BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer 2000 Series 'Multigraph'

WK111A.BA0331

One of the things about collecting watches is that you sometimes tend to be drawn to watches that are similar to things you already own, and as your collection grows this problem becomes more and more acute, especially if you stick to one brand or a limited style of watch. So while I've always been keen on the Multigraph, I've tended to think of it as something to get 'later', because it's too similar to the F1 Kirium that I already own. I mean, it isn't really, but that was what my wife kept telling me every time I showed her one that I was looking at!

And so it went on, until last week I found one that was on eBay and eventually sold for just £290. I was kicking myself as generally speaking the pricing tends to start at about £400 and goes up to somewhere in the region of £700 for a genuinely mint example. But then I saw another one, again bidding at under £200 and I spotted an opportunity to secure one for myself for a reasonable price. In the end I managed to secure the watch for £266, even cheaper than the one I'd missed out on a few days before!

The one that went for £290 was a bit short on the bracelet, so I would have had to buy some links, and it wasn't mint by any means... my WK111A isn't mint either but it's not bad. It has a couple of marks on the bezel, but the glass is perfect and it seems to function as it should. It also came complete with five spare links to extend it to fit my 7.3/4" wrist (the previous owner bought it new so I presume that is in effect a 'full' bracelet) so overall I'm pretty happy with that!

The bracelet and clasp were a little bit scratched up, but I had a go at them with a piece of Scotchbrite (which is a fine abrasive that looks a bit like a Brillo pad) and within a very short period of time I'd made them look quite a lot better!

I decided not to attempt any work on the bezel as the finish is somewhat similar to the one on my 4000 Series, which is best described as bead blasted I would say. Difficult to replicate and easy to mess up, so perhaps best left as it is. 

Unfortunately I don't have a manual for the watch and searching online hasn't proved too fruitful, but I've kinda worked out the basics. As with the Kirium F1 you turn the crown (which doesn't screw down incidentally, despite the 200M water rating) to scroll through the various display options. I always have my Kirium F1 set to 'off' by default, but with this one I've tended to leave it on day of the week and date, you can also have day of the week and running seconds, a second time zone, a timer, a chronograph, the regular time or just plain blank.

Delivery was a little slower than expected, but it was okay and the watch came with a receipt from The Watch Lab for a new battery fitted a few weeks ago, quite shocked to see that the seller had paid £99 for a new battery to be honest... considering what they sold the watch to me for! 

I'm already pondering the idea of getting a rubber strap for this one, the clasp is a bit sharp and I've already managed to nick my wrist with it. Cost is about £110 I think so I'll have to give it some thought, but having seen an Aquagraph (like mine) on a rubber strap at Bicester Village the other day I'm kind of more inclined to spend the money getting one of those...