BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer 3000 Quartz Watch

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When I visited the TAG Heuer museum last year, I saw quite a few things that I'd never encountered in the flesh before, not least the Pilot watch, several S/ELs and a 3000 Series chronograph. That trip to La Chaux de Fonds inspired many a purchase, albeit the Pilot took a little while to track down at a sensible price and the 3000 Chronograph still eludes me to this day. But at the tail end of last year I managed to pick up a two tone 3000 three hander for a very reasonable price (£275) and which I wrote about in my 'Buying Experience' post and my 'Owned' post.

3000 Series TAG Heuers are a bit of a nightmare when it comes to buying pre-owned; there's plenty on eBay, but they are generally two-tone, generally the gold on them is worn and 90% of them seem to originate from Japan. That poses a couple of problems, one being that they tend to have been owned by people with smaller wrists and another being that you have to factor in potential customs charges when shipping in to the UK.

The other thing you have to be careful of when buying 3000 Series watches is that they made them in four sizes; men's, boys, ladies and midsize. If you are not careful you can easily end up with a 34mm instead of the 37/38mm you were expecting. And this was the downfall of some of the steel 3000s I unearthed, they looked good until I checked the part number and then realized with some disappointment that they were 'midsize'.

I did come across one 'NOS' steel 3000 Series in Italy (European Union, so no customs fees to concern myself with) but they wanted about £800 for it. Granted it was 'NOS' and still had the label on it (but it also had a scratch on the bezel). I wrestled with that one for a long time and even offered them something like £550 for it, but they countered with £675 if I remember correctly and I wasn't prepared to go to that.

The two-tone one I bought was listed on eBay from a UK seller for about £550 I think, and I offered half that amount and they accepted. I think it was well over-priced at £550, but I didn't expect them to accept £275 either. But then again, these watches can be had from Japan for less than £200, but if you end up with one with a 6" bracelet that's not a lot of good... and finding links for these is no easy task.

When I think about it, there's something of a pattern here with my two-tone watches. Time was I never thought I'd own one, and then I came across a 2000 Exclusive in two-tone in a sale and bought that, then I tried to buy a CG1110 S/EL and when that failed I bought a two-tone and then when I couldn't find a steel 3000 Series I ended up buying a two-tone instead. I don't think I'd have bought any of these watches had I bought the steel versions first, but that doesn't necessarily mean I will be selling them now that I do. Indeed, I really like my two-tone 3000 Series, but I've always wanted a steel one to complement it. True, they both have grey dials but are quite different in tone and the gold plating gives the two-tone quite a different look.

I found this one on eBay with a starting bid of £335 but no bidders, I can't actually remember if I bid at the end of the auction or if I had to leave a bid... I think I might have had to leave a bid, and I think I bid around the £500 mark, but luckily nobody else bid so I got it for that £335 minimum. I emailed the seller several times about the watch; it had been her father's and had been in a drawer for twelve years until she decided to sell it and had a new battery put in it. I asked about the bracelet length and she sent me a picture holding a tape measure to the watch, it looked about right, but potentially one or maybe two links short for me, but I figured I would risk it.

When the watch arrived it came in the super cool retro TAG Heuer box and with the original instructions, but sadly no extra links. I've transferred one of the links from my two-tone bracelet into this one as I had an excess there (with the idea that I could rub the gold off), but I still really need one more steel link as the bracelet is still a little tight. Unfortunately so far I don't have one, but I'm working on it.

The watch works perfectly and looks fantastic; it does have a scuff on the bezel at around the '4' position, but it's only really visible when you catch the light on it; aside from that it looks really good and I think I would have happily paid £500 for it actually. It is a bit of a pain about the links, but I have recently discovered a 'clasp expander' on eBay that might serve as a temporary solution and allow me to start wearing the watch.

I think once I've been able to wear the watch for a little while, I shall do a 'Duel' post comparing the two watches and see which one comes out on top. I really love the mad 80s styling, the crazy bezel and the enormous TAG Heuer logo on the dial, and I can't see either of these ever leaving my collection. I just need to find myself a chronograph now...