ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 1 / Classic Ladies Formula 1s

WV3010.EB0025

Parkers Jewellers / Sheffield, 26th January 2019

This is a watch I've seen plenty of times on eBay, but I don't think I'd ever seen one up-close before today, and I've certainly never had one on my wrist before. Supposedly it's a 44mm case but it didn't strike me as massively oversized, which is a little strange since I was wearing my new 2000 Exclusive which is only a 38mm and usually the watch you take off has a bearing on your perception of what you try on afterwards.

I have to say, this one looks pretty spectacular and the back is probably the nicest I've seen to date. Really this photograph doesn't do it justice, it is quite stunning!

I really like the simplicity of the face, which is countered nicely by the tapisserie section in the middle of the dial and the rubber strap is super flexible and I imagine really comfortable. Unfortunately I couldn't do this one up properly as it needed the strap making bigger (there was plenty of spare) and also the strap was fitted the wrong way round so the clasp was backwards - amazing how difficult that makes it to do up!

The crown is strangely narrow, which is odd considering this is a manual wind watch so the owner is going to be using it a lot, and as the watch has no rotor this is a little bit thinner than you'd probably expect it to be. Actually the hand winding wouldn't bother me too much because I only wear my automatics sporadically so I always have to wind them anyway.

It really is a smart looking watch, with a nice clean dial and a simple overall design, but... as I was trying it on, I got this sense of deja-vu coming over me. Despite the rubber strap, this does rather remind me of the Grand Carrera that I just got rid off. I think it's those polished markers and that big, empty dial. I like it a lot, but I don't think it's for me, I just don't think I would wear it enough somehow. Pity because this one is on offer for £1650, which seems pretty reasonable.

WA1419                                           WA1411

Actually the Calibre 1 was just a lucky opportunity, the main reason for driving up to Sheffield was so that my wife could check out these two classic ladies Formula 1s. They were both the same price £295, which seems a bit nuts to me as I would have expected the one with the bracelet to be more expensive. I guess the full lume dial on the WA1411 has an appeal and it still works, although it's obviously not as bright as it once was. Personally I really liked the WA1419, and I thought for sure my wife was going to buy it, but in the end she decided not to.

The trip did give her some much needed clarity though, she now knows she definitely wants the ladies version (my 35mm is definitely too big for her tiny wrist, these 28mm versions suit her so much better) and she also knows that she wants a bracelet as opposed to the resin strap. I think this is definitely the right decision for her. I wanted mine on a strap because I wanted something akin to the 'first' TAG Heuer watch, as mine is less something to wear and more a part of my 'collection'. Oddly enough I've just noticed that the strap on my classic F1 is on backwards as well!

While she appreciated the condition of the white/blue piece, she's decided that she wants to hang on and see if she can get either the black/green or black/pink version on a bracelet - preferably with a replacement or mint bezel. She feels that because the bracelet is lacking the colour of some of the resin strap pieces she's seen, she needs to compensate with a bright highlight colour and I think that makes total sense.