954.406
I've written about the Tristar two or three times since I started this blog; most recently to bemoan the fact that I had finally found one in decentish condition, only to realise at the last moment that it was in fact mid-size and not the full size model I had been hoping for! Indeed, every time I found a Tristar it always seemed to be a midsize model, to the point where I started to wonder if maybe that was a viable option for my 7.5/8" wrist (I think not). But then, just when I least expected it, and just when I had spent £1200 on my orange dial Formula 1 (obviously!) what should turn up on eBay but a full sized Tristar in excellent condition.
Every few weeks I check out the items 'Spirit*Age' has for sale, always hoping for one of the rarer classic Formula 1s to add to my collection. I've bought from him 4 or 5 times now and he has never disappointed me yet and he seems to get some of the cooler, harder to find pieces in good condition too. But I was very surprised to see that he had a Tristar and even more surprised when I checked out the number on the back and realised that it was a full size piece.
Annoyingly though, 'Spirit*Age' always lists his watches as auctions without the option to 'Buy It Now' and often they end in the middle of the night (in the UK) so it's a bit of a pain having to leave bids and waiting 'til the morning to see if you have won the item. Fortunately this one finished at 9PM UK time, so I was able to watch it until the end... as it happened (once again) I was the only bidder and so I secured the Tristar for the opening bid of £239.25. What a bargain; the midsize ones I found weren't much cheaper than that and apart from some wear to the gold on the end links, this one was easily the best condition of the ones I had come across.
The Tristar was a very short lived model, appearing in only two TAG Heuer catalogues (1987 & 1987/88), which perhaps explains why it's so hard to find them for sale. The piece is a sub-model of the 2000 range, sharing case and bracelet with other models but adding a unique bezel and dial... and unusually narrow hands. Indeed it's hard to say what exactly this model is supposed to be, it's clearly not a dive watch, nor is it a racing watch, but neither is it a dress watch... ,and what exactly was the inspiration behind the Tristar name and bezel? I've always thought the Tristar carried a very '1980s Soviet' aesthetic, but I'm sure that wasn't really the thought process of the designer.
The watch arrived ten days after the auction ended, which isn't bad from Japan and was consistent with my other purchases from 'Spirit*Age'. It certainly made a nice surprise to find it on my doormat when I arrived home from a day at the beach for my wife's 51st birthday, and bizarrely the last time I went to the beach I arrived home to find a similar package from 'Spirit*Age' so I did kinda wonder all day if it would turn up that day.
My enthusiasm was slightly tempered though when I tried the watch on and realised that while the clasp closed around my wrist I really needed one more link for it to be comfortable. Fortunately, my two-tone 3000 had a spare link which looks identical. The only problem I had was that the split pin I had with that link was too small and it would fall out, but a quick trip to my local Timpsons resolved the problem and all for the price of a donation to their charity tin.
The watch seems to work perfectly and it's quite comfortable on the wrist, certainly comparable to the 3000 Series... in fact yesterday I was driving and had to check under my sleeve to make sure I hadn't taken it off before I'd left the house, which tells you something! I really love the sparkling gold dial, which under artificial light looks completely silver from some angles, and again it's all in immaculate condition - unlike some of the dials I had seen on other eBay Tristars. The gold on the indices is great and the hands are clean too, but why are they so slender? It's actually quite hard to see the slim gold hands against the gold dial, not that it's impossible but compared to the massive, lumed hands we get today they aren't the most legible of hands that's for sure. There is, admittedly, a small mark on the glass which I didn't actually notice until I took a photograph of it, but it's not something I'll be replacing anytime soon.
The bezel is the thing that really sets the Tristar apart though and I'm sure it's probably the thing most people will either love or hate. Well, I'm not sure anyone would really 'love' it... even I don't 'love' it, it's patently quite ugly - but I like the watch as a whole and of course for me it's more something of a collection piece. Having said that, the bezel creates this illusion that it isn't quite round (even though it is) and so you get this kind of Patek Nautilus vibe from it.... well I do, hahaha. Maybe it's wishful thinking?
All in all, I am super chuffed with my latest purchase, especially since I was able to resolve the bracelet issue without going hunting for links or pins. I couldn't really have asked for a better example of the Tristar, albeit the gaudy side of me would probably still jump if a black and gold 956.306 came up for sale. But what are the chances of finding one of those in good condition, really? Nine out of ten times whenever you see a coated black bracelet from the 1980s it looks absolutely battered - if only they had ceramic back then...
So with the Tristar crossed off my list I guess my next target has to be either a 'Titanium' or an 'Airline', but good Titaniums don't come cheap and I think the Airlines were 35mm, and of course they both came on bespoke bracelets, so that's something else one has to consider.... maybe I'll hunt down the rest of the classic Formula 1s first and worry about those later?
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