Case #672 — TAG Heuer Formula 1 Chronograph Ref. CAZ101N.FC8243

Case #672 — TAG Heuer Formula 1 Chronograph "Gulf"

Ref. CAZ101N.FC8243

Status: Available

Condition: Excellent Pre-Owned

Scope: Box, Papers, and Cards

Year: Unknown

🔎 Case Notes

Some watches earn their colours. This one borrowed them from one of the most recognisable liveries in motorsport. Reference CAZ101N.FC8243 is TAG Heuer's Gulf Formula 1 chronograph, built around a steel case carrying the Gulf logo on its back and a deep blue dial wearing the marque's light blue and orange stripes.

The result is a 43 mm steel racing chronograph that reads as sober from a distance and unmistakable up close. The case is paired with a blue leather strap finished with orange stitching that mirrors the dial, and the dial itself carries three chronograph counters, a date window, Super-LumiNova® on the hands and indexes, and an oversized 12 numeral. BST's inspection records a blue dial with stick indexes, a stainless steel tachymeter bezel and a tang buckle — exactly the configuration the reference should present.

Condition is a strong point here. We grade this example Excellent Pre-Owned: the case shows only very slight wear along the sides, and the leather strap carries minimal wear. It presents as a watch that was enjoyed carefully rather than campaigned hard.

It arrives as Box, Papers, and Cards, and it currently sits comfortably on an approximately 7¾-inch wrist.

🕰️ The Evidence

• Reference: CAZ101N.FC8243
• Model / Collection: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Chronograph — Gulf Special Edition
• Year: Unknown
• Case: Stainless Steel, brushed and polished
• Case Diameter: 43 mm
• Dial: Blue with Gulf light blue and orange stripes, applied stick indexes, oversized 12, three chronograph counters
• Date: Date at 4 o'clock
• Crystal: Sapphire
• Bezel: Stainless Steel, fixed, tachymeter scale
• Crown: Screw-down
• Caseback: Steel, engraved with the Gulf logo
• Movement: Swiss quartz chronograph
• Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph with 1/10th second, 60-second and 30-minute counters
• Water Resistance: 200 metres (20 bar)
• Strap: Blue leather with orange stitching
• Clasp: Tang / pin buckle
• Bracelet Fit: Approximately 7¾-inch wrist
• Condition: Excellent Pre-Owned — very slight wear to the case sides; minimal wear to the strap
• Included: Box, Papers, and Cards

🌟 Collector Provenance

The Formula 1 is the line that has carried TAG Heuer's motorsport identity to the widest audience since the mid-1980s, and the 43 mm quartz chronograph is its most direct interpretation of that brief: a legible three-counter racing chronograph with a tachymeter bezel, a screw-down crown and serious water resistance for a watch of its class. Within that family, most references differentiate themselves through dial colour and bezel material. Siblings in the same 43 mm quartz chronograph line, for instance, pair the steel case with a black ceramic tachymeter bezel and a folding-clasp steel bracelet.

This reference takes a different route. Rather than adjusting the palette for its own sake, it adopts an existing and instantly readable one, and it commits fully — dial stripes, matched strap stitching, and a caseback treatment that names the partnership. The engraved caseback marks the collaboration between the two brands, which is what separates a special edition from a colourway.

Collector interest in the Gulf-liveried Formula 1 tends to come from two directions at once: TAG Heuer collectors who want a Formula 1 with a defined story, and motorsport enthusiasts who recognise the stripes before they recognise the watch. It is also no longer part of TAG Heuer's current Formula 1 offering; specialist retailers now list the special edition as discontinued and not available new from TAG Heuer, which pushes examples like this one into the pre-owned market rather than the display case.

🌟 Design Provenance

The Gulf Oil livery — powder blue with a broad orange stripe — became motorsport shorthand through endurance racing, and the association reached a far wider audience on film. TAG Heuer itself frames the dial's brushed Gulf shield-blue and orange striping in terms of the car Steve McQueen drove in the 1971 film Le Mans. That is a livery and film connection, not a claim of personal ownership or of this reference being worn by anyone in particular — and it is worth keeping the distinction clear.

What matters on the wrist is how well the scheme translates to a dial. The stripes run vertically through the centre of the blue dial rather than ringing it, so they read as a design element rather than a decal, and the orange is echoed only in the strap stitching and small dial accents. The oversized 12 numeral and Super-LumiNova®-filled hands and indexes keep the layout functional rather than letting the colour scheme take over legibility.

🧾 From the Case File

This is a straightforward watch to own, which is much of its appeal. A quartz chronograph asks nothing of its owner between battery changes: no winding, no timing drift to monitor, no service interval hanging over it. For a watch bought to be worn to a race weekend, on holiday, or on the days a mechanical piece stays home, that is a practical virtue rather than a compromise.

The specification supports genuine use. Two hundred metres of water resistance and a screw-down crown behind a sapphire crystal place it well beyond the usual "dress chronograph" envelope, and the 43 mm steel case has enough presence to carry the dial's graphics without looking oversized on a mid-to-larger wrist. Fitted as it is, the leather strap suits an approximately 7¾-inch wrist, and the tang buckle makes fine adjustment simple.

Against buying a new Formula 1, the argument here is specificity. The current catalogue will sell you a very good 43 mm quartz chronograph; it will not sell you this dial or this caseback. This example also arrives complete with box, papers and cards — the paperwork element that tends to go missing first on sports watches that are actually worn.

🗝️ BST Verdict

A Formula 1 with a reason to exist beyond a new colour: the Gulf stripes, the matched strap and the engraved caseback give this reference an identity that the standard 43 mm quartz chronographs simply do not have, and it is no longer available new.

Excellent Pre-Owned, with only very slight wear to the case sides and minimal wear to the strap, complete with Box, Papers, and Cards, and ready to wear on an approximately 7¾-inch wrist. A well-kept example of a discontinued special edition that is still one of the most immediately recognisable dials TAG Heuer has produced at this size.

👉 Every case deserves a closer look.