WAV5111.BA0901
While it's always been my intention to write an 'Owned' post about each and every watch that I own, on this occasion my hand is rather being forced by the fact that I am about to say goodbye to my Grand Carrera after a relatively short stay. Indeed some of you may recall that I wrote a blog post back in October (just five months after purchasing the watch) telling of my 'difficult relationship' with it, and even then I was talking about trading it in... so here we are just a couple of months later and in less than 48hrs it will be gone for good.
On reflection this really started much longer ago, way back in early 2017 in fact. I visited the Bicester store on a Saturday and saw the yellow dial Calibre S Aquaracer on a rubber strap there for £950. By Monday I was itching to go back but when I did my attention was diverted by the long sought after CAU2012 Calibre 16 Formula 1 (which I had been searching for for a very long time). The upshot was I bought that instead (for £1750) and temporarily forgot about the yellow dial Calibre S.
About a year later I gave in to the truth that I really didn't like the CAU2012 nearly as much as I thought I would, the clasp irritated my wrist so I had to buy a different rubber strap which didn't look as good, the dial looked like it was heavily lumed but in actual fact only the hands were lumed and the watch was a bit too big and 'flat'. I got into that mindset where I knew that I was going to sell it sooner or later and because it was PVD and I was scared of damaging it I stopped wearing it.
Eventually I decided to approach a few companies about buying it, I had seen a couple on eBay up for £1500 but they weren't selling - and I didn't fancy the risk personally either. I was offered £600-800 to buy the watch outright by a few different places, and then Watchfinder offered me £1200 as a trade in against the WAV5111.
So why the Grand Carrera? Well, I'd long lusted after some of the higher end PVD ones with the calipers, and while I ideally wanted the steel Grand Carrera chronograph, all the ones I was finding pre-owned had scratches to the bezel. Stupidly I passed up the chance to buy a really nice one in a local jewellers for £2400, I really regret that. In the meantime, I had tried on a diamond bezel GMT in the Bicester store and it really changed my mind about the GMT.
Previously I had never liked the GMT, I really didn't think the arc of the GMT window looked good with the rest of the watch, and yet with an offer on the table I (somewhat foolishly I now realise) talked myself into buying it, reasoning I could always trade up to the chronograph one day in the future...
And so the next phase of this money-haemorrhaging adventure began! I took the CAU2012 down to London and handed it in at the Watchfinder store on Avery Row and a few days later received a parcel containing my WAV5111.BA0901. And at first I really loved it! Indeed from some angles I still love it, but not enough.
It does come in a very nice box, which is larger than standard and either made of wood or something akin to wood, it's certainly a box befitting of a watch called a 'Grand Carrera' at any rate.
It's a watch that I've found hard to take to generally though. I'm not really a dress watch kinda guy and I have no use for a GMT function. I was thinking about taking it to Geneva last September, but even then when it would actually, finally serve some kind of purpose, I ended up taking my Heuer 01 instead. I think that perhaps sealed it's fate.
At 43mm it's a bit too big somehow which is odd because I'm quite happy wearing 43mm Aquaracers and my Heuer 01 is 45mm, but this just looks big and empty somehow and the placement of the logos isn't overly pleasing to the eye. The big date is nice, although I don't think I'll miss it particularly and the GMT is actually rather useless... because strangely it only shows you 12 hours of the day, meaning there is no indication of night or day.
Even though I know it's going, looking at this picture still makes me wonder what could have been, the problem is I have a ton of watches and this one isn't catching my eye. On the wrist it sometimes catches the light on the polished hour markers and it looks fantastic, but equally there are times when the hands reflect the black and completely disappear. The lume is fairly pathetic as well - I know it's not a dive watch, but I do love a bit of lume and this is rather too subtle for me, there's a tiny amount of lume on the hands and some almost invisible dots of lume around the dial and that's it.
There was a time when I was wowed by display backs, but I really don't spend much time gazing into the inner workings, and this one has a split window which makes it even harder to see anything. The bracelet is nice, I'll give it that. But there's no adjustment, which can be annoying, as it is this one is flopping around on my wrist and if I was keeping it I'd definitely need a link taking out.
One thing I don't think I've ever got used to on this one is the plain bezel, it just seems wrong and this is where the chronograph wins because of course it has a tachymetre so the bezel isn't plain. Not only is the bezel plain but it's also quite thick... but then had they made the bezel thinner then the dial would be even bigger and even more empty. I can't help thinking this would have been better at 41mm, there is a 41mm version but it has a small seconds instead of a GMT and no grand date so it looks quite different - but on the plus side the TAG logo is at the 12 position, which is an improvement in some ways.
It's actually quite hard to write a post about 'owning' a watch that you've barely worn, I mean I dread to think what the cost per wear equates to... as it is I've already worked out that if I had bought the Calibre S Aquaracer when I was supposed to (rather than later, on a bracelet for £200 more) I would have effectively got it for nothing (when you set it against what I've lost trading in the F1 and this one).
But that's watch collecting for you... and considering the number of watches I've bought in the last couple of years I was bound to get it wrong at least a couple of times. This time I've traded it for a couple of watches, which are definitely a safer choice, and unlikely to be pieces I'm desperate to rid myself of anytime soon.
Ah, this is my second attempt at a video for the blog. Annoyingly it's out of focus for the first few seconds, but you get the idea.
I still like the Grand Carrera line, I have a Grand Carrera catalogue and the close up shots are stunning... this one in particular just doesn't look good on my wrist somehow, and while I do still really love the chrono version (especially the Japanese limited edition with the blue dial) I am now very wary of making the same (very expensive) mistake twice. I think eventually I will get a chronograph Grand Carrera, maybe... but I will certainly take my time and try it on a number of times before I commit to another one.
I must admit it is a little dispiriting to let something of this quality go, and no doubt some people may be a little bit surprised when they see what's coming down the track to replace it, but I've come to realise that a varied collection is fine - as long as you enjoy the watches and wear them. But for me, I'd rather spend my money on another S/EL or 3000 series, which is why I'll probably never add a Monaco to my collection. It's too much money to tie up in something I don't absolutely love. The Heuer 01 was a different matter, that was lust at first sight and I've never regretted buying that, same goes for the Aquagraph, I doubt that I'll ever sell either of those... but they are now the only two automatics I own, and in all honesty I think the most likely auto to join my collection in the future would be a Calibre 5 in an Aquaracer.
FURTHER READING
FEATURE: My Difficult Relationship With My Grand Carrera
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/10/feature-my-difficult-relationship-with.html
BUYING EXPERIENCE: Grand Carrera GMT Calibre 8
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/05/buying-experience-grand-carrera-calibre.html
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