ON THE WRIST: Formula One Calibre 5 Watch

WAZ2115.FT8023

Goldsmiths / Milton Keynes, 28th September 2019

I've had this post on the back burner so long that it's turned from being a 'Spotlight On' post to an 'On the Wrist' post, so I guess waiting on this one kinda paid off in the end! So I found this one in Goldsmiths in their 'pre-owned' section, and it caught my eye on a day when really nothing was catching my eye at all; it was a sea of mediocrity all round to be truthful... and not a green Aquaracer in sight. Bah!

The watch itself is unfussy but smart. The black PVD gives it an edge that the stainless version simply wouldn't have and that combined with the small red touches on the dial, seconds hand and crown make this a nice little every day wearer. It does feel a little bit small on the wrist (I was wearing a 43mm Aquaracer on the day though) and black does tend to make watches look smaller than they are, but this one is only 41mm so it's definitely on the smaller side for a modern Formula 1.

I remarked to the salesman that it looked in amazing condition for a pre-owned PVD coated watch and he explained that in truth a lot of their 'pre-owned' watches are actually ex-display or just watches they want to sell, and so it seems they go through a process a bit like 'pre-registering' cars where a garage stamps the log book and sells it to themselves in order that they can discount it more heavily than they normally would. So in fact the watch had never been worn, but was offered at £1095, some £505 off the list price of £1600; quite a substantial saving.

I didn't even realise until I had it on my wrist that the watch is an automatic with the ubiquitous 'Calibre 5' movement inside, I just assumed it was a quartz! But, if I'm completely honest, after a couple of minutes I kinda lost interest in the watch, but the strap is another matter... I loved it. It's perforated rubber and it just looked and felt really great and I was mentally visualising it transplanted onto my WAY208C (even though I already have a black rubber strap for that one that I haven't yet tried out). I would definitely consider getting one of those for something...

On the whole then, this watch definitely didn't stir any great feeling in me, but it's not a bad little watch and this particular one is great value for money.