TAG HEUER ENTHUSIAST: FEATURE: Why I'm Reconsidering Grand Carrera Ownership

Thursday 1 October 2020

FEATURE: Why I'm Reconsidering Grand Carrera Ownership

WAV5111.BA0901

Readers who've been around for a while may remember that once upon a time I owned a WAV5111 black dial, grand date Grand Carrera Calibre 8 GMT. I bought it from Watchfinder in May 2018 and eventually traded it back in with them in January 2019, so yeah... it didn't really last that long, did it? It was a watch I respected more than liked and if I'm honest it always felt a bit 'dressy' for me somehow.

I liked the grand date, although I don't get as excited as some people do about that particular feature but it was impossible not to appreciate the finishing which was to a very high standard. The bracelet was comfortable and I would have been more than happy to have it on a different watch and of course the great thing about a GMT versus a chronograph is that you get the large sweeping second hand. But where the WAV5111 really fell down for me was the dial, it was just too damned big!

At 42.5mm, the WAV5111 is a decent sized watch, but fitted as it is with a reasonably slender plain bezel the dial just feels huge. Not only that, but over time the layout started to bug me a little. I know the grand date has to go at the top, but the Grand Carrera text and the TAG Heuer logo sitting side by side just looks wrong.

I should have known this foray into GC ownership was a bad idea; I always wanted the chronograph version and in the end I settled for the GMT, which is never a good move when buying a watch. But I thought it was a good idea at the time, it was quite a bit cheaper to buy than the chronograph for a start and I thought a GMT would be a good addition to the collection. Not that I travel very often you understand... and anyway, I have my 1500 GMT for my non-travelling these days! :)

In the end I decided it just wasn't for me and so away it went, and really I never thought I would buy another Grand Carrera. There was a time when I lusted after the PVD/orange/red/yellow models, but they just don't seem to do it for me any more and they are so expensive - I appreciate that they have the El Primero movement inside, but honestly for that kind of money I would want something more modern like a ceramic Heuer 01 Carrera.

I still occasionally look at the GC chronographs and wonder what could have been, and I do regret not hanging on for one of those. That's always a possibility I suppose, but lately I've been drawn to the smaller Calibre 6 and one model in particular.

The Calibre 6 models address two of my complaints with the WAV5111, firstly at 40.5mm it is a full 2mm smaller - which doesn't sound much I know, but I would imagine it makes quite a significant difference on the wrist. Secondly the watch has a symmetrical dial, with the shield, text and small seconds subdial all placed on the central axis.

Of course you do lose the large sweeping second hand, which is a shame... but overall I think it might be the answer. However, I'm not keen on the idea of another black dial Grand Carrera as I think the same 'dressy' overtones might put me off a little, so instead I'm hoping one day to come across one of these beauties.

WAV511J.BA0900

This is a limited edition model released in 2009 and, like its blue dial chronograph counterpart, this one was only released in Japan with just 300 pieces manufactured. Which means, living here in the UK is probably not the best place to start looking. But hey, you never know, I've seen the blue dial chronograph pass through a jewellers here so I'll keep my fingers crossed!