TAG Heuer Meridiist

[docblackrock]

Sure many of you have already seen it, but today I received a "personal invite" to reserve and purchase this 'metal brick'. Price around the same as a new Monaco.

Definitely aimed at being a Vertu-killer, and I must say its aesthetics (like Vertu) are not exactly doing it for me right now (the Stealth Phone?), but I'm intrigued nonetheless.

[blade007]

i think i prefer my iphone over this.. even my N95 is more functional than this "brick". it looks nice and I am sure it will appeal to a lot of rich *&&^%&^%. As a phone its pretty sh1t3..

[Pugwash]

Is TAG that prestige a brand?

[By-Tor]

Is TAG that prestige a brand?

For many non-watch enthusiasts TAG is more prestigious brand than Breitling and Omega. Well, Omega might be even... but Breitling is pretty much unknown brand.

If you asked from anyone in his 20's what expensive watch brands come to his mind, he'd probably answer Rolex and TAG. None of my real life friends are WIS, and they're always impressed of TAG. I don't know where that comes from... probably from heavy and aggressive marketing.

Maybe this is different in the US, but TAG actually has very good image in Europe. Just my "gut feeling"... not necessarily a fact.

[docblackrock]

Is TAG that prestige a brand?

[docblackrock]

I know you're either fishing, or trying to make a sarcastic point here Pugs, but I'll bite if only to point out a little hypocrisy.

As you know, they are owned by one of the foremost luxury groups in the world, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey, so for starters I'd say that qualifies straight off. That and the 'prestige'

[iceberg1127]

I am in my early 20's and I have a gen breitling and two gen tags, one I just bought recently, a new link caliber s. I bought it from my local ad, brand new and shiny, and only to get home and realise there was a small hair in the dial! I of course sent in back to tag and they removed the hair and sent it back, but come on people. for what I paid, (about 1800 dollars cash, from retial of 2600), there shouldnt be hairs floating around inside. most tags, except for a few select models, are not really anything special, and do not hold there value that well. If I was to do it agian, I would have saved a little more and bought me a nice super avenger

[blade007]

i think it depends on which part of the world you are in. In india TAG is a hot, luxury brand alongside Omega, RADO and Rolex. Its the marketing and lack of other prestigious brand that makes TAG such a hot brand there..

Here in UK, that same marketing is making the brand appear "cheap" as there is more choice in the market, take IWC, Choppard, JLC etc..

Everytime I go to india my watch of choice is a tag, simply cause people recognise it and know of its value, irrespective of gen or rep.

Back to phones, I think I have a very differnt opinon when it comes to that. I would prefer Nokia and Apple over virtu/tag simply because:

1) they are better made and have better support

2) offer more features (wifi/gps/email/camera/(insert feature here)

3) cost a fraction of the price

4) support many more applications and widgets (apple)

5) run on a muck more robust operating system (Symbian / OSX)

[iceberg1459]

it looks nice and I am sure it will appeal to a lot of rich *&&^%&^%. As a phone its pretty sh1t3..

nerdy iphone is better for you, even if you happen to have the money please dont buy this phone and drop the value

[blade007]

nerdy iphone is better for you, even if you happen to have the money please dont buy this phone and drop the value

wtf is that supposed to mean? gimme one reason why this phone is so f3cking great in your eyes? just cause it has a price tag it must attract fanboys? personally I wouldn't [censored] on it if i got it free. So yeah, gimme a nerdy iPhone any day if it leaves the expensive stuff for the posh and loaded pr1cks...

Edited August 14, 2008 by blade007

[By-Tor]

Keep this debate civil, or it will be closed.

There's no need to get so heated up about phones and watches.

[iceberg1459]

nah im just [censored] off about toxic people who talk like "these loaded [censored]", "rich assholes" etc......hard to ignore sometimes, sorry..

[blade007]

@iceberg1459: my initial posts were not intended at you in any personal way even if you happen to be loaded. Since I did not aim anything at you, it gave you no right to fire directly at me. so, if you felt offended, maybe cause u are loaded and would like to genuinely buy this phone, it was not my intention to offend u.

It gets my goat when fancy marketing and brand name suckers in people (rich or otherwise) to spend money on something as pointless as this phone/watch/"brick"

and btw, what makes u think I am toxic? did i hit a raw nerve?

Edited August 14, 2008 by blade007

[iceberg1459]

man you are definetly wrong here, why dont you go collect casio citizen solarpowered satellite adjusted whatever bla plastic watches, plus

if you get lost in wilderness you can find your way using the compass of your watch,i heard even some models have monitors installed you can watch porn or play tetris when you get bored...rolex is definetly not for you, it only shows the time, ripoff thing for loaded [censored]

and this phone is not to play video games but to talk only as you realized already, so dont compare apples to oranges. and if someone can do successful marketing show some respect.you talk about this phone but you didnt even had it in your hands.etc etc..

didnt meant to be mean but this is what it is...

anyway i have vent my frustration and feel much better now

[Shundi]

The phone looks cool and I've yet to see the features but in my mind TAG is overpriced for the mechanics..but TAG is where Omega was 10 or so years ago, they're trying to reimage themselves into a more prestigious brand instead of (this is true for the wealthy parts of New England) being an "Entry level" watch you might get your son for graduation. It's not that we, the "colonial cousins" really made it a mall store watch...TAG themselves are responsible for who they allow to become authorized dealers, placement of displays, the direction of the company, etc. It's not like a McDonald's franchise, you can't just pay your $50,000 and sell Rolexes or Pateks...each brand has dealer reps that (are supposed to) painstakingly ensure that the way their watches are taken care of: from shipping them to a Tourneau to displaying them, to selling them, is carried out according to their contract with said reseller and, by extension, ensuring that TAG's corporate philosophy is fulfilled. If they get a "mall watch" reputation it's because...they are. It's no slight of the American public, that's where TAG, as a corporation, wants to be. Rolls Royce does the majority of their business in jet engines but their jet engines aren't that much more prestigious than GE... Mercedes is marketed as a upscale/luxury car in the US but in many European countries they're still used as taxis... you don't often see that with Ferrari or McLaren and that's because when you try to reach a broad market you, by definition, sacrifice exclusivity and (in most cases) prestige. LVMH is using TAG as a cash cow much like Swatch used Swatch brand in the 70's to bankroll the reemergence of Omega and other luxury Swiss watches... there's nothing "wrong" with that but I think that to be considered a true, exclusive luxury item, you must market yourself as either the ne plus ultra (as Rolex does) or remain as exclusive as possible.

Around me, the "prestige" goes:

In ascending order:

Citizen, Seiko

Oris

Longines, TAG

Omega, PAM

Rolex, IWC, Glashutte

JLC, Blancpain, Breguet

Patek Phillipe / Vacheron Constantin

Not really debating the merits of this...however after having just purchased a lovely Omega Constellation Cal. 564 (after returning the piece of [censored] Franken mov't one I brought on impulse from a reputable jewler (without checking...I know, I know)) I've been really interested in 1950-70's Omega's with the 561-564 movements... totally inhouse, beautiful to look at, extremely functional and well-designed and held in high regard as being some of the greatest in-house production movements ever produced and I think taking the cake as Omega's "best movement ever".

I'll reserve judgment for the phone until after I see what the hardware is like but it certainly looks cool and retains a lot of the TAG sporty essence.

[Shundi]

PS-

Just googled this:

http://gizmodo.com/377321/6100-croc+skinne...t-a-pretty-face

[blade007]

why dont you go collect casio citizen solarpowered satellite adjusted whatever bla plastic watches, plus if you get lost in wilderness you can find your way using the compass of your watch,i heard even some models have monitors installed you can watch porn or play tetris when you get bored...rolex is definetly not for you, it only shows the time, ripoff thing for loaded [censored]

if you are fishing for someone to "vent your frustration with" or throw childish comments at, I am all game, just PM and we can get real nasty..

As for my preference in watches, well if you search through my threads you will find that I am not a rolex fan anyway. As far as casio and "gadgets" are concerned I love them, we do live in the technological age and you are equally guilty of using the gadget called a computer and invention called internet. AND I bet you watch some of that animal porn.

What gave you the assumption that if i like "gadgets" I would have no taste for automatic watches? your ignorence perhaps? but who cares, like I give a f3ck about what you think....

and this phone is not to play video games but to talk only as you realized already, so dont compare apples to oranges. and if someone can do successful marketing show some respect.you talk about this phone but you didnt even had it in your hands.etc etc..

and you have held it in your hands? why dont you enlighten us with the features? out of interest what phone do you use? I gather you are the "i need a phone to talk, no more no less" kinda guy. So why dont you get one of these, really well built handsets?

It does exactly what u need and it only costs a fraction. infact, i am sure someone will happily donate you one.. no?

respect for marketing? well you are doing that for my behalf. I am not one to be persuaded by glossy paged marketing campaigns and end up paying for fluff.

Edited August 15, 2008 by blade007

[iceberg1459]

iAND I bet you watch some of that animal porn.

bet your amazing iphone for it

but dude..

[Dutchy]

For many non-watch enthusiasts TAG is more prestigious brand than Breitling and Omega. Well, Omega might be even... but Breitling is pretty much unknown brand.

Really? When I was at school tons of people knew Breitling as a high end brand (and that was in South America where Breitling is no where to be seen). Now even more so in England at uni.

Tag is seen as a 'nice' watch brand at my uni, not really 'high end' (which I agree with, though prices can be high at times, like the retail price of the Carreras)

[doc savage]

IMHO Tag is on the right path to get some of that proverbial "fat cash"--their brand name is at least as valuable as Vertu (rebranded Nokias for crying out loud).

Vertu customers don't want a slim, unobtrusive phone that gets a lot done; they want something that stands out as much as possible, is so simple even Paris or Ozzy could operate it, and has plenty of places to stick diamonds.

[Fidestro]

I personally think this thread has reached a point where it needs locked, but I do enjoy the individuals who wax poetic about how great the iPhone is. The new 3g has a serious problem with the chipset causing it to drop calls and the battery life on my iPhone (pre 3g) is awful. Give me the old Nokia any day of the week. I don't need a phone that can make take photos, play music, surf the web, make toast. All of those are secondary when the damn thing CAN'T MAKE A CALL!

[By-Tor]

Well it's out now, replicated at TrustyTime.

http://tinyurl.com/bdopor

[docblackrock]

Well it's out now, replicated at TrustyTime.

http://tinyurl.com/bdopor

on more than one level

Leaving aside my view on 'rep' phones ("I'd like my occipital cortex done medium rare please"), I can't help but think they'd be better spending time and money looking at a movement solution to bring out a decent Monaco.

The gen Meridiist is a gorgeous bit of engineering albeit a design which takes some 'acquiring' but is far too much of a brick to be practical. Plus I'd rather have a nice Monaco retro reissue for the same money.

[iceberg1127]

has anyone bought one yet though? how close is it the gen as far as performance or looks.

[ThinkBachs]

Good, I have a chance to throw in one of the last comments (I'm guessing)...

From the linked site regarding this phone, here's my favorite quote:

92BuickLeSabre

1:31 PM on Tue Apr 8 2008

On the plus side, you could use it to beat the crap out of anyone that calls it ugly.

On the minus side, everybody vs. you. Unless you're a Ninja, not such great odds.

Here's the commercial that kinda goes with it, imagine being hit with a Meridiist instead of a wimpy Sprint phone...