The 4000 Series isn't perhaps the most fondly remembered of TAG Heuer's ranges, perhaps because there's an awful lot of two tone and gold going on. But having owned a WF1111.BA0511 for a couple of years now (and more recently a WF1112.BA0511) I have to say that I think they are much maligned. It's quite a smart watch, with an interesting concave bracelet centre link (I can't think of another TAG Heuer that has one similar), but perhaps the one 'questionable' design choice is the logo moulded into the bezel and case.
My WF1111 has lost most of its green paint and some of its red and that's far from unusual (thankfully my WF1112's logo is still intact). Perhaps in some ways it looks better without the paint, although perhaps because of the red/green logo being so prominent TAG Heuer tended to stick with a rather bland selection of dial colours; light grey, dark grey, white, champagne... in fact the only option for any kind of 'impact' is the gold dial, which is perhaps a little too much impact!
At first the watch was only available on a bracelet or black/brown leather straps, but after the first year or so TAG Heuer introduced sharkskin straps in six different colours; red, brown, green, blue, black and dark grey. In the past I've always thought that 4000s on straps look a little odd because once you remove the end link you leave the top of the TAG Heuer shield sticking out at the top, but having now taken the plunge and bought a strap for my own watch, I see that it looks a lot better than pictures suggest.
The 4000 Series was pretty straightforward (apart from the 1992 number changes) with the original range pretty much surviving unaltered, with only one watch (in three sizes) added in 1994.
The 4000 Series was only available as a three hander, but was available in both quartz (Q) and automatic (A) variations.
1991 CATALOGUE
The 4000 Series first appears in the 1991 catalogue and is issued with the old (XXX.XXX) references. However, the numbering system was changed in 1992 and all watches were reassigned new numbers. For consistency I have decided to show both numbers and use the 1992 numbers as the main number. I have also included the strap/bracelet reference as well, as unlike the modern reference codes the old six figure codes didn't indicate what strap or bracelet the watch was sold on. There is a chart at the bottom of this post which cross references everything, which I made while I was wading through this trying to make sense of it all, you may find that quite useful - I certainly did!
A note on sizes: I haven't been able to pin this down satisfactorily. I believe the automatics may be 40 and 34mm and the quartz pieces 38 and 32mm. The 'ladies' size is definitely 28mm and they only made them in quartz.
WF2121.BA0511 (695.706/511): Mens, grey dial, two tone bezel on a steel bracelet (A)
WF2121.BC0523 (695.706/523): Mens, grey dial, two tone bezel on a brown leather strap (A)
WF2221.BA0513 (695.713/513): Boys, grey dial, two-tone bezel on steel bracelet (A)
WF2110.BA0511 (699.706/511): Mens, white dial, steel bezel on a bracelet (A)
WF2110.BC0520 (699.706/520): Mens, white dial, steel bezel on a black leather strap (A)
WF2210.BC0530 (699.713/530): Boys, white dial, steel bezel on a black leather strap (A)
WF1230.BP0514 (994.713/514): Boys, champagne dial, gold bezel, case and bracelet (Q)
WF1430.BP0516 (994.708/516): Ladies, champagne dial, gold bezel, case and bracelet (Q)
WF1121.BB0517 (995.406/517): 40mm, gold dial, two tone bezel, case and bracelet (Q)
WF1221.BB0518 (995.413/518): 32mm, gold dial, two tone bezel, case and bracelet (Q)
WF1421.BB0519 (995.408/519): 28mm, gold dial, two tone bezel, case and bracelet (Q)
WF1120.BB0517 (995.706/517): Mens, white dial, two tone bezel, case and bracelet (Q)
WF1220.BB0518 (995.713/518): Boys, white dial, two tone bezel, case and bracelet (Q)
WF1420.BB0519 (995.708/519): Ladies, white dial, two tone bezel, case and bracelet (Q)
WF1220.BC0533 (995.713/533): Boys, white dial, 2-tone bezel on a brown leather strap (Q)
WF1420.BC0543 (995.708/543): Ladies, white dial, 2-tone bezel on a brown leather strap (Q)
WF1210.BA0513 (999.713/513): Boys, light grey dial, steel bezel on a bracelet (Q)
WF1410.BA0515 (999.708/515): Ladies, light grey dial, steel bezel on a bracelet (Q)
WF1211.BA0513 (999.213/513): Boys, dark grey dial, steel bezel on a bracelet (Q)
WF1411.BA0515 (999.208/515): Ladies, dark grey dial, steel bezel on a bracelet (Q)
1991 SELECTION CATALOGUE
This selection catalogue introduced a new variation on an existing watch.
1992-1993 CATALOGUE
Strangely, despite the number change the new strap variations featured in the 1992 catalogue are still given both old and new catalogue numbers. This suggests to me that perhaps these were available prior to the catalogue coming out and the numbers being amended?
While most watches were available on sharkskin straps, for some reason the 1992 catalogue states that models WF1110, WF1210 and WF1410 were not available on leather straps.
There were no new 'watches' in this catalogue, only new strap configurations.
WF1120.BC0625 (995.706/625): Mens, white dial, 2-tone bezel on a brown sharkskin strap (A)
WF1420.BC0579 (995.708/579): Ladies, white dial, 2-tone bezel on a red sharkskin strap (Q)
WF1211.BC0538 (999.213/538): Boys, dark grey dial, steel bezel on a green sharkskin (Q)
1992 SELECTION CATALOGUE
This catalogue brings still more strap variations but no new watches.
WF2121.BC0529 (695.706/529): Mens, grey dial, 2-tone bezel on a red sharkskin strap (A)
WF2221.BC0635 (695.713/635): Boys, grey dial, 2-tone bezel on a brown sharkskin strap (A)
WF1112.BA0511: Mens, white dial, steel bezel on a bracelet (Q)
1994-1995 SELECTION CATALOGUE
The 1994 selection catalogue brings a single new watch (only available on a bracelet) and more previously 'unseen' strap variations. The old numbers are no longer listed as alternatives, although it's not hard to work them out and I have included them in the chart below.
WF2221.BC0639: Boys, grey dial, two-tone bezel on a red sharkskin strap (A)
WF2210.BC0534: Boys, white dial, steel bezel on a black sharkskin strap (A)
1995-1996 CATALOGUE
The 1995/6 catalogue adds ladies and midsize versions of the 'new' watch released in 1994 (although I would assume they were all released at the same time?) and another variation on the WF1220.
WF1212.BA0513: Boys, white dial, steel bezel on a bracelet (Q)
WF1112.BC0527: Mens, white dial, steel bezel on a blue sharkskin strap (Q)
WF1113.BA0511: Mens, blue dial, steel bezel on a bracelet (Q)
WF1412.BA0515: Ladies, white dial, steel bezel on a bracelet (Q)
WF1220.BC0637: Ladies, white dial, two-tone bezel on a blue sharkskin strap (Q)
1996 CATALOGUE
The 1996 shows nothing that hasn't been seen previously, the 4000 Series is clearly coming to the end of its life and will only feature in one more catalogue
1997 CATALOGUE
This is the last outing for the 4000 Series and unlike some other lines which have one last glorious revamp before disappearing, all the brand offered was another strap variation, this time on the 1994 men's piece.
NON-CATALOGUE MODELS
There are very few 'non-catalogue' models actually, just a couple of previously unseen dial variations. As I mentioned earlier the dial colours on the 4000s are pretty conservative and it comes as something of a novelty to bring up black and blue dials as being unusual models!
WF1122.BB0517: Mens, black dial, two-tone bezel on a bracelet (Q)
WF1422.BB0519: Ladies, black dial, two tone bezel on a bracelet (Q)
Having said that, there are a LOT of watch/strap combinations that were not shown in the catalogues, so I decided to compile a chart showing every combination that I have discovered....
And at this point I must give a huge 'THANK YOU' to Tom at TAG Heuer Bicester Village who helped me so much with gathering this information for you.
The watches highlighted in yellow are the ones we have already seen featured in the catalogues, as you can see there are many, many more available!
What was the deal with circle or triangular markings at 3 and 6?
ReplyDeleteYour guess is as good as mine...
Deletewhy does mine have a -k after the WF2121?
ReplyDeleteThe back of mine says WF2121-K
Also, the strap reference on mine seems to be the BA0511 0
But the 0 is quite some distance after the BA0511, any reason why this would be the case?
All these suffixes are shrouded in mystery... it probably means some minor change - could be the movement or something else you can't even see. These days they redesign bracelets but keep the same number - the current F1 is a perfect example.
DeleteRob
Do you happen to know the RAL colour for the green colour which surrounds the TAG part of the logo, fixed above the rotating bezel? I'd like to renew this, as part of the enamel is missing from my watch. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi, That is a very good question that I'm sure a lot of people would like to know since this is a common problem with the 4000. I used to have one with almost no paint left at all and often thought about redoing it but decided against it as I'd probably make a mess of it. So sorry, I don't know the answer to your question - is it possible you can scan a photo or something? I'm not sure how it works... Rob
DeleteThanks for your reply - If I figure out a way forward I'll let you know!
Delete