Tuesday 2 February 2021

SPOTLIGHT ON: Two Very Rare 3000 Series on Chrono 24

 

Chrono 24 isn't a site I frequent all that often for some reason, so I can't personally vouch for it's safety or recommend it, but I understand it's quite a professional enterprise and has the facility for Escrow etc... regardless, if you wish to use it please do your due diligence before rushing into it.

Recently I was researching for my upcoming 'HISTORY: TAG Heuer 3000 Series' post and during that process I came across two fantastic and rarely seen pieces that I thought I would share with you here.

136.006

The first is this stunning 136.006 automatic Heuer chronograph in black and gold, something I never thought would be available in such incredible condition. Personally of course, I would prefer it was a TAG Heuer and also quartz rather than automatic, but nit-picking aside I have to concede that this is even cooler than the gold and black 3000 Series I wrote about recently. 


It boggles the mind that the watch is in such amazing condition when literally almost every 'blackened' 80s TAG Heuer watch has at least some degree of damage to the bracelet - and understandably so, even now I'd hesitate to buy a black watch with a coated bracelet if I'm honest. 

This watch is being sold by a private seller in the Czech Republic and the asking price is £995, which seems remarkably reasonable all things considered. Apparently the watch was serviced three years ago and is running very well.


I've long been after a 3000 Series chronograph and I've also always had a thing for black and gold watches, and if I wasn't already committed to buying something else I'd be giving this some serious thought... 

The second watch is probably even rarer, though not in quite such good condition.

936.013SB

This is the without a doubt one of the least known TAG Heuer watch models out there. It was available in four sizes of which this is the 'midsize' (approx 34-35mm), which is a shame because again if this was the full size 37mm then I would be extremely interested. A curious detail about this watch is that it's only known catalogue appearance is in a 1988 Japanese catalogue, so quite why it is branded 'Heuer' is something of a mystery...


One theory is that these watches were made using old dials left over from the Heuer days, and it's easy to see why that might be true - especially as it wouldn't be hard to combine other 3000's from the mid 80s to produce this rather dramatic colour scheme.

As you can see though, the black coating on this one, while still 'good', hasn't fared as well as the chronograph above, especially on the bracelet.


This one is from Russia and is a much more affordable £411, but being the smaller size kills it for me. To be honest if it was 37mm I'd have already bought it, no question!

These are two of my favourite watches from TAG Heuer and hopefully one day I will get hold of one or both. I don't have a huge amount of hope in finding a 936.006SB though, this is the first time I've ever actually seen one of these outside of that previously mentioned Japanese catalogue.

I will leave links to both sales below, but as I say, please check things out yourself before buying as I have no personal experience with either seller or with Chrono 24:

Heuer 3000 Series Quartz Watch (936.013)

Heuer 3000 Series Automatic Chronograph (136.006)

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