CAW211P.FC6356 CAW2111.FC6183
Selfridges / London, 9th March 2019
I realise of course that this post is likely to prove
controversial. Pitching the classic blue-dial Heuer Monaco up against the later
TAG Heuer version is just asking for trouble and while I can’t help but have my
own predilections, I honestly approached this as openly and fairly as I could…
and actually you might be slightly surprised by my conclusions.
On the face of it these two watches are quite similar, at
least until you get them in your hands. Once you are close up with them you
realise that there are distinct differences in the dials. For a start the Heuer
has a very flat blue dial, while the TAG Heuer has a somewhat brighter,
metallic dial which I personally prefer. No doubt some might argue the flat
blue dial makes for greater legibility and that’s probably true, but for me
that electric blue wins every time.
I also much prefer the red subdial hands on the TAG Heuer to
the black ones found on the Heuer, and I find the red on the minute and hour
hands on the Calibre 11 a bit much to be honest. On the other hand I do like
the small red markers around the dial on the CAW211P and I also think the older
model’s applied hour markers are much more interesting and well thought out. I
can see the logic of the radial design on the CAW2111, but because the dial is
square they end up getting cut off at odd angles which looks pretty unappealing
actually.
I also think the Heuer wins out when it comes to the
positioning of the logo. It seems to fit better with the dial and because it’s
wide and flat it leaves room for the marker at the 12 position which is notable
by its absence on the TAG Heuer version. I can’t help thinking it might look
better if they moved the TAG Heuer shield lower and moved the ‘Monaco’ text to
the bottom part of the dial, which would then allow room for the missing
marker. Also the Monaco text looks a bit odd on top of the TAG Heuer shield,
but somehow it works with the old Heuer logo.
So now we come to my biggest issue with the Calibre 11, that
being the positioning of the crown on the ‘wrong’ side of the case. My friend
Rich has a Tudor Pelagos LHD that has the crown on the left, and I don’t mind
that at all. In fact, I think it’s quite a good idea as it stops the crown
digging in to your wrist. The problem is, the Pelagos doesn’t have a
chronograph so there aren’t any pushers on the case, unlike the CAW211P. I know
this is a unique selling point of the Calibre 11, but unfortunately I find it
very strange to see the gap inbetween the pushers where the crown should be,
and I really don’t like it.
There’s not a great deal to choose between the supplied leather straps, but I think I would give the nod to the perforated version found on the Heuer. As you would expect at the mid-to-high £4000 mark, both are supplied with push-button deployment clasps and for me it’s the TAG that wins out here. The TAG shield buckle is just a touch more refined and subtle, while the Heuer logo is huge and unnecessarily in your face.
There’s not a great deal to choose between the supplied leather straps, but I think I would give the nod to the perforated version found on the Heuer. As you would expect at the mid-to-high £4000 mark, both are supplied with push-button deployment clasps and for me it’s the TAG that wins out here. The TAG shield buckle is just a touch more refined and subtle, while the Heuer logo is huge and unnecessarily in your face.
As far as prices go, there is a 10% difference with the
Heuer Calibre 11 attracting a £400 premium over the TAG Heuer Calibre 12.
Anyone who knows watches will understand how this works, a premium is paid for
historical importance and for having the ‘correct’ logo on the dial and the
crown on the left hand side of the case. After all, his Royal Heuerness Steve
McQueen wore a Calibre 11 not a Calibre 12 and that extra authenticity costs.
No one should criticise TAG for this as this sort of thing is the norm in the
industry and doubtless we could come up with some much more extreme and
unjustifiable examples of price leveraging if we wanted to.
Youtube 'Watch Guru' Archie Luxury would advise you to take
the Heuer every time, because ‘when you come to sell it’ it will have retained
its value better and will be easier to sell. I’m itching to write a post about
Archie, Rolex and the whole watch collecting thing, but as I’m a bit snowed
under with posts just now it’s going to have to wait. It’s likely to be one
that’s going to take quite a bit of writing, but there’s a lot of stuff I want
to get off my chest at some point…
In this instance I would agree with Archie, I’m sure the
Calibre 11 will be easier to liquidate should you want/need to, but personally
I never take into account resale values when I buy watches as I have no
intention of selling anything I buy. Admittedly I have lost fairly big chunks
of money on the two watches I have sold in the last couple of years, but I just
can’t go down that route and people who do generally end up buying the same
watches as everyone else (Speedmaster, Submariner, etc) and that’s not me at
all.
So, inevitably you are going to expect me to choose between
these two… and you’re probably expecting me to pick the CAW2111 because my
preference for the TAG Heuer logo is well established. However, while I really
don’t like the left side crown and I really do like the metallic blue dial on
the TAG, the more I look at those radial hour markers the more I find they REALLY
annoy me.
So, as it stands, I really don’t think I could commit myself
to either model. However all is not completely lost because if you click the
link below you’ll find a list of my top 6 favourite Monacos, and maybe one day
one of those will find its way onto my wrist instead!
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/04/feature-my-top-five-monacos.html
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/04/feature-my-top-five-monacos.html
Looking at these, I notice that five out of the six also have the radial hour markers, but for some reason they've never bothered me - so it's clearly the combination of blue dial and radial markers that annoys me... :)
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