If you spend as much time as I do on eBay it can be frustrating to find watches that appeal to you but you don't want to buy because you've never actually seen one in the flesh, and watches really can look a lot different when you get them in your hands than they do in pictures. Now obviously I'm not going to buy an Alter Ego for myself, but they are kind of intriguing and since they've long been discontinued I've just never actually seen one close up before. So it was a moment of excitement this morning when I happened to spot one in a Pawnbrokers window in Northampton...
Funnily enough I don't usually carry my phone about (because I hate them), but in this instance I had it handy and so I was able to snap this pic. The watch is actually a good bit more chunky than I anticipated, I really expected it to be a little more dainty than it is. I'm guessing this one must be 32/34mm or thereabouts, comparing it to the (scratched up) Link which was also in the window and I'm guessing was about 39/40mm (both of which being hilariously dwarfed by a huge Breitling that must have been 46-48mm).
The watch has a brushed finish, which works for it in terms of scratches, but I've always thought the whole thing with the Alter Ego was to be as showy as possible and so this one comes across as a little dull. It doesn't help that it has this blue mother of pearl dial which gives zero contrast to the case and makes the whole thing look a little one dimensional.
Overall I really like the design and I think it's so neat that it doesn't look like anything else out there, it's clearly a very modern look and that's something that's desperately lacking in these days of endless 'Heritage' pieces - although to be fair, women's collections don't seem to suffer from that blight nearly as much as men's. Even so, this is an unusually aggressively modern looking watch and is probably not going to be everyone's cup of tea. From my own experience I know it's taken an awful long time for my wife to come round to the idea of getting herself an Alter Ego, and she wants a polished one with a bright blue dial, so this isn't even close.
One thing I don't really like though is the crown, apart from the odd placement it looks massive... and kind of undermines the 'classy' dress watch credentials this should otherwise enjoy.
Price wise this one is up for £495, which is difficult to compare because on eBay prices for these are all over the place. You might be able to find this on eBay for £300 or £800, it seems like women don't use eBay the same way men do and so there's much more likelihood of getting a bargain, whereas any decent men's TAG on eBay will find a buyer at a price close to it's true value. Case in point, there's a beautiful ladies Kirium with a blue dial on eBay that's failed to sell twice and it's only £280...
How ridiculous is that? You put a blue men's Kirium on eBay and you will sell it - unless you're being completely unreasonable on the price.
Well, it may not be the most exciting model, but I am actually glad that I've finally got to see an Alter Ego for myself. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I still quite like it, and I will be interested to see if/when my wife picks up one for her collection.
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