Monday, 31 August 2020
Sunday, 30 August 2020
BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Catalogue 1988-1989
I believe it was about this time last year that I last tried to buy one of these catalogues, that time I was unsuccessful as my bid was beaten by someone who paid about £45 for it and I was not able to respond as I was otherwise indisposed at the time. So when I spotted this on eBay the other day with a 'Buy It Now' price of £30 I jumped on it. Actually I did try a 'Best Offer' of £26 thinking that the listing might be set up to automatically accept bids over £25, but unfortunately not... and not wanting to wait and run the risk of losing the catalogue a second time, I stumped up the full £30.
Again, not having the time to ask questions, I wasn't 100% sure if this was the 1988 catalogue or the 1988-1989 catalogue. They both have the same front cover, but the later version has the 3000 Series watches in (so that was what I was hoping for). There were only 4 (not very good) photographs and comparing the pages with the PDF files on Calibre 11 it seemed like I was getting the 1988/1989 catalogue, but either way I was having it.
Thankfully when it arrived it turned out that it was indeed the later version, but oddly it still doesn't match the PDF on Calibre 11. Near the back of mine there's a photograph of a man in a pink shellsuit doing a jump on skis in front of a helicopter. I'm not making this up, honest... how 1988 can you get?
No, its no good I'm going to have to take a photograph of it...
Isn't that brilliant?
:)
The seller despatched pretty quickly and the catalogue was well wrapped in bubble wrap. It isn't the most pristine catalogue I've got admittedly, but it's certainly still what I would call 'Very Good', save for the cover which I would probably class as 'Good'. I'm just glad that I could finally add this to my collection, it certainly took me a while to find another copy.
You can browse the entire catalogue by visiting Calibre 11 or by clicking the link below:
https://www.calibre11.com/catalogues/tag-heuer-annual-catalogues/1988-1989-tag-heuer-catalogue/
Saturday, 29 August 2020
PRICE LIST: TAG Heuer February 2010 Price List
To go full size; click on an image and all the images in the post will open in a 'light box', then open each image in a new tab and you can click '+' to magnify each page.
VISIT THE TAG HEUER PRICE LIST PAGE BY CLICKING HERE
Friday, 28 August 2020
ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer F1 Kirium Quartz Chronograph
CL111A.FT6002
TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 19th August 2020
If you've been reading my blog for a while you will know that my first ever TAG Heuer was a CL111A F1 Kirium which I purchased brand new in 2004/5. So you might wonder why I wanted to try on this CL111A today, and the simple answer is that I've always wondered what my watch would be like to wear on a rubber strap rather than the steel bracelet that mine came on.
I missed a previous chance to try one on actually, I saw a pre-owned one in a jewellers one day but I didn't have time to try it on and I never went back, but I've lost count of the times I've seen Kiriums on rubber straps on eBay and wondered 'what if...'.
I am a bit of a rubber strap fanboy, it's true - so this should be right up my alley... but somehow it didn't quite feel right. Maybe it's because I'm so accustomed to my own F1 Kirium, but this just struck me as very odd and for a moment I actually questioned whether this was the exact same watch as I own because it looked weirdly small on my wrist.
Funnily enough, someone asked a question the other day as to whether the F1 Kirium was made in different sizes and I knew it wasn't - but just for a second I began to doubt reality myself! It doesn't look small in these photos admittedly, but I always find watches look bigger in photographs than they do in real life.
I'm happy to report that the clasp isn't like the ones I've had so much trouble with in the past (the ones that come on the FT6024 straps) and I don't think it would be a problem on the wrist, but at the same time it doesn't really compare to the clasps you get today. It's a pressure fit clasp for a start, which is fine - but it doesn't feel particularly secure or more pertinently particularly 'high-end'. I can't honestly say I'm a massive fan of this rubber strap either, it seems rather too 'grey' for me and while I get that the design is supposed to emulate the grooved tires that Formula 1 cars were running back in the mid 2000s (remember those?) for me it doesn't really work with the case.
This particular CL111A.FT6002 is currently available at the Bicester Village outlet store priced at £1925. If you saw my previous post on this you may have noticed that I inadvertently used a picture showing a smooth rubber strap rather than this one. I honestly think that looks better, but for me I'm afraid the F1 Kirium belongs on a bracelet and only a bracelet. It has one of the best bracelets TAG Heuer have ever made so I say stick with that!
No rubber strap Kiriums for me then, but I did see one on a leather strap the other day that looked pretty neat - maybe I will investigate that a little more now...!
Thursday, 27 August 2020
SPOTLIGHT ON: Interviews!
I'm very happy to report that the views on my blog have increased quite significantly over the last six months, up by about 70% in fact! So I thought it might be worth taking a moment to welcome my new readers and say thank you to them for taking the time to read my posts and as I'm about to embark on a second round of interviews with various TAG Heuer enthusiasts (most of whom are residents of the Calibre 11 forum), to present some links to last year's interviews for those who haven't read them.
A lot of this years interviews will be people who have already been interviewed once already, so even if you have read these already it might be worth refreshing your memory before the new ones arrive. I believe I already have about 14-15 interviewees in line, waiting for me to come up with some questions... but if you fancy the idea of being interviewed about your interest in watches, or if you have any amazing questions you'd like me to ask, please leave a comment below and I will see what I can do!
INTERVIEW #1: T H JUNKIE (26 Jun 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/06/interview-thjunkie-calibre11-forum.html
INTERVIEW #2: OTTO WILLIAM (9 Jul 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-otto-william-calibre-11-forum.html
INTERVIEW #3: JIM DOLARES (19 Jul 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-jim-dollares-calibre-11-forum.html
INTERVIEW #4: DAVID CHALMERS (31 Jul 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-david-chalmers-editor-and.html
INTERVIEW #5: MR ORANGE (10 Aug 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/08/interview-mr-orange-calibre-11-forum.html
INTERVIEW #6: M SPEEDSTER (28 Aug 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/08/interview-mspeedster-calibre-11-forum.html
INTERVIEW #7: REMO (11 Sep 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/09/interview-remo-calibre-11-forum-member.html
INTERVIEW #8: PITFITTER446 (28 Sep 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/09/interview-pitfitter-446-calibre-11.html
INTERVIEW #9: ALBERT AMG (15 Oct 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/10/interview-albert-amg-calibre-11-forum.html
INTERVIEW #10: YAGO (29 Oct 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/10/interview-yago-calibre-11-forum-member.html
INTERVIEW #11: HUBERT (12 Nov 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/11/interview-hubert-calibre-11-forum_12.html
INTERVIEW #12: MR OTTO Interviews THE TAG HEUER ENTHUSIAST (20 Dec 2019)
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/12/interview-mr-otto-springs-surprise.html
Wednesday, 26 August 2020
FEATURE: TAG Heuer Servicing and Repairs
Way back in February... before the Covid crisis, before I had my right tonsil out, before the F1 season started... I noticed the quick change date on my Senna F1 (WAZ1014) wasn't working. Fortunately, it still had five months warranty left on it and I scooted over to see the guys at Bicester Village and got them to send it back for me. Unfortunately, when I got there, in demonstrating the problem I managed to pull the crown and stem completely out of the watch... that wasn't a good feeling, I can tell you!
Anyway, the watch went away for a few weeks and when I went to pick it up I decided it was time to get my blue dial 2000 Exclusive and my black dial S/EL chronograph repaired. The 2000 worked great, the only problem with it was that when you unscrewed the crown to change the time or date, the crown unscrewed itself from the stem. This meant you could only change the hands backwards, which made setting the time and date an adventure... I did ponder dabbing a droplet of glue on the crown and screwing it in (as some 'thug' suggested on the Calibre 11 forum - it was you Pitfitter446!), but I thought better of it as the glue was bound to end up where it shouldn't and I would be in an even worse situation.
The S/EL had more issues, the main one being that the red minute hand on the chronograph didn't move and jiggled when you tried to reset it as if it wasn't attached properly. Also the lume on the dial and hands was quite badly patinated and I decided since it was going back anyway I would get a quote for a re-lume while I was at it.
When you return product to LVMH you are sent an email with a link to track your items' progress through the system. I think that's quite a good idea as as least you know what's going on and what stage of the process you are at. The quotes came quite quickly, though I must admit that this being my first experience of returning a watch to the manufacturer for service it was a bit more expensive than I had anticipated.
I assumed that the blue 2000 would just be a case of re-fixing the crown onto the stem, or maybe just a new crown and stem, but the quote detailed that the watch needed a service and so the total for that including polishing the case/bracelet and replacing the back and crystal gaskets was £240. The watch itself actually cost me £255, but I figured for a total of £495 I would have a good as new 2000, so I approved the quote.
The S/EL had a more detailed quote since all the hands and the dial were going to be replaced and it had also at some time suffered moisture ingress. The actual service itself was £315. The dial replacement was £130 (I naively assumed that my dial would have it's lume repainted but apparently not) and the total bill including everything was £529. I had bought the watch for just £400, so it was a bit of a shock to be honest, but having seen photographs of someone else's recently serviced CG1110 I decided to take the plunge.
In the meantime I noticed that something wasn't quite right with my WAZ1014...
I'd worn it for a day or two, but it wasn't until I took this photograph that I noticed the lume was missing out of the minute hand. No immediate panic as of course the watch still had a few months of warranty remaining, but what bemused me slightly was that I couldn't see the lume rolling around under the crystal, which meant that it had dropped out while it was being repaired and no one had noticed. To be fair I hadn't noticed either, and actually I quite liked the way it looked! Still, common sense prevailed and I returned once more to Bicester Village (which is always a pleasure anyway) and the watch was sent back to the service centre once again.
By this time it was March and Covid19 was a thing, suddenly Bicester Village and the service centre itself were closed down and thus began the start of a long wait to get my watches back. With classic poor timing I found myself in hospital twice (the last place you wanted to be in March 2020, frankly), first to have my right tonsil removed... and then a week later when blood started pouring from my mouth at 1AM! Oh what fun that was... no sleep, then a full day on a ward watching endless old episodes of 'Top Gear' on a TV that froze for two seconds every thirty seconds, while gargling peroxide solution (which is spectacularly unpleasant by the way).
By the start of July all three watches were back at Bicester and Tom sent me some photos to show me how great they looked. Unfortunately his super duper camera phone showed up every remaining scratch on the bezel of the 2000 which gave the impression that it hadn't been polished at all (anyone who has tried to sell a watch on eBay knows the peril of photographing polished watch bezels) and worse still my S/EL had been returned with a completely different dial.
For those of you who are not aware, the CG1110 S/EL had two dial designs... mine, which was the original and then this one with the silver sub-dial rings. Quite why they decided not to give it a new number when they changed the dial I don't know, but they didn't and this is the result. I must admit it did occur to me at one point to mention this because I did know about this quirk in the numbering, but I thought 'surely no one would change the dial to one that looks completely different and not notice', so I didn't bother.
Again to be fair, the root of the problem lies with the person who decided to keep the original catalogue number and dial number when the dial design changed 25 years ago. But at the time I was a little irritated by it, especially as I thought they'd probably thrown my dial away or possibly damaged it getting it out (they hadn't of course, but I didn't know that at the time).
On the positive side, the bezel and bracelet looked great, and I tried my best to persuade myself that it was a good thing as I already had the old style dial on my white faced, two-tone S/EL... but to be honest I wasn't really buying it. When I went looking for a CG1110 to buy I quickly realised that there were two different dial designs and I always wanted the original version - I just never liked those thick silver subdial rings.
Thankfully, Tom got straight on it and came back to me very quickly with a response from the service centre. Unfortunately it was not the best news; a replacement for my dial was not available so the option was either keep the new dial or have my old one put back in. I opted to have mine put back in and they apologised profusely for messing me about and promised to get it back to me as soon as possible. In the event it was slowed down a bit by Covid and the need to quarantine the watch for two days each way, but it came back within a week and they credited my card straight away as well.
As it happened I had ordered a strap for my Pilot watch in the meantime and then when that came in I ordered a strap for my red F1, and when that came in I ordered a strap for my yellow F1, and then when that came in I ordered a black F1 strap, so I didn't actually end up picking up my watches until half way through August... but it was worth the wait.
I had a lovely time picking up my bounty of goodies (I will post about the straps another day as this post is already getting quite long) and it was so nice to finally get my watches back. The Senna F1 particularly as I had only bought it in December so it was away for more than half the time I had owned it!
Happily the 2000 Exclusive looked much better in person and they clearly had polished it as well as they could. Sure there are still some light scratches, but I'd rather they didn't polish it too much as I've seen one of these that's been overdone and you lose the sharp edges on the over-riders and that looks pretty dreadful.
The S/EL looks fantastic too, and it finally works properly. It's amazing the difference a sonic clean makes to the bracelet, it looks so fresh and I'm really glad I sent it in. The hands look so much better than they did before; I was a little concerned that the they would look too new with the old dial put back in, but the worst of the patination was on the hands anyway so I think it looks absolutely fine.
The bezel on my S/EL is super-crisp now, as they obviously replaced the bezel spring as part of the the service. The 2000 isn't quite as impressively clicky but maybe they just never were? The service centre send all the old bits back with your watch as well, so you can see all the gaskets, hands and other parts that have been changed. It really makes you appreciate just how tiny the chrono hands are on the S/EL!
I now have three more watches that need attention, my silver dial 6000 chrono and my blue dial Kirium chrono both need servicing as the chronographs on both are not working properly. My blue dial Kirium probably needs a lot of money spending on it, it could do with a new bracelet for a start, and maybe a new bezel as well. That's not going to be cheap, but on the other hand I'd have a minty new Kirum, so it might be worth it.
The other issue I have is that the crown on my WAY208C Aquaracer needs attention. When I unthread it it winds the watch as it should, but when I pull it to the first position it either does nothing or it moves the second hand(!). If I pull it out a tiny bit further it changes the date, but it doesn't feel like it's connecting properly. Fortunately I still have about 9 months warranty left on this one. I could have taken it back when I collected these watches but I just wanted to have all my watches back together for a little while.
All in all, Covid19 delays and dial mix-ups aside, I am very happy with the service I received. My watches look great and knowing that they've been serviced and that I have a year warranty on them is a good feeling. As always Tom and the guys at Bicester were great, none of the problems were of their making and once the service centre was open again they resolved the problem very quickly and efficiently (thank you to Catherine at the service centre).
As far as I know there are only two particular watches in the history of TAG Heuer where they changed the dial but kept the catalogue number the same, it's just typical that I would have owned both of them (the WAH1110 is the other). As such this problem isn't going to affect you unless you have one of those or an original dial S/EL chronograph (it would also affect the other dial colours, not just the CG1110 by the way).
In closing, Tom assures me that the service centre is fully up to date now, all the backlog caused by the shutdown has been cleared, so when I take my Aquaracer in it should only take a few weeks to come back... I just need to decide how much I'm willing to spend on my blue dial Kirium I guess!
Tuesday, 25 August 2020
Monday, 24 August 2020
BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer 2012 Formula 1 Catalogue ++
I don't know how many times I've seen this red catalogue on eBay, and it's always described simply as a 2012 'catalogue'. Since I have the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 catalogues I've always kind of assumed that it was just one of those two with a different coloured cover, as such I didn't really fancy spending a lot of money to find out it was something I already had.
But then I came across this bundle of catalogues on eBay, comprising the aforementioned red catalogue, the 'Art of Manufacturing' catalogue (which I already have) and a 'Connected' booklet... which I don't have all that much interest in to be honest!
I think the bundle was a 'Buy it Now' for £6.50 or something like that, but as I was feeling particularly stingy that day I decided to make an offer instead and managed to get the lot for £5. Plus £4.10 postage... bargain! Well, bargain if it wasn't the same catalogue with a different cover!
As it turns out, the red catalogue is not one of those other catalogues with a different cover, it's actually a 2012 Formula 1 collection catalogue which I definitely don't already have. There's nothing particularly exciting or unique in there but at the price I paid I can't really grumble can I? Interestingly, I never knew Jessica Machibata was a TAG Heuer ambassador, maybe Jenson just got her a photoshoot?
Sunday, 23 August 2020
Saturday, 22 August 2020
ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aqauracer Calibre 5 Two Tone Watch
WBD2120.BB0930
TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield, 17th August 2020
Clearly, two-tone isn't everyone's cup of tea... but I don't mind it. As it stands I own three two-tone watches; a grey dial 3000 Series, a white dial S/EL chronograph and a silver dial 2000 Exclusive. I like all three of them, but since I bought them all pre-owned I pretty much avoided the premium that precious metals add to the price of a watch. And it is quite a premium; this 41mm Aquaracer costs £2600, which is about £750 more than a regular, steel bezel Calibre 5 Aquaracer of the same size.
Despite that, my first thought when I saw it was 'Oooh, that looks rather nice!' and I started mentally calculating what it would come down to with a 30% discount should it ever make it to the Bicester Village outlet store.
I'm somewhat disappointed then to report that in real life the watch didn't 'wow' me like I'd hoped it would. In the render it looks like the sort of watch one might wear to visit Miami, but on the wrist it seemed a little flat. The gold bezel reminded me of the one on my own 2000 Exclusive, which is not a good thing unfortunately. You see, because I bought it pre-owned I accepted that the bezel looked a bit dull and was peppered with very light scratches, because I figured that was how all gold eventually ends up... but to be honest, while it wasn't scratched, the gold bezel on this Aquaracer wasn't really any 'brighter' than mine.
To be fair it does have a somewhat 'brushed' finish, which I presume is designed to negate the worst of the inevitable scratches that the material seems to attract, but I can't help thinking where that is most needed is on the highly polished 'over-riders', which is the one part that will take the brunt of any contact with doors and walls and thus the most likely to get damaged.
And while we are talking about scratches, this one did have a rather noticeable scratch on the first link above the watch head. I know gold is soft and all and I know it will scratch, but seeing it scratched straight out of the cabinet did kinda kill any lingering enthusiasm I had for this one pretty much stone dead.
I'm also not entirely sure that the blue dial works as well as I thought it would. I've always had this thing about solid gold watches, they always seem to have white or grey/black dials and I never really like either. With two tone it seems less of an issue and I thought blue would be a much better fit, but somehow it seems to jar just as badly, if not worse.
I'm genuinely disappointed by this, I really thought it was one that I was going to fall in love with but it wasn't to be. Thankfully this wasn't the only watch I tried on in the boutique that day and some of the others got me a lot more excited, notably the new 'Batman' GMT Aquaracer and the carbon effect dial Formula 1. I also got to try on one of the new Carreras, which was quite an eye opener - needless to say, reports to follow in due course.
Friday, 21 August 2020
Thursday, 20 August 2020
ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 'Drive Timer' Chronograph
CAR2A1H.FT6101
TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 19th August 2020
Back in February 2018 I posted about a trip to London with my friend Rich, and during that post I mentioned that I stopped into the Goldsmiths store on Oxford Street where I tried on the CAR2A1H 'Drive Timer' Heuer 01 Carrera. There was no 'On the Wrist' post, it was literally two lines where I said that I really liked it but I already had the skeleton Heuer 01 Carrera and as such I couldn't really justify buying something so similar. All of that is still true of course, and in fact now it's even more true because since then I added my CV2A80 Carrera which has the lumed Arabic minute markers, just like this one... but of course that doesn't change the fact that I really like it!
Would I swap my two watches for this one then? Probably not, but only because I really love my CAR2A1Z. This one does have the advantage of a ceramic bezel and a very cool leather strap, while retaining the black PVD titanium case. It also has coated lugs whereas my skeleton has polished lugs, which gives it a slightly more cohesive overall look.
It also sits very nicely on the wrist, yes it's big - it's 45mm, but if you own a 45mm Heuer 01 Carrera you will know how nice they feel on the wrist and this one is no exception. For reasons too tedious to go into I tried this one on my left wrist and I still loved it!
The strap really is nice, I've long thought about getting one of these for my watch but I've never quite got around to it. As usual with these Carreras the deployment clasp is a joy, if only all my clasps were as good as this one - I would be a very happy man!
To be honest I was rather surprised to see this was still in the store given the number of new pieces which have come and gone since lockdown was eased (remember that triple 'new stock' post that highlighted fifty new pieces, most of it has been and gone already!) but it turns out they had more than one. I kinda wish they had sold it because it's tugging at my wallet, even though I know it's not a wise purchase for my collection - I really need to be focusing on getting something different, not variations on things I already have.
I'm sure next time I visit this will be gone though, it's too good to remain on the shelf for long, especially as it's reduced from £4850 to £2910. If you pass by the store make sure you have a look at this one, and ask the staff to charge the lume for you, it's pretty damn cool!
Here's a link to the post I mentioned above:
http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/02/feature-another-trip-to-london-and-new.html