Showing posts with label Alter Ego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alter Ego. Show all posts
Thursday, 11 July 2024
Saturday, 10 December 2022
Thursday, 16 June 2022
Wednesday, 18 May 2022
SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Alter Ego 'Orange Dial' Quartz Watch
WP131R
As discussed recently in the 'On the Wrist' post for the ladies' Aquaracer with the fumé dial, when it comes to watches for the fairer sex, the choice of dial colours is often rather limited. And generally speaking the Alter Ego was no different, you had black and (a rather lovely) blue, but beyond that it was mostly different shades of mother of pearl, silver or pale pink. There were however a couple of more vibrant pieces, a much deeper pink and this spectacular orange variation.
Sunday, 16 May 2021
Thursday, 15 April 2021
FEATURE: My Top Five Orange Dial TAG Heuer Watches
Orange.... it's a difficult colour to work with, as the Bamford Basketball Carrera above clearly demonstrates! Wow, what a disaster that thing is, I wouldn't even know where to start, so let's move on swiftly before I start ranting again!
I must admit I was slightly surprised just how few orange dial TAG Heuers there were to choose from (and by orange dial I do mean orange dial, not black with some orange bits on) I was expecting at least ten to choose from, but in actual fact there were barely enough to make a choice of five! The two that you might be expecting but which are absent are the the 2000-era Formula 1 pieces, namely the CAH1113 and WAC1213... I know those watches have their fans, but for me both of those have some questionable design choices and so they were left languishing on the sidelines.
Thankfully there are other orange dial watches which are much more successful in their execution, so lets take a look at those instead!
#5. FORMULA 1 (CA1214.BA0493)
Hailing from the late 1990's these brightly coloured dial Formula 1 chronographs are very collectible and hold their value much, much better than their black or white dial contemporaries. One of these orange dial CA1214s is currently to be found on the EST1897 website, but you'll need £995 to make it yours. On the other hand, black or white dials can probably be had for about half of that. This orange one is nice, but I think I prefer the yellow (they were also available in blue and red).
#4. FORMULA 1 (WAH1012.BT0717)
A relatively new one to me, I only came across this a few months ago and was rather surprised, in fact at first I questioned whether or not this was a genuine TAG Heuer watch as they don't appear in any catalogues. In the end it checked out and this orange dial is a nice variation on the black/white and full lume dial versions which were also available in this range. Would be great to see one in real life and it would be interesting to know what the lume is like on this one, assuming there is lume (on the hands at least)?
#3 ALTER EGO (WP131R.FC8152)
Another super rare piece which again does not feature in any catalogue anywhere. In total I've only managed to find three photographs of this one and one of those was really bad quality, showing a torn orange strap! Would be interesting to know what the story is with this model, was it a limited edition? Was it made for a particular country, like The Netherlands for instance? Who knows? But I really enjoy seeing Alter Egos in unusual colours, rather than the bog standard kind of black, blue and mother of pearl pieces that are ten a penny on eBay. I would love to be able to pick one of these up for my wife, but I think the chances of that happening are pretty slim...
#2 AQUARACER 500M (WAJ1113.BA0870)
#1. FORMULA 1 (WAZ101A.FC8305)
So no prizes for guessing that this was going to be number one, I'm sure it was quite obvious... simply put, this one takes everything I liked about the WAJ1113 and improves on it. I love the 12 and 6 markers and the dial loses its horizontal slats but gains the subtle 'asphalt' texture that is all the rage with TAG Heuer at the moment. It also dispenses with the annoying cyclops and moves the date back to the 'normal' side of the dial, although that I don't mind so much. The ceramic bezel with it's orange highlight and white minute markers really looks the business too and really the only complaint I have about this watch is the strap, which looks great but feels disappointingly uncomfortable.
For more TOP 5s, please visit the TOP 5s menu HERE
Saturday, 6 March 2021
SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Alter Ego (with Diamonds, Emeralds, Sapphires and Rubies!)
At first glance you might be forgiven for thinking that Alec Monopoly had been at this one, but no... these colourful 'splashes' are far more permanent and 'precious'! One presumes this left the TAG Heuer factory as a common or garden blue dial Alter Ego, whereupon some deranged jeweller took it into his (or her) head to pepper the entire polished surface with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds... I'm really not sure it was that great an idea.
But, you never know, maybe this is exactly what you've been looking for? If so, your luck is in because this particular gem-encrusted 29mm ladies piece is available to purchase right now on Chrono24. The seller has written almost nothing about the watch (which I'm sure is an excellent sign...) and is based in New York. Price is £1327 (plus £73 shipping to the UK if that's where you happen to be).
LINK TO THE SALE ON CHRONO24
Friday, 15 January 2021
HISTORY: Alter Ego (1999-2004)
The Alter Ego was launched in 1999 as an exclusively 'female' product range. Rumours abound that a men's Alter Ego was considered, indeed one Calibre 11 forum member claims to have in his possession a prototype case, but if true, ultimately the idea was abandoned.
The Alter Ego was only available with a quartz movement and in two case sizes, both of which came in a variety of brushed and/or polished finishes. As you would expect from a range aimed exclusively at ladies, the watch was also available in precious metals and with mother of pearl dials, diamond dials, bezels and even bracelets.
1999 ALTER EGO CATALOGUE
The Alter Ego did not feature in the main 1999 Catalogue, but there was a separate launch catalogue made which featured Helena Bonham Carter, Kristin Scott Thomas, Monica Seles and Marion Jones. Six watches were featured at launch, all of which were in the larger (29mm) case size:
WP1311.BA0750: 29mm, silver dial, brushed steel on a bracelet
WP1312.BA0750: 29mm, blue mother of pearl dial, brushed steel on a bracelet
WP1314.BA0751: 29mm, white dial, polished steel on a bracelet
WP1315.BA0751: 29mm, silver dial, polished steel on a bracelet
WP1316.BA0751: 29mm, blue dial, diamond bezel on a polished bracelet
1999 ALTER EGO CATALOGUE (alternate version)
This catalogue was much more in depth than the shorter version, containing more watches and different pictures of the ambassadors. Unfortunately I did not discover this one until I had already finished this post and so most of the watches listed in the 2000 catalogue were already shown here. There were two pieces unique to this version of the catalogue.
WP1314.FC8128: 29mm, mother of pearl dial, polished steel on a brown strap
WP1311.FC8127: 29mm, silver dial, polished steel on a red strap
2000 CATALOGUE
The 2000 catalogue introduces more models to the range, albeit the watch is still only available in the larger size. Here we see the introduction of the first precious metals and diamonds and also previous models now available on textile straps alongside bracelets.
WP1317.BA0751: 29mm, mother of pearl dial, diamond bezel on a polished bracelet
WP1318.BA0751: 29mm, blue dial, diamond case on a polished bracelet
WP1319.BA0751: 29mm, mother of pearl dial, diamond case on a polished bracelet
WP1350.BA0752: 29mm, mother of pearl dial on a two-tone brushed bracelet
WP1351.BA0752: 29mm, slate-grey dial on a two-tone brushed bracelet
WP1315.FC8216: 29mm, silver dial, polished case on a blue textile strap
WP1410.BD0753: 25mm, blue mother of pearl dial on a brushed bracelet
2001 CATALOGUE
With the 2001 catalogue we see the introduction of yet more variations on the 29mm theme, but also the first 25mm pieces.
WP1411.BD0754: 25mm, blue dial on a polished bracelet
WP1412.BD0754: 25mm, white dial on a polished bracelet
WP1414.BA0754: 25mm, mother of pearl dial, diamond bezel on a polished bracelet
WP1415.BA0754: 25mm, blue dial, diamond bezel on a polished bracelet
WP131A.BA0751: 29mm, black dial on a polished bracelet
WP131A.FC8125: 29mm, black dial on a black textile strap
WP131B.BA0751: 29mm, mother of pearl/diamond dial on a polished bracelet
WP131C.BA0751: 29mm, blue mother of pearl/diamond dial on a polished bracelet
WP131F.BA0751: 29mm, blue MOP/diamond dial, diamond case on a polished bracelet
WP131D.BA0751: 29mm, blue/diamond dial on a polished bracelet
WP131E.BA0751: 29mm, mother of pearl/diamond dial, diamond case on a polished bracelet
WP131G.FC8125: 29mm, black dial, diamond case on a black textile strap
WP1440.FC8141: 25mm, mother of pearl dial, gold case on a red lizard skin strap
2002 CATALOGUE
The 2002 sees the introduction of more new models and for the first time a selection of 18k solid gold pieces. Also of particular note is the 'River of Diamonds' WP131L, although I have to say it isn't quite as impressive as the 'River of Diamonds' S/EL which preceded it.
WP1440.FC8149: 25mm, mother of pearl dial, gold case on a white leather/satin strap
WP1442.FC8143: 25mm, blue dial, gold case on a blue lizard skin strap
WP1443.BG0755: 25mm, mother of pearl dial, gold case on a polished bracelet
WP131L.BA0755: 29mm, MOP/diamond dial, diamond set polished case and bracelet
WAA1410.BA0760: 25mm, dark blue dial on a polished bracelet
WAA1415.BA0760: 25mm, MOP/diamond dial, diamond case on a polished strap
WP1444.BG0755: 25mm, MOP/diamond dial, diamond bezel/case on a polished gold bracelet
2004 CATALOGUE
The 2004 catalogue represents the last stand for this rather short-lived model, but that's not to say there weren't still more variations to be added to the range. In fact, 2004 sees a complete clear-out of all previous models and in it's place only the 25mm range with a new, simpler dial with less hour markers.
WAA1412.BA0760: 25mm, pale pink dial on a polished bracelet
WAA1413.BA0761: 25mm, pale blue dial on a brushed bracelet
WAA1416.BA0760: 25mm, MOP/diamond dial, diamond bezel on a polished strap
WAA1417.BA0760: 25mm, MOP/diamond dial, diamond bezel on a polished strap
NON CATALOGUE MODELS
These models were not featured in any of the catalogues covered previously. It is possible that some of these may have been specific to certain countries and could have been made in fairly small numbers, obviously the costly gold ones but even some of the other pieces. The orange one in particular seems very hard to find any information on and I could only find two pictures of it on the internet.
WP131P.BA055: 29mm, pink dial on a polished bracelet
WP131P.FC8150: 29mm, pink dial, polished case on a pink strap
WP131R.FC8152: 29mm, orange dial, polished case on an orange strap
WAA1411.BA0760: 25mm, purple dial on a polished bracelet
WP131H.FC8183: 29mm, mother of pearl dial, polished case on a pink strap
WP131J.FC8125: 29mm, mother of pearl dial, polished case on a black strap
WP1417.BA0754: 25mm, MOP/diamond dial, diamond case on a polished bracelet
WP1416.FC8148: 25m, black dial, diamond polished case on a black strap
WP1440.BG0755: 25mm, MOP/diamond dial, solid gold case and bracelet
WP1441.FC8142: 25mm, black dial, polished gold case on a black lizard skin strap
WP1441.FC8148: 25mm, black dial, polished gold case on a black textile strap
WP1443.FC8148: 25mm MOP/diamond dial, polished gold case on a black textile strap
For me the Alter Ego really represented the 'Avant Garde' spirit that TAG Heuer often reference in their marketing material. I think it's a shame it didn't last longer and I also think it was a good move to make a range specifically for women. Right now it seems that women are rather poorly served, sure there are 108 ladies watches on the TAG Heuer website, but a lot of them are the same watch on different coloured straps and there seems to be little invention or creativity. In fact it's a fairly bland selection, save for a few notable pieces like the purple Carrera with the textured dial.
All the more reason to celebrate the Alter Ego then, and there are plenty of pre-owned pieces available at reasonable prices. The only thing you really have to look out for is condition. All those polished surfaces attract scratches like you wouldn't believe and the bracelets are prone to stretching and are difficult to size (my wife's had to go to the service centre to have a few links taken out).
The crown is badly designed as well, being polished and inaccessible - bravo! But still, the overall look is striking and still looks quite special even today, more than fifteen years after its untimely demise.
Next up will be the History of the 4000 Series
Wednesday, 3 June 2020
SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Alter Ego Ladies Quartz Watch
WP1413.BA0754
The Alter Ego was introduced into the TAG Heuer catalogue in the 2000 catalogue, but there is a lack of clarity about when that catalogue was actually released, so either the Alter Ego was the first new watch after the takeover by the new owners 'LVMH' (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey) or it was last watch released before the takeover. Either way, the watch was clearly designed before LVMH came on the scene.
Aimed solely at the ladies market, the Alter Ego was unapologetically feminine and glamorous, with it's integrated bracelet and exotic design. There were many variations available, including two case sizes and a choice of brushed or polished finishes and several with gold centre links. There were also plenty of options when it came to diamonds, ranging from six simple hour markers, through diamond bezels, bezels and lugs right up to the full 'River of Diamonds' setting which features diamonds on the centre links and outer links of the bracelet as well as around the bezel and dial.
This one looks to be in fantastic condition, but if you are buying used it's worth noting that the bracelets can become stretched and when they do they look a bit of a mess. Not too sure how repairable they are either, and even sizing them is a bit of a nightmare due to some extremely tiny screws holding the links together.
The size you opt for will depend on personal taste and (no doubt) the size of your wrist, but the biggest compromise with these watches will probably be do you go for the polished finish (which looks stunning) or the brushed finish, which looks a little bit dull in comparison, but will certainly be a lot easier to keep looking good.
The other route is to go for the leather strap versions, but these are much harder to find and for me the strap always looks like an after-thought. Sadly TAG Heuer didn't do anything unique with the leather straps (unlike say the quilted edges of the 6000 Series straps) although you can get them in a variety of colours.
My wife owns a pale pink dial version which she managed to find in a 'Cash Converters' a couple of years ago, but for me the standout go-to model in this range is the blue dial WP1313.BA0751, of which there are usually several on eBay at any one time (often in need of a new battery for some bizarre reason).
My least favourite thing about the Alter Ego is easy to pinpoint though, it's the crown. I don't know why they put it where they put it, but it's very difficult to access and while giving it a smooth polished finish might be a first class design choice, on a practical level it's nothing less than an epic fail!
Click the link below to visit the TAG Heuer Enthusiast Gallery and see the full range of Alter Ego watches for yourself.
Monday, 6 April 2020
FEATURE: My Wife's TAG Heuer Watch Collection
You may remember I wrote a post called 'Women and Watches' in May last year, which focused on the increased levels of luxury watch advertising appearing in women's magazines. This struck me when we were away somewhere and I happened to flick through my wife's copy of Marie Claire to kill time while waiting for her to do something or other... and it really did surprise me just how much was going on in there. Tudor had a full page ad, as did Mondaine and Omega had a double spread. Then there was several pages of editorial photo shoots featuring among others TAG Heuer.
So apparently chicks dig watches now! Of course I already knew this because my wife has a pretty decent collection of her own. Indeed, this post has been so long in the making that her collection has actually more than doubled in size since I started writing it! And of course I'm all for it... what could be better than a wife who shares your all consuming hobby?
Yes sure, I still get the occasional rolling eyes when I talk about purchasing another piece, but I'm sure it would be a whole lot worse if she didn't have an interest herself and it sure made our visit to the TAG Heuer manufacture in 2018 a whole lot more interesting for her.
WK1313-0
It all started about 15 years ago, when I decided to buy my wife a 2000 Series for her birthday. I had recently bought my first TAG Heuer (my F1 Kirium) and I had seen her peering at the blue dial 2000s in the cabinet in Goldsmiths, so a few days before her birthday I took her shopping and fooled her by walking straight past the door, before turning around and dragging her inside. She was pretty taken aback, but very happy and she's loved that watch ever since. It's still in very good condition, the polished over-riders on the bezel are a bit scratched up but other than that it's excellent. I noticed the lume is still pretty strong as well when I was putting it away after taking this picture.
962.215
Of course, my wife kept her blue 2000 for best, but it wasn't long before she started thinking about getting a pre-owned one to wear to work... so her next piece was this grey dial 2000 which she bought off eBay for just under £200 (IIRC). Unfortunately a few years after she got it we were out on a country walk and she tripped and fell while wearing it, which scratched the glass and scuffed the clasp. She lived with it like that for a long time until it started losing time and needed a service and at that point she decided she might as well get the sapphire replaced and here it is looking as good as new.
WAH1314.BA0867
The collection stayed largely unchanged for nearly a decade, until 2014 when my wife and I came into a little bit of money unexpectedly and she suggested we both buy a watch! Don't know where that came from but it cost me as the watch I settled on (the Aquagraph) cost more than the windfall... ah well. My wife on the other hand had her eye on this lovely steel and ceramic Formula 1. They made several different models of this with varying amounts of diamonds, some had diamond bezels and one had a circle of diamonds in the centre of the dial. My wife liked that one but they didn't make it in the smaller size and my wife has very small wrists so she settled for this one.
I really like this watch, every time I take it out of the box to change the date I am super impressed by the ceramic bracelet and the overall design. They do of course make something very similar in a 41mm, but it doesn't work as well at that scale in my opinion.
Oris Artelier Silver Skeleton
What.... the hell! Yes indeed, it's not a TAG Heuer! I know I was as shocked and appalled as you are, but truth be told this is a gorgeous watch and it's all TAG's fault at the end of the day. Y'see, when I bought my Carrera Heuer 01, my wife said that if they made a ladies version of that she would buy it. Of course, they never did and since they didn't have any ladies skeleton watches for her to buy, when this one popped up at a discounted price it was game over.
We found this one at the 'Artelier' store at Bicester Village, which has since closed down. They had a good selection of watches in there over the years including Breitling, Maurice Lacroix, Chopard and Porsche Design, but this the only thing we ever bought there.
WAT1418.BA0954
Hmm, this was the third 'diamond' watch in a row, and what a beauty! This one features a stunning purple Guilloche dial with diamond hour markers and not only that, it's an unusual one made only for the Chinese market. It's not a limited edition or numbered, but it's pretty scarce and very hard to find any details on the internet about it.
This is one of the joys of Bicester Village, you just never know what you are going to find... if I remember correctly I visited the store alone and described it to my wife when I got home and then we went all the way back a few days later to see it and she decided she wanted it straight away.
It's another beautiful watch, but the date window is so ridiculously small it really might as well not be there. That dial is really nice though...
WAA1412.BA0760
My wife was looking for an Alter Ego for a while, but she wanted to expand her range of dial colours so she didn't want the common or garden blue or black models. She settled on the pale pink but found it hard to find one to buy, until she found this at a Cash Converters in Wakefield.
They weren't keen to haggle, but my wife got them to drop it a little bit and she left with it, complete with barrel box for £280. The bracelet is a pain in the butt to size, as it has tiny little screws holding it together and the TAG Heuer boutique in Hull couldn't even help. Eventually she sent it off to be sized and at the same time she had it refinished (it was pretty scratched up to be fair) and it came back looking much, much better.
Another really cool watch, but what were they thinking with that crown. For a start it's completely smooth and where they put it the bracelet is totally in the way when you are trying to adjust the time - thank God it doesn't have a date!
WAF141X.BA0824
This one was actually purchased before the purple Link, but it had to sit in the box for six months waiting for our 25th Wedding Anniversary to arrive. We had planned to go to Geneva for our anniversary and had both been saving hard for that, when on a trip to Bicester Village we came across this Swiss 150th Anniversary model.
Years before we had seen a similar piece in the window and my wife had always regretted not buying it, so this time we had to be decisive. It was clear she loved it so I offered to buy it for her for our anniversary and she offered to pay for the holiday. What better gift could there be, it has several Swiss cities on the dial including Geneva and even though our holiday to Geneva was actually a few weeks before our actual anniversary I let her take it anyway.
Interestingly, in the buying post for this one I mention trying to get a post about my wife's watches finished.... it only took me another two years!
WA1415
My wife looked at classic Formula 1s for ages, eventually deciding against the resin strap versions and then flip-flopping between the pink and green colour schemes. Unfortunately finding either of those in good condition was a very frustrating experience, not helped by shady sellers on eBay using generic pictures of the watches they were trying to sell rather than photos of the actual watch they had to sell!
In the end she took a chance on buying from the USA and scored a really tidy piece, although when I took it out of the box I was horrified at how short the bracelet was and started searching eBay for spare links; however, when she tried it on it was way too big for her tiny wrist! At least she didn't have to wait to long for this one as it arrived just a few days before her birthday.
WG141C
I came across this one on eBay last Summer and sent my wife a link to it, often these emails don't get much response but this one was met with much excitement. I'd been looking at red S/ELs for myself for ages, but the prices were always over the top. This though was listed with some really poor photos, but an attractive opening bid of £300... and after some nail biting, that is exactly what she ended up paying.
This is a great watch, albeit a very, very small one. I think it's 25mm or thereabouts... I took a photo of it next to my 45mm Carrera Heuer 01 once, which was rather hilarious. Since then I managed to get my own red S/EL so now we have a matching pair.
WL1316
I bought this as a surprise for my wife, and when it turned up it was a bit of a mess. I spent a good bit of time polishing it up though and it came out pretty darned good in the end. My wife loves it as well, but I knew she would because she had been looking at these on eBay on and off for a long time.
These Kiriums really do have the most gorgeous blue dials and the Mercedes hand set looks great against it, I do like the later Kirium hands, but these look great too.
WBD1316.BA0740
So that's watch number ten, which is almost the end, but not quite because in another few days the green Aquaracer can finally come out of the cabinet. Yes it's very nearly my wife's 50th birthday and at last she can get her hands on her WBD1316. And that really is a beautiful watch, pity they only made a few and they've all gone now.
Sunday, 20 October 2019
SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Alter Ego 'River of Diamonds' Quartz Ladies Watch
WP131L.BA0755
The other day I bought myself a copy of the 2001 TAG Heuer catalogue, which came complete with a smaller catalogue and price list. There was nothing in there that particularly jumped out at me except a couple of 'Alter Ego' ladies watches, and one jumped out at me rather more than the other one.
The Alter Ego 'River of Diamonds' is a rare beast indeed, and when you consider that the price in 2001 was a breath-taking £10,000 it's not hard to see why. I bought quite a large house in 2001 for £72,000, and you could buy a new Fiat Seicento for about £8,000... in the same price list a top of the range Formula 1 Kirium on a bracelet was priced at £1500 and a Monaco CW2112 was just £1750; adjusted for inflation the 'Alter Ego River of Diamonds' would cost about £16,000 today... more than a Carrera Tourbillon!
And being a ladies watch, it's quartz!
It's nice enough, but to be honest, compared to the S/EL 'River of Diamonds' the Alter Ego looks more like a 'Stream of Diamonds' than a 'river'...
Similarly the Link 'River of Diamonds' also seems to have a lot more diamonds than this Alter Ego, although I can't help but think in this instance, maybe less really is more?
WJF1413.BA0588
One of those is showing as 'sold' on Milton's Diamonds website for £2999, which suggests these watches aren't holding their value as much as you might have hoped... although that said, I don't know the original price of the WJF1413.
Googling 'Alter Ego River of Diamonds' doesn't produce much in the way of images or video, but I did find this video which looks a bit like bodycam footage from a drugs raid (on an aeroplane?).
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