ON THE WRIST: Grand Carrera Calibre 17 Chronograph

CV511A.BA0902

Michael Jones / Northampton, 17th February 2017

I've seen this in the window of my local TAG stockist the past couple of times I've been there, but never really took much notice. It's a pre-owned model, offered for sale at £2700 and looks in very good condition. Strangely, when I looked at it in the window it appeared to have an oval dial, I mean I know it hasn't, but there was something odd about the case which made it appear oval.

I thought I would try it on while I was in there, because it was the most interesting TAG they had to be honest, and even though I wasn't particularly interested in it, I can always use some wrist time for new material for the blog.

So I was pretty surprised when I got it on my wrist to find that I really, really liked it. I've always thought that if I ever owned a Grand Carrera it would be one of those black PVD models with splashes of bright colours all over them, but this has really made me think again. It looks incredibly classy in the steel finish and the dial is simple, but stylish.

Most importantly it doesn't clash with anything else in my collection, by that I mean it's not too similar to any of my other watches and fulfills my desire for another 'higher end' piece. And with screw down pushers, a nicely detailed dial and it's unusual chronograph function it ticks a lot of boxes.

The sub-dial on the right hand side of the face is the running seconds and the left hand sub-dial is a thirty minute counter for the chronograph, as you'd expect the large second hand is the chronograph second hand and has a lovely (but subtle) red tip to it.

A quick glance at Watch Finder suggests it's a tad overpriced at £2700, as they currently have eleven of these available with eight of those being priced at £2450. Still, I don't know how old this one is (actually I don't think the jeweller does either) but at least I would have the comfort of buying locally.

I'm pretty sure they might have had some of this in the TAG outlet at Bicester Village last time I went, maybe I need to get myself back over there and have another look. I'd be surprised if they were under £3000 given the list price of £4795, but I'm sure there were some Grand Carreras in there that started with a £2---. Really should have paid more attention shouldn't I? Obviously paying a little bit more for NOS and a TAG warranty would be a better bet, but it's nice to know there's plenty about and there's no need to rush into buying the one I saw today.