Some watches have the rare ability to be instantly recognizable even before you read the name on the dial. All it takes is a silhouette, a bezel, or a color combination. The TAG Heuer Formula 1 belongs to this family and, season after season, continues to demonstrate just how fruitful an identity can be when it bridges motorsports, design, and contemporary culture.
This time, color takes center stage. TAG Heuer has selected five pastel shades and applied them to the 38 mm Formula 1 Solargraph, letting shades of light blue, pink, beige, green, and lavender completely transform the mood of one of the brand’s most recognizable sports watches. The result has an irresistibly summery feel: fresh, lively, light-hearted, and incredibly easy to picture on your wrist.
When looking at them all together, it’s natural to linger over each one, change your mind, go back, and choose again. It’s one of those little pleasures we enthusiasts know well: five watches in front of you and the conviction, destined to last only a moment, that you already have a favorite.
But what connects these pastel colors to Formula 1, which nearly forty years ago began writing one of the most recognizable chapters in TAG Heuer’s history?
Formula 1: From 1986 to the Solargraph
Let’s go back to 1986, because the Formula 1 was launched at a pivotal moment for TAG Heuer. Just a few months after Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG) acquired Heuer, the new company unveiled the first watch to bear the name TAG Heuer on its dial. The Formula 1 thus became much more than just a new collection: it was one of the first tangible signs of the brand’s new identity.
The first-generation models are instantly recognizable. A 35 mm case with a fiberglass-coated steel core, a bidirectional plastic bezel, a rubber strap, and a quartz movement come together to create a lightweight, durable timepiece deeply rooted in the aesthetics of the 1980s. The project was conceived under the guidance of Ernest Schneider, who had previously orchestrated the acquisition of Heuer, and intelligently captures a moment when synthetic materials and quartz were rewriting the rules of Swiss watchmaking.
Then there were the colors. Red, blue, green, yellow, pink, orange: cases, bezels, dials, and straps could be combined in ways that today make those early models particularly fun to seek out and collect. Anyone who follows the vintage world knows this well: when looking at Formula 1 watches from that era, you soon find yourself thinking about color variations, original configurations, and the right combinations of case, bezel, and strap. What in 1986 represented a fresh and immediate design language has become, nearly forty years later, an integral part of the model’s appeal to collectors.
Its connection to motorsports was also anything but marginal. The name Formula 1, the highly legible hour markers, the graduated bezel, and the sporty design translated the racing culture, which Heuer had helped build over the previous decades, into an accessible product. The result had a distinct personality: lightweight on the wrist, colorful, sturdy, and instantly recognizable anywhere.
The transition to the Formula 1 Solargraph today draws on many of those design elements without turning it into a “nostalgia-driven project.” The materials have changed, the diameter is now 38 mm, and quartz meets solar power in the Caliber TH50-00; what remains are the color, the practicality, and the freedom of expression that have defined the collection since its inception.
The new Pastel Collection, unveiled during the Miami Grand Prix, takes this continuity in yet another direction. Five models, five color combinations: three feature TH-Polylight, while the other two opt for sandblasted steel and add a brand-new element to the mix: diamonds.
Beige, pink, and light blue: Formula 1 in TH-Polylight
The shades of Beige, Pastel Blue, and Pastel Pink run throughout virtually the entire watch, from the case to the strap. Seen side by side, they have that almost irresistible quality of collections built around color: you start by looking for your favorite and end up imagining how wonderful it would be to have them all.
The 38 mm TH-Polylight case is paired with a bidirectional bezel, crafted from the same material and marked with a 60-second/minute scale. The opaline dials complement the matching or contrasting flanges, while the lacquered central seconds hand adds an additional pop of color. The rubber strap matches the color of the model and is secured with a steel pin buckle.
Behind a deliberately subdued color palette lie the hallmarks of a sports watch. The applied, polished, and rhodium-plated hour markers are coated with white Super-LumiNova; the date window is located at the 3 o’clock position; and the watch is water-resistant to 100 meters.
The pastel shade changes the visual character of the Formula 1 without making it look more subdued, and on the wrist, those 38 mm seem particularly well-suited. These proportions complement the model’s casual nature and give the color the space it deserves, without making it seem too overpowering.
The three TH-Polylight models cost €1,950 and are produced in limited editions: 3,500 units for Beige, 3,000 for Pastel Blue, and 2,500 for Pastel Pink.
Steel and Diamonds Are Changing the Rules of the Game
Pastel Green and Lavender Blue take a different approach. The diameter remains 38 mm, while the case is now made of sandblasted steel, a material also used for the three-row bracelet. The bidirectional TH-Polylight bezel retains the color scheme that ties the two models to the rest of the collection.
The Pastel Green model features a green opaline dial, a matching flange, and a central seconds hand lacquered in the same shade. The Lavender Blue model opts for contrast: a pastel blue dial, a pastel pink flange, and a seconds hand lacquered in pink.
The dial also features eight VS-grade diamonds used as hour markers. At the 6, 9, and 12 o’clock positions are applied, polished, and rhodium-plated shield-shaped hour markers, accented with white Super-LumiNova. The brilliance of the gemstones thus contrasts with the matte finish of the sandblasted steel and the pastel tones of the dial.
I must admit that this is one of those combinations that piques your curiosity even before you put it on your wrist. Diamonds and Formula 1 create an unexpected contrast, especially alongside the sandblasted finish of the steel and such a delicate color palette. On the Lavender Blue model, the interplay of colors becomes even more intriguing: the pink of the hour markers and the central seconds hand cuts through the pastel blue with an almost irreverent accent. It’s a small detail, but one that an enthusiast’s eye inevitably keeps returning to.
The three-row sandblasted steel bracelet features a folding clasp with dual safety pushers and an extension link, a design that makes it easier to adjust the fit.
The stainless steel versions are priced at €2,800. Production runs are also smaller: 1,500 pieces for Pastel Green and 1,000 for Lavender Blue, the model produced in the smallest number of pieces in the collection.
Calibre TH50-00 Solargraph: Two minutes of sunlight is enough for a day
Beneath these five color combinations lies the same Caliber TH50-00 Solargraph, a quartz movement displaying hours, minutes, central seconds, and the date, powered by light (natural or artificial).
The operating principle is particularly simple. Light energy is converted and stored in the battery: two minutes of direct exposure to sunlight provides enough power for one day of operation, while a full charge allows the Formula 1 to continue running for up to 10 months in total darkness.
Our thoughts
Those who love mechanical watches may still prefer the pleasure of a swinging weight, manual winding, or a movement visible through the case back. That’s part of the beauty of this passion. The Solargraph, however, fulfills a different desire: to pick up the watch, put it on your wrist, and forget about everything else.
Forty years separate the composite cases and bold colors of 1986 from the pastel shades of this new collection. In the meantime, TAG Heuer, Formula 1, and even the very concept of a sports watch have changed, but the pleasure of choosing your own Formula 1 based on color has remained surprisingly intact.
And that’s a detail that, as enthusiasts, we really love. Because we can spend hours discussing calibers, materials, model numbers, and finishes, but every now and then it’s good to remember the simplest reason that brought us here in the first place: looking at a watch and wanting to put it on our wrist.
Pastel Pink, Pastel Blue, Beige, Pastel Green, or Lavender Blue. The choice is yours!
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