LVMH Watch Week: The Latest TAG Heuer Seafarer Chronograph, With Tide Indicator

Although a relatively small number of complications dominate the market for complicated watches – with the chronograph way out in front – there are any number of perhaps (ok, definitely) more niche complications and over the history of watchmaking almost any event which takes place in time at all has had a complication designed around it. (This is only slightly an exaggeration; there are watches designed specifically for the game of golf, like the I-hate-myself-for-loving-you Cartier Pasha Golf Counter). One unusual complication which is nonetheless potentially a practical one for anyone living by the seaside, is the tide indicator, more formally known as a mareoscope.

The exigencies of the tides are generally of rather abstract concern but for anyone from a day boat fisherman to a scuba diver to a surfer (or any of many other outdoor types) knowing the times of high and low tides is essential, if not actually a matter of life or death. TAG Heuer, before it was TAG, produced tide indicators for Abercrombie and Fitch (the definitive history is available at, naturally, On The Dash). In 1949, Heuer produced the Solunar, which was a time only watch which also showed the progression of the Moon through the Lunar Month in a subdial at 6:00 (the idea was suggested by the then-in vogue idea that “solunar” cycles could determine the best times for hunting and fishing). A disk which can rotate once per lunar month naturally lends itself to being adapted for a tide indication as the Moon causes the tides (along with a relatively weaker contribution from the Sun) and so the disk could be used, as it was in the Solunar, to show the tidal cycles as well (the Solunar had a small pusher at 4:00 for synchronizing the tide indication to local tide times). The tide indicator was combined with a chronograph (Valjoux base) in around 1950 and the Seafarer was born.

TAG Heuer has revisited the Seafarer before, as a limited edition, but the complication is now available in a regular production model.

The latest model has a strong resemblance to earlier vintage Heuer Seafarer watches, especially the ref. 2443 second execution, with its combination of almost pastel oranges and greens in the 30 minute chronograph counter and the tide indicator. The case and bracelet are both stainless steel and the case measures 42mm in diameter, with a water resistance of 100 meters (very appropriate for a watch meant for aquatic recreation.

The movement is the caliber TH20-04, which is a tide indicator equipped version of TAG Heuer’s in-house chronograph caliber TH20-00, which was introduced in 2023 (which seems a lot longer ago than three years). This is a quite modern, vertical clutch and column wheel controlled movement.

The tide indicator may sound esoteric at first – “mareoscope” has a fine, hermetic ring to it, like a lot of horological lingo – but it is in fact very simple to set and use.

The disk inside the tide indicator is geared so that it rotates once every 29.53125 days, which is an approximation of the average length of a Lunar or synodic month. (The actual length of a Lunar month varies slightly from one month to the next). The tides on any given day are shown against the  outer 24 hour fixed chapter ring, which is divided into 12 AM and 12 PM hours. The times of the tides change slightly every day thanks to the movement of the Moon along its orbit, with one full cycle completed once every Lunar month.

You’ll notice that the chronograph minute counter is divided into five minute segments – this is a general aid to legibility, of course, but it is also useful for sailing regattas, where the countdown between the warning and starting guns is usually five or ten minutes.

The only thing you have to do to start using the watch, is to consult a local tide time chart for your current date, and use the pusher at 9:00 (helpfully labeled “tide” in case you’re also the sort of person who asks, “why does eat food?”) to synchronize the tide indication with the tides in your area. After that you’re good to go.

It’s quite a nifty complication and in its own way rather poetic, showing as it does in one indication the intimate relationship between the Moon and the oceans – and something that might even save your life, if you ever go anywhere like, say, the famous Bay of Fundy up north, which is flanked by Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, and where the difference between high and low tide can be fifty feet or more.

The TAG Heuer Carrera Seafarer: case, stainless steel, 42mm in diameter, 100M water resistant. Sapphire crystals front and back with front glassbox crystal. Pusher at 9:00 for setting the tide indication. Champagne dial with beige flange, blue teal and yellow lacquered tide indicator with blue teal and beige azuré minute counter. Movement, caliber TH20-04, chronograph with date and tide indicator; automatic with bidirectional winding and 80 hour power reserved, based on TAG Heuer caliber TH20-04. Price, CHF 8,300. 

The 1916 Company is proud to be an authorized retailer for TAG Heuer wristwatches. Please contact us for current pricing and availability.