CAV5115.BA0902
Watchfinder & Co Boutique / Avery Row, London, 5th September 2023
Still smarting from the missed opportunity that was the H&T £1700 Grand Carrera Caliper, my attention returned to the steel CAV5115 and more specifically the one on offer on the Watchfinder website. Price wise this one was a much more realistic £3850, but... and it's a big but, it had some problems. Firstly the bezel has some marks, which is not a massive deal and in all honesty may be a good thing since I am more likely to actually wear it if I don't start with a 'perfect' watch.
Second of all, the red stripe is missing from around the left hand crown that operates the timing 'Caliper'. This I don't really understand since I assumed this red was paint, so how it's fallen off is a mystery to me. For me this isn't a massive issue either and again is something that could be rectified (presumably) relatively easily. Also I think there should be a small rubber o-ring around the crown, but I bet most of those disappear sooner or later - that one I really wasn't worried about at all.
Most troubling of all, the dial clearly had marks on it where the 'Caliper' had scraped against it, and this was something I found on more that one CAV5115, which honestly is a bit of a worry! Nevertheless I decided that as I was visiting London anyway I would request the watch be sent to the Avery Row store and maybe it would not be such a big deal in person. After all, Watchfinder's website allows you to zoom in massively, which is not always ideal when buying second hand. Sure you don't get any nasty surprises, but at the same time when you look at things at three times their real size it's possible that you are making a mountain out of a molehill.
I had asked my contact at WF if they would be prepared to fix the problems if I wanted to buy the watch, but they didn't seem very keen - they said that TAG Heuer were taking a very long time sorting these things. I also asked if I bought the watch could they then have the dial replaced for me (at my cost), because I know that if I sent it to TAG Heuer they won't replace the dial without servicing the watch, and WF had already serviced it and it had a two year warranty, which meant basically I would have to wait at least two years to fix it... and even then it probably wouldn't need servicing, but they didn't want to do that either.
I mean it's fair enough. They don't want the hassle on a watch which (to them) is quite small beer. The problem is, to me it isn't small beer. In fact, if I had bought it it would have been my most expensive purchase to date, and that makes it hard for me to get my head around paying all that money for an imperfect watch.
But I thought, maybe if I see it in person then a) maybe the dial marks won't be noticeable, and b) even if I don't want to buy this one it will give me a good idea if the CAV5115 is really the watch I want. Alas I visited the store and the marks were very visible, even to the naked eye - which was rather disappointing. Every watch I've ever had from WF has looked pretty much immaculate so it's a shame they are selling this in this condition, even if I understand their reasons.
Unfortunately I spent so long looking at the bezel scratches, the dial scratches and the glass (which also seems to have marks on it) that I barely spent any time appraising the watch itself. But considering that any decent CAV5115 is likely to cost at least £3000 at the bare minimum, I'm not sure it cuts the mustard. My most expensive watch to date is my CAR2A1Z Carrera Heuer 01 and every time I look at that I know it was money well spent, I can't say the CAV5115 gave me anything like the same buzz, even if it had been in perfect condition.
This is a bit of a shame since I thought I knew what my next watch was going to be, but now I'm not so sure. I'm not entirely sure the lighting in the Watchfinder boutique was helping much as it was definitely a bit dark in there, but even so I feel like the CAV5115 isn't in the same league as the Grand Carrera Calibre 17 chronograph I already own, it just didn't feel as special somehow, even with it's Calibre 36 movement.
And yet, every time I see a well lit photograph of it, it's looks killer. I am so confused...
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