CL1113.BA0701
I honestly thought I had bought everything I was going to buy this year; but two things turned up late in the day, one of which was this gorgeous plum-dial Kirium quartz chronograph. I've been after this for a very long time, maybe four years or so, but I never thought I'd find one at a sensible price and certainly not in the amazing condition that this arrived in.
Long term readers will know that my very first TAG Heuer was an F1 Kirium, but it wasn't until August 2018, just before my visit to Switzerland that I added my first regular quartz chrono. That one has a blue dial and is still in my collection. It needs servicing, a new bezel and I have bought a spare bracelet for it since the old one is quite knocked about and had been repaired prior to me buying it (albeit extremely well, since I didn't notice for a couple of weeks!).
I've always liked the plum dial version, but the only ones I had seen for sale were going for silly prices up near the £2000 mark which I simply wasn't prepared to pay even if they were (as claimed) NOS. So imagine my surprise when browsing Watchfinder's pre-sale section I came across a CL1113 that looked in incredible condition despite being 22 years old.
If you are not aware, Watchfinder has a section on its website where they list watches which are in the process of being prepared for sale. They don't have prices on them until they are 'live' but they invite you to 'register your interest'. That's a tough one, on the one hand you don't want someone else to make an offer before the item goes live, but on the other 'registering your interest' might induce them to inflate the price...
Since I figured I was probably the only person refreshing the page ten times a day waiting for the sale to go on stream, I decided to take the risk and reasoned that if it was less than £1000 then I would buy it. I looked at their three hander Kiriums which were up for £695 and figured it would be nip and tuck, a rare colour in excellent condition and a chrono... I was thinking probably £1100, but hoping for less. When the page finally went live my jaw dropped; the watch was up for £895 and I wasn't even going to risk negotiating at that price. I put it into my basket and bought the watch immediately.
You know, a lot of people like to rag on Watchfinder and their prices and yes I have seen some watches on their site that are overpriced. But when you look at the lower end pieces (as I usually do) they are often very reasonably priced considering they give you a certificate of authenticity and a two year warranty, even on watches like mine which are over twenty years old. All the watches I've bought from Watchfinder have been immaculate as well and their service is superb.
I bought the watch in the afternoon and sent a photo of the bracelet of my blue Kirium to give them a sizing template. At 5pm they rang me to confirm my delivery address and I was somewhat surprised to hear that it would leave that night and arrive the next day. Fantastic!
Next morning I got a knock on the door and found a large plastic bag on the doorstep, ripping it open... I mean carefully opening it, I found the familiar 90s TAG Heuer barrel box (complete with outer box, warranty card and manuals) sitting atop a very nice Watchfinder watch box with a hard outer sleeve, cling-filmed together and protected at the corners with foam pieces. My wife got one of these boxes with her Omega Constellation and I have to say they are very nice as a replacement box. More importantly I simply couldn't believe the condition of my watch, it really does look and feel like it's never been worn, so much so that I'm slightly afraid to wear it (I know, I know...).
The dial is absolutely stunning; this picture shows it as a little 'redder' than it really is, it's definitely 'plum' or perhaps 'red wine' in colour. The blue Kirium chrono is nice, but this one is even better and if the blue one was in a better state of repair I might be tempted to sell; but I know it's going to cost more than it's really worth to have it serviced etc, so I'm just going to keep both. I am going to service it and replace the bezel, but to keep.
It's been a very long wait to get this, and I never really expected it to happen... but I'm so glad it did. Again this was a watch that I saw in the TAG Heuer museum, albeit I didn't really have time to look at it when there were so many other incredible things vying for my attention and my camera lens, but I definitely remember it being there.
This watch couldn't have come at a better time really, with the ongoing saga of the lost watch I needed something to give my usually endless enthusiasm for TAG Heuer a boost and this was the perfect hit. And I have another watch on the way, hopefully arriving today... in fact it may already be here by the time you're reading this!
:)
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