OWNED: TAG Heuer 2000 Exclusive Quartz Chronograph

CN1110.BA0337

For some peculiar reason, the TAG Heuer 2000 Exclusive range is one that is very overlooked and as a consequence rather undervalued in my opinion. I bought this immaculate CN1110 from Watchfinder back in January 2019 for the princely sum of £675 (or thereabouts: it was a three watch trade in deal, but that was the starting price) and even now you can still find these on Watchfinder (with a two year warranty no less) for about £750. 

If you are prepared to forego the chorongraph you can pick them up even cheaper: I saw a gorgeous blue dial WN1112 (another watch I own) recently in a sale on EST1897 for under £300 - which is insane value! I absolutely love that watch and would never sell it. Okay, the bezel was a bit scratched up (bit of a design flaw having a polished raised section) but at that price you could afford to replace the bezel and you would have a cracking Swiss made watch for very little money.

I had to send this watch back to Watchfinder under warranty because the top pusher was very hard to press down. They were very professional, quickly sending me a free returns package and I got the watch back in about two weeks. The pusher was better but still not as smooth as it could be. Over time it seems to be slowly firming up again, but the watch is out of warranty now and it's still not as bad as it was. When I sent it was actually painful on the finger trying to depress it - just as well I never really use it I guess (or maybe that's the problem?).

I've always thought this watch was like a quartz mini Aquagraph, sharing as it does a lot of design features - not least that chunky bezel. Of course this is more than likely what drew me to the watch in the first place (after all we tend to be attracted to things we already like) and as a more practical day to day watch it might be a good compromise if you like the look of the Aquagraph but are put off by the price tag, thickness and rather inflexible bracelet.

I like this watch but it's not one of my absolute favourites, I've definitely pondered selling it a few times, but never actually gone that far. Being that the 2000 Exclusive isn't that popular with the punters I don't feel like letting it go for £500 or so, somehow it 'feels' like it should be worth a lot more - so I don't see it leaving me any time soon. 

I actually have three 2000 Exclusives, this one, the blue one I mentioned earlier and a silver dial WN1153 with a gold bezel and two tone bracelet. That was my very first two-tone watch and I really like that one because the gold on the bracelet is only applied to the small square middle links so it's quite restrained. 

I must say, the bracelet on the 2000 Exclusive is one of the best bracelets I've ever owned, so comfortable and it looks VERY expensive on the wrist. All of which makes the prices you can pick these up for even more ridiculous. So honestly, if you're thinking about picking up a 21st century quartz TAG Heuer between 37 and 39mm, give this range a look - you should be able to pick one up fairly easily and cheaply and I very much doubt you will be disappointed. Plus if quartz is an issue you can also get these in automatic with very cool Clous de Paris dials (a bit like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, but smaller squares), but obviously your budget will need to be a little larger for those...

BUYING EXPERIENCE POST:

http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/01/buying-experience-tag-heuer-aquaracer.html