CAV5115.FT6019
A few weeks ago I asked my good friend Jim Dollares how I should celebrate hitting one million views on my blog? I was thinking a special post, or a new header that would replace the 'Aquaracer@20' one for a week or so, but instead Jim said 'you should buy a new watch'. Great idea! Of course I didn't just go out and buy a watch just for the sake of it, I was already sort of, kinda, in the process of looking into a second go at the CAV5115... I mean sure, the timing was nice, but I wasn't going to spend this kind of money on a whim.
And when I say a second go... please don't misunderstand, I've never owned a CAV5115 before but some of you may remember that I visited Watchfinder's 'Avery Row' branch last September to view one that was on a bracelet. Of course that was before the watch market softened and so even with a damaged dial and the red paint missing off the second crown it was being sold at £3750 (and when I asked to negotiate they said that was cheap because of the condition), things are different now...
The funny thing is, when I viewed the watch in the London boutique (it's not really a store as such) I didn't get 'the feeling' and eventually decided against it. But I always had this nagging doubt about it and kept looking. I just felt like because the dial was damaged (around the edges where the caliper tracks) I was determined not to get attached to it; after all this would be the most money I had ever spent on a watch and I had no idea how much TAG Heuer would charge to replace the dial and the second crown, but I imagined about £400... and no doubt they would insist on servicing the watch at the same time (more on which later). There was no way I was ever going to accept the condition of the watch so better to forget it, though at the time it seemed like a fairly reasonable price (given the two year warranty).
Fast forward to a couple of months ago and another CAV5115 appeared on the Watchfinder website. This one was on a rubber strap, but I wasn't dead set on the bracelet as I could always buy one later and in the short term I could swap the one from my Calibre 17 Grand Carrera as they are the same part number. The only problem was that the image on the website was a 'stock image' (WF tend to do this while they are waiting for photographs of the actual watch), so I thought okay... I will wait for the real pictures to arrive and then I can zoom in and make sure the dial is okay before I go any further.
Unfortunately a few days later the watch disappeared from the website and I assumed someone had bought it 'unseen', so I went back to dreaming about the blue and white Dato 160th Carrera they had up for £4800. In the meantime I had visited Bicester Village and the new Watchfinder store that had opened there. While I was there I spoke to a lady called Phoenix who said that they could have watches sent there for viewing... which was a lot more convenient for me than having to get a train to London. So when the watch re-appeared on the site a few days later with actual photographs I quickly contacted Phoenix and arranged a viewing.
This was on the Saturday night I believe, and on Sunday Phoenix emailed me back to say that she had ordered the watch and it would arrive in a few days. But, she pointed out, the watch was still for sale and could be sold before it arrived. She suggested I put down a refundable deposit of £600 to secure the watch for the moment - perhaps this was what happened before and why the watch was taken down for a few days?
Initially I agreed, but then even though I knew the deposit was refundable, something held me back from paying the deposit. I just wasn't convinced. After all, I'd already seen the watch once and felt that it didn't really hit the mark with me. So I eventually messaged her back, apologised and said that I hadn't paid the deposit, but I still wanted to see the watch... and I understood that someone else might buy the watch and if that was the case then I was 'okay' with it.
On the Tuesday Phoenix called me at work and told me the watch had arrived. I thanked her then rang my wife and told her I would be late home as I had to go look at the watch at Bicester. I can't honestly say I was that excited and by the time I got into the car I was already irritated that I was going to waste my evening going to see a watch that I knew I wasn't going to buy, but now felt obligated to drive for 2.1/2 hours to view because they had got it in to the store for me. As I drove down the A43 I grumbled to myself and planned to say that I would sleep on it and then let them down the next day.
The journey to Bicester was worse than expected and I didn't arrive until half an hour later than planned, by which time Phoenix had finished her shift and gone home. But she had left instructions with someone else (a guy who's name I have unfortunately forgotten) and after a brief look in the cabinets I sat on the stool at the counter while the CAV5115 was brought out from the back. Even then I was grumpy. Why the hell was I here? I was just wasting my time, cos there was no way I was buying this watch!
As I sat there my gaze fell upon a super cool skeletonised Cartier Santos in a cabinet on the wall and I quickly took a photo of it and wondered how much it was (about £20,000)... and then the watch was placed in front of me and I quickly perked up!
In my experience bracelets are almost always better than rubber straps; the only solid exception to this rule is the Heuer 01 Carreras, but generally even when I have bought rubber straps for watches (for example my yellow Aquaracer Calibre S) I always end up putting them back on the bracelet. However, I must admit that perhaps the CAV5115 is another one which bucks the trend. Granted I haven't switched the bracelet from my Calibre17 GC yet, but from the moment I saw this one and before I had even clocked the pristine dial my interest was well and truly piqued. It just works so well and oddly enough does rather remind me of the strap on my Heuer 01 skeleton.
I slid the watch onto my wrist and squinted at it. The lighting in the store is a little 'dramatic' and perhaps not the best for actually looking at watches... plus at 54 my eyesight finally seems to be starting to deteriorate - I've done bloody well, but maybe soon I will need to get some glasses. But even so I could see how damned cool this piece looked on the wrist. At first I thought the watch wasn't running but then I remembered that the running seconds is on the left hand side; through an odd and difficult to read slit through which can be seen three different 'hands' (one of which is red) one after another each displaying 20 seconds at a time. It's a bizarre and pretty useless arrangement to be honest, but a quirky feature nonetheless and better than no second hand at all - at least you can see the watch is running (oddly enough that's exactly what 'A Blog to Watch' said in their review back in 2012, haha).
The rest of the watch is... architectural, I guess is the word. Surely not something that's going to appeal to 'everyone', but I love that this is a watch which actually lives up to TAG Heuer's oft repeated mantra of 'avant garde'. Unlike 99% of TAG Heuer's recent releases, this one actually walks the walk rather than just talking the talk... which immediately makes it super cool in my book. And now, without the damaged dial niggling me I was able to look at it with an open mind.
As I was handling the watch and processing my sudden change of heart, I was informed the watch had been serviced by TAG Heuer a month ago, at a (slightly alarming) cost of £740. Now, I don't know how much the Calibre 36 costs to service, so maybe there was some additional work done, like maybe a new dial? But given this movement is basically a modified version of a Zenith El Primero I imagine it probably does cost quite a lot.
Thus far I haven't mentioned the price of the CAV5115. But before I do, bear in mind the one I tried on last year was on a bracelet - but with a damaged dial and no red paint on the second crown. That one was selling for (and presumably sold for, since they weren't willing to negotiate) £3750. Let's assume a bracelet would add £150-200, but to my mind the damaged dial would easily negate that... taking all that in to account you might be surprised to learn that the price I actually paid was £2950. It just shows how much the pre-owned watch market has softened, and makes me even gladder I didn't buy the other one! Plus I'm not sure what other watch I could get a (freshly serviced) El Primero in at that price point?
So despite all my grumbling I left with the watch (and a much lighter wallet than I went in with) and in fact I wore it on the drive home. I was wearing the aforementioned Grand Carrera Calibre 17 at the time so I swapped that onto my right wrist (I would have put it in the sweet wooden box that comes with the Calibre 36 but I had to stop somewhere on the way home and didn't want to leave either in the car) and it suddenly felt oddly heavy, and also distinctly top-heavy... whereas the rubber clad Calibre 36 felt light and balanced (in comparison). Not to mention it looked fabulous in the evening light and I kept glancing at it all the way home.
The next day I found the A Blog to Watch article I mentioned earlier and at the end of that it mentioned that it was $9500 in 2012. I checked the 2014 price list and IIRC correctly it was CHF8100 which in 2014 was about £6,000. This sounds about right as the ABTW article mentions the black version is about $1000 more and I remember seeing those in the TAG Heuer outlets before the pandemic for about £5500 - reduced from £7500. Which means this is now my most expensive watch; quite considerably more expensive than my Heuer 01 skeleton.
I'd say the H01 is still probably my favourite, but this new one is a very close second (and having owned it for a few weeks the gap has narrowed even further). Of course, time will tell, but I definitely have no regrets and I really don't know what is next for my collection. I'm actually considering selling 3-4 more pieces in the near future as I continue to try and get my stable down to a sensible number.
While I would love to get the 160th Dato Carrera, it would definitely mean selling my Pilot because they are just too similar. Granted one is quartz and thirty years old, but it seems slightly mad to upgrade from one watch to another that looks very similar, especially as that would then become my most expensive watch. Oh well... I guess we'll see what happens!
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