NOT BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer S/EL Chronograph

CG1110-0

About three/four weeks ago I decided to look for a S/EL again, and this time I wanted to get myself one. After the disappointment of losing the CG1110-0 that Watchfinder had on their site for just £400, I was determined not to lose out again, and so I came across this beauty on 'Birth Year Watches' website.

The asking price was £599, and the watch looked to be in generally good condition - however in their description 'BYW' noted that there was a scratch on the glass, so I contacted them to enquire if they could replace the glass for me, and if so I would buy the watch. 'BYW' came back to me promptly and said they could do so and they would charge £30, which I was more than happy with. However, there was one slight snag, that being it would take a week to get the glass and moreover their watchmaker was going on holiday the week after, so it would probably take a couple of weeks to get the watch to me. No problem, I've been waiting ages anyway, so a couple more weeks wasn't going to kill me.

After about two and half weeks I fired over a quick email to 'BYW' asking if the watch was getting close to being ready, and got a prompt response from Scott, telling me that the glass had come in and that they should be able to send it out that afternoon or failing that the next day. Happy days!

But then the next day I got another email, apparently the glass didn't fit, and it wasn't the first one they'd tried either. So the only other option was to get one from TAG Heuer (if they would supply a dealer) or there was a place in the USA that had one but they wanted $60 carriage... the curse of the S/EL strikes again.

Not only that, but in the process of trying to fit the glass they had discovered that there was a problem with the movement whereby if you move the minute hand backwards the hour hand didn't follow and the only option was a replacement (non TAG branded) movement. BYW offered to sell me the watch as it was (with the scratched crystal and defective movement) for £399 which is fair enough... the scratch probably wouldn't bother a lot of people and they might never even notice the problem with the hands - or if they did they might be prepared to live with it, but for me it was a deal breaker.

I definitely didn't want the hassle of trying to secure a glass myself, and knowing the movement had an issue would bug me too, so in the end I decided to pass on the watch and get a refund. It was a real shame as I really liked the model and I felt sorry for Scott who now has a problem watch on his hands, but sometimes it's just best to walk away.

Oddly enough, there was another S/EL I was looking at when I decided to go for this one, and while I was waiting for the CG1110 to arrive I started looking at that one again and began wondering if I'd made the right choice.... more on that in a day or two!