BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Digital Microtimer

Photograph from eBay listing.

When I first saw the Microtimer on eBay it was listed at a starting price of £395. No sooner had I seen it than somebody placed a bid on it and by the next morning it had gone up to £405. Great, so now there were two bidders, and it only takes two bidders to drive the price up... 

So I quickly realised I wasn't going to get this watch for £410, or probably anything near. The next nearest listing on eBay was a Buy It Now listed at £699, which was a Micrograph (limited to 999 pieces) but didn't appear in as good condition (not entirely sure, since this thing is so hard to photograph). 

I thought about making an offer on the Micrograph, but left it too late and then I couldn't because I didn't want to end up with two watches. So a short while before the end of the listing somebody placed another bid and pushed it up to £600. I was determined to place my bid at the last possible second so as not to give him a chance to gazump me, so with seven seconds left I bid £681.57. I was going to bid £660, but I wanted to be sure. Sure you could say that the Micrograph was a better price given that it was limited edition and all, but it's also an older model (which could be important on a quartz watch).

The other bidder must've bid £680 or something because I won but it went right to the top of my bid and immediately eBay flashed up a notice advising me to bid again because it was so close. Well, there was only about one or two seconds left and then it was over, I had won.

As usual (in my limited experience) there was that feeling of 'I won.... oh crap!'. And then the worrying starts. You go back to the pictures and start scrutinizing them again and seeing every little blemish that you never noticed before, all the while wondering what the hell you've done... what if it doesn't work, what if I don't like it, what if it never arrives. Remember, I've never even seen this watch before, so I'm buying completely blind.

So this morning I headed off to the Post Office with my 'We tried to deliver a parcel' card, and got handed a plastic bag. Not a box, not even a jiffy bag, a plastic mailer bag with the unmistakable shape of a TAG Heuer barrel case inside it. I was not impressed, to say the least, I spent £681.57 on this and the seller couldn't even stretch to some bubble wrap and a cardboard box?

Seriously, a plastic bag?

Miraculously the barrel case was absolutely fine, and the moment I opened the case I knew I had made an excellent decision. I had this feeling that when I saw it I would either love it or hate it, and it was indeed love at first sight. Yes it's not perfect by any means, but a perfect example would have cost me probably £1200 or more. 

The scratches don't bother me as much as I thought they would, but I still can't help but look at promotional photos of the Microtimer and wish they weren't there. It's not hideously disfigured or anything, it's just a watch that's been worn everyday and picked up some 'character' along the way. There is a scuff on the right hand side and a shallow chip on the left and general wear marks across the steel surround, but no marks to the sapphire crystal.

I noticed the minutes changed within one second of the clock in my car changing, but didn't notice for some time that it was set to BST. Which was a bit of a bother as I haven't got a manual...

A few pushes of the buttons later I realised I had no idea what I was doing and so I punched 'TAG Heuer Microtimer manual' into the internet, and lo and behold within a few seconds I had downloaded a PDF with full instructions on how to set and use the watch. Excellent!

Just as well really because inevitably it's a case of hold down one button to enter programming mode, and if you don't know which button that is (and which mode you've got to be in before you start) then you're pretty much screwed.

The buttons are named A, B, C and D with A being top right, B being bottom right, C being top left and D being bottom left. The main function of C is that if you press it it lights up the numerals on the watch face for six seconds. This looks pretty cool with the negative display, which really makes this watch special. The white strap version of the watch (for Ladies) has the 'regular' digital watch display and it doesn't look nearly as good in my opinion.

Button D moves you through the various modes of the watch and holding it down for two seconds puts you into programming mode. Then you use buttons A and B to alter the hours (for example) up and down. The watch has a perpetual calendar, so while the face doesn't display the year it is one of the parameters in the programming mode.

I haven't had a chance to go through the manual properly and try out all the various modes yet, but I will be doing that in the next day or so*. I doubt I'll use them much to be honest, I certainly doubt I'll use some of the more complicated functions and whether I'll be able to remember the combination of buttons needed to get them up is doubtful as well.

You know, since I placed my bid on this I've barely thought about that Monaco 24, I think maybe this has satiated my desire for a square watch. This watch is 38 or 39mm I think, so comparable with the Monacos, but because the strap is almost as wide as the case it takes away some of the perceived squareness and the watch flows better as a result. This reminds me of the Carrera Heuer 01 actually which benefits from a rubber strap which hides the considerable size of the case as it flows around and fits the lugs (in a way the steel bracelet absolutely doesn't).

The vulcanised rubber strap is very cool, and is shinier than you might expect, giving the appearance more of plastic than rubber. The clasp is nice too, although since I resized it to fit my wrist it needs a little persistence to get it to lock shut properly. It works but you have to get your finger under and give it a good squeeze to make sure that both of the release buttons have popped out.

Admittedly it's early days, but I really love my Microtimer. I think it adds to my collection nicely, and I really like the fact that it's another TAG which isn't from the mainstream collection. I am definitely drawn to the 'unusual' TAGs, if you think about it... I have the Aquagraph which is a one-off mutant Aquaracer on steroids, the Formula One Kirium, again a one of a kind digital/analogue hybrid (and in my opinion by far the nicest Kirium ever made) and now this one, which is anything but run of the mill.

I know it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and in a way that makes me love it even more. And I'm already thinking of taking it along to a local jeweller who is an approved watch polisher for Rolex to see about a quote for refinishing the case. I think if it's a reasonable price it might be worth it...

*I've done this now and everything works correctly. :)