VIDEO: McLaren Carrera MP4-12C Review by Justrandombloke

VIDEO: Carrera Heuer 01 Functions and Care by Govberg Jewelers

FEATURE: The Bamford Monaco - Personalisation or Vandalism?

I came across a website yesterday for a company in Guildford who specialise in selling pre-owned luxury watches, and among the various items available for sale I saw this 'Bamford' Monaco. Of course I've heard of Bamford before, but I thought they only really customised Rolex watches... apparently not!

Strangely enough I was looking at the Bamford website the other day and I must admit I do like some of their designs, especially because I rather like black and bright green together and there aren't that many luxury watches that offer this colour scheme. Not terribly surprising perhaps, but every single watch on the site was 'POA' and I'm pretty sure that I couldn't afford any of them even if I wanted one, but it got me thinking about this whole 'customisation' thing and more specifically 'third party' customisation.

Some of you may have seen Armin Strom's new watch range where the customer can personalise various elements of the watch, such as choosing the colour of the some of the elements of the skeletonised dial. Personally I think that's okay, albeit I can't help but think that part of what the customer pays for is the 'designer' (that chap, who knows what's supposed to look good) deciding these sort of things and making sure you don't end up with a watch that looks like a pig's ear, or a 'dramatic' design which goes off the boil quicker than a faulty kettle (and yes, I get that you could say a lime green and black Rolex might fit into this category!).

But I still think it's pretty cool...

But when it comes to third party customisation I feel a lot less certain about it. First of all, you can kiss goodbye to your warranty, but perhaps more importantly it seems to me that you are paying way over the odds for something which is probably going to shed value like a stone, and the more crazy you go with your design the worse it's going to be.

After all, how do you value one of these watches? If I have let's say, a 'Steve McQueen' Monaco, I'll look on Watchfinder or a similar site and pretty quickly I can establish a second hand value, depending on age and condition, etc. But with a Bamford (or other personalised watch) you really can't do that. 

Sure you can look at the original cost, but all that really does is set the high benchmark. If you buy a £4,000 TAG Carrera, you can probably reasonably expect it to sell for £2500-3000 on the second hand market, even after quite a few years. But with a watch like this, who knows. The watch is currently for sale at £5,500, which sounds vaguely reasonable, but since we don't know the original cost it's hard to say whether it's held it's value or not, or indeed whether that price is achievable.

Like anything, I suppose, it only needs for two people to want this unique watch for the price to go up, but at the same time the possibility for one of those people to order new from the modifier limits the price to maybe 2/3 of the original value. Which is different to say, a NOS Heuer or perhaps a popular limited edition such as the 'Gulf' range.

On the other hand, if you really don't care about resale value (and some people are in that enviable position) and you really just want something 'different' to what everyone else has, then I suppose it's good that the option is available. Personally I'd much prefer it if the original manufacturer offered this kind of thing, perhaps through a 'special orders' division, possibly even a sister-company which was still part of the main group and who could provide custom products while keeping the mods in house and maintaining the warranty and using authentic parts.

As for this particular watch, I must admit that I don't dislike it. The orange and black dial is pretty cool, although I'm not sure quite about the quality of the PVD on the case edge, but that could be the photograph. 

Would I spend £5500 on it though? Probably not... I just don't have the faith in its long term resale, but maybe I'm wrong, maybe in twenty years this will be coming up at auction and commanding a hefty premium. I don't know, but I doubt it somehow. Perhaps if we knew what the cost new was it would give us an indication, but I would guess the seller is aiming for 2/3 of the original value, which would make it about £8,000. Assuming Bamford took the cheapest chrono Monaco available as a base, that means they've probably doubled the price... 

I'm sure there's a market for this sort of thing, after all, there's several companies out there making modified Range Rovers and those things cost (and must loose) horrendous amounts of cash, so losing a few grand on a watch may not be the end of the world for some people. But for me I think the greater worry would be, given an infinite number of dial/hands/case colours, a - would I ever be able to choose, and b - would I change my mind three weeks later.

If you'd like to see more about this watch, then you can visit Maunder Watches HERE

VIDEO: Formula One Grande Date Review by Wristwatches360

VIDEO: Carrera Heuer 01 Blue Touch Edition Review by Govberg Jewelers

VIDEO: Heuer Monaco - A Week on the Wrist by Hodinkee

FEATURE: Modular is the Future, and Which Watch Should TAG Remake?

I'm sure most of you have read the new interview posted on Calibre 11 with Jean Claude Biver where he explains his thoughts about the future for TAG Heuer (if you haven't then it's HERE). As ever Mr Biver seems to have plenty of ideas, although I wish it would have been a video interview because JCB is a real entertainer when he gets going.

So, two particular items stand out from the interview, firstly that TAG are intending to extend the modular watch idea into the the non-smartwatch market. This is an interesting idea, but it remains to be seen how well it will be executed and how successfully it is received. For me the 'Connected' watch doesn't look like a proper TAG, it still looks a bit 'plastic' and if this idea is going to fly then I think this will need to be addressed. They also need to address the mechanics of the modular system, and more to the point they need to get rid of the unsightly flanges at the top and bottom of the watch case, they really are never going to work for people used to well designed time pieces.

MY EYES!

On the face of it, it seems a good idea.. but I'm not entirely sure that the reality will live up to the idea somehow. As it is it's not unusual for watch fans to buy watches and swap the straps to give it a different look, how much difference is this actually going to offer. I guess if the watch is designed from scratch to be modular and feature interchangeable lugs, bezels, straps, etc it could be fun. But, I can't help thinking there's a reason why certain bezels work with certain dials, that's part of the 'design' and this could end up feeling a bit gimmicky and potentially a bit of a 'toy'. This could also possibly negatively affect TAG's image if it turns out that way, so I think they need to think very carefully about going down this route.

On the other hand I don't want to dismiss the idea without seeing what's actually on offer, since for those of us without unlimited funds the idea to be able to change the appearance of a watch is never a bad thing, and it could be a winner with the younger market who are obsessed with personalisation.

The other thing that Jean Claude said was that he doesn't see the need for any more 'Heritage' re-issues, which I know will be a great disappointment to a number of people. Albeit I really don't know how many Monzas and Autavias TAG sell, probably in the grand scheme of things it's not a large percentage of their sales. But as David commented in the interview maybe TAG could look to their early history as 'TAG' rather than 'Heuer' for inspiration.

Truth be told, quite a lot of early TAGs are... well, let's just say that by today's standards, they don't really fit the bill. But I'm sure there's a lot of love for the 1000 series watches, including the larger scale models like the one pictured below.

The other model which instantly sprung to mind was the 1000 Super Professional Diver, these seem to sell well on eBay and people on the forums definitely seem to have a soft spot for them too.

Having said that, looking at it I can't help but think that the Aquagraph was more than a little inspired by this watch. They have a similar massively chunky bezel for a start and something about that dial reminds me of the Aquagraph as well. I'm sure if they kept it a three hander (because who the hell is using a chrono underwater - I mean it's cool that you can, but who would?) it would sell well. It wouldn't need that much updating either really, I think it was a fair size anyway, so no need to go and make it 45mm or anything. 

So I'm curious, what do you think of my suggestions and which watch would you want TAG to remake/reissue? Leave a comment and let me know.

VIDEO: Carrera Heuer 01 Ceramic Chronograph Review by Bijou Diamond Jewellers

VIDEO: Formula One Quartz Watch Review by iReviewWatches

FEATURE: Learning to Love the CAU2012

CAU2012.BT0717

Now that I've finally had a chance to wear my new Formula One without it ripping my wrist to pieces, unsurprisingly perhaps I'm feeling a lot more positive towards it. Indeed, I've pretty much put on ice any plans to sell it or to trade it in against a Grand Carrera CV511A, which means it's going to be a while until I can get my hands on a GC. But who knows, things may change and this one isn't going to lose much money between now and the end of the year so I may give Watchfinder's trade-in service a go then if I still haven't fully accepted it into the fold.

But I hope not and I doubt it, it would be a shame to lose the most 'colourful' watch from my collection and it is still pretty cool. I definitely felt a lot better about it wearing it out to dinner on Friday night and I was surprised how much better it looked with a shirt and also that it slid under the cuff easier than I expected.

It is still quite a large watch, and for once I find myself wishing it was maybe 2mm smaller, usually I find black watches wear smaller but this one doesn't particularly seem to. Perhaps because the orange is so in your face? Funnily enough, when I look at it it really reminds me of the Chopard Mille Miglia watches, only nicer... I'm not a big fan of Chopard I have to say!

I think if anything my reservations about the watch stem from the 'Formula One' range styling and case. I kind of wish it had proper lugs, although I must admit the way the strap fits does look very neat. I guess it just doesn't look as expensive as it is, I definitely don't think it looks like a £2500 watch, but then I try and remind myself that I paid £1735, and it's definitely worth that much.

I think this is going to be an ongoing journey of discovery for a while, but at least it's starting to look less like I made a costly mistake buying this one...

You may remember I mentioned a strap I saw in Debenhams which was orange and grey and that I was considering if the BT0717 strap didn't work out. Well funnily enough I've just come across a photograph of the exact same strap fitted to a CAU2012, and as I thought it doesn't look that great, honestly.

At first glance it looks like the perfect match, but then you realise it's grey and orange, not black and suddenly it looks a bit rubbish. It's a real shame because if it was orange and black it would look amazing and I would definitely buy one. But it's not... such a shame.

Still never mind the BT0717 makes the watch wearable and that's the main thing. I still have a major problem with the lume and the excessive amount of lume on the hands, silver hands with less lume on would have looked so much better. But, what can you do? I'm not about to start butchering the thing with aftermarket hands so I'll just have to learn to live with them, or not...

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Autavia Hands On at Baselworld 2017 by OneWheee

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Autavia - First Look by Revolution Watch

VIDEO: Aquaracer Camouflage at Baselworld 2017

BUYING EXPERIENCE: BT0717 Strap

BT0714 (left) and the BT0717 (right)

After a very long search, lasting several years, I finally managed to get hold of CAU2012 Formula One Calibre 16. Despite the long search, or maybe partly because of it, I'm still rather on the fence with this one. When I see pictures of it I still think it looks great, but on the wrist it doesn't quite excite me as much as I'd hoped (and I still don't really understand why).

However, a similar thing happened with my WAH1110-0 (pictured above left) and it was largely because the strap, or rather the clasp on the strap, was utterly rubbish and irritated my wrist so much that I couldn't enjoy the watch and 'bond' with it (for want of a better word). Once I replaced the strap and it was comfortable to wear it transformed my attitude towards it completely and it became a valued part of my collection rather than an everyday beater, so I am hopeful that fitting its larger brother with a similar strap will have the same effect.

I'm still very disappointed that the only lume on the CAU2012 is on the hands. Ideally it should have lumed markers, but if not then I kind of wish it just had silver hands. The lume itself is great, but without markers it looks rather ridiculous and annoys me at the 'corner cutting' cheapness of it (and actually once you notice how odd the hands look on the otherwise fairly dark face, you can't un-notice it!). But anyway, let's not focus too much on that here because it may be that in a few months I will have fallen in love with this one like I have with my Microtimer...

...although I have to confess, when I was in the jeweller picking up my BT0717 strap I did enquire if I could trade the CAU2012 in for the second hand steel Grand Carrera I tried on ages ago - yep, they still have it. My reasoning was that as I'd bought it quite well, I might be able to flip it without losing much money - sadly the second hand items were sold on commission so they wouldn't take it in part exchange, I'd have to buy the Grand Carrera and then they would sell the F1 for me. Hmm..

(Interesting though, that that option is available. They charge 15% commission if the watch was bought from them and 25% if the watch was bought elsewhere. Given that they charge a fair bit more than Watchfinder (for example) those rates don't look too bad.)

Still, this was probably a good thing. Although I was actually hopeful of a deal (because I do still want a Grand Carrera), I can't help thinking I might regret selling the F1 without giving it every chance to win me over.

So having established that the clasp was terrible I started looking into my options. With a 22mm lug width the options were fairly limited if I wanted a genuine TAG Heuer strap, though there were plenty of 'eBay' options of varying style and quality. Strangely the CAU2012 has a unique rubber strap that isn't used for any other watch, which set alarm bells ringing. I searched for BT0717 (as I knew that was the 22mm version of the BT0714 I bought for the smaller F1) and it brought up just one watch.

CAH1012.BT0717

The BT0717 strap is used on this Formula One and also with a slight modification on the Kimi Raikkonen version. The Kimi F1 uses a BT0718 which has red highlights around the pin holes (and a red backing), which is quite cool - but not for an orange watch, and I'm not sure how available that strap is anyway, I suspect when you break it you have to replace with the BT0717 - but I don't know for sure.

The BT0718 Strap as fitted to the Kimi Raikkonen Formula One

So, having purchased my previous BT0717 from Michael Jones (Northampton), I gave them a ring and was quoted a very reasonable £48. Rachel there was very helpful actually and she contacted TAG to see if there was any other options like perhaps a different deployment clasp or strap that would fit. Sadly there wasn't, though I wished I'd enquired about the possibility of fitting the tyre tread strap found on the Senna Carrera. 

One issue there though that I wasn't quite sure about, was the fact that on this watch the lugs are closed in, unlike the Carrera where you can fit pretty much any strap without worrying. Since the CAH1012 looks similar I had to assume that it has the same basic case as the CAU2012 and that the strap would fit perfectly.  Thankfully I was right, though if not I was mentally prepared to 'make it fit', as my other options seemed less appealing. 

I did see a strap in Debenhams which had a lot of orange on it, and thought it might actually be a good fallback, but it was actually £70 and when I checked it was a lot more grey than I remembered, which would have looked a bit rubbish I think. My other possible route was a 'carbon fibre' effect strap, but thankfully the BT0717 fitted perfectly so I didn't have to go down that route.

The guy in the shop was rather bemused that I was changing the strap on a seven week old watch, until I explained the problem. He said that he had owned a Breitling in the past with the same issue, so it's obviously not just TAG who can fail at making clasps!

Despite only being 2mm wider that the BT0714, the BT0717 feels a lot more chunky and substantial. It's actually quite hard to get the tail end of the strap to fold under the retaining pieces, but I'm wondering if that might improve as the rubber wears in and softens up a bit. I can't remember what the BT0714 was like when I first had it, though it must be said I don't remember any struggles, and obviously this watch won't get anything like the wrist time so it will probably take a long time for any 'wearing in' to take effect.

Once it's on the wrist though it feels very secure and I actually think this strap looks better than the one which comes on the watch, so I can't really understand why they went to all the trouble to design and make a bespoke strap when they could have used this one? Of course, ideally they would have made this design with a (much better) clasp, but there you go.

So, to sum up, once again the service from Michael Jones was pretty good (it did take six weeks to come, but this was because TAG were out of stock and Rachel was very helpful with trying to source me an alternative strap) and the strap looks and feels fine (if a bit chunkier than is really ideal). So let's hope that wearing the CAU2012 on this new (comfortable) strap allows me to start enjoying this watch and I can get on with saving for my Grand Carrera rather than looking to trade up to it. Time will tell I suppose, and I guess at least if I do come to sell the CAU2012 at some point, the original strap will be in perfect condition!

VIDEO: Heuer Carrera Re-Edition - AskTNH