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Friday, 27 July 2018

YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE: TAG Heuer S/EL Quartz Chronograph

CG1110-0

Well that didn't take long, did it? So here we go again, with another tale of hesitation and regret...

This morning I had an email from Watchfinder, inviting me to view their 'New Arrivals', and the first thing that caught my eye was this S/EL Quartz Chrono CG1110-0. It was up for £460, which immediately struck me as a very good price - considering it probably wouldn't be much less on eBay, with none of the advantages of inspection and verification. So I rushed to send an enquiry to check if the watch had enough links to fit my 7.3/4" wrist (I think Watchfinder actually have quite considerable stocks of links - but it's best to check first, especially if it's something out of the ordinary or two-tone. Although, of course, I'm re-evaluating that opinion now!).


Well, perhaps predictably, here we are two hours later, no reply... but the watch has been sold. So that's twice this week I've missed out on a bargain (although admittedly this isn't quite as outrageous a bargain as that blue dial Kirium was...). What's the betting next time Watchfinder get one of these it'll be more like £500, they must be kicking themselves!

Ah well, I should have known - it seems I'm destined never to get another TAG with a green and red logo, I haven't had one since I sold my 2000 a few years ago. In fact this has become something of a running joke with my watch enthusiast friend and my wife!


I must admit, I kinda miss that watch a bit... it was too small for me, but it had a lovely matt black dial and the rubber strap (which I bought from Goldsmiths) was excellent, if bloody expensive! Plus it had the classic logo, which is sorely lacking in my collection.

So I'm back to square one on the S/EL and I'm no nearer to working out whether I should buy a 38mm for £4-500, or a 42mm for £900+. That seems to be the way of things when it comes to the S/EL, which is understandable I suppose, as there's clearly a a surfeit of 38mm pieces out there and a shortage of 42mm. You can see the same issue with the original F1s which can be had very reasonably if you can live with the 35mm size, but the chronograph versions which are 41mm (IIRC) can be two or three times the price.


What a frustrating hobby this can be sometimes... I guess the lesson learned is to buy first and ask questions later with Watchfinder, since they offer a 14 day returns policy on internet purchases anyway, and if they can't provide the links they aren't going to waste everybody's time sending it out only for you to send it back.

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Watchfinder did eventually get back to me, adding to my surliness by telling me the watch was still available and wouldn't need any extra links... until of course I pointed out that it was showing as sold on their website, after which they quickly retracted that and asked if I was interested in anything else...

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