BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer 2000 Exclusive Two Tone

WN1153.BD0341

Est 1897 / H & T Pawnbrokers, Northampton 

You may remember I tried this watch on a couple of weeks ago and I was going to go back and try it on again while wearing a smaller watch (like my 6000 Series)... but then I got seduced by the inaccurate claims of Fine Time and ordered their WAF1120 Aquaracer instead, which turned out to be duller, faulty and 38mm not 41mm! And so back it went, and a couple of days ago I was thinking 'Well, I still don't have a gold watch, maybe I should go back and see if that 2000 Exclusive is still in the window?'

So yesterday I decided to have a scout around Northampton and see what was what. The pawn brokers nearest my workplace still have that quartz Formula 1 CAU2011 going for a bargain basement price (£1195), Michael Jones still has a Calibre 16 500M black dial Aquaracer for about the same price and H&T did indeed still have the WN1153 two tone 2000 Exclusive for £595.

They also had a CAH1212, which I'm rather surprised to learn is a women's watch. A 41mm chronograph (admittedly with a diamond bezel) is categorised by TAG Heuer as a women's piece, I felt pretty sure it was a man's watch - but no, I checked in the 2014 catalogue and there it is, right next to the 32mm version. Still, I guess there's nothing to stop a guy wearing it, or a woman for that matter, but I can't imagine that many women being comfortable with a 41mm watch...

CAH1212.BA0862

To be honest I might even have been tempted myself, but let's not complicate matters further...

I had a look in the window and saw it was there, but I was wearing my 43mm grey dial Aquaracer so I decided to come back another day, with a Kirium or my 6000 Series on so that I wouldn't put obstacles in the way. In the window it really didn't look unduly small, and as I've been wearing my blue Kirium a bit, I've kind of got used to a smaller watch again, indeed I've started feeling like my 43mm Aquaracers are a bit big - which isn't good as I have three of them!

So today I made a point of wearing my blue Kirium to work with the intention of going into town and checking out the watch again, and maybe buying it. Well, being the last day of the month I was very busy so I didn't get to go into town until very late in the afternoon. I walked up to the window and was pleased to see the watch was still there, but it's little stand up sign seemed to be missing. Then I noticed it was there but it had been knocked to the side. 

I knew the watch was £595, because I'd seen it the day before, so I was a bit thrown off because the sign now said £446 instead. I checked and it definitely said TAG Heuer Exclusive on it, and they didn't have another one, and then looking closer it said 'Was £595, Now £446'.

R E S U L T !

That very morning they had knocked £149 off the price, which was funny because I was debating on the way down if I should maybe try to knock them down on price a bit. But I was thinking more along the lines of £30, so I wasn't going to look this kind of deal in the mouth.

I think I'd pretty much decided, pending a second 'try on', that I was going to buy the watch, so the discount was a welcome bonus and sweetener that made me feel confident that if I didn't like the watch I could flip it without losing too much money.

I didn't get the name of the lady in the shop, but she was absolutely charming - let's be honest, she must have some rum customers to deal with in that kind of environment, but she would have been just as at home in a proper jewellers I think. I noticed a card on the counter and she explained that they were part of Est1897 and that if you want to see any of the watches on their website you can have them delivered to the local store for viewing. This is well worth knowing as the Est 1897 website has a huge number of TAGs on it, and it's potentially a lot more convenient than Watchfinder...

The watch is still definitely on the smaller side at 37mm, but I think it's fine and even when I ordered the WAF1120 I was still thinking this one was better looking, as I believe I said in my post. Nothing had changed for me, I still love the look of this one. I much prefer the gold 12,6, 9 figures and blockier hour markers, and I also think the bezel on this one is much nicer. There's less gold on the bracelet too, which I'm not unhappy about, and again I prefer the design and execution. If this watch was 39mm it would be perfect, but for £446 I'm not going to argue. Sure if I saw the 39mm chrono version I'd probably prefer it, but a) I haven't been able to find one anywhere and b) there's no way it would be anything like £446.

So I left H & T a happy chap, with TAG number 11 in my bag... and amazingly, as my friend pointed out immediately I got back to work, still no red and green logo! Damn....!

ON THE WRIST: 2000 Exclusive Quartz Two Tone Watch

WN1153

H&T Pawnbrokers / Northampton, 13th August 2018

Just lately I've woken up to the joys of perusing the local pawnbrokers' windows, I've already seen an Alter Ego and a very nice Formula 1 Calibre 16 and the latest thing to catch my eye was this two tone 2000 Exclusive. Since my last visit to Bicester Village I've become rather more open to the idea of having something gold in my watch cabinet and at £595 this looked like it could fit the bill nicely.

The only problem, of course, was size. At 37mm this is definitely on the smaller side and I think while you don't want a gold watch to be too big and blingy, at the same time you don't want it to be very undersized either since it could look a tad effeminate. So I was really in two minds about it when I tried it on and it didn't help that I was wearing a chunky 43mm Aquaracer at the time.

In all honesty when I saw it in the window, it didn't look overly small but I presumed that the bracelet wouldn't fit me and that would be that. But actually the bracelet was a touch too big and would definitely have needed a link or two taking out to fit my 7.3/4" wrist. Also the marks that seemed to be apparent weren't actually marks at all and most of them proved to be fingerprints on the gold plate and were easily wiped away with a cloth.

The compression clasp was in excellent order and very crisp indeed, which gave me the overall impression that the watch really hadn't seen that much use, despite it being probably at least 15 years old. I must say I really liked the gold 12, 6, 9 numerals and the way the bezel was dissected allowing for a properly two-tone design.

The next day I kept thinking about the watch, but I had grave doubts about the 37mm size. So I decided that what I would do was I would wear my 6000 Series, which is 38mm I think, but very thin and see how it compared with that. However, as it turned out my work day was rather busy and I never got the time to walk into town to try it on again.

Also a friend pointed out a two-tone Link on Fine Time Watches the other day, and I decided to check that out again, although I was sure that too was 38mm. As it happened that watch had been sold, but I did happen upon another bargain that is currently en route to me and should arrive tomorrow morning! I haven't been back into town as yet, so it could be that this one is still for sale if you fancy it? I do like it a lot, and if it had been say 40mm I might well have chosen this one even though the watch I've actually gone for is £70 cheaper. But the one I've ordered is 41mm, and that makes a big difference I think, I just feel like if I'd bought this one I'd regret it based solely on it's size, so even though I think the design might be slightly better, I'm sure I've made the right choice.