Is your favourite CA fake Rolex ‘the Batman’? Are you a fan of the Seiko ‘Mohawk’? Perhaps, instead, you’re more of an Omega ‘Anakin Skywalker’ man?
Watch fans, and we love you dearly, can be a funny bunch.
Perhaps because watch companies like to talk of their products in terms of different ‘references’ – each Swiss made replica watch’s catalogue number, basically – it can be a little hard for even hardcore horologists to tell one model apart from another. Do you prefer Seiko’s SBDB029 over its SBDX035, for example? And what about the khaki coloured tone used on the SBDY059, eh? Phwoar.
It’s hard to deny that ‘the Batman’ – that’s the nickname given to the cheap fake Rolex GMT-Master with the black and blue bezel – is just a better name than ‘116710BLNR’, whatever Rolex’s marketing department might prefer.
Which brings us to the ‘Dark Lord’.
Nothing to do with Star Wars, or even, yikes, Harry Potter – though watch nicknames do tend towards the, er, boys-y, – it’s a special edition of AAA replica Tag Heuer’s classic square-sided Monaco watch.
The original, from 1969, had a blue dial, white sub-dials, red accents and a steel case, and there have been many, many different versions since then.
One of the most striking came out in 1974 and was coated in black PVD and attached to a black leather strap, creating a blacked-out, stealthy and super-cool edition that became known as the Dark Lord, a name that, to be fair, 1:1 fake Tag Heuer CA fully embraced.
That model’s mystique was only added to by the fact it was also super-rare.
It was never included in any official catalogues, and high quality replica Tag Heuer’s then-boss Jack Heuer estimated that less than 200 ‘Dark Lords’ were ever made, possibly as few as 100. Which helps explain why one went at a Swiss auction for 62,500 Swiss Francs (more £50,000) in 2016.
Well today the Dark Lord returns.
Released to coincide with the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, the 2022 Dark Lord measures 39mm x 39mm x 39mm, comes with a case made of DLC-coated grade 2 titanium, with rose gold-plated indices and sits on a black leather strap.
The biggest upgrade from 1974 is, unsurprisingly, the movement – this Swiss movement replica TAG Heuer comes equipped with the company’s latest Heuer 02 automatic calibre, which gives you 80 hours of power reserve.
More than enough time to explain to people the origins of the ‘Dark Lord’, even allowing for a bit extra should you want to go into any depth on those exciting catalogue numbers. Which, to save you looking it up, was originally reference 74033N and is now perfect fake TAG Heuer Monaco reference CBL2180.FC6 497.
Yeah, we think we’ll stick with the ‘Dark Lord’, too.
