TAG HEUER ENTHUSIAST: SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer 3000 Series Quartz Chronograph

Wednesday, 13 January 2021

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer 3000 Series Quartz Chronograph

237.406

This is the third time I've written about a 237.406 that I've found on eBay; back in 2017 I found a very well worn one and last March I wrote about an immaculate looking piece that was sadly lacking its gold plated bracelet. That one was being sold on a black leather strap which was probably the best available option, but since the 3000 Series was never sold on anything but a bracelet I couldn't really get behind it. This one however is in very good condition, has its bracelet and it has spare links and the box and papers.

I think it was only a couple of months ago that I wrote about a steel 'Heuer' 3000 Chronograph which was being sold for 'spares and repairs' (with possible water ingress) in America and that ended up selling for £540. This one is in full working order, maybe slightly better external condition and is a TAG Heuer (a bonus for me, if not necessarily everyone). It's also from America and as such the same problems and costs of importing a valuable item apply...

It's also quartz, whereas the other one I wrote about was mechanical and I suppose that would affect its value somewhat, but even so the asking price of $650 seems very fair to me, if only it wasn't liable to turn into £900 once the customs department get their grubby little mitts on it.

But, it seems like these 3000 Series chronos are like gold dust, so I decided to send the seller a message asking them to verify the wrist size (because if that's an issue then forget it), but as the contact screen loaded I noticed that the stated international carriage charge rose from $27 to $173! So I asked if they could clarify which price I would actually pay as well...

To their credit, the seller (samantiqueshop) responded within a few minutes, informing me that the watch would fit a 7.25" wrist but that there was an extra link... however, in those vital few moments some other TAG Heuer enthusiast spotted it and bought it. The swine!

Even though it's probably saved me a ton of stress and a ton of money, and even though I'm still not crazy about the slightly odd small subdial at the '12' position I have to say I am a little bit gutted about losing out on this. I mean, would I have gone for it...? I'm not sure; the bracelet sounds like it's right on the limit and if they were going to sting me for $173 carriage (and let's not forget the wonderful import tax) then perhaps common sense would have prevailed.