Sunday 2 January 2022

FEATURE: Another Crazy Year of Watch Buying

WAZ101A.FC8305

'Happy New Year' to all my readers, this post was supposed to be posted at the end of 2021, but due to me not being able to post my 'Buying Experience' for my blue F1 until I got it for Christmas I had to move it back a few days...

At the tail end of last year's 'Another Crazy Year of Watch Buying' (posted on the 29th Dec 2020), I said:

"Honestly though, I think this will probably be the last 'crazy' year for me. I've amassed so many watches now in a relatively short time that I've kinda 'got' most of what I want. There are things, obviously, that I would still like if they come up at reasonable prices; I'd love a 3000 Series chrono or perhaps a Super Professional and if a full size Tristar came available for sensible money I'd be up for that too. Sometimes I even look longingly at Executives, but usually the bracelets are too short and I'm willing to bet spare links for those are like hen's teeth!

Perhaps it's time to slow down and put a bit more thought into what I actually want, I can see that I've bought a couple of things this year that maybe I didn't really 'need' (if that's not too ridiculous a word to use in this context!) and I can see where I might decide to thin out the collection a bit in the not too distant future, because it's definitely getting a little out of hand."

No really, I actually said that... 

So, with that in mind, I guess it's time to take a look at the small number of carefully selected pieces that I picked up this year. 


237.406

Once I'd recovered from the immensely stressful experience of shipping a Silver 160th Anniversary Carrera to Sweden for my good friend Jim Dollares, I started the year with a BANG! Oh yes, right on cue, what did I say I was looking for? That's right, a 3000 Series Chrono, and boy did I ever find a good one! Absolutely mint condition, with it's box, outer box and booklet all intact... the only minor problem was I had to import it from America. And so the stress began all over again. Thankfully things turned out well and the watch was everything I hoped it would be, thus 2021 got off to a superb start.



WA1213

Ever since my wife bought her orange and grey classic Formula 1 last May I had been scouring eBay looking for a full size model for myself. Needless to say when they did turn up (in the UK) they often looked worse for wear or were priced hopelessly optimistically, but I bided my time and eventually one appeared in Japan and I jumped on it. This one wasn't from 'Spirit*Age', who I have bought numerous watches from, but another seller called 'HH7373' (oddly enough as I'm writing this the only watch he has for sale is an orange and grey ladies F1!) but as usual the service was good and the watch arrived very quickly. It does have a small scratch on the glass but it's not too noticeable, I did however get a new strap for it as the one it came on was quite dull and a little grubby - the new one is neon bright!



WI2110.FC6009

By the end of February I had ordered a third piece, and yet again it was from Japan. This time the seller was good old 'Spirit*Age' who tempted me with this automatic 'S/EL Leather'. Of course this all started when I wrote my 'History of the S/EL & S/EL Leather' post and once I realised that there were all sorts of cool coloured straps available for these I resolved to find myself a white dial piece that could wear any and all of them. It turned out to be harder than I thought, and while normally I would have elected for a quartz model (WI1110) I simply couldn't find one at a sensible price and so I ended up with my very first pre-owned automatic. While waiting for the watch to arrive I ordered a lovely scarlet red strap for it from TAG Heuer as I thought it was coming on a black strap, but when it arrived it was on a cool British Racing Green band, although it had admittedly seen better days.

https://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2021/03/buying-experience-tag-heuer-sel-leather.html


388.513                             388.508

Now, I only posted the 'Buying Experience' post for these two the other day so I won't waste time repeating myself, suffice it to say that these two spent most of the year in the drawer waiting to be given as Anniversary/Christmas presents. Still, you have to get these when you see them, I don't think I've seen another one of either in this condition since.



376.508

My next purchase was another 'Spirit*Age' special, which again was in incredible condition save for one small detail. In the listing photos he had highlighted a scratch on the crystal, but I hopefully assumed that this wouldn't be that visible in day to day use. Unfortunately on this occasion I was woefully wrong and being that this was to be my wife's birthday present I had to get it sorted, pronto! This actually cost nearly as much as the watch itself, but I have to say once the crystal was replaced the watch looked absolutely fantastic, and my wife loved it. Phew!

https://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2021/03/buying-experience-tag-heuer-formula-1.html


WAZ101A.FC8305

My big purchase this year came at the end of March, when I took delivery of this stunning WAZ101A orange dial Formula 1 quartz three hander. As soon as I saw this one I knew I had to have it, even though I wasn't entirely convinced by the textile strap that it came on. And so it proved... I tried it for a few days but found it incredibly stiff and uncomfortable, which lead me to order a perforated rubber strap for it instead, on which it has lived ever since. Others have told me that you need to wear the watch for about three weeks for the strap to soften up, but given that I never wear one watch for more than one day at a time, three weeks could take more than a year for me. I actually had to send this one back under warranty because the date wasn't sitting in the date window squarely. Since it's been back it's been working perfectly and I don't regret purchasing this one at all, even if it did cost me an extra £130 for the rubber strap!

https://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2021/04/buying-experience-tag-heuer-formula-1.html


954.406

I said I would love to find a full size Tristar and in April my prayers were answered! And yet again it was 'Spirit*Age' that came up trumps with this superb example. These don't turn up often and when they do they tend to turn out to be midsize on closer inspection (indeed I nearly bought one such by accident) or have damage or excessive wear to the gold and/or dial, so this was a really lucky find. The Calibre 11 crew laughed at me of course with my 'Soviet General' watch, but I really don't care - I love this because it's so spectacularly gaudy... although I do think the hands are ludicrously thin. Don't you?



262.206

I've always wanted to add some 2000 Series pieces to my collection, but ever since I bought the 2000 Mutligraph and had tremendous trouble with the clasp ripping my wrist up I've been wary. However, following my purchase of my gold 3000 Series Chrono, I noticed that older 2000 models seemed to share the same bracelets and clasps, so I decided to go down that route. This one popped up on eBay at a very reasonable price and I was lucky enough to win the auction. The watch arrived on a non-TAG black leather strap with a (fake) Heuer buckle, but also the original bracelet and end links which I immediately restored. 



384.513

Some people think the original (now 'Classic') Formula 1 watches look cheap and tacky and if ever there was a case for that then it's probably the 384.513. It's the colours isn't it, it just looks a bit 'Christmassy' doesn't it? Of course red and green are also the colours of TAG Heuer, but I'm afraid even looking at it from that perspective this isn't really convincing. Let's just say that if I wasn't trying to collect the full set of classic F1s I might be tempted to sell it. At least I got it off the awful, cheap white leather strap that it arrived on and back onto an original TAG Heuer strap (let's not dwell on the fact that the bezel and strap are COMPLETELY different shades of green, eh?).



375.513

In May I bought another 375.513 as a replacement for the one I bought last year, this one (unlike the previous one) was in immaculate condition and also had the correct green printing on the bezel. Thankfully because the prices in Japan are considerably cheaper than here in the UK, I managed to sell my old one for exactly the same price as it cost me to replace it, so all I ended up paying were the eBay seller fees, which was well worth it!


385.513/081

In June I also added a second 385.513 Formula 1, ostensibly because the model was available on either red or black straps... but also because my first one is not in the best condition and I wanted a nicer example. The new one has a much better bezel, cleaner hands and the date works properly (the other one gets stuck on three days each month), but I kept the old one so that I could have one of each, and besides with a broken date it's not exactly going to realize a profit.


932.208

Another gift for my wife... and another one that's ended up costing me more than purchase price. At first this one worked perfectly but then my wife started to complain that it was losing time, so I changed the battery and checked that the contact strip wasn't lying flat (not touching the battery) but eventually I had to take it to a local watchmaker who has just charged me £200 to replace the movement. :(



WA1216                                                  377.508

Another pair of classic Formula 1's imported from my Japanese supplier of choice, this time an acid yellow for me and a shocking pink for my wife. As ever they arrived in wonderful order and exactly as described. I started looking for a black/yellow F1 when my wife got hers earlier in the year and after seeing this pink model I started looking for the full size version of that too...



WK1113.BA0331

I had wanted one of these for a very long time (I bought my wife the ladies version for her 25th birthday way back in the 90s) but because of the clasp issue I mentioned earlier I had always resisted the temptation. At one point I looked into getting the blue rubber strap that was an option on this piece, but unfortunately TAG Heuer no longer have any stock - so that was a dead end. I did find one on eBay but it was about £200... ha! In the end this one popped up on eBay at a price where I thought that if I couldn't wear it I would be able to flip it and not lose too much money (simply by taking some better photographs) and so I took the plunge. It did niggle my wrist a little bit when it first arrived, but after a while I found it was perfectly fine, and oddly, I then replaced the bracelet on my Multigraph and that's been perfectly fine ever since too. How strange is that!




This one was a long time coming, I'd seen this one for sale right at the start of the year (I even wrote a post about it) but discounted it because of its diminutive size. But then I realised that the only 'full size' Executives were chronographs and I really didn't want another old chronograph that was likely to go wrong on me and besides the chronographs of these are even rarer and more expensive than the three handers (and to be honest I just don't like them). So eventually I succumbed and on receiving it I was very glad I did. Yes it's very small (34mm), even smaller than the classic F1s, but then this is basically a dress watch and I don't mind it so much if I'm wearing it under a shirt sleeve.



WA1217                                                        371.513

Well it didn't take long to find a black/pink F1 and enthused by the arrival of this year's Aquaracer 'Night Diver' I also added a full lume dial classic F1 to my collection as well. Once again these both came to me via 'Spirit*Age' in Japan and as always they are both in stunning condition. Amazingly, even though the lume dial piece is 30 years old it still works reasonably well, which I wasn't expecting at all. I guess there's quite a lot of lume there, rather than the two thin slivers you find on most watches of this age.




My final purchase of 2021, was yet another classic Formula 1 timepiece... and I think this was perhaps the beginning of the turning point where I started second guessing my desire to collect all the classic F1s. That said this was another fine condition F1 from my favourite Japanese eBayer (spirit*age) and a worthy addition to the collection.



So, despite my 'wise' words at the end of last year, I have still managed to purchase sixteen more watches for myself this year (although I did also sell one, which takes it back down to 'just' fifteen). Unbelievable! And... as it happens, I've already bought two more that I'm officially designating 2022 purchases, so I guess there's a very strong likelihood that next year will be another crazy year of watch buying too! :)


I'm not going to do a 'State of the Collection' post this year because not much has really changed there, in fact I might need to divest myself of some items as storage is becoming a little bit of an issue. I did pick up some more catalogues this year though....


TAG Heuer Catalogue/Leaflet Selection

TAG Heuer Main Dealer Catalogue 2019/2020

TAG Heuer Main Dealer Catalogue 2014/2015 & TAG Heuer 'Watch Time' Magazine

TAG Heuer Masterpieces Catalogue


And I also went a bit mad buying straps...


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