Patrick wrote about the Bia Rosie, a 38mm quartz dive watch intended for women. I immediately recognized it as something else.
The Bia Rosie and the TAG Heuer Aquaracer share a lot in common. The 18 sided rotating diver bezel, and stick indices that taper on the dial all remind me of the the TAG.
And to be sure, there are some differences between the quartz watch for $225, and the $1600ish TAG. The Bia Rosie comes in 38mm.
The TAG… used to come in 38mm, years ago. These days, it comes in 27, 32, 35, and 41. And if you like a 38mm, that may immediately disqualify a modern TAG for you.
The hands and indices on the TAG are diamond-cut and polished, where for $225, your Bia Rosie does not.
Taking another cue from TAG, in the 1980s, they made a dial with full lume, affectionately called the “night diver”. Bia Rosie makes their modern interpretation with a full lume dial, too. To be fair, there are also modern Aquaracers that have the full lume dial.
If you wanted to get a 38mm TAG, but don’t want to spend $1600, this might be one way to get close. If you wanted to get an affordable Aquaracer that looks the part from 5 feet away, the Bia Rosie is a good choice.
Is it stealing the design chops of TAG Heuer? The influence is clearly identifiable. Is it identical? No. The profile of the lugs, the hands and dial details, and the Japanese instead of Swiss movement make the difference. But if you’re a 225-dollar-dive-watch instead of a $1600 dive watch person, Bia Rosie might make sense.
