One of the most valuable pieces in the perfect replica TAG Heuer archive is a prototype from 1994. With a steel case, a cushioned black leather strap, and an anthracite grey dial with subtle checkered flags at 12 and six, the watch’s relatively unassuming design belies its historical significance. This prototype, however, was the first and only watch co-created by Brazilian Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, and was worn by the driver before his tragic death in 1994. Early in 2024, the watch — stored unworn in a bank vault for 30 years — was donated to shop fake TAG Heuer’s archive, where it now resides alongside Senna’s helmet and other pieces of memorabilia from his championship-winning career.
“It was a real homecoming moment and one of the proudest additions to the collection I have made,” says Nicholas Biebuyck, US best fake TAG Heuer heritage director. “It allows us to tell the Senna story in a more complete way and we are working on new narratives around our relationship for the future to expand on what we have learned.”
This year marks three decades since Ayrton Senna’s untimely death on May 1, 1994, at the San Marino Grand Prix, but his legacy remains undimmed. At online replica TAG Heuer, which first partnered with the Brazilian driver in 1988, his passion, determination, grace, and talent remain a potent source of inspiration.
“The relationship with Senna was not just about his victories on the racetrack, resulting in three world championships, but the belief system that carried him to these heights,” Biebuyck explains. “Ayrton would not give a millimetre on track in the heat of competition, was focused and calculated when making decisions, and was extremely driven. Away from the racetrack he was a man of great faith, had an unending love for his family, and was known for his generosity to those in need. These are characteristics we can all be inspired by.”
Senna’s prototype watch would become TAG Heuer’s first co-branded Senna timepiece, the TAG Heuer 6000 Senna limited edition and the first in a series of Swiss made replica TAG Heuer watches that bear the driver’s logo. A second Ayrton Senna TAG Heuer, the TAG Heuer Link Senna Chronograph, followed five years later in 2001. Released in a Limited Edition of 1,991 watches as a tribute to Senna’s last world championship victory in 1991, it featured his signature “Senna S” subtly embossed on the dial.
A third Senna Link followed the next year in a limited edition of 4,098 pieces (a nod to the number of minutes elapsed during the driver’s 41 winning races), and another arrived in 2003 with the addition of a chronometer-certified chronograph movement. As with the first cheap super clone TAG Heuer x Senna watch, a portion of the proceeds from each piece sold was donated to the Instituto Ayrton Senna, an education-focused non-profit created in Senna’s memory that continues to benefit Brazilian children.
At TAG Heuer, Senna’s legacy remains equally strong, with two new pieces in the Formula One collection bearing the driver’s name, S logo, and a ’90s-inspired aesthetic. The US 1:1 wholesale fake TAG Heuer Formula 1 Chronograph x Senna watches are a 44 mm special edition powered by TAG Heuer’s next-gen Calibre 16 movement and bearing several aesthetic tributes to Senna’s career. In addition to an SEL-style bracelet (a reference to the first paypal replica TAG Heuer watches worn by Senna, the analog-digital S/ el S25706C), it prominently features the Senna S on the dial and bezel, with an image of the driver’s helmet engraved into the case back. A quartz-powered edition of the Formula 1 Chronograph x Senna, meanwhile, features an anthracite sunray brushed dial complemented by pops of yellow on the dial, ceramic bezel, and SEL-inspired leather strap.
“With each new luxury copy watches launched there is a chance to play on different elements of Senna’s narrative,” Biebuyck says. “Given his passion for the best of life and well-made objects, developing a high-end offering that speaks to the world of Senna is an interesting new direction we are excited to explore in the future.”