BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Watch

 

WA1213

My wife has been in possession of an orange and grey classic Formula 1 since last May and I've often thought I'd like to get the matching men's model. Many times I've looked on eBay for one in decent condition at a reasonable price but with no luck. Prices in the UK for any brightly coloured classic F1s are always OTT and I recently saw one of these on a bracelet that was nearly £400. Thanks, but no thanks!

But as ever, the answer is simple - buy from Japan. This is the fifth or sixth classic F1 I've bought from Japan and as usual the quality is good and the prices are so much more reasonable. This one cost me £156 + £20 carriage, so about £175 all in, and save for a light scratch to the crystal, I can't really fault it.

No doubt the plastic strap will end up looking grubby in time, but genuine replacements are available from TAG Heuer for £32, so not a big deal really. As ever the lume pip is long gone, but that's par for the course with these and to be honest if it was still there I would suspect a replacement bezel. 

Sure, this bright orange colour is not going to be to everyone's taste and the Calibre 11 forum's 'Mr Orange' will no doubt be chuckling at my latest 'My Little Pony' F1, but that's okay. It's better to keep these watches 'niche' and keep the prices down.... hehehe.

This is the first classic F1 I've bought that hasn't had an 'XXX.XXX' reference, as you can see in the picture above this one has a post 'number change' reference (WA1213) which indicates that the watch was made after 1992. The number change was literally that and this one is otherwise identical to a pre-1992 '375.513'.

As ever these watches are 'mid-size' at 34mm (hence the '13' suffix on the original number rather than '06' which would indicate 37mm or 'full-size'), I never thought I would want to wear a 34mm watch and to be honest I still wouldn't buy any other watch smaller than 36mm (well, maybe an Airline one day...) but somehow these are okay. My theory is that the 'TAG Heuer' badges on the plastic strap somehow add to the impression of size, or maybe I'm just used to these now (this is my seventh classic F1).

When I picked up my last (blue/black) classic Formula 1 I pondered if it wasn't 'one classic F1' too many... but having added this one to the collection I don't think it was. I still prefer the coloured case models better overall, but this one is nice - certainly a cut above the black/green model which I still think I might put back on eBay one of these days. Maybe...

This one came with a full length strap, which means I need to cut the end off. I hate doing that, it seems so wrong, but that was the intention and the straps are marked with grooves to help you not make a dog's dinner of it! 

Once again I purchased this from a seller called 'hh7373' who has a 99.8% rating on eBay currently. I find his listings very honest and he clearly shows the marks to the crystal in his listing as well as the open caseback. He also packs the watches well and sends very quickly too. This one got to me in six days, which is slow compared to the last one I bought from him, but fast compared to other Japanese sellers I have used (hh7373 did contact me to advise that the carriers are a bit slow at the moment - seems it's a worldwide problem and not just Brexit related!).

Is this my last classic F1? I doubt it, honestly. I'd still like the blue/blue one and the red/green one, oh and the blue/cream one. But that's probably it. Of course there's the Ukyo Katayama special edition, and the one with the BP logo on the dial and the VH5150, the TOM'S one and..... you get the picture.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY HISTORY OF THE FORMULA 1 ERA ONE

https://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2020/07/history-tag-heuer-formula-1-first.html