WH5143.BG0675
This is a photo of the actual watch taken from AMJ's website
You may remember I did a post about this piece a few weeks ago where I said I might just have to take a trip to Newark to have a look for myself. Well, lo and behold, a few weeks later, here we are. I rather cunningly talked my wife into a day out taking in Newark and Lincoln (with a trip to the Electric Bar in the evening for cocktails) and so managed to place myself on Andrew Michael's doorstep mid afternoon on Wednesday.
I have to say, Andrew Michael has quite a swish shop. I wasn't expecting anything quite as well stocked. They have a good selection of Hublots, TAG Heuers, Oris and about a third of the shop is given over to Breitling. It's like a mini Watches of Switzerland in there! Not only that, but in the corner I spied a TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 wall clock. Very nice indeed (and 100% not for sale).
If you are in the area it's definitely worth a look, if only to marvel at some of the Hublots and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Knuckledusters they have. But me, I was only here for one thing...
I'd already messaged the shop and established that they still had the gold 6000, and sure enough within a few minutes of arriving we were sitting down with the blue outer box in front of us. I don't think I've ever seen a blue outer box from TAG Heuer before and it was obviously very specific to the model as it had 6000 Gold written on the lid.
Not a picture of the actual box.
Opening up the box revealed a wooden box inside with some polished metal corner pieces, I wish I'd asked if I could take some photographs, but I don't really like doing that with people I don't know.
Not a photo of the actual watch.
Inside the wooden box we found a blue half lining with a circular recess to the base, which holds a surprisingly small barrel shaped case containing the watch itself. Before I continue I just want to point out that the picture directly above is not the actual watch, compared to the watch AMJ have that one is dog-rough. No, the WH5143 that emerge from the barrel case was mintier than a Polo sitting on a Glacier Mint, sitting on a Trebor Xtra Strong Mint. Seriously, it is flawless, which is all the more amazing when you see how easily solid 18K gold takes scratches.
And it's heavy, which shouldn't be a surprise, but given that I'm guessing it's the exact same dimensions as my blue dial quartz 6000 three hander, it was significantly weightier on the wrist. However, the watch is quite thin for an automatic and as such it doesn't feel at all bulky. I don't think it weighs quite as much as my Aquagraph for example, it may do... but it's a lot easier to wear (if you can ever call a solid gold watch 'easy to wear'?).
Again, this is not a photo of the actual watch.
The dial has zero discolouration, and looks almost like enamel. It's certainly not your average run of the mill white dial that looks a bit creamy, or a bit silvery, it's a perfect white. The case is a combination of brushed and polished gold, but the polishing is kept to a minimum with just parts of the bezel and lugs dressed and the very tips of the inbetween links of the bracelet. This was an excellent decision on the part of TAG Heuer as the watch looks truly magnificent and the brushing is so well done, it really does look amazing. The brushed finish also stops the watch looking too blingy, and is a big part of the reason why I really took to it. It looks refined and elegant rather than crass and showy.
This is a photo of the actual watch taken from AMJ's website.
You know, I went into this expecting to get a look at a really nice watch, writing a post about it and then moving on. And right about now is when I would usually drop the price on you and say 'which is a lot of money and if I had that money to burn I would buy 'X' instead, but this watch is so stunning, I think it may well be my new grail. Not just this watch in general though, it would have to be in this condition: basically 'as new'. The damned thing even fitted my wrist straight out of the box, and my wife was getting twitchy I'm sure!
The price on the website is £7,000, but this is negotiable if you don't want the finance. I was offered a significantly better price although I won't say exactly what here. Honestly you will not find a better example of this piece as it is utterly flawless and covered by AMJ's warranty, which might come in handy if you find the watch isn't performing within it's chronometer specification.
Obviously, having just depleted my fund to zero buying the WAY208C and the Searacer last week, it's going to take me a little while to get this sort of money together. I wonder if the watch will still be available by then...? If I'm honest, part of me hopes it will be, but part of me hopes it won't!
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