WG111D
It's surprising sometimes when you look back through the archives, just how infrequently watch companies step outside their dial-colour comfort zone. Sure there are green, yellow, red and copper coloured dials out there in pre-owned land, but they aren't exactly plentiful and as a consequence they aren't always the most affordable pieces to collect.
Add to this that TAG Heuer often paired unusual coloured dials with Chronometer certified automatic movements and you can see why people listing their watches on eBay have lofty expectations on price (whether or not the movements are running to COSC guidelines 25 years later, potentially having had no servicing in the meantime...).
I've always been drawn to unusual colour dials and I always kind of assumed that ultimately I would one day end up with one such copper-dialed Kirium Chronometer, but the thing that always put me off was that at 36mm it was a little on the small side... but really there wasn't much choice, it was either the Kirium, the 6000 or the S/EL and every time I saw a copper dial S/EL or 6000 the asking price was just as ridiculous as the Kiriums.
So as is always the way, I wasn't really looking but this copper dial quartz model showed up and I decided now was the moment to take the plunge. This one was actually an auction listing that started with a price of £260. I was 100% sure it would easily fetch £300, probably more like £375-400 (maybe even as high as £500), but I went in with a cheeky first offer of £290, hoping to secure the watch for £325-350 and so I was pretty chuffed when they accepted that straight away.
The watch is in great overall condition, and had almost exactly the right number of steel links to fit my 7.1/2" wrist (I might need one more... and these can be a pain in the backside to change, especially if they have not been touched since new), the only real problem I have with the watch is that the bezel spring is a tiny bit worn. It doesn't whizz around like a spinning top or anything, but it does move without much force. I'm yet to wear this for any length of time as it's being stored as a possible birthday present from my wife, so it may need attention in future if it's too annoying.
I wasn't really looking to buy another S/EL as I already had four (3 S/ELs and 1 S/EL Leather), but this was too good to miss, the dial is absolutely stunning and the condition of the hands and hour markers is superb - much better then my rather patinated red dial version of the same watch.
It's been a busy start to the year for me with the 2000 Searacer already in the bag and actually I still have two more new pieces to write 'Buying Experiences' posts for, one of which is a very special watch that I have really wanted to buy for many years but only recently had the opportunity to own in the condition that I wanted for a reasonable price.
It's funny, but one of the things I've learned over the last few years is that even when you think you know the market and what things are 'worth', it's amazing how often you pay a bit more than you really wanted to because you think you 'know' it's the price you need to pay to get what you want and then two weeks later the same damned thing turns up for £100 less on eBay. That was the case with the other watch I bought unfortunately, but you win some you lose some I guess!
But going back to this one, I was really taken aback by just how nice the dial is on this S/EL and I'm looking forward to wearing it (once I get that pesky link sorted), and I'm not really sure I can wait until October!
Finally, here is a link for another copper dial S/EL WG111D for sale through 'EST1897', and as you can see the price (£695) rather reflects what I said at the start of this post...
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