CAR2A1Z.FT6004 CAV511A.BA0902
Allow me to draw a distinction between two of my watches; one of which I would consider my 'favourite' and one my 'best' watch. My favourite watch is, and probably always will be, my CAR2A1Z Carrera Heuer 01 Skeleton. This was the watch that really kicked off my watch collecting journey, not to mention this blog. I already owned two TAG Heuer watches before that, but it was not a hobby or a collection. The Heuer 01 changed that; as soon as I saw a photograph I wanted it - even though I didn't have a clue how much it was going to cost. After that it was all downhill as far as the bank balance was concerned, but on the upside think of all the joy my new found hobby brought me!
Thankfully at that time (2016) Mr Jean Claude Biver (then the 'big cheese' at TAG Heuer) was in the process of repositioning the company as an affordable luxury brand after years of LVMH pushing to go 'up-market' (oh how history repeats itself!) and so, in his words, this £8000 watch was sold for 'just' £4000. £4000 was more than I had paid for my previous two watches put together and for me represented a considerable investment. But I was determined, and after a lot of patience and a lot of eBaying (my huge CD collection halved) I was finally able to buy one. Thank you Mr Biver for not making the CAR2A1Z a limited edition that had to be bought immediately or lost, may the silver-dial gods always shine on you and your family.
Now I know the Heuer 01 skeleton is not everyone's cup of tea, and those people are of course entitled to their, ahem stupid opinions. They say it's too big, that the dial is illegible and the movement is Japanese... well, all I can say is, yes it is quite big; but on the rubber strap (and because of it's splendidly un-Carrera like and super-cool short modular lugs) it wears fine. I've never had a problem reading the dial either, mainly due to the nice big hands and generous lume (for a Carrera) and honestly even if TAG Heuer had bought a stock Seiko movement and slopped it straight into the Carrera without touching it (which they absolutely didn't) all that really matters to me is that it works... and after all Seiko make good stuff, right? Better a proven movement than a truly in-house one that breaks or needs revisions down the track in my opinion!
I will say this though, even if I wasn't overly emotionally attached to my Heuer 01, it's not practical for me to wear it day in day out. My work environment is office based (can't work from home - just as well since I don't want to spend 24 hours a day with my wife) but there are still metal shelves everywhere and I'm just as likely to be unloading a lorry or picking metal fasteners as I am to be working on a computer or balancing a bank book. Not ideal for a PVD coated titanium watch that doesn't even have a ceramic bezel, and so this is where my 'best' watch comes in...
Unlike my beloved Heuer 01, my Grand Carrera chronograph was bought pre-owned (although I have to say it arrived in mint, presumably 'restored', condition) and so I don't have quite the same obsessive adoration for it. Plus, being steel I know it can be refinished or, worst case scenario replaced, because CV511As are pretty easy to find on the pre-owned market and most Grand Carrera fakes are PVD coated and/or terrible. Which is not to say I wear it with gay abandon, because I certainly don't. But I definitely don't baby it like I do my Heuer 01.
I first tried on a CV511A many years ago, and now that I finally have one I can't believe I didn't buy one before. It's everything you want in a luxury watch really: bold design, solid construction, great wrist presence and it looks like it costs twice as much as it actually did. Again, I'm sure the design is not 'everyone's' cup of tea, but TAG Heuer is supposed to be avant garde and this watch certainly lives up to that label. Yes from some angles those subdials can look a little strange and mess with your perception of the dial shape, and yes the running seconds wheel doesn't look as smooth running as a tiny hand would, but damn if this watch isn't the perfect (affordable) luxury watch for every day use.
For sure, the CV511A isn't the first, second or even third watch I would rescue in the event of a fire, but the very knowledge that it is easily replaceable gives me the confidence to wear it and not worry about it*. That in itself is something of a luxury, to be honest a lot of the time when I wear my rarer, more delicate watches I spend most of the time holding my wrist just slightly off the table or pulling my sleeve down to protect the bezel. If only I could be like Jim 'The Animal' Dollares who positively delights in sending me photographs of the scratches on his Aquaracer clasp.
*Maybe, worry less, is more accurate... I'm never not going to worry about a £2600 watch on my wrist!
Recently serviced (under warranty by Watch-Finder) my CV511A is currently running at about minus 1 second per day (which qualifies it for Rolex's superlative chronometer status!), can't complain about that. In fact it's hard to find anything much to complain about. Some micro adjustment on the clasp would be good, but actually it fits perfectly as it is. The only real problem I have with it is that every time I put it on I don't want to take it off, which makes me question whether I really need all those other watches...
Damn, maybe I should sell it. It seems like an existential threat to the collection to me!
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