bracciale in acciaio, lunetta girevole unidirezionale in ceramica blu. Al centro il movimento automatico di manifattura certificato cronometro COSC dell’orologio e, a destra, sul fondello, così come in tutti i nuovi Aquaracer, la riproduzione di un casco da sommozzatore.

A name that in the brand's proposal was born exactly 20 years ago and which today introduces the new Aquaracer Professional 300 Date and Aquaracer 300 GMT, but whose journey between innovation and functionality started even further back, in the 1970s. In that decade, the brand launched, in 1972, the 11630P from the Autavia collection in which the P in the reference stands for Plongée, which means immersion in French. Then, in 1978, it presented its first official diver, the Ref. 844 Heuer, which was, in fact, the true forerunner of the brand's diver watches. Divers that in 1984 would merge into the 1000 Series collection, which in turn evolved into the 2000 Series: a line with a style less tied to the past from which, in fact, the first Aquaracer was derived in 2004. "Since the 1970s, our divers have evolved a great deal, making great advances in the use of materials and technology," says Julien Tornare, CEO of Tag Heuer. "And the debut of the Aquaracer line in the early 2000s was a clear sign of our commitment to diving watches. And here we are in June 2024 when, at an international event organised in Tuscany, between Capalbio and the Argentario, Tag Heuer launched the new Aquaracer Professional 300 Date and Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT which, in the spirit of constant research, introduced some substantial new features compared to past models.

A sinistra, Il quadrante dell’Aquaracer Professional 300 Date e di tutti gli altri modelli, presenta un motivo a onde. La lancetta dei secondi nella versione in blu è, a differenza delle altre, di colore arancione. Sempre questa declinazione, è disponibile anche con cinturino in gomma. Costa 3.550 euro.

All to make them more ergonomic, more comfortable to wear and better readable: in water as well as on land, in short, in everyday life. Work has therefore been done on the steel case (water-resistant to a depth of 300 metres), reducing its diameter from 43 mm to 42 mm, and on the thickness, which used to be 12.5 mm and is now 12 mm. To improve the legibility of the dial, on the other hand, the chapter ring has been updated and the hour hand has been made more evident.

I nuovi Aquaracer Professional 300 Date e Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT sono stati presentati lo scorso giugno durante un evento che si è svolto in Toscana, tra Capalbio e l’Argentario. Nella foto, Julien Tornare, ceo di Tag Heuer, al centro tra i surfisti e brand ambassdaor Maya Gabeira (a sinistra) e Kai Lenny (a destra).

These innovations have in no way affected the fundamental characteristics of the collection, as the CEO explains: "The dodecagonal rotating bezel, the screw-down crown, the significant water-resistance, the luminosity of the indications on the dial, the sapphire crystal and the double safety clasp on the bracelet are the six pillars that make the Aquaracer a perfect watch for the outdoors: for explorers of the depths, but also of the heights. Adding to the definition of the Aquaracer Professional 300 Date is the fact that the rotating, graduated bezel for calculating dive times is unidirectional and made of ceramic. The dial, on the other hand, is decorated with a characteristic wave motif and displays the date window at 6 o'clock, while the hour markers and hands have Superluminova inserts to ensure luminosity in dark conditions.

Una delle prerogative degli Aquaracer è la grande leggibilità del quadrante anche in condizioni di scarsa visibilità. Questo è possibile grazie all’inserimento di SuperLuminova su indici e lancette che nella versione di Aquaracer Professional 300 Date con quadrante nero è di colore verde sugli indici e sulla lancetta delle ore e blu sulla lancetta dei minuti.

Finally, six versions of the new Aquaracer Professional 300 Date have been made. Three have a steel metal bracelet and three have a rubber strap in the same colour as the bezel and the dial, which, depending on the model, comes in two cases in blue, two in black and two in green. The models in blue (a colour known to symbolise the sea) compared to the others have an orange seconds hand, a shade universally associated with safety and chosen here precisely for this reason. The version with a black dial (and rubber strap) has a Superluminova insert that is green on the hour markers and hand, and blue on the minute hand: in all the others, it is white. Powering these six versions of the Aquaracer Professional 300 Date is the IWC-manufactured TH31-00 calibre, a COSC-certified high-performance chronometer movement capable of 80 hours of power reserve.