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Every Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 Watch, Ranked
Ten watches, all top gear. But which deserves championship title?
One thing to know about Ronnie Fieg, founder of streetwear 'lifestyle' store Kith: he's always working on a collaboration.
You might say he's the King of Collabs, since the NYC-born fashion mogul has worked with a multitude of brands and intellectual properties from a range of sectors. Some examples: Versace, Adidas, Star Wars, Peanuts, Columbia, BMW, G-Shock, Levi's, Aaliyah estate, X-Men.
That last one – a partnership with Marvel's mutants – was super personal; upon the launch of his Asics sneakers (it was a tripartite project) inspired by Wolverine and the team, Fieg broadcasted that he had grown up collecting Uncanny X-Men trading cards.
Kith's latest collab – a project with Swiss watch marque Tag Heuer – also roots back to his childhood.
“The Formula 1 was the first watch I ever owned,” Fieg recently told Esquire. “My mom [...] bought it for me for my 13th birthday.”
Formula 1 = Tag's affordable, toy-like quartz model loosely inspired by the world of motor racing. (Both Tag and Heuer – two separate entities before Techniques d’Avant Garde acquired Heuer from the Piaget family in the mid-eighties – had their own rapport with the racing world.)
So... Tag's answer to the Omega x Swatch collab, then? Yes and no.
No because the Formula 1 line pre-dates that The Swatch Group alliance by about 36 years. Yes because that's certainly the reason it's back – the luxury label has patently spotted the sudden demand for fun entry-level watches, and so, has decided to shift gears by reversing in time.
And what better way to rev things up than to call on Kith to jump-start the revival? After all, the brand/retailer has proven time and time again that it can get its cult following on board with brands that exist outside the streetwear sphere.
But what about the watch lot?
According to Julien Tornare, CEO of Tag Heuer, “The rebirth of the original TAG Heuer Formula 1 watch is something the collector community has been clamouring after for years”.
Further down the press release, he says: “It is one of the most meaningful pieces in TAG Heuer’s history. The first to wear the TAG Heuer name, it introduced a generation of collectors to our commitment to making premium timepieces at the intersection of culture and motorsports.”
Said watch enthusiasts will revel in the fact that the 35mm watches are formed from the same mould used to make the OGs. They are also sure to appreciate the improvements that have been made – namely, a plastic crystal is swapped out for sapphire and the strap is now made of rubber as opposed to plastic, unless it's made of stainless steel like the nineties models. Not to mention this little flex: the Kith x Tag Heuer F1 collection marks the first time that Tag has reworked its iconic badge to feature another brand's name.
Considering there are only a few hundred of each up for grabs – available in select Kith and Tag stores, as well as on the Kith app via raffles – we'd all be very lucky to get our hands on any one of the ten colourways. Thankfully, there are no car crashes – nothing you really need to steer clear of.
But say you were to tell us that you've been given complete freedom to pick from any of the Kith F1s (perhaps you're a friend of Fieg), we'd plead you to hook us up with one before ushering you towards our ranking below, from Nice Enough to Need Right Now.
Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 – New York
Seven of the Kith x Tag Heuer F1s are inspired by Kith store locations. Fieg's ode to his hometown – an arnite (posh plastic) model – finds itself, surprisingly, at number ten on our list.
We appreciate its exclusive, versatile and fashion in a Dover Street Market way (a blacked-out design kinda does that to an accessory) but, truly, it's the least appealing of the bunch.
Better it be entirely monochrome, but, no – an attempt to jazz up the dial and the bezel with mucky shades of pink, purple, blue and orange (hues from the Kith palette, apparently) makes the NYC-inspired watch look like a prototype.
Still, we'd rather this one than none at all.
Limited to 250 pieces
Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 – Green PVD Steel
Boring, but a good one for divers, though – the sandblasted PVD watch looks a lot like a diving watch, and, like all ten in the collection, glows in the dark (thanks to the use of Super LumiNova) and is water-resistant up to depths of 200 metres.
Limited to 825 pieces
Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 – Blue PVD Steel
Exactly the same as the above, but blue. And not just any blue, but a very intense, conspicuous shade of blue that's sure to secure you some knowing nods of approval (which is exactly what you should want from a rare collaborative timepiece, right?) both on ground and under water.
Limited to 825 pieces
Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 – Toronto
Although it resembles the PVD steel takes, it's actually an arnite model – one designed to nod to the Kith store in Toronto.
How? Well, that's a bit question mark. According to a poster of the watch posted on Kith's socials, the colourway “nods to a famous local landmark”. BUT, according to this Reddit thread dedicated to that very line, no such landmark exists...
At least it makes a statement.
Limited to 250 pieces
Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 – Miami
Way more thematic than the NYC and Toronto colourways – it's giving sandy shores, deck chairs and piña coladas. Sophisticated, too. We particularly enjoy the tasteful pink tinge of the dial.
Just more forgettable than the other F1s closer to the top spot.
Limited to 250 pieces
Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 – Red/Black/Eggshell Stainless Steel
When Kith initially teased its collab with Tag on Insta, it used a close-up shot of this very watch – the most attainable of the ten colourways and what some are calling the quintessential offering.
We can totally see why: the sensible stainless steel case and bracelet, the winsome eggshell dial, the traditional use of green and red on the emblem, the casino-esque colours inspired by an archived F1 – there's a lot to love.
Limited to 1,350 pieces
Kith x Tag Heuer – Los Angeles
Ronnie Fieg's LA-inspired F1 has everyday appeal; the combination of a white dial, blue bezel and stainless steel build is a look you'll unlikely grow tired of. A good one, then, for the high-brow watch collectors investing in the collab simply to gain Cool Uncle points at the next family cookout.
HOWEVER, because we're being ultra fussy, we're disappointed that the Kith Heuer logo isn't green and red but black and red. Even if does pair well with the black minute track...
Limited to 350 pieces
Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 – Paris
Is it any surprise that the Paris Kith x Tag F1 is one of the chicest?
It shares a lot in common with the archive-inspired stainless steel model but replaces the gambling hues with a green inspired by the verdant Kith store discoverable in the French capital.
Limited to 350 pieces
Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 – Tokyo
OK, back to posh plastic, because it's one of the elements that makes the Formula 1 collection unique.
Here we have the Tokyo colourway, which wins silver because it's faithful to its name (think: the Japanese flag) and bears similarities to the poster model of the OG collection (a watch seemingly inspired by Malboro McLarens).
Limited to 250 pieces
Kith x Tag Heuer Formula 1 – Hawaii
Completely wacky; completely novel; completely brilliant.
It is based on a celebrated Tag Heuer Formula 1 with a bona fide connection to autosports – it originally boasted the signature of Japanese F1 driver Ukyo Katayama, and those very nineties hues (quite Ralph Lauren Snow Beach) are taken from his 1992 car of choice, the Venturi Larrousse LC92 – which has now been subtly tweaked to celebrate Kith's presence in Hawaii (you can find the boutique in Honolulu).
That's a lot to talk about when a wearer iinevitably receive questions from curious onlookers about the mood-boosting accessory.
Limited to 250 pieces
Joseph Furness is the Assistant Editor of Esquire, covering menswear and grooming. Joseph has previously written for the likes of British GQ, Mr Porter, Highsnobiety, Footwear News and Farfetch.
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