TAG Heuer and Time+Tide return with the Aquaracer Professional 300 Sundowner II

TAG Heuer and Time+Tide have unveiled the Sundowner II, a sequel to the collaboration that sold out in a day two years ago. The new watch moves the rose-gold-and-titanium look of the original Solargraph Sundowner into the mechanical Aquaracer Professional 300 lineup, with prices starting at $5,100.

The original Sundowner

The first Sundowner, launched two years ago, paired a solar-powered Solargraph movement with a Grade 2 titanium case, rose-tone accents and a green NATO strap inspired by the Australian outback. All 250 pieces were gone within a day, which is what prompted the pair to try again.

The new case and dial

This time the watch measures 42mm across, up from the first edition's 40mm, with a 12mm thickness and a 48mm lug-to-lug span. The case is sandblasted Grade 2 titanium, and the green NATO strap has been dropped entirely in favor of a bracelet or rubber.

The recognizable rose gold returns in the applied hour markers, the handset and the markings set into a new grey ceramic bezel insert. The dodecagonal all-titanium bezel of the original is gone, replaced by that matte ceramic ring, and the dial now runs a uniform varnished black.

The wave-cut dial pattern comes straight from the standard mechanical Aquaracer line, replacing the horizontal teak-deck lines of the Solargraph model. The hour markers take the octagonal shape that echoes the bezel, and the TAG Heuer name sits below 12 o'clock opposite the Time+Tide logo at six.

There is no date window this time, which leaves the dial balanced without an aperture. Behind it all, the movement is the reason the watch exists: buyers of the first edition liked the look but wanted something mechanical, so TAG Heuer fitted the TH31-01 automatic caliber.

The TH31-01 is chronometer-certified and produced by Sellita-AMT. It runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour, carries 30 jewels and stores 80 hours of power reserve. The solid titanium case back is engraved with the Time+Tide logo in relief and notes the limited run and depth rating.

That depth rating is 300 meters, the standard for the Aquaracer range. Water resistance that deep, combined with the sold-out history of the original, is the pitch to a diver market that this publication has long covered as part of our watch coverage.

TAG Heuer is one of the best-known names in Swiss watchmaking, and the Aquaracer Professional 300 sits at the accessible end of its sports line. The maison has built its modern reputation on chronographs and motorsport tie-ins, but the Aquaracer has carried the dive side of the catalog for years.

Two versions and pricing

Two versions are on offer, and the numbers are deliberately uneven. The rubber strap model, with a curved-end cut-to-size black strap, is limited to 450 pieces. The sandblasted titanium bracelet version is capped at only 50 pieces, a run small enough that availability is the real question.

Both wear the same sandblasted titanium with the same rose-gold accents, but they are priced apart. The strap version costs $5,100 and the bracelet version $5,750. Each closes with a titanium folding clasp that offers toolless micro-adjustment, a practical touch on a dive watch.

The reference numbers split the two the same way: WBP5185.BF0010 marks the bracelet model, while WBP5184.FT6257 identifies the rubber strap variant. For the bracelet run, the individual number of each watch is engraved on the case back alongside its limited-edition status.

Time+Tide is the Australian watch publication behind the collaboration, and its name now sits on the dial of a watch sold through its own webshop. The partnership continues the pattern its first outing established: a modest Australian-flavored twist on a TAG Heuer staple.

The Aquaracer Professional 300 is the line TAG Heuer uses for its everyday divers, and the Sundowner treatment gives it a warmer, less tool-like character than the standard black dial. Rose gold against sandblasted grey titanium is not a combination the catalog otherwise offers.

Where the first Sundowner ran on light, this one runs on a mainspring, which is the entire point of the sequel. Solar had its admirers, but a wider audience wanted the mechanical option, and the 80-hour reserve means the TH31-01 keeps running through a long weekend off the wrist.

The move from a solar Solargraph to an automatic also changes the watch's price tier. At $5,100 the Sundowner II sits well above the original Solargraph, reflecting the chronometer movement and ceramic bezel now fitted to a familiar 300-meter dive case.

The one question left open is how fast the 50 bracelet pieces go. Time+Tide has not said when sales open or how the allocation will run, only that the watch is available through its webshop. The original vanished in a day, and this one carries a smaller top-tier allocation.

For anyone weighing it against other recent limited divers, the comparison now includes Panerai's Marina Militare Submersibles and H. Moser & Cie.'s steel Heritage watches, both launched in similar moulds. The Sundowner II stands apart on the strength of its rose-gold-and-titanium look.