ON THE WRIST: Monaco 24 Calibre 36 Chronograph

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TAG Heuer Outlet / Bicester Village 4th February 2017

Strangely I don't seem to have written a post about trying this watch on even though I know I've tried it on at least three times in the last six months or so. How very odd. Sure, I have mentioned it more than a few times on this blog, but a search brings up no dedicated posts.

This watch is class, it just made everything else in the shop look second grade. Which it should, after all this is a watch which costs nearly £11,000 in an AD. I absolutely love the Monaco 24 case, and I really don't think I will ever settle for a normal Monaco, this is just too much nicer to do that and be genuinely happy. The strap is simple, subtle and the watch is darker than it looks in the picture above. On the wrist it has enormous presence and wears bigger than it's 40.5mm size. The dial is perfect, in fact I think I prefer it to the Gulf concept version because it's more adaptable and less obviously 'shouty'.

This watch is stunning, just stunning. And it gives me something of a dilemma. In a way I almost hoped that trying it on again today might sew a few seeds of doubt, or maybe even turn me off it altogether, but alas getting on the wrist only made me want it more. Even my wife (who isn't entirely on board with the idea of spending over £6000 on one watch, even if it represents a colossal £4500+ saving on the list price) confessed that she can see why I'm slightly obsessed with it. But still, it is an enormous amount of money for a watch and is making me wonder where I should go with my collecting now.

My article on eBay got me thinking that maybe I should explore the second hand market a bit more and try and pick up some pre-owned TAGs, but also today I tried on a Maurice Lacroix Pontos S Extreme, which was very cool and 'only' £2500 (albeit reduced from £3800 or something).

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to widen my collection to include other brands...? (Insert sharp intake of breath here). I mean I don't know much about Maurice Lacroix to be honest, but it was a cool watch, and I have to say their nylon strap is WAY better than the one TAG are fitting to the Aquaracer.

Also today my wife picked up an Oris Atelier Skeleton with a 70 diamond bezel for £1740, which is absolutely stunning and again this gave me slight pause for thought... after all, I am ambivalent about a lot of TAGs watches and while I do like the purity of a single make collection, maybe there are bargains to be had out there from makes whose watches don't hold their value quite as well as TAG?

Far from providing answers, today has opened up a whole new can of questions. Before it was just, do I really want to buy the Monaco 24 or not, and now it's a whole lot more confusing!