SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre TH20-00 'Harrods' Limited Edition Chronograph

Okay, let's get this out of the way right off the bat.... why is this a 'Spotlight On' post and not a 'First Impressions' post? The answer is simply that 'First Impressions' posts are for watches that have just been released, and somehow it seems this watch was released last year without anyone in my circle knowing about it. Nobody told me, nobody posted it on the THF forum, literally did not have a clue and as such it was not included in last years 'Watch of the Year' voting procedure. In fact the only reason I found about this one at all is because I spotted it on Watchfinder and thought 'what the hell is that!' 

And that's a bit of a shame if you ask me because I feel like this one could have garnered a vote or two. First off it's that crowd pleasing 42mm size (well, crowd pleasing is maybe a touch generous, but it's not 44mm so... a few more people will like it) and crucially it isn't yet another bloody glassbox, and that immediately kicks it up a notch in my opinion. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Harrods' Limited Edition Chronograph

 

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Well I promised you that next time we'd be looking at something a bit more exciting, but I bet you weren't expecting this, right? No, you were probably expecting the skeleton dial Monacos, and we will of course be getting to those. But for now I bring you this super limited edition 42mm Carrera in solid 18k 5N rose gold, with a green sunray brushed dial, solid gold hour markers and a domed crystal all presented on a green alligator strap with a matching rose gold buckle. Wowsers!

ON THE WRIST: Dior Grand Bal Automatic Ladies Watch

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Harrods / London, 15th September 2021

Ever since I showed my wife a photograph of a 'Dior Grand Bal' in a copy of the now sadly defunct 'QP' magazine a few years ago it's been right at the top of her 'dream watch' list. Unfortunately, despite much searching we'd never actually found anywhere in the UK that stocked them, until today... when we unexpectedly came across them in the 'Fine Jewellery and Watches' room in Harrods!

The Grand Bal comes in many different designs, all of which are very limited (for example this one is a run of just 88 pieces, though strangely this isn't mentioned on the website) and most of them are extremely beautiful. There are Grand Bals that come on ceramic bracelets or more traditional leather straps, but the defining feature of the Grand Bal is that it wears it's rotor on the front of the dial. Many examples are decorated with feathers, but there are also some other variations such as bows, intricate lattice-work and other fancy embellishments...

  

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera 'Porsche Special Edition; Heuer 02 Chronograph

 

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Harrods / London, 15th September 2021

This is the last of the three watches I tried on in Harrods on this hot September day and it's probably my favourite. Yet again it's a watch that doesn't show itself at its best in photographs, but it's not quite the revelation that the blue dial Dato 45 Carrera 160th Anniversary LE was (for example). 

When TAG Heuer announced that they were going to collaborate with Porsche they unfortunately set up a lot of expectations. People were getting very excited about it and (for the most part) expecting 'Heritage' this and 'Retro' that, but to be honest when I think of Porsche I don't think of a company that is 'Retro' or 'Heritage'. Sure the 911 has massive history behind it, but to me as a casual observer the company are more about pushing the model forward through continual evolution rather than trading on some whimsical 'glory days'.

ON THE WRIST: Chopard Alpine Eagle Automatic Watch & L 'Heure du Diamant Ladies Automatic Watch

 

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Harrods / London, 15th September 2021

This was my wife and I's first visit to Harrods in over two years and for the first time ever we decided to stop and look around the 'Fine Jewellery and Watches' room instead of simply walking through it on the way to the more 'regular' watch boutiques. I'm really glad we did too because we found all sorts of goodies there including a Dior boutique selling the ladies Grand Bal, all manner of bejewelled Hublots and Roger DuBois (many of which were clearly pushing the boundaries of taste) and the Chopard boutique which was well worth a visit.

I've never been a big fan of the brand if I'm completely honest, because the Mille Miglias left me pretty cold and nothing else spoke to me much either. However, that all changed today when I came face to face with the Alpine Eagle for the first time (and our Swedish friend Jim Dollares was first in line to tell me 'I told you so)'. He did actually, although I had completely forgotten about it since I saw the release photos a while back... so it came as a welcome surprise and the perfect start to a great day out in London.

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Blue Tortoiseshell Bezel' Calibre 5 Watch

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Harrods / London, 15th September 2021

As I'm sure I said when this came out and I wrote my 'First Impressions' post, the tortoiseshell bezel Aquaracer first emerged at Bazelworld 2019 with a brown/red bezel and a blue dial; back then it was shown on a blue NATO strap and was even given a part number WAY101K.FC8264 but it never actually arrived. But then last year TAG Heuer announced two new tortoiseshell models, one with a brown/red bezel and a black dial and one with a blue bezel/blue dial combo.

The initial renders were promising for both, very promising in fact and they both scored well in last year's end of year C.O.C.O. Council ratings, but then we started to see actual photos and it became clear that they looked a little bit odd. And now having seen them in the flesh I'm afraid that they don't look any better in real life either...

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Tribute to 844' Calibre 5 Limited Edition Watch

 

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Harrods / London, 15th September 2021

Last time I visited Harrods, the room at the end of the corridor which houses the TAG Heuer (and other assorted) watches looked like a bit of a dump. Well that's a bit unfair, it wasn't a 'dump' as such, it just looked like a spare room that the 'rest' of the watches had been put in while they waited for the decorators to visit. This time that had all changed and the walls and ceiling were nicely finished so that they matched the rest of the 'boutiques' along the bottom floor corridor.

So I was more than a little surprised to be told that all this was about to be ripped out to make way for a dedicated TAG Heuer boutique, fitted out just like the one on Oxford Street. The man who told me this was the manager Darnell, a great guy who seemingly has almost as much enthusiasm for TAG Heuer as I do. Impressive!

ON THE WRIST: Heuer Autavia Heuer 02 'Harrods Limited Edition' Chronograph

 

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TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 19th April 2021

I was never really a fan of the original black dial Autavia Heuer 02, it was way too retro for me and I didn't care for the bracelet or the tan coloured strap it came on. I did warm up to the JH85 Autavia with the silver dial and I appreciated the changes they'd made to the bezel text, but it wasn't until the release of the limited edition 'Calibre 11' Autavia that I found an Autavia Heuer 02 I could really get behind. But of course there were only 100 of those and I missed my chance and now they go for two or three times their original value, so, much like the original Alec Monopoly Formula 1 it ain't never going to happen! 

Maybe you are in the same boat? Well, if so, there is an alternative in the 150 piece limited edition made for Harrods of London and which can currently be found at the TAG Heuer Outlet at Bicester Village. Granted this one doesn't feature the blue touches or the nicer bezel from the JH85 which made the Calibre 11 model the best Autavia Heuer 02 by a country mile, but it does give you a somewhat similar overall aesthetic without the crippling price tag!

Of course, I've never actually seen a Calibre 11 Autavia (how many of us actually have?) so it was nice to try this on and get a feel for what might have been, and at the same time experience what is actually a very nice watch in its own right. The white dial somehow assuages my anti-retro jitters, and, despite the fact that this one features the original large text bezel, I still really liked it. Even the dreaded 'fauxtina' didn't set my teeth on edge, and that's a first!

The Autavia Heuer 02 is quite a thick watch, but it's not by any means 'unwearable', and even though it is 42mm it doesn't seem unduly large (for reference I was wearing a 39mm 3000 Series when I visited the store). I must admit that in the flesh the bracelet was nicer than I remembered it, but I definitely still preferred the black leather strap - another point of similarity with that glorious Calibre 11 Limited Edition of course. 

Bless good old Watchfinder for always providing a 'head-on' shot of almost any watch I care to write about, but really their photograph doesn't do this watch any justice at all, it is so much nicer than it appears at the top of this post. I hope my photographs give you a slightly better impression... but I have to say I don't think they do it much justice either; I did my best but the lights in the boutique are a bit of a nightmare and the main objective is trying to avoid reflections on the crystal.

When I wrote about this previously my take on it was that as a Harrods Limited Edition it paled into insignificance against the green bezel Tudor Black Bay. I still stand by that comment, the Black Bay is the perfect Harrods watch with that precise shade of green wrapped around the dial, but taken on its own merits and without that caveat, this one is definitely a winner in my book - and a nicer watch than the Black Bay to boot!

 

Not sure exactly how many Bicester have of these available, but given there were only 150 made altogether it's probably going to be no more than a few. If this one sounds like the one for you why not give the store a call on (01869) 249008 to check stock and don't forget you don't have to live nearby since orders can be shipped anywhere within the UK. And if you are a fan of the original black dial version, worry not because they have those too!

CBE2116: Harrods Limited Edition of 150 pieces

On the bracelet: LIST PRICE - £4350   BICESTER PRICE - £3500

On the strap: LIST PRICE - £4250   BICESTER PRICE - £3400

CBE2110: Original Black Dial Edition

On the bracelet: LIST PRICE - £4395   BICESTER PRICE - £3550

On the strap: LIST PRICE - £4295   BICESTER PRICE - £3500

ON THE WRIST: Hublot Unico Golf / Classic Fusion Black Magic / Big Bang Black Magic

Hublot Boutique / Harrods, London 9th March 2019

Oh wow, my trip to London in March seems such a long time ago now and I still haven't quite got round to writing up all the watches I tried on that day (well there was about 20!). I'm pretty sure this is the last of them, and it's only taken me six months... and no doubt in six months I'll be doing it all again (though I probably won't be bothering going back to the Seiko or Omega boutiques, for completely different reasons mind you).

So yes, it was the end of a very long day and Rich and I found ourselves in Harrods, and more specifically in the Hublot boutique. Our salesman's name was Mahmoud and he was most friendly and spent an inordinate amount of time talking to us (it was a quiet evening it must be said) and was more than happy to show us the watches, which was excellent, especially after having to deal with the guy in Selfridges earlier that day (see my review of the Breitling Exospace).

Hublot Classic Fusion Black Magic 510.CM.1170.CM

The first watch I tried on was the Hublot Classic Fusion Black Magic, which looked a lot more interesting in the cabinet than it did on the wrist and even then it didn't look that exciting to be honest. The main reason I picked this one was because it was similar to a watch my wife had pointed out on our last visit (a ladies model) as one she liked the look of. I have to say the increase in size to a man's watch didn't play in it's favour as the piece looks and feels overly large on the wrist, very flat and the dial very empty. 

I don't think Hublot's strength is in 'subtlety', surely if you're a Hublot fan you probably want something a little 'louder'. It's like buying a Lamborghini and then asking for it in dove grey, it just doesn't make any sense. I think the other thing was that it was quite matt, whereas I'm sure the ladies version was a lot more polished, and again this made it look rather dull. This one is 45mm diameter, which to me is too big for a watch with no sub-dials and assuming it hasn't changed in the last six months the price is £10,400. Definitely not the Hublot for me I'm afraid.

Hublot Big Bang Black Magic 301.CI.1770.RX

The Big Bang Black Magic Chronograph does have subdials and is also 1mm smaller at 44mm, as such the proportions work much better in my opinion. The carbon dial looks great and this one manages to be a bit more 'in your face', without going totally overboard. I don't like the crown in silver, I think they should have black coated it (and the pushers for that matter) but it's not too bad since it complements the silver screws around the dial and on the end link for the strap.

This is not a small watch and it wears similarly on the wrist to the first model, albeit I much prefer the flexibility of the rubber strap. I would definitely choose this one over the Classic Fusion, but at £13,000 (March 2019) there's other Hublots that appeal to me more for less money.

Hublot Big Bang Unico Golf 416.YS.1120.VR

I don't play golf, but if I could afford to buy this crazy looking watch I might be inclined to take it up! This was hot off the presses when I tried it on and if the other two Hublots I tried on today were slightly understated then this one goes all the way over the top. The Hublot Big Bang Unico Golf is definitely one for the man who wants to be noticed with a 45mm diameter carbon case, yellow highlights and a very cool two tone rubber / white calf leather strap, not to mention a 72 hour power reserve and 100M of water resistance.

The 'golf' function works using the pushers you would normally associate with a chronograph. The top (yellow) pusher is pressed every time you make a shot, while the bottom pusher is depressed once you have finished a hole and moves the 'hole' indicator on to the next number. The counter at the 6 position keeps a running total of all your shots. If I remember correctly the pusher that looks like a golf tee at the 8 position resets the scores to zero and the hole counter back to 1.

It's a super-cool looking watch and I really loved it, but unfortunately at £26,000 (Mar 2019) it's a tad out of my league. Chrono 24 has eleven of these for sale, but even there the best price on offer is more than £18,000, which is still way too rich for me, especially as (I think I already mentioned) I don't even play golf!

Definitely one with 'fiddle factor' this one, and I'm sure it could be used for other things beside golf (though admittedly nothing springs to mind), but not really one for someone who wants an 'only' watch as this is pretty brash and bold and not exactly versatile. Still, watching that (rather hilarious) video made me remember just how much I enjoyed trying this on and just how cool it looks on the wrist.

ON THE WRIST: Zenith Defy El Primero 21 Chronograph / 'Swiss Beatz' Limited Edition

49.9000.9004/78.M9000

Harrods / London, 9th March 2019

I can't believe I still have 'On the Wrist' posts to write from my trip to London in March, well... only two more including this one (though the last one combines three watches in one post). So at the end of our long hard day looking at watches, Rich and I stumbled into Harrods feeling rather tired and ready to go home, but not before we visited the watch room. I've already written about the Tudor GMT and I have my experience in the Hublot boutique to recount, but for now I want to concentrate on the first two Zeniths I've had on my wrist.

First up is this rather stunning Zenith Defy, which of course features the El Primero 21 movement. This features two escapements, one for the watch running at 36,000 VpH - 5Hz, and one for the chronograph running at 360,000 VpH 50Hz, meaning the chronograph hand rotates once per second. Obviously this doesn't come cheap, but at £13100 it's possibly an 'affordable' option if you'd like a TAG Heuer Micropendulum but can't quite stretch that far... (not at all the same thing, I know).

I really love the aggressively modern design and the skeleton dial is a thing of beauty and much nicer to look at than these photographs suggest. Despite the 44mm diameter it doesn't feel massive on the wrist and it's still quite a novelty to have a black bracelet on my wrist. This one is ceramic, and again I really appreciate the angular design, but I don't know if I'd go for this option, I think if it came to it I'd probably get one with a 'Hublot' style rubber/leather strap instead.

This one has 100M of water resistance and a 50 hour power reserve, so pretty practical all round really, certainly a lot more usable as an everyday watch than the second Zenith I tried on...

This one caught my eye, because... well, it's pretty obvious 'why' isn't it, it's not every day you see a white ceramic luxury watch on a white rubber and orange alligator leather band.

49.9003.9004/76 .R591 (Swiss Beats Limited Edition)

This one is a collaboration with DJ/producer/rapper 'Swiss Beatz' and features some of his lyrics on the inside of the strap and around the white ceramic bezel... in orange. Yeah, I'm not really digging this one too much, and from what they guy in Harrods said they're not exactly flying off the shelves

It is a bit cheaper at £12,800, but let's be honest, this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. I have to say I don't mind the colour scheme too much but the lyrics on the bezel look tacky as hell. For another £300, I'd definitely take the simpler, black version and actually if you take it on a strap instead of the ceramic bracelet the price actually drops to a much more reasonable £10,600.

My first two Zeniths then, an obvious winner and one that's a bit... well, not a winner for me. I did really like the top one though, a stunning watch to look at even if it is a bit out of my price range. 

ON THE WRIST: Tudor Black Bay Pepsi GMT

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Harrods / London, 9th March 2019

This was something I'd pretty much forgotten about to be honest, the Tudor range as a whole doesn't do much for me (the Pelagos is the only Tudor I would buy) but my friend Rich is more into it. I can't remember exactly how this came about, I remember we were looking at a couple of Zeniths and talking with Harry (I think his name was, nice chap) in Harrods and we got on to the subject of the Harrods special editions and the Tudor Black Bay GMT (it's all coming back to me now).

Tudor Black Bay 'Harrods' Numbered Edition

Harry told us that those two models were the hottest tickets for them, and that they get maybe 15 phone calls a day about them. I was curious as to how, given there was a waiting list for the Harrods Black Bay that they had two on display. Apparently they are owned by Harrods and used by management for functions etc, and otherwise used as display models.

While I'm not a fan of the Black Bay in general, I do rather like the Harrods model, the green bezel really sets it apart and they've selected just the right tone of green (unlike Bvlgari and Roger Dubuis, both of whom completely screwed their models up in my opinion. Roger Dubuis had two different greens on his watch and neither of them was even close to being correct!). I think it's massively important that they got this right as that green is a Harrods calling card and when you see this Black Bay you instantly know what it is and what it represents. Unlike some other brands - including TAG Heuer's white dial 'Harrods' Autavia.

But I think I have spoken about this watch before, so let's concentrate on the Tudor Black Bay GMT.

As you probably know, the watch was released to a great kerfuffle at last year's Baselworld show, right around the same time as Rolex released their new Pepsi bezel GMT. People were aghast, what on Earth where they thinking stealing some of Rolex's thunder? Well, you know what? They really didn't. Rolex Pepsi on a Jubilee bracelet is trading well over list price thanks to Rolex's draconian control and manipulation of the market, but then you can't just walk into a shop and buy a Tudor Pepsi either!

Let's be clear, this watch wasn't on display, it was under the counter and we weren't allowed to remove the film covering the dial (Harry peeled it back for us about half-way so we could see the colour of the bezel properly, but that was as far as he would go). I'm not sure if this watch was for sale or if it was put by for someone. It seems the waiting list for the bracelet version of the watch is so long that people are resorting to buying the watch on this (fairly hideous) brown leather strap and then presumably finding a bracelet elsewhere and switching it out.

Before I continue, I know in the past I have been very scathing about brown leather straps and often it was meant in jest. I know some people didn't like it, and that's fair enough. But this strap... it's not very nice (in my opinion) but more importantly, it really doesn't go with the watch. You have a black dial, a very dark red, a very dark blue and they've matched it with a sort of reddy-brown strap. Surely a black strap would have been better? Look at that picture above, I don't like NATOs, but I would take the black NATO over that brown strap any day of the week.

The Tudor GMT on the brown leather strap costs £2570, which is about £200 less than the bracelet version. You can probably get one in a month or two, whereas the bracelet is probably more like 6 months. Harry did tell me that if you order from Harrods your name goes on the list and you will be supplied in order, they don't allow queue jumping for special customers. Do I believe that? Not entirely sure. I'd like to believe it... but knowing what kind of dubious shenanigans Rolex are capable of, I think I'd take it with a tiny grain of salt.

Ignoring the strap then, I was quite surprised how dark the colours on the bezel actually are. Not that the photographs are misleading, I think it's more that I'm used to seeing the brighter red and blue on the Aquaracer Calibre 7 and also on the Rolex Pepsi (not that I've actually seen a 2018 Rolex Pepsi - obviously!), so that was surprising. Other than that it looks kinda small, it's 41mm but it wears smaller than that I'd say.

Obviously I was slightly hindered by the film, but I really didn't think the dial looked that nice close up, it definitely looks more impressive in these photographs. I'm really not a retro kinda guy and I'm definitely not a Rolex kinda guy, so a lot of this is perhaps lost on me, but from a purely objective point of view it didn't 'impress' me that much at all. It just didn't strike me as being anything 'special' somehow, irrespective of whether it appeals to me (and there are plenty of watches I can appreciate without actually liking).

I'd really to see the watch on a bracelet actually, I think it might look a lot better overall, but as it stands I was even more underwhelmed by this than the Seiko diver I tried on about an hour prior. I think it's partly because the bezel looks more modern than the dial, and on the strap it emphasises the retro dial too much, so it looks a bit odd. I know Pepsi bezels have been around for a long time, but it's the execution, and maybe the font on the bezel? I'm not sure... something doesn't quite work somehow, but again I think it might work on the bracelet.

Hopefully at some point in the future the watch will appear in the stores and I'll finally be able to find out. In the meantime I think if I was going to sign my name on a waiting list for a Black Bay, I think I'd still be choosing the Harrods edition.

FEATURE: Another Trip to London to Look at Watches...

Long time readers may remember that almost exactly a year ago my friend Rich and I made a day trip to London with the express intention of visiting as many watch stores as possible... well, we decided to do it all over again, only this time we really went for it!

Our first port of call was the Omega boutique at the top of Regent Street, and strangely enough I'd never tried on an Omega before, so it really was high time I did. I ended up trying on six different pieces, including the Speedmaster and Speedmaster 2, three Planet Oceans and 300M Chronograph. We ended up staying in there nearly an hour, which I really hadn't been expecting or intending to do.

I must say, the service we received in this boutique from Lin Lin was superb and seeing that I was noting down the pieces that I had tried on she offered to print me spec sheets for everything. I'll probably never buy an Omega, but if I did, I would make a point of going back to this boutique and asking for Lin Lin, she is a credit to the company!

Next we headed down Carnaby Street and happened to stop off at the Swatch boutique. I've never been overly sold on Swatch, but I know Rich likes the collectability of them and it was interesting to see the System 51 models on display. We didn't stay too long before heading down a few doors to G-Shock.

I didn't actually try anything on in G-Shock, but it was quite interesting to see the wide variety of styles and prices on offer. They even had some steel models that were over £1000 which I wasn't really expecting.

We popped into the Karl Lagerfield store on Oxford Street so I could pick up a little gift for my wife. It's a shame Karl has died recently and I love that his cat is worth $3.5M. Crazy! After picking up this cute (if somewhat overpriced keyring), we headed a couple of doors up to Watches of Switzerland.

I've been in this store several times, but I've still never been up to the top floor. I always head for the basement first since that's where the LVMH brands are to be found, and this time I tried on a couple of TAG Heuers and my first Hublot. Then we headed back up to street level and I tried on my first Ulysse Nardin, it was to be a day of firsts, with more to come...

Mindful of the long day ahead and our poor feet, we decided a brief stop at the Slug and Lettuce on Hanover Street was in order. I had ideally planned to get in there before 12 as I feared it might be rather busy on a Saturday lunchtime, but it was actually rather quiet and we passed a pleasant half hour in there before moving on.

Our next stop was Oris on South Molton street, where I discovered the rather exciting 'Dive Control Limited Edition 1000M Chronograph', a real beast at 51mm but one that you could actually wear due to it's very short lugs and non-flaring strap. Can't honestly say there was much else in the store I was interested in, but that one got a big thumbs up from me.

Selfridges was next, and after wasting half an hour going around in circles trying to find the toilets, we finally hit The Wonder Room, where I tried on my first ever Rolex. Not only that, but I managed to find one that I actually liked... which was a surprise to me, as I find most Rolexes hideous!

Also in The Wonder Room, we looked at a couple of TAG Heuer Monacos, a couple of Aquaracers and a Breitling Exospace B55 on a blue rubber strap. Our server 'Alan' seemed to think that Rich and I were an 'item' and he suggested we might like to 'share' a Pepsi GMT Aquaracer!

Alan was clearly desperate for some commission as despite telling us he was heading off for his lunch he kept hovering as we moved around the room, terrified that the minute he left we might buy something from a different salesman. In the end he gave up and I tried on the Brietling assisted by a truly charmless chap who demanded to know what was stopping me committing to the £6000+ Exospace!

I had hoped to try on a steel non-Offshore AP Royal Oak on this visit, but it was not to be, Selfridges and Harrods were a steel Royal Oak free zone, which makes me wonder if they are now playing the same silly games as Rolex?

With time knocking on, we crossed Oxford Street to visit the TAG Heuer boutique and catch up with the lovely Aneta (who I already knew from the Bicester store). There wasn't much in store that I hadn't already seen, but I did have a good natter with Aneta and managed to try on the new Senna Carrera Heuer 02T. Also Aneta told me they are expecting the Nanograph in store soon, so hopefully I will be able to see that in the near future!

From here we took a walk down New Bond Street (completely missing the Victorinox shop we had hoped to visit), before stopping off at Charbonel et Walker to pick up some hideously expensive chocolates (£95 per kilo, I kid you not!), good job I only bought a few...

After a nice lunch in Richoux on Piccadilly (if you like Carrot Cake, this is the place for you) we crossed the road to Burlington Arcade, only to find that at 5:45pm the shops were shutting up for the night. Next time we will go there before we go to Richoux... but that wasn't the end of our day, because while Bond Street closes at 6pm on a Saturday, thankfully Knightsbridge does not!

And so we headed into the Seiko boutique where I was unimpressed with the both service and the overall attitude. A complete contrast to some of the places we had visited today, especially the Omega and TAG Heuer boutiques which had been exemplary.

And so we made it to our last destination for the day, Harrods. It was a shame to see that the enormous Lange & Sohn display piece had been removed (perhaps headed to Baselworld?) but we spent a good forty five minutes chatting with Mahmoud in Hublot while trying on some very nice watches. And then finally a good little while with Harry in the mixed brands room where we had a look at the new Tudor GMT Pepsi and a couple of rather striking Zenith Defy El Primero 21s.

Needless to say I will be reporting on each of the 27 watches I tried on in due course, I will probably spread them out a bit though as this blog is supposed to be focused mainly on TAG Heuer and only 7 of the watches I tried on were TAGs. I've made a start, and the Rolex, Oris and Seiko reviews should be up soon...

I wonder how many watches I'll manage to try on next March...?

ON THE WRIST: Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Tourbillon Volant

Harrods / London, 5th January 2019 

I'd like to point out that I don't make a habit of trying on watches that are way out of my price range, I feel like it's a bit unfair to waste people's time like that, in fact I can only think of three watches that I've tried on that are completely out of the realms of reality. The first was last year, I was in Selfridges and I was talking to the lady on the Audemars Piguet stand and she talked me into trying on the £22,000 Royal Oak Offshore 'Vampire'. That record stood for nearly a year until on the morning of the 5th of January I tried on the £33,000 Mikropendulum in the Oxford Street store - I wouldn't usually have done that either, but Evan was a nice guy and made my day with that one!

That same afternoon I was showing my wife the newly revamped watch room in Harrods (I'd seen it part renovated last year when I visited London with my friend Rich, but my wife hadn't been since they'd started doing it) and after she had finished drooling over the ceramic Black Magic Hublots, we nipped into Roger Dubuis for a gander at some dream watches.

On a previous visit we'd seen the 'King Arthur' watch, several tourbillons and double tourbillons and some watches that you could barely see for the diamonds covering every single facet of the surface! But I'd never tried one on, because... well, it doesn't feel particularly comfortable to me. In the same way that I don't feel comfortable taking photos of everything I strap to my wrist.

But we came to a desk where there was a lady standing, and in the cabinet in front of her there were a lot of the more 'affordable' pieces (actually, Roger Dubuis do make some much more affordable watches, although I don't really like them) and we got talking to the lady and she asked us if we knew the brand. I said I did from Watches TV and QP magazine, and she asked if I had ever considered buying one. Rather than laugh in her face and run out of the shop like the fraud that I am, I mumbled that 'no not really', and when she asked which other brands I liked I perpetuated my deceit by telling her I like 'Richard Mille' (which is true, after all!) and she then set about encouraging me to try on a watch.

So, rather than completely embarrass myself and ask her to go to the trouble of getting one of  the (approximately 8x my annual salary) double tourbillons out of the wall cabinets behind us, I perused the cabinet in front of us and pointed to the Excalibur Spider Tourbillon. The watch was still wrapped in plastic, but the first thing I did notice was that the white rubber strap did look a little bit grubby... probably from oiks like my trying it on!

(I must point out at this juncture that I had made the schoolboy error of wearing a quartz 6000 series that morning, something which I was quite happy with until I had to take it off and place it in the watch tray in front of me. Mind you, chances are that if she didn't notice the TAG logo she might not have a clue what it was anyway!)

The rubber strap features a deployment clasp which when closed gives the impression of a pin and buckle fixing. I've never really understood the point of this, since a deployment is the preferred option for most and perceived as more expensive, so quite why you'd want a deployment clasp that looked like a cheaper option I don't know, although I know Roger Dubuis aren't the only ones who do this. Plus it means you've still got strap retainers to deal with, I'm sorry but I don't get it.

The watch itself is quite light, since it's made of titanium and it is slightly strange being able to see all the way through the watch, especially if you don't have a particularly sexy wrist (mine, for example, is quite hairy...). I must admit I don't really like that, it looks good off the wrist but not so good in situ.

I did like the colour scheme, the blue and white works so well together, but am I blown away by the tourbillon? I'm not sure, it's cool yeah, but it didn't give me that wow factor like the 1/100th of a second hand on the Mikropendulum did. It's a fair size watch at 45mm but it didn't feel massive on the wrist, certainly I would be happy to wear it, and it felt comparable to my Heuer 01 Carrera which is also 45mm. Also, despite the impression you might get from the photographs, the hands are actually quite legible.

I think the thing that wrong-footed me a little was the price. In trying this watch on I couldn't help but be aware that it costs £137,000 and while it is beautifully made and executed, I just can't really see the justification for it. But I don't necessarily think that's a criticism of Roger Dubuis to be fair, in all honesty I wonder if I had tried on a Richard Mille would I have felt any different? I guess I'm a realist at heart, and I don't actually think that I will ever really crave watches like this that are so beyond my means.

I think the best way to put it into words is that, while I could enjoy a £100,000 Ferrari and it would probably give me enjoyment that I'm never going to get out of a £15,000 Vauxhall Corsa, I don't think these hyper-watches can give me something that a £15,000 TAG Heuer tourbillon couldn't. Maybe that sounds like sour grapes from someone who's never going to be in a position to make that choice, but I don't really see it that way. Also, I can't imagine walking around with a watch like this on my wrist, it would be as stressful as hell, I was just glad I managed not to drop it while it was in my care!

FEATURE: Another Day Out in London...

As I wrote in my last post, my experience of owning the Grand Carrera GMT has not been all that I hoped and since I can’t really afford to just sit on a watch like that in the hope that one day I’ll change my mind, I decided to part exchange it with Watchfinder for a couple of watches that I will wear.

Watchfinder's central London store is in Avery Row (off New Bond St)

Of course I could have posted the watch to them, but since taking it in myself meant I could see my new watches (although I couldn’t have them until my watch has been checked out) and gave me an excuse to spend a day in London, well that seemed like a sound idea to me.

So I rocked up at Watchfinder first thing (with my wife in tow) and dropped off the Calibre 8 GMT, and I have to say I am super happy with the new additions that are coming. Both of them look way better than the pictures led me to believe and one of them looks absolutely mint, so that was an excellent start to my day.

The Wonder Room in Selfridges

Next stop was Selfridges, which was somewhat underwhelming if I’m honest. They have a reasonable collection of TAG pieces in there I guess, and I was excited to see the new Carrera Twin Time and to try it on – but there was no one manning the TAG stand so I wandered off figuring that by the time I got back there someone would have shown up.

Amazing hand-finished 'Frosted Gold' AP Royal Oak

I had a look at some of the (rather gaudy) Hublots and my wife was drooling over the ‘frosted gold’ Audemars Piguet Royal Oaks (though she definitely can’t afford one of those), but actually there wasn’t that much that was blowing me away. Audemars Piguet’s stand seems rather sparsely stocked and seems rather too heavily weighted towards solid gold pieces.

CBG2A1Z.FT6157

Returning to the TAG stall there was still no one there, so I nabbed the man on the Longines stall who quickly came over and showed me the watch. It’s a nice watch, but if I was looking to spend that kind of money I think I’d want a bit better customer service than that to be honest.

A short step over the road is the TAG Heuer boutique and regular readers will remember that my first visit there was less than stellar. Quite different this time though, I’m happy to report. Evan single-handedly restored my faith in the Oxford Street store and was very friendly and happy to show me several watches including the carbon Carrera, the new Max Verstappen Formula 1, the Mikropendulum and the Oxford Street Limited Edition Carrera. I also spied the new Alec Monopoly Formula 1 (which looks better in the flesh than I expected) and the Tete de Vipere Tourbillon Carrera in there and also another unknown Formula 1 quartz with two red stripes down one side of the dial (I’m trying to get to the bottom of this*). I also had a good look at Evan’s own matt ceramic Carrera, which was very nice indeed and a great choice – no fingerprints on the matt ceramic!

TAG Heuer Mikropendulum

Leaving there (reluctantly – my wife was hungry) we headed back down Bond Street to ‘Richoux’ on Piccadilly, via Charbonnel et Walker to pick up some posh chocolates. I love C&W but I had to laugh when I saw on the receipt that their ‘pick and mix’ chocolates are £95 per kilo. Wow, that’s about 5 times the price of Lindt!

Burgers and awesome carrot cake consumed, we caught the tube to Kensington and walked around to the far end of Harrods for easy access to the watch room. Last time I visited Harrods the watch room was in a state of flux, but now it’s complete (although I’m sad to say that the Richard Mille boutique has disappeared) and slap bang in the middle of it there’s a very impressive 15ft high model of a Lange and Sohne split time, complete with display back! Impressive stuff.

Lange and Sohne Split Time model display.

We headed for the Hublot store and I have to say the watches in there were a lot nicer than the ones we saw in Selfridges. In fact my wife was rather taken with the ceramic ‘Black Magic’ range, the simplest of which cost about £7,000 and looked absolutely fantastic. In fact I think that might have superceded the TAG Heuer Link Bella Hadid as my wife’s dream watch!

This Hublot is really, really nice!

There were quite a few very nice pieces in there, including the Big Bang Unico Sapphire and also the Spirit of Big Bang Sapphire, both of which are incredible to look at, if way out of my price range. They also had a pink sapphire Unico as well and a ladies version with diamonds and a pink rubber strap, all at crazy prices – but still a lot cheaper than a sapphire Richard Mille to be fair.

Hublot Big Bang Unico Sapphire

They also had the Ferrari skeleton watches and the Depeche Mode watch too, and actually quite a few really nice pieces – and also some really weird ones with dials that look a bit like pentagrams… I’m not a fan of those, they seem awfully hard to read the time on them for a start.

Moving on we wandered into the Roger Dubuis store. I remember the first time we went in there we saw the ‘King Arthur’ watch (and several other very impressive pieces), but this time I somehow ended up trying on a watch that cost £137,000. Oddly enough, on leaving TAG Heuer I said to my wife that the Mikropendulum (£33,000) had taken over from the Royal Oak ‘Vampire’ as the most expensive watch I’d ever tried on, well that didn’t last very long!

The lady in the store asked me if I knew the brand and I said I did, but I wasn’t pretending to be a customer… however, the conversation led to me pointing to a Excalibur Spider Tourbillon and before you could say ‘this cost more than I paid for my house fifteen years ago’ I was slipping off my quartz 6000 Series (£300 from eBay no less!) and trying my best to hide it in plain sight on the tray in front of me.

It’s a cool watch right enough, but I can’t say with my hand on my heart that I’m gutted that I can’t afford it. I guess it’s so far out of reality that in a way there’s just no point wanting it, because I’m never going to get it, but while I do like Roger Dubuis watches I can’t help feeling it should have been a bit more affecting…. the white rubber strap seemed a little grubby as well!

The Fine Watch Multi-brand Room in Harrods

We had a quick scoot around the multi-brand showroom at the end of the corridor, but there wasn’t really anything particularly inspiring in there. Though having said that, some of the new Zeniths are pretty nice. I also spied a pre-owned Heuer Monaco in there (with the round pushers) which I believe was going for £19,000 or so. Not my cup of tea if I’m honest, but I’m sure some people would be well impressed with that.

Karl Lagerfeld Handbag

And that was pretty much it to be honest, we had a look in Karl Lagerfeld’s store on Regent Street, Superdry and Kate Spade and then made our way back to the train station. Definitely a day to remember, and I can’t wait to take delivery of my two new watches!

WAZ1116

*Turns out that mystery watch is in fact a WAZ1116, which oddly I can only find on a Honk Kong website called 'DFS'... (thanks to Tom and Evan at TAG Heuer for clearing this up for me - I just have to know!).