ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquracer 500M Gold Bezel

WAJ2150.FT6015

TAG Heuer Boutique / York, 21st July 2018

Essentially the same as the watch I reviewed before, this one differs due to it's steel case construction, rather than the PVD coated titanium of the WAJ2182. Doubtless there would have been a cost saving for the steel version, but when you're talking about a watch with a solid 18k rose gold bezel and a list price of over £4000 for a three handed automatic, that's rather academic.

So it really comes down to personal preference and I can say with absolute clarity that I think the WAJ2182 is by far the better design. The great thing about the PVD version is the contrast and the way the case sets off the gold bezel. With the steel case the effect is a lot more muted and not nearly as dramatic. Plus, to me the black case brings out the 'goldness' of the bezel, whereas with the steel it looks more of a 'dirty' gold, if that makes sense?

But then not everybody likes PVD watches, they are less hard wearing than steel and difficult and costly to repair if they get badly scratched, and one thing that this one does have over the WAJ2182 is the crown. This one has a steel crown whereas the one on the black version is made of rubber. On the face of it that's not a terrible idea, but it's not executed quite as well as on some later watches (for example the original Heuer 01 Carreras), but that's not enough to change my mind I'm afraid. It's not that I don't appreciate 'two-tone' watches, but this one misses the mark. Maybe this one would look better on a bracelet? 

WAJ2150.BA0870

Ah well, what do you know, they actually made it on a bracelet and to these eyes it looks a lot better. I'm still not sold on it, but it definitely works better than on the rubber, I just think it looks more cohesive on the bracelet. I don't think the rubber looks like it goes with the steel case / gold bezel combo, where it fits in with the PVD case rather well. But then again, on the bracelet I'd do away with the gold bezel and save myself a ton of money, so... yeah. This one isn't working for me I'm afraid!

As it happens, last time I was over at the Bicester outlet, they had both watches side by side in the cabinet. There's a good chance they still have them, though from what I understand business has been brisk lately so you might want to check before making a journey. Some pretty substantial savings to be had on these as well, which makes them both a lot more attractive!

VIDEO: In Conversation with Stephane Bianchi and Guy Semon of TAG Heuer by Revolution Watch

NOT BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Kirium Quartz

WL111F.BA0701

My name is Rob and I really like Kiriums. There, I said it. It's not the most popular of opinions and some might say nothing to be proud of, but I don't care - my first Swiss watch was a Kirium and so naturally I have a strong bond to the design. As such, I've decided that I would like to add to my small collection of two Kiriums (the top-of-the-range 'F1' Kirium and my mid-blue dial chronograph) and this gorgeous, darker-blue dial three hander really caught my attention on eBay, not least because it started at 99p!

Obviously I wasn't expecting a bargain of epic proportions, especially given the condition of this piece, but I was hopeful I could secure this for a reasonable sum that wouldn't knock the bottom out of my ongoing watch fund. So I did the smart thing and searched eBay for sold listings, this told me that I should expect to pay somewhere between the low £200s up to about £340. Fair enough.

I bid on the watch at about £90 I think, and it slowly crept up every so often until it reached £220 when I stopped bidding. That was Friday afternoon, the listing was due to finish at 8pm that night. Unfortunately my wife wanted me to take her shopping that night, so I had to leave a bid about half an hour before the sale was due to end... not good.

Ah, but I forgot to mention something. Every time I look at a Kirium or another watch that I already own a similar piece, my first task is to compare the number of links in the bracelet to the one I have to see how it compares. I have a largish wrist and it's not unusual for bracelets to be a bit small on me, which obviously adds to the potential cost as I may have to source extra links. 

The listing for this watch said 'the bracelet is quite small at 7" but I will include an extra link', and in fact the same line is used on all this person's listings... which is a bit odd. Looking at the photo I would estimate that this bracelet is actually more like 7.1/2" as it looks to be a half-link shorter than mine. So I contacted the seller to get some clarity on this, because if the watch was being sold as pictured plus one more link, then great, but if he was going to reduce it to 7" and give me a spare link then not so great. It sounds stupid, but watch dealers can be very shady. I also wanted to make sure the spare link had the appropriate collar and pin as well, because without it, it ain't no good! 

Somewhat surprisingly, given the sellers excellent '100%' feedback, I didn't receive a response, which didn't exactly fill me with confidence, but still... by this point I was pretty sold on the watch and I had sourced a couple of spare links for about £16 each if the worst came to the worst. 

So, just before I went out on Friday night I placed my final bid. The watch was sitting at £225 I think, and I reasoned it would definitely go up to nigh on £300, if not more. So to be safe I bid £317, factoring in £8.50 carriage plus a potential £35 for two extra links if necessary, meaning I could be the owner for about £360, which is about £315 less than it would cost to buy a similar piece from Watchfinder...

Incidentally, if you're getting a feeling of deja-vu reading this post, then trust me you're not alone. It wasn't until I started writing this post that I found a post I did about a month ago where I had found a WL111F on eBay, but decided not to bid on it because I was trying to save up for something bigger. That one was a couple of links short and sold for £225.... oh hindsight is a wonderful, wonderful thing, is it not?

So obviously I came back from the shops to find the watch had sold for £325, which was disappointing. In fact I was more disappointed than I expected, because I really thought I had a shot at this one - although I must admit finding that old post cheered me up no end, who's to say there won't be another WL111F for sale soon and maybe that one can be had for low £200s?

As it happens, I found another Kirium on eBay on the Friday night, a silver dial three hander this time, that was bidding in the low £100s and due to finish on Saturday. As there was no mention of the code and no photos of the back, I contacted the seller, because I didn't want to end up buying something that looked like a man's watch but turned out to be a ladies - lesson learned from buying that leather strap S/EL, pictures can be deceiving! I didn't think that was the case but in some of the photos it looked a bit small compared to the barrel case, plus the seller mentioned spare links and I wanted to know how many there were.

Glad I contacted the seller, they told me the watch said WL1111-0 on the caseback, which either means the seller misread the code, the watchback is off another watch or... well, who knows. A WL1111-0 should have a grey dial, not a silver one. As it happens, the watch sold for £259, which I wouldn't have paid anyway, so not a big problem! 

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Unboxing by Humble Gent

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Aston Martin

CAR2A1AB.FT6163

Watches of Switzerland / London, 9th March 2019

When I visited London in January I got my first look at the new Carrera Heuer 01 Aston Martin Special Edition in a cabinet in the TAG Heuer boutique on Oxford Street and, well... I was a bit underwhelmed to say the least. Fast forward to March and I spotted the watch again, this time in a cabinet in the basement of Watches of Switzerland on Regent Street and this time it caught my eye enough for me to ask to try it on.

I'd love to be able to tell you that once I finally got it on my wrist I was blown away and that I can't believe I didn't try it on the first time I had the opportunity, but to be honest it was a little bit meh. I've never been that keen on the solid dial Heuer 01s anyway, and while this isn't a completely solid dial, it has the same look with the sub dials being much more obviously 'separate' than on my own original modular 45mm 'skeleton' Carrera.

When the Aston Martin tie in was announced and the first pictures of the two watches were released I was genuinely excited, particularly for the Formula 1 which looked great with it's acid yellow and black colour scheme, but in the flesh the F1 was massively muted and hugely disappointing. A similar feeling came over me when wrapping this around my wrist, it just lacks the necessary 'wow' factor for me to raise it above the standard models, and considering the price premium you are paying (this one retails for £5250) I can't see it somehow.

I guess a lot will depend on how you feel about the unique features of this particular piece, namely the hexagon dial, the ribbed case and of course the Aston Martin branding on the bezel and the running seconds subdial at the 9 O'clock position (is it me, but it doesn't matter how you type '9 O'clock' it never looks quite right). Speaking of which, I imagine it's been done for 'photogenic' reasons but the pictures give the impression that the large hand is a running seconds which is quite misleading in itself, at least to people unfamiliar with the movement and/or chronographs in general.

Personally, while I applaud the desire to get creative with the case, I don't really care for it too much. Of all the modular Carreras I've seen and tried on I still think they got it right first time with the black PVD coating and the thin red line, but fair play to them, this isn't just another special edition with a badge on the dial. Ah yes, the dial... when I saw the original pictures I thought the hexagon cut out dial looked great, but while I appreciate the idea, the execution is somewhat flawed in my opinion. Not the physical execution obviously, but the design.. it seems a bit all over the place. I think it would have been much better if all the hexagons had been the same, rather than big ones here, little ones here, intermediate ones over there... it just doesn't work for me. I guess it's 'clever', but I don't find it aesthetically pleasing. Also I can't help but think it was a missed opportunity to splash some of that acid yellow behind the hexagon cut-outs, but then again that would rather undermine the impact of the (since released) Nanograph.

On the plus side, the strap is lovely (TAG Heuer have really made some excellent straps for the new Carreras, I haven't found one I haven't liked yet) and while the watch has some unique features, the 'Aston Martin' branding isn't too over the top so it has a certain timelessness to it (says the man who wants an acid yellow background.... I know). The bezel is particularly successful, with the Aston Martin text substituted for the usual 'Tachymetre' and the TAG Heuer shield highlighted in red (complementing the red tip on the chrono second hand) but the position of the TAG Heuer logo on the dial is killing me. I'm no designer, but I want to say the logo should be centred in the middle of where a subdial directly mirroring the running seconds dial should be. Looking at it straight on it just begs to be moved over a couple of millimeters to the right... which, thinking about it, is probably where it was before they moved it!

I guess they wanted to give the date a bit more room, but now the logo looks like it's too close to the centre post and as a consequence it spends too much time obscured by the minute and hour hands, and looking at it, given that they've moved the logo could they not have moved the date window up to the '3' position as it was on the prototype (IIRC)? At least if the date was leveled up that would make the shield's new position more acceptable. Can you tell I'm not sold on this one? The weird thing is it looks good in the pictures, but as we know when it comes to watches, pictures only tell you half the story.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Black Ceramic Review by Brent L Miller Jewellers

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Catalogue 1996

Yet another catalogue from eBay and a bit of a mixed bag really. On the face of it this was a bargain at £5, but what I failed to appreciate from the listing was that the binding is on it's last legs. The seller did state that some pages were loose, which I didn't mind too much as it was reflected in the low starting bid - but now every time I look at it the pages are falling out more and more. I'm wondering if it's possible to either have it re-glued or whether I just need to buy some sort of glue gun myself, albeit whether I'd be able to make a decent job of repairing it is debatable!

That aside it's a pretty nice catalogue with some cool models inside. Not sure if there's much that isn't already covered by the other catalogues I already have, I think I'm probably getting to the point where I have enough catalogues now.

It's a pity the catalogues aren't regular sizes it would be so much better if I could have them all on a shelf together rather than in a big plastic box under my bed, but size-wise they are all over the place. At least the new ones are hardbound, but the older catalogues are so much more detailed. The best ones are the ones from about ten years ago with the majority of the range listed in the last few pages, but I'm sure TAG Heuer would argue that the website is the place to go now.

That may be the case, but the website isn't terribly user friendly and being that I know TAG already have a computer database for their older models, it would be nice if they could make that available for the public as well. It would certainly free up some space under my bed!

VIDEO: Rolex Fanboy Falls in Love with a TAG Heuer? by Marc Goldberg

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Formula One Quartz Singapore Limited Edition

WAH121E.BA0861

TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 15th April 2019

Again, not quite an 'On the Wrist' post, but more of an 'In the Hand' one... this is something you aren't going to see everyday, because this particular Formula 1 Quartz Ceramic is limited to just 150 pieces for the Singaporean market. Granted, you may wonder what exactly sets it apart from all the other ceramic F1 quartz models out there, because there are an awful lot of them that look quite similar. Well, this one has heat treated (black) diamonds around the outside of the bezel. I'd never heard of that before and so I had a quick Google and while I assumed that it meant the heat treatment turned the diamonds black, now I'm not so sure...

It seems that black diamonds are a naturally occurring (if rare) stone, and that heat treatment can turn a normal diamond different colours, but I can't see anywhere that says you can turn a white diamond black just with heat treatment, so I really don't know how these started out. It seems to me though that if you're going to have diamonds then have diamonds, because most people will assume if you have black stones in your watch/jewellery that they aren't diamonds... I mean, they kinda look like dark Sapphires to me.

It's interesting that you can change the colours of diamonds with heat treatment though. I heard rainbow bezels are the next big thing and if that's true then there has to be a cheaper way of doing it than the way (for example) Rolex currently do it, painstakingly hunting through and colour grading diamonds until they find enough stones... no wonder they charge so much money for them! Actually the chap I spoke to in Harrods earlier this year told me that TAG Heuer are making a rainbow bezel for a future Harrods limited edition, but I'm not sure if that's true or not... I guess we'll find out sooner or later.

Personally, I don't have a problem with the black diamonds, but I've never really liked the way TAG Heuer do these F1s with the stones stuck onto the outer edges of the bezel, it looks a bit 'after-market', like a car that's had a boot spoiler from Halfords tacked on as an afterthought. I actually think the plain white non-diamond ceramic black ceramics look great and represent an excellent, more affordable (and actually better looking to my eyes) alternative to the iconic Chanel J12

This limited edition is currently available at the Bicester outlet for £1470 (reduced from £2100) and if you like the look but not the black diamonds, they also have several variations including pink or violet stones as well. I'm not entirely sure about those, they do look a tiny bit 'My Little Pony' to me... but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder and they're not really aimed at me. I guess if I had a daughter I might buy one for her...

For a subtler look, Bicester can also offer you some black ceramics, which are very classy - my wife has one with diamond hour markers and that is a beautiful watch for sure. I've tried to get her excited about the white ceramics but she doesn't seem to care for them at all...

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02T Review by WatchBox Studios

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Goldsmiths 2018 Limited Edition

CAY111C.BA0927

Here's something I haven't seen before, I found this on the pre-sale section of the Watchfinder website and it immediately stood out. A little bit of research shows it was an exclusive Goldsmith's Limited Edition from 2018. Pictures of this one are few and far between, but it's still available from Goldsmiths and I can tell you that this is 43mm, carries a quartz 1/10th of a second chronograph movement and I assume it has an aluminium bezel insert. The original list price was £1900.

This one definitely reminds me of the 'Premier League' Aquaracer, even though that watch is a three hander, indeed at first glance I thought this was that watch and when I showed it to someone else that was their first reaction as well. I actually quite liked that piece, but not being a football fan it wasn't something I was ever going to buy (not with the logo on the dial), so this is a nice evolution of that without the football connection. 

It seems that while I've been preparing this post Watchfinder have put this watch on their site, so I can also tell you that the one they have is selling for £1585 with box and papers. It's also number 18 out of 250 if that's important to you, which it might be if you are 18 or if your birthday is the 18th or something... some people get excited about things like that I guess!

I much prefer this one to the recent Beaverbrooks Limited Edition, the one with the red minute hand, but I can't imagine this one lasting very long on Watchfinder before someone snaps this up. I am a little bit tempted, but at the same time £1500 would go a long way towards something a bit 'better' so I'll probably pass on this one this time.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Review by Watch Panda

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Ceramic Quartz Chronograph

CAH1210.BA0862

TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 15th April 2019

A few months ago I clocked the diamond bezel version of this watch in a pawn shop around the corner from where I work, it threw me a bit because it was big, but the diamonds and the general design suggested a ladies watch. A bit of research told me it was 41mm and my instinct was right in that it was part of the ladies collection. But at that size it's a bit of a hard sell unless you get a lady who likes a very big watch, so in the Bicester outlet they've moved it into the 'male oriented' cabinets in the hope of finding a buyer.

Objectively, it's hard to pin-point what makes a watch gender-specific, and so really there's no reason a man couldn't wear this. This particular model has no diamonds, and there's plenty of ceramics in the men's range these days, but I think somehow the combination of shiny black ceramic and polished steel bracelet does make this look a bit blingy, if not quite specifically feminine. I suppose it's hard for me to be objective because I know the women's ranges quite well so I pick up on the design cues more than some people would, to the casual buyer it could easily pass for a man's watch, especially with a chronograph function and if you do like the look of it then at just a shade over a grand it's quite a good buy.

I guess if you took it off the bracelet and put it on a strap of some kind that might 'man it up' a bit? I must say, those white hands make it very legible, I never thought to check the lume - if indeed that is lume? (Speaking of lume, store manager Tom's Formula 1 Senna has some fantastic lume - I should have got a picture of that! That watch is definitely going on my 'wants' list).

On the wrist though, it doesn't look at all bad. I've got a big 7.3/4" wrist and this looks chunky on me - it would look hilarious on my wife's tiny wrist, but would I wear it? Hmm, I don't think I would... but then I don't tend to wear 'dressy' watches anyway. Maybe a short, old, slightly round Englishman isn't the best secondary market for this piece, but I think a younger guy could pull it off. Probably the type that wears trainers with wings on or a white denim jacket, or both. 

This guy could wear the CAH1210 no problem.

I always secretly wanted a white denim jacket, bit late for that now - hahaha.

So, in conclusion, if you can carry it off, then why not. It's definitely not for me, and it's probably too big for most women, but if you are a slightly flamboyant guy and you don't get offended at the idea of wearing a 'women's' watch, then go for it. Let's be honest, outside of the watch community most people won't have a clue anyway!

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Aston Martin Special Edition by Time and Tide

FEATURE: My Top 10 Watch 'Wants'

Amazing as it may be, up until now my collecting has been slightly less than focused... I've tended to go with whatever catches my eye and what's available, rather than having a structured approach to building a collection. So I thought it was high time I sat down and made an actual list, because while I don't have any watches in my collection that I don't want or like anymore, there are definitely others that I like and want more and I don't want to add another ten watches and still be in the same position. So with that in mind I will be adding a new page to the blog, where I will add (and possibly occasionally subtract) watches that I would like to own. That page isn't ready yet, but when it is it will appear as a tab underneath the header image.

In the meantime, here are my top ten 'Watch Wants'. This doesn't necessarily mean that these will be the next ten watches I will buy, but they're certainly at the top end of my list at this very moment. Can't say the order is particularly important, but I'll number them anyway because lists are fun:

#1 TAG Heuer Aquaracer Camouflage

I hate the strap on this watch, which is probably why I haven't bought it yet... because I absolutely love the dial. You may have seen my post a couple of weeks ago where I photoshopped a rubber strap onto this one, which is a reasonable compromise, but still not really ideal and it has to be said this one is slightly overshadowed by the WAY208C. But the WAY208C is a hard watch to find, I've still never seen one and they rarely seem to come up for sale, so this may well end up in my collection first...

#2 TAG Heuer Formula 1 Red Bull Edition

I'm not overly fussed about Red Bull Racing one way or the other, I tend to favour whoever isn't winning as a rule... but as far as this watch goes it's a massive hit. The colour scheme is fantastic and the fact that they put the Red Bull logo on the back rather than on the dial is a big, big plus. This one is fairly easy to find on the pre-owned market, although the savings aren't that great at present as it's obviously a very popular model.

#3 TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500M Leonardo di Caprio Edition

I'm not actually fixated on the Leonardo di Caprio model, the standard blue dial 500M would be just as good. I really love my quartz grey dial 500M, so I'd really like to add a Calibre 5 variant with a different dial colour. I could even go for the black case / rose gold bezel model on the rubber strap but that would be quite a bold choice. I seem to be picking a lot of blue dials so far...

#4 TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Drive Timer

I don't regret buying my Carrera Heuer 01, but if I'd known this was going to come out eventually I probably would have hung on. I really like the Arabic numerals and the strap looks fantastic with the red stitching. I really need to investigate getting a strap like this for my Heuer 01. I've said that about a hundred times I know, maybe one day I will actually get around to it! Utterly gorgeous as it is, this is one of those watches that is a tough one to buy because it's quite a lot of money and might not that money be better spent on something else? Like the Carbon Carrera perhaps? (I've left that watch out for the moment as I want to present ten watches that are at least somewhat affordable...)

#5 TAG Heuer Pilot Watch (Blue)

I saw one of these in the TAG Heuer museum when I visited last year and it really is a stunning watch. There's an immaculate example for sale in the UK but the price is pretty high, even so I am tempted to take a drive up to Lancashire at some point and try it on because this has been a constant itch for me for quite a while now. I'm not really into Navitimers particularly, but this one really appeals to me, even though I know I will never use any of that gubbins around the bezel. Right, keep saving and see if it's still available I guess - unless a cheaper one comes along in the meantime?

#6 TAG Heuer Link Searacer

I actually bought one of these a few weeks ago, but when it arrived it had issues with the movement. I was really disappointed that it had to go back, but also quite disappointed in the condition. I wasn't disappointed in the watch though, it was very cool indeed - I mean, completely useless as far as the complication goes, but... you know. Cool. I guess it was one of those times when the price was too good to be true, which is a shame, but I'm definitely open to trying again.

#7 TAG Heuer Aquaracer WAY208C

I've been after this watch ever since I first clapped eyes on it, and still I've been unable to find one to try on. I remember when it was launched 'A Blog to Watch' took it off the silly nylon strap and put it on a black rubber Isofrane strap and it looked incredible. I did see one of these on eBay which had had the cyclops removed, which at the time seemed like a bit of a bonus - but in hindsight probably wasn't a good idea. I can't tell you how many times I've thought I've found one in stock, only to be told that it's not in stock and they can enquire about delivery. And for some reason it's still on TAG Heuer's website even though it's been sold out for about a year or more!

#8 TAG Heuer Formula 1 Senna

Tom, the manager of the Bicester store has one of these and it really is a stunner. Not only does it look way better (and more expensive) than any other Formula 1 I can think of, but it also has the Link bracelet, which is probably a good chunk of the reason why it looks so good. This is one I definitely want to get hold off, especially now I've seen how good the lume on this piece is. But, like the Red Bull Formula 1, the prices are holding up extremely well, so it might be a while before I can add this particular piece.

#9 TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5

The perfect alternative to the Rolex 'Polar' Explorer, and yours for a fraction of the price. I really like how different this is, but the cheaper quartz version just doesn't cut it for me. The hour markers and dial are both preferable on the Calibre 5 version, and the auto is also 2mm bigger at 43mm as well. Not sure how well the value on this will hold up, it might be a little bit Marmite to some people, I'm hoping it will drop enough that I can pick it up pre-owned for a reasonable price sooner or later.

#10 TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Chronograph

This is undoubtedly the piece I'm most nervous about. Having bought and sold a Calibre 8 GMT Grand Carrera in the last year I'm reluctant to add this to the list, but every time I've tried this on I've really liked it and I think the big problem with the GMT was that I compromised what I really wanted and regretted my decision. Ideally I'd like this blue dial variant, but it's a limited edition of 300 so I'll probably end up with a black dial. The brown dial is nice too, but when it comes to this one I want to limit the potential for error as much as possible!


So there we have it, no doubt by next week there'll be several other watches in the places of some of these, but that's why you shouldn't rush into buying watches (unless you have to, obviously). I originally included a Monaco in this list, but I swapped it out in the end because I'm just not totally sold on the Monaco and you can't really get one (or certainly not the one I picked) for a bargain price, so I can't see me buying one unless I win a lot of money somehow...

I will add my 'Watch Wants' page soon.