SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer 2000 Professional Quartz Watch

254.006/1

The 2000 Series 254.006 is another one of those models that was carried over from the Heuer days and subsequently given an updated dial with the (then) new logo. Since this dates the watch to the mid 1980s it's no surprise to learn that the watch is battery powered, indeed such was the novelty and perhaps even 'cache' of this that they even placed the word 'quartz' on the dial - can you imagine such a thing in 2020?

The dial is fairly simple, with a nice 6-9-12 layout for the subdials and while these pictures suggest the background is white, other pictures I've seen suggest a slightly creamier tone.

While the watch isn't exactly gorgeous, I must admit the more I look at it the more I'm warming to it. The shot above in particular seems to show it from it's best angle and also shows off the classic 80s bracelet. The bezel is bound to be this watch's 'Marmite' factor, it's an interesting one isn't it? Not quite as spectacularly awful as the similar one with cross headed screws for sure, but still... I guess we could be generous and say the style hasn't dated well, but it does rather bring to mind some other classic watches of the 70s and 80s doesn't it?

The watch looks surprisingly chunky for a quartz and as this side shot (below) shows, the crown is positioned bizarrely low down on the case side. I can't help thinking that might be rather uncomfortable if like me you wear your watch right up at the top of your wrist next to your hand. I don't think I've ever seen another 2000 that looks like this and it rather makes me wonder why it was necessary for the crown and pushers to be placed like that.

By contrast the hands seem rather delicate don't they? Indeed the more I looked at these pictures the more I started to wonder if I wasn't looking at some cobbled together Franken-watch, but a bit of Googling seems to suggest the Heuer version of this watch was just the same - even the crown and pusher arrangement matches up. 

I've had no luck trying to find an open sale for one of these (just a lot of dead links on 'Rebonz' and the usual Chrono24 'you searched for one specific watch but we're going to show you everything with Heuer in the title' nonsense) but I did find a completed sale on 'Watchcharts.com' which had an asking price of $455. This gives us some information about the watch, apparently it has a 36mm bezel diameter and a 40mm case size which strikes me as rather generous for a watch from the 80s - let's not forget the men's resin case Formula 1 of the period was only 35mm so this must have been quite a beast in it's day.

Pre 'TAG Heuer' 254.006 with Heuer logo on the dial

One thing that is somewhat curious about this watch is that it clearly has some kind of date window magnification and yet it doesn't appear to have an 'external' cyclops such as you would find on a modern Aquaracer. It looks like perhaps there is a magnifying glass between the date wheel and the date window aperture, which seems like a great idea. I've often wondered why they don't put the cyclops on the inside of the glass (assuming there is room for the hands of course) as it would be so much neater and much more aesthetically pleasing. But then, maybe this is the reason why the watch is so thick and the movement positioned so far back in the case? If so, then I can see why they didn't continue with that particular design...

VIDEO: 2000 Series 'Comment' by Archie Luxury

SPOTLIGHT ON: 2000 Series Chronograph Quartz

CN1111.BA0337

I spotted this watch pre-owned in a jewellers window in Lincoln yesterday. They were asking £1200 for it, though it didn't state if they had the box or papers for it. I thought that was a bit steep, but I also felt I was pretty sure I hadn't seen this model before. Sure enough, I checked my gallery blog this morning and this piece wasn't listed.

I'm guessing this watch must be something like fifteen years old and I'm pretty sure £1200 is more than or very close to the original price (but I could be wrong), a quick search on Chrono 24 threw one up for £910, which sounds better although obviously there's always a premium to pay going through a high street jeweller who presumably will have checked the watches' authenticity (?). Still if after all my searching I've never come across this one before then it's obviously not that common, and for some this silver dialed chronograph could be a dream watch.

It's quite a chunky looker, and I was half tempted to try it on... but the polished element of the bezel did have some scratches on it (I suppose it may be that the jeweller is selling it on behalf of the owner and so they don't want to spend money polishing it out) and to be honest it looked rather too much like my Aquagraph for me to seriously consider it.

But of course it's always nice to see a TAG you haven't seen before, and I was rather impressed with this one's looks. Not sure about the round Chrono pushers, perhaps because I'm used to the square rubber pushers on my Aquagraph, but I'm sure I'd get used to them... and really the main reason I didn't try it on is because I think I just might have been tempted!

SPOTLIGHT ON: 2000 Professional Quartz Watch

972.606

As we've just had a look at a couple of watches that are bang up to date, I thought I'd do a post about something that dates back right to the beginning of TAG Heuer. Indeed this watch is featured in the 1987 catalogue and is one of the better looking watches of the time.

Like everything (with the possible exception of the 'Retro' Chronograph range, as it doesn't state either way) in the 1987 catalogue, this is a quartz movement watch and a very handsome chap it is too. I really do like the combination of that rather refined blue bezel, the gold markings and the black dial. It has a slightly regal look about it, though I understand that over the years these bezels do fade, which is rather a shame. Retro fans rather like it because it gives it 'patina' and all but guarantess authenticity, but to me the draw is the blue and if it's faded to almost a silver colour, well, there's countless silver watches on the market I could buy.

Size is hard to pin down. I can't find a definitive answer, but I've seen it lasted as both 42mm and 40mm including the crown, which would make it something like 37/38mm I'm guessing. A little on the small size for me unfortunately. A shame, as I like a few of the watches from this era, especially some of the 1500 series and these come from an age when watches were built smaller.

From what I've seen you can expect to pay somewhere between £250-350 on the second hand market.

There you go, I managed to get through a whole post without mentioning a rubber strap!

You can view many of the TAG Heuer catalogues on Calibre 11

http://www.calibre11.com/catalogues/