385.513/081
For as long as I can remember, well... quite a few years now at any rate, I've really wanted a 385.513/085 Formula 1. This began when I read a fantastic article on Calibre 11 about someone who had bought one and worn it for years, then decided to restore it to 'as new' condition. It really is worth a read and I will leave a link to the article at the bottom of the page.
But these F1s don't seem to come up all that often and when they do they seem to fetch a pretty penny. But then I found this on eBay, which I like as it is - but the only difference between a 385.513/081 and the 385.513/085 is that the latter has a red strap not a black one. This is easily resolved, as red straps are available direct from TAG Heuer for £32 (or £78 from eBay!)
BS0085
When I found this one it was up for £210, which didn't seem that unreasonable, but it was more than I really wanted to pay since it wasn't quite what I was looking for and it does have some slight damage to the text on the case. However it did have a new strap and a new battery and the crystal was described as perfect, so when the seller dropped the price to £180, I started to take a little more interest.
The seller was still inviting offers despite the price drop and so I fired in a cheeky bid of £165. I suspected it would be turned down, but since I wasn't dead set on buying it at any cost I was okay either way. After a few minutes the seller came back with a compromise deal at £172.50, which I accepted.
Two days later the watch dropped through my letterbox sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard... not exactly the best packaging, but it did the job. Straight out of the box I loved the bright red case and though I like it with the black strap I'm not regretting my decision to order a red strap for it.
This picture makes the bezel looks quite battered but on my wrist it really isn't noticeable at all. The lume in the hands has gone very dark, but since the dial is white and the hands themselves are black it creates a good contrast and makes for good legibility. In time I may decide to replace the hands and bezel, but I'm not in any great rush to start pouring money into this one just yet.
I whipped the back off and it looks fine, no obvious signs of water ingress and I've noted that it takes a Renata 395 battery for when the time comes (in fact I've ordered one for stock seeing as I have two watches that will take this battery, one of them is bound to need it in the next year or so).
It does make me wonder if I should sell my all black Formula 1 though, do I really need two of them? I guess not, but if anything I might be more minded to buy more and create a mini-collection of resin F1s... I've always liked the blue and white one and I know someone who has a yellow and grey one they might like to sell.
Of course at 35mm these are quite small, but I find them oddly wearable. I think this is in part due to the straps which have the TAG Heuer logo on both parts, somehow these seem to add some additional 'chunk' to the overall package. I don't know, there's something about these old F1s and it's nice to buy something for fun without having to worry too much about losing a ton of money on it. In a world where people are obsessed with 'value propositions' and 'investment potential', I say just get one of these little fellas and enjoy it without worry!
Here's the link to the 'My TAG' story on Calibre 11, well worth a read:
https://www.calibre11.com/mytag-tag-heuer-formula-1-1989/
No comments:
Post a Comment