One component of the ’80s F1 rubber straps that has not carried over to the brand new assortment, although, is the V-shaped grooves on the underside portion of the unique straps. TAG made the ’80s rubber straps additional lengthy so surfers and divers may put on the F1s over moist fits. The V-shaped grooves meant these may simply be reduce all the way down to a desired size—notably helpful for those who have been simply going to put on it on the wrist and never within the waves. Clearly, TAG does not need anyone slicing up its new rubber straps.
I’ve needed a traditional unique orange TAG F1 for years, and at last managed to choose one up earlier this yr, though it’s the later WA1213 mannequin. Eddy Burgener, who designed the TAG F1 within the ’80s, has said that vivid, popping colours have been key to the unique assortment, and that the fashions weren’t, initially at the least, regarded as being linked to driving however to water sports activities as a substitute.
Talking to observe web site Hodinkee final yr, Burgener mentioned TAG was “attempting to create a brand new fashion of watches for American surfers, divers, and different younger people heading for the seaside,” so the temporary was to create a brand new watch that was enjoyable, colourful, and younger, emulating the intense surfboards and the garments surfers have been carrying on the time.
To nail the intense colours, Burgener said that the case needed to be artificial, which then added the complication of attempting to make a diver’s watch utilizing artificial supplies, one thing that was extremely troublesome on the time. In the long run, they settled on a combination of fiberglass and plastic as the bottom materials for elevated hardness and stability.
TAG’s photo voltaic F1s now sport a type of bioplastic—a extra eco-friendly castor-based polyamide which the model has named TH-Polylight—changing the outdated “Arnite” thermoplastic. As earlier than, that is molded over a metal inside core, making for a sports activities watch that is extra strong than most plastic-cased equivalents.
