Little of column A, little of column B....

Those Midos are really nice, I'd go for the big date.

 

i love the big date too. I plan on trying it on this Friday. 😄

 

Seems pretty reasonable considering what Omega and Rolex are asking for their watches. No - Tag isn't at the level of either of those makers, but they're also less than half the price. "Luxury" watches are expensive. Insanely so - and at least from what I can tell Tag isn't any crazier than any of the others.

 

I could not agree anymore! Tag Heuer holds its prestige as a mid-tier luxury brands and if you are really concerned about the brand status, the entire Tag Heuer Monaco collection takes the reign for it - might be worth checking it out.

 

Watch pricing in luxury segment is only partially about specs, and mostly about brand prestige.
Although you picked an excellent Mido chronometer which represents a great value - how many people know Mido.
And if I were to compare Mido to Tissot Ballade Chronometer - COSC with same movement, but at $900 ($425 right now on Jomashop), then Mido seems overpriced.
I'm quite content with my Seiko SARB033 which has same look for $350.

Similarly Tag Heuer Carrera seems like a good value compared to Tudor BlackBay 41, with similar movement and specs at $3300.

And of course some Tag models are an amazing value, such as Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon for $18K.
Bottom line - buy what makes you happy. If you don't see the value, don't buy it.

 

Watch pricing in luxury segment is only partially about specs, and mostly about brand prestige.
Although you picked an excellent Mido chronometer which represents a great value - how many people know Mido.
And if I were to compare Mido to Tissot Ballade Chronometer - COSC with same movement, but at $900 ($425 right now on Jomashop), then Mido seems overpriced.
I'm quite content with my Seiko SARB033 which has same look for $350.

Similarly Tag Heuer Carrera seems like a good value compared to Tudor BlackBay 41, with similar movement and specs at $3300.

And of course some Tag models are an amazing value, such as Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon for $18K.
Bottom line - buy what makes you happy. If you don't see the value, don't buy it.

yes and I think because maybe here because we tend to be more knowledgeable about our specs etc we evaluate it through that lens. For others who don’t and perhaps go by brand image they’re willing to spend without thinking twice or out of ignorance like you said of the alternatives (like Mido in this case).

My honest opinion is that I enjoyed putting the Carrera on and how it felt but I can’t stomach pulling the trigger knowing that I know there are other alternatives. 😂

 

I'm a big fan of Mido. Maybe oversimplification, but in the hierarchy of the Swatch Group, Mido is essentially positioned to be nicer than Tissot (which are pretty nice in their own right) but less expensive than Longines. That's a formula for great value propositions, which has been proven out to me. I own four of them!

 

Having sold them for 4.5 years; yes!

 

Man, you always posts these answers, but never really explain anything. Just that you sold whatever brand for X years and the minimum answer to the OP, with no context.

Also, for what I've read, you used to sell watches like 20 years ago. Now, I don't know if that's true, but if it is, how valuable is still your industry knowledge? Specially when you give half assed answers about things like reliability, which maybe some brands have improved (or the opposite).

Please, give more context to your answers, it's a forum, people asking questions usually won't be satisfied with a binary answer. You don't get charged by character count.

 

In my experience all luxury watches are overpriced. Name recognition is a big part of it as Mido is not a well known brand compared to TAG Heuer. Imo get a used TAG instead.

This is under $1,200 on Chrono24. You might have to search locally but the deals on used TAGs are everywhere.

 

Tag Heuer is a brand people like to hate for no reason. I'm happy with my Kirium, I paid a fair price for it (fair for me at least) and I think it would be ridiculous to buy it and then complain about its price.
I also don't think it is a luxury brand but as usual, "luxury" depends on how rich you are.

 

People don't hate - only a handful of shouty watch types continue loudly to confess their intolerance.

 

I like some of TAGs offerings but think they are seriously overpriced. Their mid level watches are pretty decent but not IMHO finished nor movement fitted as well as a decent MIDO & yet costing multiples more. I was recently offered first dibs on a new limited reissue Aquaracer 844. The original remains a classic and the Monin case is superb. But the new Tag 844 is basically the standard Aquaracer with a few superficial tweaks for £3.5k (that's the price of far superior Pelagos & close to a discounted SMP 300 diver). I contacted TAG to ask if the 844's movement was COSC or upgraded but they replied saying no - so just a calibre5, a pretty bog standard SW200. The fact is, besides being limited production, the 844 watch was over double the MSRP on a new MIDO Ocean Star which I think is better in every way. I have handled several higher end Monacos & Carrera's which are decent and look good, but I personally think every TAG is way overpriced (except, ironically, their most expensive tourbillon).

 

TAG HEUER is totally overrated..........but I own a "pure" Heuer (1970)....this is another level of watch-craft...

 

You mean an outsourced case and dial, and a third-party movement?

 

I know i've read many opinions and articles that generally criticize Tag Heuer for a number of things - one of them being they tend to overprice their models for what you're getting. I know, we could argue a lot of brands are overpriced of course and this is the "watch world" where we are all crazy for the money we want to fork over. But just focusing on Tag for the moment, it finally hit home for me today on Tag prices. I've been looking at affordable black dial steel bracelet watches for the last while.

Having never tried one, I decided to try a Carrera 41mm on a steel bracelet today. It felt great and i loved the bracelet. I know the Caliber 5 is pretty plain vanilla - based on some ETA movement etc. So i was pretty shocked to see the sticker price at C$3600 (US $2900 ish). What the heck???

View attachment 16345552

To put it in comparison, looking at two nice black dial bracelet Mido models including one nearly identical to the Carrera:
Mido Commander Big Date 42mm - C$1200
Mido Commander Chronometer 40mm - C$1500

The Chronometer of course being COSC certified as a bonus. ...all for 55-60% cheaper than the Tag.

View attachment 16345537 View attachment 16345539


Is Tag Heuer really out to lunch these days with their pricing??
Or is that the two Midos i happened to have looked at so far are just great value propositions.

Both.
When I was looking for the hydroconquest, I tried a formula 1. More expensive, and there was no contest in quality felt...the Longines felt like the most expensive one, being cheaper. The TAG heuers I happen to like are wayyy more expensive, and in that price tag, you start to consider other brands (like tudor).
About Mido, I respectfully disagree about not being a known brand. Where I live, is broadly recognized, and there are several ADs all over the city. They offer really good quality for the price, and it is a brand that has been around since more than a century ago. Also, they have a nice portfolio, with quite nice sport and dress options.

 

Mido is reasonably well known brand amongst watch lovers in Western Europe, but by no means could you possibly call it a global brand.

 

As are Bremont and Panerai to name but two others.

 

Steady on their fella, far too early in the day to be upsetting the rabid Bremont fan base

 

Name recognition. And better quality. The Tag will be better built. Nobody knows what a Mido is outside of WIS communities. Most people know what a Tag Heuer is. Beyond that, you can buy a Genesis car for 70% of the price of an equivalent BMW or Mercedes. It's still a Genesis (full disclaimer, I like Genesis!)...it's the same for any industry. Why pay $500 for a pair of designer jeans when Levis does it for $80?

 

Name recognition. And better quality. The Tag will be better built. Nobody knows what a Mido is outside of WIS communities.

At prices between $1k and $3k, difference is mostly name recognition IMHO not much in terms of "better quality" from what I have seen. You start to see some meaningful quality differences when you go $5k+ vs. let's say $2k watches.

 

I like my baume mercier watch. But it has a similar brand value to wis value ratio as tag. I.e. high msrp but lower price if you want to sell it used on this forum.

 

I bought the same Carrera calibre 5 day-date in white 6 years ago. At that time it was listed at my AD for C 2600 $. Just goes to show how TAG (and what seems to be every other brand) prices have been going up. I know for a while, TAG was trying to move upmarket (pre-Biver). When he was was there, the strategy was to move TAG to a more affordable price point (compared to Hublot). I see things are maybe changing…or it might just be that prices are up everywhere.

 

It is definitely harder to separate the marketing piece of a price increase from the inflation based piece.

 

I'm about to pull the trigger on the new Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 Date. I think the AD's price is $2700. I was also seriously considering the Tudor BB41, which is listed at $3,275. Neither have in house movements. Both seem to have similar build quality. So I think Tag's prices stack up reasonably well to its competitors with similar name recognition. Buy the Carrera if you like it.

 

I would argue Tag has FAR better name recognition than Tudor so in this instance, Tag sounds like better value.

 

Tag isn't a luxury brand.

 

It is to people who don't post here or care about debating movements, which is to say most of the planet.

 

This is based on an ETA movement.... I love it!

 

Well, you're paying for the name and the styling. Tag's not unique here. A certain Breitling SuperOcean recently caught my eye. As I'm looking more into it, it's a nice watch with a style that I like, but under the hood it's basically an ETA 2824 and a bracelet that nowadays is just OK.

What I haven't decided is whether that's worth it to me or not. You gotta make that call yourself.

 

Well, you're paying for the name and the styling. Tag's not unique here. A certain Breitling SuperOcean recently caught my eye. As I'm looking more into it, it's a nice watch with a style that I like, but under the hood it's basically an ETA 2824 and a bracelet that nowadays is just OK.

What I haven't decided is whether that's worth it to me or not. You gotta make that call yourself.

Do they tune their movements to chronometer grade, at least?

 

The company is trying to make money. They will price their watches as high as they think they can without hurting sales….just as every other watch company does. They’re fine watches. Whether it’s worth the price is something each potential purchaser has to evaluate.

Does the big date have a black dial or grey? I would probably lean toward black, if there is a difference. The Tag brand doesn’t hold any particular attraction to me, so i would probably opt for one of the Mido watches.

 

All watches are overpriced. They're priced at what the name on the dial can bring in from the suckers (us) who are willing to buy it. This is why I think Hamilton is probably the best $ for $ value, because if you look at the "standard" guts, they're on par with what more expensive watches are selling for. Mido (in my opinion) is the European equivalent of Hamilton, as Mido doesn't really have a name here in the US.

I have also noticed the trend of much higher prices for a while now; to the point where I may give up the entire mid-range/pre-luxury watch game altogether and stay within the entry-level/affordables genre. The prices going up year after year, and significantly, is just going to eventually make this a game where the minimum is a $10,000 entry point into a basic Omega, that you could've bought for $2,500 just a few years ago. And then there's nothing more frustrating than have to send your new $10k watch in for service because something is wrong with it.

 

I hear that if you stand in front of a mirror and say "bloody Tag Heuer" three times he appears and makes you buy an overpriced quartz watch.

Scary......

 

TAG gets a rough time here but is a bit of a darling amongst the non WIS and the prices reflect that.

 

True. A young bloke at my office posted my Omega and my TAG on some instagram or Facebook thing pretending they were his. He said the friends went a bit crazy over the TAG.

The TAG retailed for about $1,100 and the Omega $10,500

I like my TAG

 

Went into a local jeweler to see what they had (which was basically nothing but Tag and a couple Seikos) and handled the Aquaracer GMT, came out extremely underwhelmed. Especially for the $3000 price tag they had on it.

 

As others have commented, it's more about name recognition than value. But that said, TAGs are not bad watches. Everyone I've handled looked and felt quite nice. And the people that I know that own them really like them.

I'd suggest looking on the pre-owned market though. Some great deals on TAGs on WatchRecon.

 

We need to keep reminding ourselves that WIS makes up a very small percentage of the actually population. And for most of the folks out there, Tag represents a known luxury brand.
It’s like how most people think Bose makes high end speakers. But audiophiles will turn up their noses at Bose products.

 

Most brands catch some flak on this forum, and Tag makes a fine watch. A very fine watch at grey market prices or gently used, they're usually well-discounted. Bose is interesting - once upon a time, their shelf speakers and table radios were revolutionary. They cater to the masses, not audiophiles, but their little bluetooth speakers sound amazing for the price.