Sunday, 30 July 2017
FIRST SIGHTING: Aquaracer GMT Calibre 7 and Formula One Calibre 6
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Michael Jones / Northampton 26th July 2017
Unfortunately I wasn't able to try these on as I was in a hurry, but I did get a good look at the two of them through the window and thought I would share my first impressions with you. Firstly the new Aquaracer GMT Calibre 6 and secondly the new Formula One Calibre 6.
It never fails to surprise me how big the Aquaracer's look in the window. I really don't know why that is, but I imagine it must put off a lot of potential customers from trying them on. I don't understand how it is that they look so big, because at 43mm they are a couple of mm smaller than my Carrera Heuer 01.
Anyway, having recently tried on an Aquaracer I have a good idea of how these feel and look on the wrist, the real point of interest here is the bezel isn't it? I must admit I'm in two minds about it, as I have always been with the Pepsi Rolex GMT, I kind of like it because it's colourful, but at the same time I can't quite reconcile this much colour with a luxury watch somehow...
The bezel itself looks good, although I know a lot of people are majorly unhappy that it's an aluminium insert and not ceramic. I can totally understand that, because I would imagine this is more a watch you would wear everyday and you really are going to live in fear of scratches (unless you are one of those overly well-adjusted freaks who don't care about things like that). It is a shame it isn't ceramic, but I'm sure TAG would say that it would be too expensive, and let's not forget, Rolex only just worked out how to make the Pepsi ceramic (I can't remember which it was, but they struggled with getting the red or the blue right) and so who's to say TAG Heuer even has the capability to make this in ceramic?
The price in the window was £2350, which I assume is full list price... I would check but I can't seem to find it on Ernest Jones, Goldsmiths or TAGs own (terrible) website. So I'll have to assume that's what it is!
I must say the thing that struck me about the bezel was that it didn't look quite as 'rich' as I expected*. Not that it looks pre-faded or anything, it just doesn't look quite as in your face as I thought it might. This is probably a good thing, I guess too bright could have made it look 'cheap' and nasty and besides, some people actually find faded out bezels desirable (which personally I don't understand, but there you are).
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The second piece I caught sight of was this blue dial Calibre 6 small seconds Formula One which retails for £1300 I believe, which is pretty affordable for an automatic watch. I've never been much of a fan of small seconds dials, I kinda think the second hand should be where the second hand should be unless it's a chronograph, but if you like it then this is a fair option I guess.
The blue is quite nice, dark enough to look classy, without being too dark - it's still clearly a blue dial (this watch is also available in white or black). I like the large '12' and the dial overall although I find the white subdial ring a bit too chunky. Actually my only real negative with this watch, and automatic F1's in general is the case design and more to the point that horrible shiny crown.
This case in black looks so much better, but in steel it looks a bit cheap to me. Obviously as I didn't try it on I don't know what the bracelet/clasp is like, but I'm betting it's one of those cheap looking things that's been on every auto F1 I've tried on in the last couple of years. Actually I'm slightly surprised they haven't made this available on a NATO or some other alternative strap since that would presumably bring the price down even more.
Like the Aquaracer, this one is 43mm too, so slightly smaller than my own CAU2012 Formula One. I think if it was down to me I would spend the extra £1000 and get the Aquaracer, I think it will probably hold it's value better and it gets you some of that Rolex Pepsi kudos at a much more affordable price.
*Having looked at this again, it looks plenty rich enough actually!
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Monday, 17 July 2017
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Formula One Quartz Max Verstappen Chronograph
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Last year TAG celebrated the occasion of Max Verstappen's surprising first Grand Prix victory with his very own Formula One quartz limited edition chronograph. It was surprising for two reasons, firstly he became the youngest ever driver to win a Grand Prix and secondly it was his first race for the Red Bull team having been moved up from the Toro Rosso team mid season to replace the off-form Daniil Kyvat.
The race itself was perhaps more famous because title contenders Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton managed to collide at the first corner and both cars were out of the race, leaving a rare opportunity for someone else to stand on the top step of the podium. To some extent, Max rather lucked into the win as teammate Daniel Ricciardo looked certain to take victory until a late puncture spoiled his challenge. Still, anyone who wins a Grand Prix deserves respect (even Pastor Maldonado!) and even more so if you win in a car that isn't a dominant force.
For Max's first watch TAG chose to include an orange section on the chapter ring which ran from the twelve to just past eighteen minutes, to signify Max's age at the time of his first victory. The watch was also fitted with a matching orange rubber strap, mainly because Max is Dutch and orange is a big thing in the Netherlands, and clearly this piece was always going to find a strong market in Max's home country.
As far as I know the entire run of the first watch was sold out without it every making it to a store, I've certainly never seen one for sale anywhere and I would imagine that some of the people that did buy them are probably sitting on it because it's pretty clear that Max is destined for great things and as such the chances are the original watch may well become something of a collectors item.
So this time, TAG have slightly grasped at straws and decided to utilise Max's race number '33' as the chapter ring hook and emphasized the point by adding the number 33 on the dial. In addition, and to greater differentiate the new model from the old TAG have abandoned the orange colouring in favour of a rather violent red, which does rather clash with the rest of the colour scheme and seems to be garnering mixed reactions on the Calibre 11 forum.
I guess it would be nice to see it in the flesh to really form a proper opinion, but I'm not sure whether this one is another limited edition or whether it's likely to appear in my local Goldsmiths. I'm assuming the watch is largely unchanged except for the detailing and colour switch, so it should still be the same 43mm case as before. It's probably about the right size for a watch like this, it's a loud piece so no point in being shy and retiring on the size front and 43mm should wear reasonably well on most wrists.
On the whole I'm not a great fan of the Formula One range, with some notable exceptions, but this one seems to work quite well, taking the basic Red Bull model and giving it some va-va-voom with the coloured chapter ring and the red rubber strap, I shouldn't be at all surprised if this one doesn't grow on me over time.
Thursday, 13 July 2017
Sunday, 9 July 2017
FEATURE: Another Trip to London in Search of Watches!
My first stop on the watch tour today in London was at Selfridges 'Wonder Room', lot's of desirable stuff in here... including an Audemars Piguet Ceramic Concept watch (about £190,000 I think), plus some nice Roger Dubuis tourbillons, lots of Hublots, Corums (not so sure about these), and of course TAG Heuers.
I was pretty surprised by some things I saw in there to be honest, including a diamond bezel Connected of all things, and the camouflage Aquaracer, which I am kind of intrigued by and decided to try on.
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Selfridges / London 8th July 2017
This was my first chance to try on the new camouflage Aquaracer 300M and I must say it does have a certain something about it. Albeit, the strap is horrible. I get the idea, tying into the dial pattern, but it really doesn't look that good and the strap (despite the thin material) seems oddly bulky with the awful chrome strap retainers sticking out all over the place.
One good thing about the dial design is that the cyclops seems less noticeable on this watch than most others, in fact I like the dial design quite a lot and I think this would look great with a plain black rubber strap (as would most Aquaracers, obviously). I like the finishing on the case too, very smart indeed. But one thing that was a little disappointing perhaps was the 'brightness' of the dial, it seemed a bit muted, I was hoping it would be a bit more in your face if I'm honest, but then I guess it is supposed to be camouflage after all.
So leaving aside the issue of the cyclops... yet again I'm faced with the prospect of buying a watch and then having to fork out for a replacement strap. And this one isn't a cheap watch either, it's £2200 for a three hander with a Calibre 5 movement. And, crucially, one which I think will not hold it's value terribly well. I think this is one to stalk on the second hand market for sure, along with the 'sand' coloured 2016 Aquaracer perhaps.
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Speaking of other Aquaracers... over the road in Goldsmiths they had one of the three hand Aquaracer phantom limited editions on offer for about £1750. It doesn't appear on the Goldsmiths website so I'm assuming it's an offer unique to that particular store.
Back to Selfridges, and there were some interesting new TAG Heuers on display. This was my first chance to catch sight of the new Autavia, which actually looks better than the pictures, albeit not my taste. I really can't see what all the fuss is about with this watch, the size looks absolutely fine, it doesn't look overly big at all. With it's old school aesthetic, it really does stick out in the display actually and doesn't look like anything else on offer, so perhaps it's as well it has got the Heuer name on the dial!
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Also in the cabinet, were a pair of Carrera tourbillons, one of which had a diamond bezel. The standard version looks pretty cool and comes on a very nice leather on rubber strap (I presume) and costs a very reasonable £12,600 or thereabouts. Not sure on the price of the diamond bezel version, but it looked pretty ridiculous anyway to be honest, although not as completely silly as the Connected with the diamond bezel, I mean really!
After Selfridges I took a wander down Bond Street, where I came across a pretty incredible shop window containing a pretty wild selection of watches. I'm not sure what the place was called, but in the window they had Richard Milles, Hublots, Ressences, several Urwerk models (including a diamond encrusted ladies model), quite a few Greubel Forseys and a couple of different versions of the MB&F Horological Machine. Pretty exclusive stuff!
The highlight of Bond Street for me though was Charbonel et Walker, if you haven't had a Milk Sea Salt Billionaires Shortbread Truffle then your life is incomplete (although be warned, the price tag is as high end as the location suggests - cheaper in John Lewis actually £12.50 for a box of 8).
But leaving that aside, the watch highlight of Bond Street for me was the Breitling boutique, and more specifically trying on the new black dial Avenger Hurricane 45mm, easily my favourite Breitling ever.
When the original Avenger Hurricane came out it was 50mm and featured a 24hr dial. I think a lot of people looked at it and thought 'I'd prefer a 12hr dial, but the 24hr dial is a novelty so I can live with that... what I can't live with is the size', and so, inevitably one might suggest, Breitling have seen sense and released the watch in a smaller 45mm size with a 12hr dial in a choice of yellow or black faces.
When you see the 45mm and the 50mm together in the case it is hilarious how different 5mm can look, it's like night and day. In all honesty I can't help but think those 50mm versions are going to be sitting there for a long time, because very few people are going to choose the bigger version now that there's a sensible size option on offer. For me the black dial is the definite winner here, I like yellow touches on a dial and a yellow dial can work on a 'cheaper' watch, but for me, looking at these two the black dial definitely gives the impression of being more expensive. And this is an expensive watch, there are strap options which drops the price about £100 (basic strap without the yellow rubber back) but both these watches are basically £7,000.
The strap is very cool, the only bad thing is that you have to cut it to fit, but it does have a slider system in the clasp to allow quite a good bit of movement, more than sufficient to cope with all but the most exuberant of weight gains (in which case you might want to think about the 50mm). As with most Breitlings there's an engraved solid caseback, but it does contain the new in-house Breitling 01 movement.
The Avenger Hurricane certainly didn't disappoint on the wrist, it's made of something called Breitlight, which even the staff in the shop couldn't completely explain, but it's a lightweight compound of some sort. I was a little worried it would be too light and feel plasticy, but it doesn't at all. It's not unduly light, it feels like a smaller steel watch would I thought, and also (perhaps crucially) it doesn't wear like a 45mm either.
My TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 is 45mm and that's a big watch on the wrist, my limit really, so I was a bit dubious about the Avenger and suspected that even in a 45mm version it would look and feel too big. Sadly, not at all. In fact to me it felt more like a 44mm, which means instead of being able to dismiss it out of hand I now have to live with the fact that I really want one, which is a bit annoying as I don't have £7,000 lying around.
Well as I've always said, there's always a 'BUT' with a Breitling, usually it's the dial, or the case, or the silly wonky strap links... but in this case the only 'BUT' is the price, so... the question is can I live with an Aquaracer with a cyclops, or not?
After lunch I headed over to the Design Museum to see 'Cartier in Motion' which is not only a bloody good exhibition, but it's FREE as well. The exhibition is about Cartier's interaction with people like Alberto Santos-Dumont and Gustave Eiffel, and features a considerable quantity of Cartier watches and clocks. If you are in the Kensington area before the end of July I thoroughly recommend a visit.
Friday, 7 July 2017
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
FEATURE: Window Shopping & A Missed Opportunity
CK1116-0
A couple of days ago I decided to do some window shopping. The TAG warchest currently stands at just over £900, so not enough for anything new or significantly extravagant, but enough to snag a pre-owned gem or possibly a TAG outlet special (the yellow Aquaracer Calibre S I was looking at a while back was about £949 at Bicester Village for example).
Well to be honest I didn't get any further than looking at the Watchfinder website, partly because my laptop seems to have developed a distinct disliking for eBay (taking forever to load pages and pictures) and partly because the first few pages threw up some interesting pieces, which I thought I would share here.
First off was the CK1116-0 you see above. This was for sale for £675 and was very tempting indeed. Condition looks great, albeit I'm always wary of older bracelets because the two old style ones I've bought previously have proved very uncomfortable. However, this one looks like it has a slightly newer clasp, more like the one on my wife's Aquaracer (which she says is super comfortable), so that assuaged my fears slightly.
Actually I have posted about this watch before (HERE) where I talked about the set of five 'Grand Prix' location watches (Hockenheim, Silverstone, Monaco, USA and Monza) that were available singly or in a set (limited overall to 800 pieces), as far as I remember this is the first time I've come across one for sale. Of course I have no way of knowing how long the watch was on the site before I saw it, but I perhaps should have known that it wouldn't hang around for long, and of course within 36 hours of me seeing it it had sold.
Well, I can't say I'm surprised really, and I'm kind of kicking myself a little bit because not only was this watch in great condition, but at 42mm it was also an ideal size for my wrist (unlike so many of the older TAGs which are just too small for me). Maybe if I'd bought from Watchfinder before I would have been a little less hesitant, so while I was faffing about checking out the terms and conditions someone else was snagging themselves a bit of a bargain.
On the other hand... nice as it is, this is still a sixteen year old quartz watch, and for another say £500, a whole world of opportunities opens up, so I can't be too upset about it. But somewhere out there, I'm sure someone is opening the box and reaping the rewards of my hesitancy! Ah well...
The CK1116-0 was the only watch I seriously considered purchasing, but that's not to say my search didn't throw up a few other interesting nuggets. How about a choice of not one but two 6000 Series Mika Hakkinen watches!
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Limited to 2000 pieces, both were offered at £850, again this piece is an 18 year old quartz piece and for me I cannot really fathom how it can be worth more than an F1 Kirium, but market forces I suppose. Perhaps the limited edition is worth significantly more than the normal 6000, I didn't notice any non Mika versions to make a comparison. The 6000 series, while not unattractive, does look a little dated now and I'm still not quite sure if I like that logo stamped into the case where the bracelet joins the main body of the watch. It looks almost like it's trying a little too hard to look 'expensive' if you know what I mean. But then I've never seen one in the metal, and I was quite surprised when I saw a 4000 series that it looked better than I thought it might.
Fortunately for me, any decisions that needed to be made evaporated when I noticed the 37mm case size, which is way too small for me, and so I moved on...
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Admittedly, the rest of the watches featured in this post exceed the £1000 mark (some more than others) but this 'Searacer' caught my eye, and that's quite unusual for me because I don't usually go for the Link range much at all. This one looks like it's got a 1/10 of a second chronograph and again is obviously quartz, albeit slightly younger at a sprightly 14 years old.
Sized at a very wearable 40mm, £1,150 seems a relatively fair price and... I've just noticed the chapter ring, I wonder how that works - obviously a ten minute countdown timer (Searacer = Regatta watch). Interesting... and possible useful for boiling eggs (for those of us without a yacht).
To me, this is definitely one of the smarter looking Links that I've seen, but there's something about them that rubs me up the wrong way and I can't quite put my finger on it. I don't know if it's the bezel, but somehow they look a bit - I was going to say cheap but that's not it, a bit insubstantial perhaps.. and to be honest if I was going to go for this I might spring a little more and go for this instead.
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For another measly £100 you could instead secure this 42mm limited edition (4000 pcs) West McLaren Mercedes S/EL on a steel bracelet. Again I'm not sure if I've ever seen an S/EL face to face, and usually the ones I've seen on eBay tend to be in the smaller size ranges (34-36mm usually), so at 42mm this is a definite possibility. Not 100% sure about the dial, or the polished bezel, sometimes I look at it and think yes, and sometimes no... I'm also slightly concerned about the date, but I assume either it has a very long changeover period or it's something that was fixed after the photo was taken.
I'm definitely on the fence with this one. I think if I could see it and try it on I would probably go for it, but do I love it enough to go through the hassle of sending it back if I change my mind again - probably not, and let's not forget again that this is another quartz piece that is pushing twenty years old.
Last, but by no means least, I came across something a little more exotic and interesting...
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Obviously the Autavia is a hot ticket item right now with the new version just about hitting the stores and the original 'Heuer' versions going up in price faster than houses in London... but little mention is made of the 2006 re-issue. And perhaps it's not surprising... after all the re-issue wasn't a glorious success by any means and seemingly disappeared from the range within a year or two. Two obvious reasons spring to mind, firstly the case - which while it may be authentically 60s/70s looking is probably a bit marmite (in the same way that the Omega Speedmaster II is a bit marmite) and second, ridiculous as it is, is the simple fact that the dial features the 'TAG Heuer' rather than 'Heuer' logo.
But, if you can live with that then this automatic 40mm Autavia can be yours for £2215, which seems like a fair price really. In fact while I can't see this being an 'investment' as such, I can imagine that it will probably maintain it's value fairly decently what with so few having been sold and the cost of the original Heuer's becoming prohibitive.
So there you are, still slightly miffed about that lost 2000 series Monaco GP limited edition, but what can you do, some you win some you lose.
THIS POST WAS NOT SPONSORED BY WATCHFINDER, BUT IF THEY WANT TO SEND ME MONEY, WATCHES AND STUFF, THEN BY ALL MEANS GO AHEAD.