SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer 2000 Exclusive Quartz Watch

WN1112

What a beauty, eh? Right up until I bought my new Aquaracer/Searacer last week (or was it two weeks ago?) I was all primed and ready to add another 2000 Exclusive to my collection. I already have a black dial chrono in mint condition that I got in January from Watchfinder and a two tone three hander that I picked up last year, and I really do enjoy wearing both of them. As a matter of fact I've been wearing the black dial chrono for the last few days and I'm wearing it right now, it really is a lovely watch, although as it's like a little Aquagraph it's maybe undermined that piece just a little bit. So much less hassle being quartz, and it's smaller and easier to wear too... not as cool though, granted. But still a very nice watch in its own right.

These pictures came from an eBay listing and they've been kicking around in a folder on my desktop for a while so I'm not sure if this watch is still available. I don't even want to look right now, I think if I brought another watch home anytime soon my wife would have a fit, so... best not even go looking!

These watches are 38mm in diameter and very wearable, but they have a lot of wrist presence, much more so than the slightly smaller 2000 Series. I think it's the bezel that does it, they are quite chunky and the raised centre section on the bezel is polished which makes it look even more eye catching.

The only downside of that polished section is that inevitably when you see these on eBay, that part is more often than not a little worse for wear, and being right next to the glass, polishing it at home is a risky business! This one looks mint though and I assume it's been polished properly, either that or it's never been worn...

I'd dearly love another one of these and this blue dial would be a great choice. There are other options though, I have definitely seen a tapisserie dial version as well, although I think that might have been a silver dial (not so great) and there's also a rose gold bezel version with a black dial.

The best thing is these 2000 Exclusives can be had for reasonable money, my immaculate black dial Chrono from Watchfinder was only about £650 and my two tone I found in a sale for about £460 IIRC. Other three handers can be had on eBay from about £350, depending on condition. I can't recommend them highly enough, they have a fantastic chunky bracelet with a positive fold-over clasp and a superb mid link design which gives an eye catching glint from some very small polished links, leaving the rest of the bracelet in a very practical brushed finish.

Right, that's enough for today. We're all waiting for the first of the new Monaco 50th Anniversary pieces which will be unveiled tonight in Monaco. I've seen it already and I can't wait to write about that one...

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer 2000 Exclusive Quartz Watch

WN1112

I haven't been on eBay since I bought my classic white dial F1 Chrono a few weeks ago (I'm wearing it right now actually), and yesterday when I went on the site I had no intention of buying anything. I did place several bids, albeit not for watches.. but I was rather tempted to throw my hat into the ring for this rather nice blue dial 2000 Exclusive which finished last night.

Offered with an 8" bracelet, this looked to be great value... and sure enough somebody picked this up for just £270, which seems like a bit of a bargain to me. Sure, I don't need another 2000 Exclusive, I don't 'need' any more watches full stop - but that's not a reason to quit now is it? I must admit I was quite surprised the watch didn't fetch more as blue dial watches in general are very desirable, but I must admit looking at the picture above something didn't look quite right, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

I really like my WN1153 2000 Exclusive, but I often wish I had one that wasn't two-tone, I thought the CN1110 I got in January (part of the trade I got for my Grand Carrera) was going to stroke that particular itch, but it doesn't seem to have worked. Somehow the chronograph version looks a lot more different than you'd think so it feels like a different watch altogether. Obviously I don't want to spend a lot of money to get a variation of a watch I already own, and sub £300 would have been very appealing, but having not long purchased my F1 Chrono (CA1212-1) and trying to build up my reserves pending new releases from Baselworld and my upcoming fiftieth birthday... well it didn't really make sense right now.

Admittedly, as I wasn't serious about bidding, I didn't go to the trouble of asking questions, so I don't know if the bezel is spinning like a top (for example, it's shown to move in the pictures, but does it move too much? Always a top question to ask that...). But on the face of it this was possibly something of a missed opportunity... my only reservation being that it seems a little too good condition wise. The bezels on these are almost always scratched and often quite badly, yet this one looks almost perfect... Hmm.

Looking a bit closer it's pretty apparent that there's been some polishing done and none too well actually. That bezel should look a lot more angular, and the raised parts of the bezel have lost their shape. Also, if you look at the bracelet, I believe the centre links should be polished and the outer links brushed... if you look closely you can see that the outer edges of the bracelet have been polished almost as if they were trying to mimic a 5 link bracelet (albeit with the polished parts on the outer edge), which is a bit bizarre. 

Actually, I'm not 100% sure this is even on the right bracelet now I look at it. My 2000 Exclusives have a different centre link design altogether, this looks a lot like the standard 2000 bracelet, which it's entirely possible TAG Heuer might have supplied this on, but I'm still certain the outer links should be brushed. I don't suppose it would have been too hard to sort out the links with a Dremel and a bit of rouge, but there's no getting that bezel back how it should be. So maybe not so much a missed opportunity after all!