CAV5185.FC6237
A few weeks ago I noticed that EST1897 (now called H&T) had a CAV5185 Grand Carrera Caliper in black PVD on their site priced around the £2500 mark. I remember looking at it and thinking 'that's quite cool, but I don't know if I want another black PVD watch'. Which, in hindsight was very, very stupid on my part.
Why? Because that price was exceptionally cheap for a PVD coated, titanium cased Grand Carrera 'Caliper' with a Calibre 36 (or as it's otherwise known Zenith 'El Primero') movement inside. But I foolishly left it and didn't think about it again until a couple of weeks later when I got an email from H&T inviting me to peruse their wonderful sale, which featured (amongst other brands) over 600 TAG Heuer watches, all of which were substantially reduced.
I scrolled down the page past deal after deal, frankly amazed at some of the stock they had and a lot of the prices. One that immediately jumped out at me was the orange Formula 1 (WAZ101A) at just under £700 - recently deleted, list price £1400! And when I got to the bottom of the page I started seeing watches that had already sold or had been 'reserved'. And there, right near the top was the CAV5185, now reduced to a staggering £1746. But, of course, it was marked as 'Reserved'... bugger.
I have to admit I used some pretty colourful language that day. But when I'd calmed down I thought to myself.... if it says 'Reserved' not 'Sold Out' then there's still a chance right? So I emailed H&T and asked if it was possible that the watch may come back on the market. They said, the watch had been requested to be sent to one of their stores for viewing (which would take 3-5 days) and then once it arrived the buyer would have six days to visit the store otherwise the watch would be relisted. Alternatively, if the buyer visited the store and decided they didn't want the watch then again it would be relisted.
Fair enough, I thought. So in eleven days I would know one way or another. Either the guy would visit the store and buy, visit the store and not buy or not visit the store.... so I left the page open on my computer and looked at it several times a day, ready to pounce should the opportunity arise. And then after about a week the watch suddenly changed from being marked 'Reserved' to being marked 'Sold Out'. Again, the colourful language flowed fast and free.
Meanwhile the website cheerfully offered to contact me should the watch become available again. I scoffed at this ridiculous deal being repeated, but sullenly entered my email address anyway. Because, who knows what could happen - right? In the meantime I went about my business, sulking to myself and trying to find other GC Calipers that weren't at least twice the price this one went for... debating whether to buy the very beat up looking steel one on eBay, deciding not too, then kinda regretting it when it went for just over a grand.
Then, a few days later, out of the blue, I got an email from H&T telling me that they had the CAV5185 available again, still at the sale price. WOOP WOOP! My heart was pounding as I dropped that sucker in my basket and punched in my credit card details without a second thought: I had dithered once and I wasn't going to make the same mistake again. Besides, the watch looked in excellent condition and had a year's warranty - this was a no lose situation. I remember trying these on at Bicester Village five years ago and they were discounted to £5250 then!
I couldn't believe my luck, honestly. And I felt thoroughly elated after a week which had done nothing but grind me into the ground one way or another (I won't bore you with the details). But of course, as you've probably guessed, since this isn't a 'Buying Experience' post, this story doesn't have a happy ending either. The next morning I opened my emails to find a message from H&T saying 'We're sorry, but you know that watch we told you we had... well we kinda don't have it after all. We've cancelled your order and will refund your credit card. Sucks to be you I guess. Regards H&T.'
Okay that may not be exactly what they said, in truth they explained that while they have a website they also stock the watches in stores and it is always possible that someone buys a watch in a physical store before the website is updated. Whether that's actually what happened or whether the original guy bought the watch and somehow they marked it 'Sold Out' and then accidentally unmarked it 'Sold Out' and sent me an email inviting me to buy it, well... I guess I will never know. But suffice to say, missing out on such a great deal once was bad, but to then have the bloody thing dangled in my face and snatched away when I thought I'd secured it pissed me right off.
I still want a GC Caliper, and sooner or later I will get one. I know the chances of getting one for less than £3000 are slim, and getting a nice one for less than £4000 is probably far fetched too. But sooner or later I am going to get one. As it stands I'm supposed to be seeing a steel one in London in a few days, so maybe by the time this post goes live I will already have one?
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