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The Immortals – The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Night Diver recreates a cruelly overlooked Bond watch The Immortals – The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Night Diver recreates a cruelly overlooked Bond watch

The Immortals – The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Night Diver recreates a cruelly overlooked Bond watch

D.C. Hannay

Editor’s note: The Immortals is a new series that delves into a watch that we believe deserves recognition as a bona fide modern classic. You’ll already be familiar with most of the watches, we imagine. But DC will delve a bit deeper into these timepieces to explain why they’ve quickly established themselves in the horological canon. Today, it’s the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Night Diver.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for all things 007. The action, the intrigue, the charm, the gadgets… and most of all, the watches. The Rolex Submariner, the Breitling Top Time, the Omega Seamaster, the Seiko Golden Tuna, and even the Gruen Precision dress watch from Dr No, they’ve all shaken my martini. But there’s one Bond watch that literally shines brighter than any of them: the Heuer Professional 1000, Ref. 980.031, colloquially known as the “Night Diver”. Worn by the criminally underrated Timothy Dalton in 1987’s The Living Daylights, the Night Diver was relegated to cinematic obscuria, until Bond fan Dell Deaton (of the website jamesbondwatches.com) identified the watch from its brief moments onscreen.

The film marks the only appearance of a Heuer in the 007 oeuvre, as Q Branch issued Dalton a Submariner for his second (and last) turn as Bond in Licence To Kill. Very much a watch of its time, the pre-TAG Professional 1000 was a 37mm quartz dive watch with a 200 metre water-resistance rating, a PVD-blackened case and bracelet, and glowing greenish-white fully lumed dial. The blacked-out appearance and torch of a dial definitely earned the Night Diver its most appropriate nickname.

TAG Heuer recently paid tribute to this killer under-the-radar tool watch with the release of the Aquaracer Professional 300 Night Diver, a spiritual successor that brings its stealthy aesthetic into the 21st century. Reviews were, um, glowing, and it’s easy to see why it made waves upon its introduction in 2021.

Blacked-out tool watches always make me swoon, especially those from the ‘70s and ‘80s by Heuer, as well as LeJour and Porsche Design. The contemporary Night Diver carries forward that spy-game style with its 43mm black DLC (diamond-like coating) case, a much harder and more durable finish than the original’s PVD, which tends to wear away on ‘80s survivors. The black definitely helps the watch wear smaller than 43mm. The case is well proportioned, with broad-but-not-chunky tapered lugs and nicely shaped crown guards. The funky 12-sided unidirectional bezel offers easy grip, and features a decidedly non-flashy matte black ceramic 60 minute insert. An antireflective sapphire crystal protects the opaline white dial, which is fully lumed with Super-LumiNova for a brightness rivalling the klieg lights of a Hollywood production. Similar to the contrasting lume of the modern Omega Seamaster, the hour hand, seconds hand tip, and bezel triangle marker at 12 all glow a cool blue for a great pop against the green. The dial also features a horizontally grooved texture, not dissimilar to Patek’s Nautilus.

Replacing the printed markers of the original, black octagonal applied indices make for great legibility against the lumed dial. It’s a modern, more upscale touch in line with competition from the Seamaster line. And love it or hate it, there’s no missing the outsized circular cyclops lens over the 6 o’clock date window. I’m of the mind that date windows are unnecessary on most tool watches, but at least the positioning lends symmetry compared to one at three. What is appropriate for a tool watch is the solid caseback, sporting a too-cool embossed diver’s helmet design. The caseback and screwdown crown combine to afford the Night Diver 300 metres of water resistance.

Behind that caseback beats TAG Heuer’s Calibre 5 movement, a modified 26-jewel Sellita SW200-1, which should be dependable and simple to service. The black rubber strap is super-comfortable, with an easily adjustable ratcheting blacked-out deployant clasp. It just plain works.

All told, it’s no wonder the updated Night Diver is such a winner. The combination of a solid, modern toolwatch design, mixed in with the stealthy presence of a black case and that blowtorch of a dial makes for a very compelling package. If you love that tactical aesthetic, and appreciate the insider James Bond connection, there’s really nothing that should stop you from adding it to your collection of gadgets.