CH1110.BA0675
Of all my watches, this is the one that I have the flakiest connection with... someone expressed an interest in it not too long after I bought it and I was quite open to the idea of selling it for what I paid, and just after Christmas I actually put it on eBay, but took it down again an hour later.
I've had this one about fifteen months now, and all the way along it's blown hot and cold. I guess it didn't help that as soon as I got the watch it had to go back for repair because the chronograph wasn't working properly and some of the bracelet links were worn.
Once it came back it worked fine and the bracelet was all sorted, so kudos to the seller - he was as good as his word... although I had to wait a few weeks to get it back. I think his watchmaker was on holiday or something, I can't remember... it was around Christmas time too so that was probably a factor. Still once it came back it was 100% as described and I should have been over the moon. I don't think I was, I was relieved that the problems had been sorted - but I was a bit indifferent and it's never really recovered from that initial setback.
So why is it that I'm still not 100% committed to the CH1110?
Well it's not the design, that's for sure. I like the 6000 Series, I have this one and a three hander with a blue dial.. and while I sometimes look at it and think 'who the hell designed this pretentious looking watch?', it's definitely not the case that puts me off because I've never had any doubts about my other piece.
On paper the chronograph should be the better of the two, it's larger (40mm v 38mm), thicker, and it looks better scaled up - the three hander is rather thin I feel, and the bracelet seems more suited to the larger version too (both watches wear the exact same bracelet). On the other hand, the smaller, thinner watch seems to sit on the wrist a lot better. I have quite a big wrist and 40mm is not a big watch size for me but sometimes the watch seems to sit off my wrist more than I'd really like it to.
I think my biggest issue with this watch though is the dial. I've never been crazy about silver dial watches, but in the eBay photographs it looked quite different..
This is one of the actual photos from when I bought the watch on eBay
See how the dial appears darker (almost blueish) and the subdials look distinct from the main dial, well that's not really how it looks when it's on your wrist, most of the time it's much more like the picture at the top of the page where the whole dial just looks like a a wash of silver.
I do have one other silver dial watch in my collection (my WN1153 2000 Exclusive), but that has a gold bezel and a two-tone bracelet and in that context I am okay with it. I just think steel watches with silver dials are almost always just a bit too tonal and generally seem a bit 'cheap' looking... they somehow give me this 'entry level' feel, as if you got the model you wanted, but you couldn't quite afford some paint for the dial... a bit like the old days when you'd buy a car and there would be blank switches because you didn't stump up the extra cash for the better model.
Apologies to any of my readers who love their silver dial watches, it's not you... it's me!
I sold a few watches last year and each time I sold one I realised that another one fell to the bottom of the pile. That's kind of how I felt about this one when I put it on eBay for an hour, but then I realised that while this may not be my favourite watch every day, there are days when I really like it... and if it is at (or near) the bottom of the pile, it's not like it's trailing along way behind like the CAF1112 Aquaracer was.
Indeed when I wear it now, I often can't imagine how I came to the decision to list it, even at a rather high price (maybe I was subconsciously sabotaging the sale?). While I do wish the dial was coloured rather than silver (black, blue or even green would do... anything to give a bit of contrast), there's no denying the silver dial does look rather classy and works well with the design. But I can't help thinking how much better it looks in that eBay photo...
I don't think I will sell this one, it's been a rocky road but I do feel somewhat attached to it now... maybe if I wanted to pick up a different 6000 Chrono I would sell it then, there's some nice limited edition versions out there after all - but they seem quite pricey, so I'll probably just keep this one. At least the bracelet is in excellent condition and the chronograph functions properly.
It's so strange how your feelings change about a watch, when I got this (before I had to send it back for repair) it seemed like a real hum-dinger... still, maybe if I can keep it long enough it will come back fully into favour. We'll see.
Incidentally, if you're in the market for a TAG Heuer 6000 on a bracelet check out this post before you commit to buy:
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