Well today is somewhat special because it marks the fifth anniversary of the TAG Heuer Enthusiast blog... and believe it or not, this is the 2101st post! Wow, no wonder I never have any free time any more! But still, how enriched has my life become since October 2016?
Looking back, my very first post was an 'On the Wrist' for the 41mm PVD Calibre 5 Aquaracer and one of the first comments I made was 'I can't believe how small it looks'. Well at least that opinion hasn't changed... plenty of others have though as I've researched oodles of TAG Heuer things, and of course my collection has grown from a starting point of four to its current 'bloated' state of fifty pieces... I certainly didn't expect that!
And nor did my wife!
Mind you, along the way she's picked up her share of watches too, and of course she accompanied me on my visit to the TAG Heuer manufacture in La Chaux de Fonds during our awesome (but unpleasantly warm) holiday to Geneva in 2018. Ah yes, I remember the ride on the bus from the centre of La Chaux de Fonds to the industrial estate* where TAG Heuer is based, feeling like I was about to die and then the cool air conditioning of the reception area reviving me while we waited to gain access to the museum of awesome things.
It's probably a tad unfair to say that was the 'best day of my life', but it was certainly the most 'memorable' day of the last twenty years at least, with great thanks to David at Calibre 11 for organizing the visit and to TAG Heuer of course for welcoming us. Our guide Paul Buchs has since left the company, which is a shame as he seemed like a really nice guy (even though he thought we came from Australia...).
*I say 'industrial estate', but it's not like an industrial estate in the UK. You could have eaten your dinner off the TAG Heuer logo painted on the car park floor with no worries.
But anyway, you're probably sick to death of hearing about that particular adventure (if not - click this link to read more) so I won't dwell on it further, suffice to say that if you get the chance to visit the manufacture, then go. It's really worth the time and trouble and apparently there is also a watch museum in La Chaux de Fonds if you have the time (which we unfortunately did not since my wife 'didn't come to Switzerland to look at watches all day').
I'm not going to pretend that writing this blog has always been a 'walk in the park'. A long time ago I read an interview with a professional blogger who said the key to building your blog is that you must keep providing content on time otherwise people will lose interest. And so I did; but in the process I set myself an unrealistic and eventually unsustainable target of posting a full post every other day.
Which is fine if you have lots of ideas and there's lots of watches coming out, but inevitably a few months ago I decided that it really was too much and so I decided to scale it back to a post every three days. This definitely took a lot of pressure off and actually since I've been able to visit London again and also had a trip to Milton Keynes I've managed to get way ahead of myself so that I only have a few posts here and there to write to take me to the end of November. Which is great, because it's no fun when it's all just pressure and I can move posts if necessary when TAG Heuer decide to drop something on us unexpectedly (watch this space, incidentally...).
Over the next couple of months we have the following posts coming:
FEATURE: TAG Heuer Watch Boxes
ON THE WRIST: Aquaracer Calibre 5, Breitling Endurance Pro, Dior Grand Bal, Chopard Alpine Eagle, TAG Heuer Carrera Dato 45 160th Anniversary, TAG Heuer Carrera Elegant, TAG Heuer Aquaracer 844 and the TAG Heuer Aquaracer blue tortoiseshell bezel
And we also have a Buying Experience post for a couple of watches which I've had sitting around for a while, not to mention a chat with Jim Dollares about whether trying on watches you can't really afford is a good idea. All that and more interviews with Calibre 11 forum alumni in the works too... I know you guys like those.
I know my blog is somewhat unconventional in the fairly staid watch world way of things, and believe it or not I like that about it. I realised quite some time back that the last thing I wanted was a blog that was like every other watch blog out there. And sure, I know not everyone appreciates my style of writing and my way of doing things, but look - how can I possibly compete with blogs which get access to watches before they are released, to take pictures and review at their leisure? I can't, and honestly I don't want this blog to read like a press release anyway.
It would be the easiest thing in the world to recycle technical specs from other blogs and press releases and tell you how much 'we love'* everything that TAG Heuer release, but I don't love 'everything' they make and unless you're looking to make money what exactly would be the point of that?
*'We love' is a pet hate of mine, and entirely inaccurate since there is no 'we' here, just me. To me it sounds like it belongs in a women's magazine; 'We love this handmade artisan candle - Pure Candle Co £78', or 'We love this purple cushion - John Lewis £115'
Hopefully people enjoy my posts and they are enthused and entertained, which is the main aim really.
The blog has crested 300,000 views in the last few days so not bad I guess, considering I'm only catering to a small subset of people who care enough about one brand to read my nonsense every few days (and considering the blog only counts views when you click on a post, so if you just scroll down it counts as one view).
Anyway, thanks to everyone who has read the blog over the last five years. Thanks to everyone at TAG Heuer Bicester Village (who have been so helpful over the last few years, especially Tom who is no longer there but is still very much within the organisation), everyone who has been interviewed so far, to everyone on the Calibre 11 forum and in particular all those who sit on the 'Council of Considered Opinion' including my good friend Rich. And finally thanks to my Swedish pal and occasional contributor Jim Dollares for all the laughs, cheers buddy!
So that's it then five years done, I wonder what the next five years holds for us all?
No comments:
Post a Comment