TAG Heuer’s agreement to use the Gulf brand is with Gulf Oil International, with presumably a second agreement with Gulf Oil LP to allow the branding to be used in the US. The complexity behind the ownership of the Gulf brand is the reasons Gulf branded watches in the past have been launched in the US on a different timetable to other markets.

The 2018 Gulf F1 uses a 43mm stainless steel case, the standard case offered across the Formula 1 Chronograph range. The case has a notched steel bezel with a lovely blue aluminium insert and a titanium-carbide coated crown and chronograph pushers.

The key element that sets the Gulf edition watch apart from other models is of course the dial, which starts with a dark blue base before adding the two Gulf stripes- light blue and orange. The off-centre stripes are the same design as McQueen’s racing suit in Le Mans and the same featured on the 2018 Gulf Monaco and other Gulf-branded watches.

The same orange is used for the central chronograph hand, as well as the tips on the three lacquered sub-dial hands. We’re not a huge fan of the coloured tips used on several TAG Heuer sub-dial hands -we’d rather see a solid colour used, in this case the simple black rather than to go to full orange hands.

The other key details on the dial are the minuterie flange, with 5 minute increments, and the standard rectangular hour indices, which have white SuperLuminova, as does the over-size “12” at the top of the dial.

Overall, it’s a great looking dial. The Formula 1 series should be about bright bold colours, and that’s exactly what you get on the F1 Gulf. As much as we like the colours and dial design, it’s hard not to agree with TAG Heuer that the final “blue” offered on the production watch is an improvement, being much closer to the true Gulf Blue.

Complementing the bespoke dial design is a fantastic new strap, reference FC8243. The strap is made from calfskin and has an unusual “asphalt” texture effect. On the inside of the strap is an orange rubber lining, with matching orange stitching. 

Whoever is designing TAG Heuer’s straps over the last few years deserves special praise for continuing to develop innovative, special designs. It wasn’t that long ago that every TAG Heuer model used the same 3-4 leather straps, but now it seems as though each Special Edition gains a bespoke strap, which we love.

Turn the watch over and you’ll see the standard Formula 1 caseback- with the exception of the Gulf logo. And behind the caseback is the Ronda 5040D quartz chronograph movement the same reliable movement offered across all F1 Chronographs.