Sunday 29 July 2018

ON THE WRIST: Grand Carrera Calibre 6 Diamond Bezel

WAV511E.BA0900

TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 27th July 2018

As you may (or may not) remember, it wasn't many moons ago that I went to Bicester and bling enthusiast 'Liam' persuaded me to try on the diamond bezel Grand Carrera GMT. Shortly thereafter I traded in my orange CAU2012 Calibre 16 Formula 1 at Watchfinder for a black dial Calibre 8 GMT (albeit without the diamonds). When I was looking for my GMT, I also came across a Calibre 6 version with a small running seconds, which I (thankfully) discounted due to the 41mm case. I say thankfully because as it happened I was wearing my Grand Carrera when I visited the store this time and holding my watch next to this one confirmed that I had definitely made the right choice.

It's not that the WAV511E isn't attractive, but it does look a little dainty on my 7.3/4" wrist and with the brown dial and the diamonds it does strike me as a little bit feminine. Whereas when I tried on the larger Calibre 8 GMT with the black dial and the diamond bezel it didn't seem that way at all. I think it's the size that's making me think that rather than the colour, but the colour seems to reinforce the idea as it makes the dial appear just that little bit softer and warmer. Inded, while at 41mm this is probably pushing it on size for most ladies, I could still imagine a lot of women would like this watch all the same.


Incredibly the list price for this watch is £8900, which is quite hard to believe... but apparently this watch was only made for one particular market (I'm not sure where that was) and clearly TAG believed that market could take the price. As a result, now that this has found its way into the outlet it's being offered at quite a discount. In fact, with the 40% discount applied this watch is now priced at £4895, which is still a chunk of money, but a big saving all the same (and sensibly makes it a touch cheaper than the 43mm black dialed alternative.

Personally I think for the sake of a few hundred pounds more I would get the Calibre 8 version with the grand date and the GMT, but with this one you're definitely getting something a bit more unusual and if you have a smaller wrist you might prefer the 41mm case. As for me, I think I'll stick with the plain bezel. I don't really mind a diamond bezel, but the way I look at it, for the extra money I could buy a Carrera!

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