BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Green Dial' Calibre 5 Watch

 

WBP2115.BA0627

It's been about a month since I finally got my hands on my green dial Aquaracer Professional 200, and what with everything else that's been going on recently (including our Swedish correspondent Jim Dollares finally visiting olde London town) it just kind of slipped my mind to write my 'Buying Experience' post. Seems a long time since I wrote one actually, which is a marked change from the last couple of years where I seemed to be writing them every few weeks!

But that all changed once I bought my blue dial Japanese limited edition Grand Carrera Calibre 6 and I finally realised that I didn't need 'more' watches, I needed 'better' watches, and so the cull began. But more on that anon, today we're here to talk about the WBP2115.

Long term readers will no doubt remember (cos I never shut up about it) that I tragically missed out on the WAY2115 back in 2018, and ever since I've been waiting and hoping that TAG Heuer would release another steel bezel, green dial Aquaracer - and hopefully make more than like five of them this time!

Given my history with the model, I was a bit itchy to get hold of it before it disappeared into the ether again, and perhaps the 'smart' thing would have been to order it from the website the moment it appeared on there. But for weeks, no months, I had been bugging Maxine at Sheffield's TAG Heuer boutique for info about when I could buy it from her and while I have bought from the website in the past I would much rather support the people who take time to show me watches when I visit from time to time. 

It actually took a couple of weeks for the stock to filter down from TAG Heuer to the Watches of Switzerland owned boutiques, which was a little frustrating I must admit (for me and also Maxine I'm sure), but eventually my patience was rewarded and I got an email telling me the watch had finally arrived.

I've never been in the position before where I've missed out on a watch, then waited years for a new version, but it was odd because I had kind of decided before I'd even clapped eyes on it that unless it was truly awful I was going to buy it, and that's a bit of a strange way to decide to spend £2500 if you ask me. 

Thankfully I was not disappointed, though I must admit I do find it hard to part with that kind of money, even for something I really want. And as I expected for the first two weeks I had to endure that awful 'why on Earth would you pay all that money for yet another watch' feeling, which rather tainted the buying experience a little bit. I'm sure many of you know what that feels like, and that's probably why I didn't rush to write this post to be honest.

Eventually of course, that slightly bitter aftertaste of horological squandering fades and only then can you really judge whether you've done a good thing or made a very expensive mistake. For me the tide really turned to the good when I wore the watch to London when I went to meet my good buddy Jimbo (and later the esteemed 'THF forum' member and occasional THE contributor Charlie 'Imagwai' M at his plush mansion nestled expensively in the Kent countryside, for brandy and cigars... actually it was pasta and Pepsi Max but it was a very enjoyable evening all the same).

WBP2115 on the train to London

That day was the first time I felt really good about the watch and spent the train journey constantly fiddling with it and taking photos (I was the only person in the carriage, I'm not a complete arse). Unfortunately it was also the day the utterly ridiculous polished clasp got its first scratches, but this was absolutely inevitable. I am on board with polished centre links, but a polished stripe down the middle of a clasp is indefensible stupidity and never should have got past the design stage. But whatever... I'm just gonna have to learn to live with I suppose. I don't really want to go around sticking Sellotape on it or anything.

While we are on the subject of the clasp, while we were in London together Mr Jimothy Dollares took every opportunity to mock me for my watch's lack of on-the-fly adjustment and I have to agree there is no good reason why it shouldn't have it. Of course his silver dial Aquaracer (WBP201C) costs a fairly substantial £550 more than mine, for which you also get an extra 3mm and a ceramic bezel. I'd probably pay an extra £100-150 for the improved clasp though... and as I've said before it makes no sense at all that the 43mm and 36mm models have it but the 40mm doesn't. 

Of course mine has a fancy fumé dial which is much more useful; unless you want to take photographs of it, in which case they all come out looking pretty much black - which the watch doesn't in real life. It never really looks full on green either (like the WAY2115 did), but it's certainly a better mix than most photographs suggest. Sometimes you get lucky, but it's quite frustrating that the camera doesn't capture what you can see with your own eyes - or maybe it's my crappy Samsung phone?

I will admit that I was a little concerned about the watch only measuring 40mm; as it is I have several 43mm Aquaracers and in the past I've found that some of the smaller ones (even the old 41mm versions) have felt a bit small on my 7.5" wrist. It was a similar story when I tried on the original Solargraph as well, though not so much with the titanium version - no doubt the black finish on the original exacerbates the problem. But no, it was a little smaller than I'm used to, but it definitely didn't feel too small.

I have to say the watch is pretty stunning in person and far, far superior to both the blue and black/brown versions in my opinion. The hands and hour markers are wonderfully bold and one thing I really prefer on the 40mm over the 43mm is that it has the more traditional baton markers, those octagonal things are just damned weird if you ask me - though I will say they look better on the silver dial than most because of the lack of contrast. I'm sorry but to me they look their worst on the (otherwise very cool) Night Diver where the odd placement is most apparent due to the high contrast dial. 

And overall, a month down the line I am pleased to say that I no longer look at the watch and weep for lost funds. In the end it was worth it, the watch is utterly gorgeous in every way and if only they had given it a brushed clasp I could have given it a resounding 9.5 (I never give 10s), but as it is I can only give it a solid 9/10. My only slight niggle is the end links which really don't match up to the lugs as well as they could, it actually looks like these are the end links for a different watch, so much so that I actually went and checked other peoples photos etc to make sure that mine weren't defective!  

I can offer a resounding 10/10 to Maxine and the Sheffield boutique crew though, who put up with my constant enquiring and kept me fully informed throughout the process. Lovely people; if you are in the area go pay them a visit. They are my first port of call every time I go to Meadowhall and hopefully it won't be too long before I can put some more business their way (just as soon as TAG Heuer get their finger out and release the new ladies Aquaracers with the red and green dials!).

Okay, well that's probably going to be my last 'Buying Experience' post for a while as there isn't anything I'm imminently hoping to buy and my eBay bargain hunting days are over - to be honest I haven't even looked. I've amassed quite a collection over the last few years, albeit I've sold nearly half of it over the past few months, and I don't really have anything in mind for the future. Who knows though, maybe if these rumoured new 'Classic' F1s actually do come out then maybe I will have to put my hand in my pocket again?