BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer S/EL Quartz Chronograph

CG1110-0

Long term readers may remember that I tried to buy a CG1110-0 from 'Birth Year Watches' quite some time ago, the price was reasonable, but the glass had a scratch in it and I know myself well enough to know that I wouldn't be able to 'live with it' so I asked if they could replace the glass. The guy at 'Birth Year Watches' tried his best, he ordered in 2 or 3 crystals but none of them fitted and then he emailed me that there was a problem with the movement and that it would need replacing (which they were happy to do at their cost). Ultimately they said they couldn't get a glass so they would have to sell it as it was (for some reason they aren't able to send to TAG direct, which I don't understand, but that's what they said), and that was the end of that.

So I was scuppered there and being an impatient type I reverted to a two tone model with a white dial I had been scouting previously on eBay. I bought that for £485 (the listing was for £599!) and I've enjoyed that for the last ten months (wow, is that all it is!) but I never gave up on the idea of getting a CG1110 eventually. So I've kept my eye out, but every one I've seen has been lacking in some respect, either the bezel is damaged or the glass marked or on the odd occasion I have found a minty one the price has been north of £750, which is just too much in my opinion.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I found this one on eBay for a Buy It Now price of £400, and even more pleasantly surprised when I noticed the seller was open to offers. As it turned out the seller wasn't 'that' open to offers as I still had to pay £390 for it, but even so... if there wasn't a 'Make an Offer' button I would have paid £400 without much fuss if I'm honest, especially as the bracelet is the perfect size for my 7.3/4" wrist (which is always a consideration when buying pre-owned).

The watch arrived promptly and as ever the post had done their worst and the chrono hands were all over the place, but this was nothing I hadn't encountered before and once I'd pulled out the crown and reset all the hands it all appeared good. Overall the watch was in great condition, with only light surface marks on the case and bracelet (it wasn't until I took the picture above that I noticed the scratches on the back) and the glass was absolutely perfect.

The watch came with the original (black) barrel box and outer box, along with the manual, warranty card, an extra leaflet explaining how to adjust the unusual bracelet (I posted this some while ago HERE) and a spare link. So I was super happy all round, at least until I decided to do my usual check on the chronograph and realised that the (red) minute hand on the chrono didn't move and vibrated when pressing the reset button.

So I contacted the seller and I quickly came to the conclusion that he was a genuine guy who was surprised and probably a bit put out by the news that the watch wasn't working as it should be and as he believed it to be. The upshot was that he suggested I take it to a local repairer, which I did and who seemed to think it was a simple fix that would be done as part of a service.

So the watch went away for a couple of weeks, and when I picked it up the problem remained, so it went back again. This time they wrote on the paperwork what the problem was as the repair centre obviously didn't test the chronograph function... hmm. So another ten days passed and the watch came back again, with a new battery for some reason... but still they hadn't fixed the problem. So off it went again.

As you can imagine, the next time I went to pick the watch up I wasn't exactly overflowing with confidence... and right enough when they handed me the watch the red hand was not at the '12' position and wouldn't reset, but once I'd manually reset it it worked. The relief between me and the man in the shop was palpable.

The tritium lume is very weak, but only expected to last 25 years anyway

The seller promptly paid the £65 repair fee as agreed, but the repair was short lived and the problem returned to normal the following day. With the benefit of hindsight, the smart thing to do would have been to have returned the watch on arrival, but now the seller was £65 out of pocket and I had a watch that worked perfectly (apart from the chronograph), so I decided the best thing to do would be to enjoy my free battery and reseal (warrantied for a year) and then take it somewhere else to get it sorted, and if it costs me for a new movement, well... I'll just have to take it on the chin I guess.

Incidentally, since I missed it yesterday, this is my 1001st post!