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No doubt, the TAG Heuer 'Pilot' watch is not for everyone. Reaction to it on the Calibre 11 forum is mixed to say the least, with one forumer in particular taking a real dislike to it and regularly mocking it for its 'twenty-seven' bezels. Yeah, okay... perhaps it's not traditionally beautiful, but it does have a distinct charm and for me part of that charm is simply 'Breitling Navitimer with a less retro aesthetic'. Because, as you guys know all too well by now, I do not do 'retro'.
I'm not too sure when I first became aware of the Pilot, but I do remember being very excited when I saw it in the TAG Heuer museum in September 2018. Like several other watches I saw that day, it was mentally added to my list of 'must own' watches, but it was one that seemed hard to find in good condition at a reasonable price.
There was one for sale for a long time at Watches of Lancashire, a company that sells beautifully refurbished watches... at beautifully refurbished prices. Their Pilot was up for a headache inducing £1500, but it looked incredible. So much so that on more than one occasion I almost decided 'screw the expense', but (thankfully) never quite followed through.
Eventually, in October 2019 I came across one for sale on eBay in great condition and selling at a reasonable price. I knew it would climb up from where it started but even so, when I won the watch for £570 I was more than happy (my bid had been waaay over that!).
The watch didn't have a box, but it did have the original instruction leaflet - though annoyingly it tells you all the things you probably already know (like how to use the chronograph), but omits to explain how to make use of the aforementioned 'twenty-seven' bezels...
Overall the condition was really nice, with only the aluminium bezel insert betraying its age a little bit. But even that is pretty good and nothing to really make a fuss about.
Some watches wear bigger on the wrist than they are and some wear smaller, this one definitely wears BIG. It's actually 42mm, but perhaps because of the overhanging bezel and the way it stands up on the wrist, it definitely feels bigger than that. Also, because the blue bezel kind of merges with the chapter ring underneath the crystal, it gives the impression of a huge dial with no bezel at all or a small dial with a colossal bezel.
The bezel is bi-directional and despite its age it stays where it's put. Not that it matters, since it looks fine wherever you put it... unlike, for instance, a dive watch that always looks wrong if it slips out of its natural positioning.
The bracelet is okay too, in fact it is surprisingly comfortable, but it tapers quite a bit and is a little bit slender for the size of the watch head. I mean it does the job, but if anything it kind of makes the watch look bigger than it actually is and that was one of the reasons I decided to purchase the original blue leather strap for it.
I was pleasantly surprised when I was told that the strap was still available and that it was a relatively reasonable £87 including the steel buckle. Considering I'd paid well over a hundred for a rubber strap before I didn't think that was bad at all and when the strap arrived I was more than chuffed with how it looked.
I actually think it looks good on both the strap and the bracelet, and I can possibly see me switching back at some point, but for now I really like it as it is. Unfortunately I haven't worn it enough to really soften up the leather yet and it is still remarkably stiff, but I do think it's getting better. It's also only just long enough on my 7.5/8" wrist, but better that than two inches of spare tail flapping about in the breeze!
For sure, the crown looks huge, and it does stick out - indeed that was a major concern of mine before I bought the Pilot, but to my surprise and perhaps because of its rounded shape, even if it does jab the back of my hand, I never feel it like I feel the crown on my 500M Aquaracer sometimes.
And yeah it wears kinda big and it sits up on the wrist, which is kind of annoying, but still... it works perfectly (which is more than can be said for a few of my 1/10 second quartz chronos), it looks equally good on a bracelet or a strap and the blue subdials catch the light just right and give that fantastic 'sunburst' effect we all love so much.
Obviously the lume is pretty shot, but you wouldn't expect anything else from a watch of this age. The tritium is still in fantastic condition though and looking at the dial you would never think this watch was 30 years old.
Overall, the Pilot is one of my favourite pieces and one that I can't see myself parting with. Yes, it's not a 'beautiful' watch, but I kinda like how 'ugly' it is, and I really like how different it looks from everything else in my collection. I think when you have a certain size of collection that becomes quite important, unless you're one of those people who like to collect the same watch over and over again with minor differences.... which I am not.
And while the 'Watches of Lancashire' watch did look incredible, I'm glad I held out for this merely 'excellent' condition piece for 2/5ths of the price!
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