BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer 4000 Series Quartz Watch

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This has been a crazy year for me, I started the year with six watches, sold two and still managed to end up with more than double the number I started with! I can't see that happening again next year, not if my wife has anything to do with it! And this week in particular has been especially crazy, I've bought two watches in a weekend before (my Heuer 01 and the quartz WAH1110 in September 2016) but never three watches in a single day! You've already read about my 3000 series, and I have one more to share, but for today lets have a look at this 4000 series...

I've decided to start the article with a picture of the watch on my wrist, mainly because the watch looks better than the eBay pictures suggested (the picture at the top is from the Watchfinder website and isn't my watch) but I still wanted to use them as I find it's interesting to use the actual pictures that persuaded me to buy the watch.

The watch again measures 38mm, but looks bigger. It's a chunky looking watch, but actually is no thicker than the 3000 at just 9mm. The lume has darkened with age and has taken on the appearance of a 'phantom' watch, which I quite like. Sure it doesn't help legibility, but well... does that matter so much?

This was another watch that I pitched low for, albeit nowhere near as low as my 3000, but then the asking price was more realistic to start with. Listed at £375, I secured this with a couple of bids for £325, which I'm pretty happy with. These 4000s seem to have gone up significantly in the last 12 months, I'm sure these could be had for way less in 2017... but it may just be perception. 

As always with the 4000 series, the paint on the bezel is an issue, my red is largely intact but my green is all but gone. These watches really need that splash of colour as they seem to have been designed to be quite understated without it, so when it goes they can look a bit 'grey', especially if they have a grey dial!

Unlike some of the other watches I looked at on eBay, the bracelet seems in great shape with no stretching to the links (one of the watches I viewed looked like a ladder!) and the case and bezel are also in good condition (apart from the missing green paint). 

The bracelet seems to be complete and is more than big enough for my 7.3/4" wrist. The clasp is pressed with a fold over section and works fine. The bezel does not turn, and in fact it looks to me like someone has decided to apply some white mastic(?) under the bezel to fix it at the 12 position. While I can't condone that sort of thing, with the bezel design as it is I can imagine that if the bezel was spinning freely that would be very annoying and I'd rather have it fixed than constantly moving about, so I don't think I will touch it - it's not like I would use the bezel anyway

I think I will attempt to restore the green paint, worst case scenario I can always take it off again if it looks really bad. The indent is quite shallow and it certainly won't be easy, but it makes such a difference to the watch's appearance that I feel like I need to at least try. 

Admittedly when I opened this it was rather overshadowed by the 3000 I received the same day, but it's a very nice (and affordable) watch and I'm sure as I start wearing it I will grow to appreciate it even more. If nothing else it will provide me material for a post when I document my attempts to repaint the bezel!