BUYING EXPERIENCE: BT0714 Strap for Formula One WAH1110-0

When I received my WAH1110.FT6024 watch from FineTime Watches I was really happy with it, but it didn't take me long to realise that I wasn't going to get on with the strap. It seemed like yet again I'd bought a TAG second hand and couldn't get it to fit properly. The buckle on the strap was badly designed and it had two sharp edges which pressed into my wrist and really irritated my skin.

I must admit I was a bit annoyed, partly because I really liked the strap, partly because I couldn't believe this was happening yet again and partly because though the watch had seemed like a good deal I hadn't factored in the cost of another strap from TAG (remember the previous strap had cost me £120!).

So after a couple of weeks trying everything I could think of to resolve the problem I decided enough was enough and I went into town one lunchtime to enquire about the price of a BT0714. I'd looked on eBay and elsewhere on the net and the prices ranged from about £90 to about £300! Seeing as my previous strap had cost £120 from an AD I figured about £100 was probably about right. So I was pretty shocked when they told me that a BT0714 was actually £45.

Great, I thought... but then I got nervous and had them ring again and make sure it definitely came with the buckle (BT0714's seem to be sold on the internet with or without - maybe the ones without are fake?), they confirmed it definitely came with a buckle and I paid my deposit and left.

Delivery time was estimated at about four weeks, and bang on time I got a phone call telling me my strap was in store and ready to collect. The guy I saw the first time wasn't there but after some messing around they found my strap in a drawer (I couldn't really understand why this was an issue seeing that the woman who had rang me the same day to tell me my strap was in was standing right there, but still...) and then asked me if the original guy had quoted me £10 carriage.

I said no, but I didn't really mind (I just wanted the bloody strap) but the salesman waived it anyway and set about fitting the new strap to my watch. He enquired as to why I was buying a new strap to replace what to all intents and purposes looked to him like a perfectly fine rubber strap. Fair question I suppose, so I explained about how the buckle was badly designed and how it irritated the hell out of my wrist.

He said something about the buckle on a Breitling he'd owned not being that good and it was at this point I happened to mention that the buckle on the Carrera Heuer 01, was much better designed and that I had no problem with that at all. He rather comically stopped fiddling with the watch, looked at me with an air of disbelief and said 'You... have one of those?'.

I confirmed that I did, but that I hadn't had it long and hadn't worn it much. To which he replied 'You should have bought it here, we would have encouraged you to wear it!'.  

It didn't exactly bother me at the time but by the time I got back to work I was a little annoyed by his comment (actually not so much his comment but his tone), true I was wearing shorts and a work polo shirt, but so what. He doesn't know how much I earn, or indeed that I am the manager of my branch!

Still, the strap was (and still is) great. The end of the strap is a bit 'flappy' because the retaining loops aren't as tight as they perhaps could be, but it's fine and it was just so nice to finally be able to wear my Formula One without getting a terrible rash on my wrist. And I thought £45 was a decent price too.