Why Did TAG Heuer Recreate a Vintage Abercrombie & Fitch Watch?

A century ago, A&F was a leading outfitter of high-end outdoor goods, catering to globetrotting adventurers, hunters and fishermen. The brand sold everything from tents to rifles, but perhaps its most relevant product category, at least to collectors today, was its watches.

Thanks to a partnership forged by then-Abercrombie president Walter Haynes and the Heuer family, Heuer began producing watches for A&F beginning in the 1940s. These watches were made by Heuer in Switzerland but were branded as Abercrombie & Fitch watches and were sold exclusively by the New York retailer.

A few years into the relationship, Haynes tasked Heuer with creating a watch capable of tracking the tides — an important consideration for outdoor sportsmen of the day. In 1949, Heuer produced the Solunar for Abercrombie & Fitch as the world’s first watch with a permanent tide indicator.

The watch wasn’t a strong seller, but in the 1950s, the complication made its way into a watch that would become A&F’s most iconic model. That watch was the Seafarer. It combined a tide indicator with a chronograph — including a regatta timer — in a colorful and complicated package that was undeniably good-looking.

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Abercrombie & Fitch sold various versions of the Seafarer until the 1970s, and in recent years, the watches have become a hot commodity among vintage collectors thanks to their unique story, rare complications and colorful dials. Vintage expert Eric Wind has had several examples pop up for sale at his popular Wind Vintage store over the years, helping to raise the model’s profile immensely.