TAG HEUER ENTHUSIAST: BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Two-Tone' Calibre 5 Watch by Jim Dollares

Friday, 31 May 2024

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Two-Tone' Calibre 5 Watch by Jim Dollares

WBD2120.BB0930

Today we are joined by Sweden's number one Aquaracer enthusiast - Jim Dollares; a man who now counts two Aquaracers in his allegedly 'three-piece' watch collection... alongside his 160th Anniversary Carrera, his original Formula 1 Red Bull quartz, his Breitling Colt and several other less exotic pieces. But never mind all that, today Jim's here to tell you about his latest (and greatest?) purchase, the long anticipated WBD2120.

JIM: I've always had a soft spot for yellow gold two-tone watches with a blue dial and my first proper watch love was the TAG Heuer Aquaracer. It is no wonder why the WBD2120 turned into an obsession of mine after its release in 2020. For various reasons, mainly money, it took approximately four years for it to finally find a home in my three piece watch collection.

"It looks so douchebaggy. In a good way!"

Yes, this was what I told the sales person in London last year, when I was able to try it on. Afterwards I regretted deeply that I hadn't purchased it then and there but budget wise I had not calculated to spend that amount at that point. Plus, a couple of months prior I had just bought another Aquaracer, the Ice Diver (WBP201C).

Brave enough to give zero f*cks!

All my life I have judged people who wear two-tone yellow gold watches. Especially if the watch uses plated parts instead of solid gold. Meanwhile, in secret, I always envied these people, brave enough to be such utter douchebags that they would wear something like this in public. No excuses, f*ck all of you, I am wearing what I want. At this stage in my life, I suppose I might have come to that comfort zone myself. Is this what it means to grow old? You stop caring about what others think about you. How many times have I read where some asshole 'teaches' others in an online forum about how gold plated watches are for fake people? Go solid gold or go home...

An offer too good to refuse

Eventually TAG discontinued the WBD2120 and I settled on the sad fact that it would never be mine. Anyone involved in the TAG Heuer collector community knows that you never ever purchase a used Aquaracer if you can't confirm and verify authenticity and the seller. I always thought that I would never dare to gamble on a used Aquaracer but then one day in April of 2024 when searching for erotic horological photography of this model, I came across a used one for sale close to my home. The seller was Sweden's biggest TAG Heuer AD, a watch boutique and jeweller that has been around for more than 150 years. The condition looked amazing and the price was lower than any of those offered on Chrono24 (all of which were in much worse condition).

How do I trust it ain't fake?

I contacted the store and requested more photos to be able to assess the condition more thoroughly. They sent me the pictures and also informed me that the watch was sold to the previous owner brand new by the same AD in 2022 and comes with a two year warranty. Condition looked great but still there was a quiet voice inside me whispering "what if it is a counterfeit watch?".

A week or so later I had made up my mind and I purchased the watch. I purchased it via their webstore to give myself the 14 day free return window in case there was an issue with the watch. Once delievered, it looked great at first glance. Until I saw that the date cyclops was misaligned. OK I thought to myself, that settles it, clearly it must be fake because a misaligned cyclops would never pass TAG Heuer's quality control would it? I contacted the store about it and said I wanted to return the watch.

In the meantime I was searching TAG Heuer's warranty database and confirmed that the watch serial number in question was in fact sold new by the same store in 2022.

The store came back proposing that they could send it to TAG Heuer's service centre to be fixed under warranty. I confirmed that this sounds great, it would have bothered me forever if the cyclops was misaligned. I was also thinking that if TAG Heuer performed the repair on my watch then surely I felt I could trust the authenticity of the watch.

After about 1,5 week the watch was returned to me and now the cyclops sat perfectly. This time there was a receipt of warranty repair from the TAG Heuer service centre included in the box. While waiting I also confirmed that the bracelet pins look the way they should in a genuine TAG Heuer bracelet (I know, this sounds silly but it is one detail often missed on the counterfeit watches).

How amazing is it?

Owning the watch, the mighty grail douchebag, I realise that no photos or video can do this one justice. It sparkles and shines majestically in person. Like that expression from the land of the overweight, America land, it looks like a million bucks. Lume is mega amazing. The dial is a dark, classy blue that still appears vibrant and comes across almost as electric under sun light. Indices and hands are plated with 18k yellow gold and look superb. I can't stop staring at the watch. It looks so good I want to lick it. Touch it...

But I will be careful with it. Rob tells me that polished gold scratches easily and I want my douchebag to look like a proper blingy attention seeking beast. Just like me.