WAY201A.FT6069
David M Robinsons / Chester, 17th October 2016
Bit of a lost post this one, but I remember it well. David M Robinsons is quite a plush little jewellers and this was back before I was completely confident about going into these places and asking to try luxury watches on. It seems kind of silly now, but when you're first getting seriously into watches it can be a little intimidating, especially the more upmarket shops. I seem to remember TAG being one of the cheapest brands in the window and I'm not 100% sure but I think they also sold Patek, but maybe not (I just checked and they do, so you can see it wasn't your average 'Ernest Jones' kind of place...). But I needn't have worried, the lady who served me was very nice and was only too happy to fetch a couple of TAGs from the window for me to try on. I think she may have even given me a catalogue...
This one was a 43mm Calibre 5 on a cool rubber strap with a yellow backing, and at the time I was seriously considering buying this one. My main objection was the cyclops, which was the new thing on TAGs at the time, and I really didn't like it. I still don't really like it, but now that I've got two watches with the damned things on I'm slowly getting used to them.
Eighteen months down the line my interest has waned somewhat, partly because I've now got several Aquaracers... but I still think that strap is very cool. On the wrist it felt fine, I'm definitely a 43mm Aquaracer kind of guy, every time I try the 41mm versions on I just feel they are too small for me. At the time the ceramic bezel seemed a little too shiny, of course we're now all a lot more used to ceramic and I have to say that while they are good from a resilience point of view, they pick up fingermarks like crazy.
When I tried on the Aquaracer WAY108A the other day I felt a little bad because they gave me this brand new, straight out of the safe watch and within seconds I had fingermarks all over the bezel. I don't have a ceramic bezel as yet and I'm kinda glad to be honest, and as for those full ceramic Heuer01s - they must be an absolute nightmare!
This was one of the first 'new' style Aquaracers released and it's shape is more familiar now than it was back in 2016. I remember when these came out the shape seemed incredibly angular, but now it seems to have settled in and barely raises an eyebrow. And while this remains quite a cool looking watch I can't help but feel that if I was going to go down this route I'm more likely to stump up the extra cash and pick up a WAY218A.FC6362 instead.
WAY218A.FC6362
That said of course, these watches have now made their way onto the second hand market and are trading for somewhere around £13-1400, I think the original price was about £1850 IIRC and about £400 more for the black version above. That kind of depreciation is probably about what I would have expected, and I do remember Goldsmiths having some of these on offer for £1400 or so at one point, maybe even less - which was a very good deal for those that picked them up.
One thing about Aquaracers that never gets old is the lume and this one certainly lives up to expectations, what a cracker!
For the newcomers, here is a link to my review of the Phantom Aquaracer from October 2016
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