VIDEO: TAG Heuer Full Collection Tour by Vintage Vega

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Kirium Chronometer Chronograph

Oh man but I'm so tired of silly people on YouTube telling us that the new TAG Heuer Formula 1s should only have cost £600... honestly, anyone that ever believed they were going to charge £600 for a 'vintage' inspired re-issue of a beloved watch with upgraded materials and a solar powered movement need to give themselves a good talking to. Have these people ever bought a watch strap from TAG Heuer? Do they know how much they charge for two small pieces of rubber? Come on, be serious. This is not a Swatch and the Moonswatch was not an Omega, just get a grip. It's fine to want them to be cheap, of course... but actually being disappointed when they aren't is just silly.

How could they possibly sell a Solargraph F1 for £600 when the Solar Aquaracers are nigh on £3000? Sure they are overpriced, but show me a Swiss watch from any of the big players that isn't. It seems the problem here is that there is an expectation that TAG Heuer were relaunching an 'affordable, entry level model to the mass market' when it's actually nothing of the sort. Most of the watches are limited to between 1000 and 3000 pieces, hardly 'mass market' and primarily they are aimed at middle aged people like me who remember them from the first time around (just about) and perhaps younger people drawn in by the Kith release last year. 

But look, there's nothing wrong with wanting to buy a decent TAG Heuer for around £600 and it can be done. In fact it's surprising what you can find if you're willing to wait and keep your eyes peeled.... and you can do it without exposing yourself to the cess pit that is Ebay. No you're not going to get a Monaco or a Carrera at this price point, but there are watches available that in their day were pretty high end, for example this minty looking Kirium chronometer chronograph which is currently on the H&T website with a discount of 20%. 

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Kirium Chronometer

Well I guess this had an air of inevitability about it didn't it? Delighted as I was with my last purchase (my Aquaracer Regatta Calibre S, way back in... January) it clearly also reignited a desire in me to finally pick up that WL511A Kirium chronometer I've wanted for I don't know how long. But of course, I couldn't find one and the ones I did find with 'SOLD' on them seemed to go for more than I really wanted to pay... considering, you know, I already have three Kiriums. So, deeply disappointed, I saved my eBay search and waited for the email. 

Well I didn't have to wait long, just a week or two passed and then there it was, looking mighty fine and starting cheap at £199, which would have been awesome, but highly unlikely. So I debated... should I place a bid at £199 to stop anyone using the £400 'BUY IT NOW' feature, or should I just buy it now myself?

VIDEO: How to Set the Time on a TAG Heuer F1 Kirium by OBR Horology

OWNED: TAG Heuer Kirium Quartz Chronograph

 

CL1113.BA0701

Aside from a few photos (back when I was regularly posting photos here on the blog) I've only written one post about my beautiful plum-dial Kirium that I bought all the way back in December 2020. As is so often the way with me, I buy a watch and then it sits in the box for a 'long time' before I become comfortable with the idea of wearing it. I don't know why that is, but it's a common recurring theme, particularly with new watches or old watches that are in 'as-new' condition, which this certainly was.

I think I am getting a little better as it only took me about six months to start wearing my green dial Aquaracer regularly, even though it annoys me that the clasp is already marked and the polished centre links are already showing signs of desk rash. If only I could be more like our Swedish friend Jim Dollares who lives for today and to hell with tomorrow... and who loves to taunt me by sending photos of his scratched up clasps (as if it's something to be proud of).

INSTRUCTIONS: TAG Heuer 1/10th Second Quartz Chronographs (Various 90s/00s Models)

While I appreciate that for most of you this will be irrelevant, someone visited the TAG Heuer Forums asking for this manual as they couldn't figure out what was going on with their watch. Since I was scanning it I thought I might as well post it here as well. This manual is for various 90s and 00s models including the Kirium, 2000 and S/EL quartz chronographs.

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Kirium T5 Quartz Watch by Birth Year Watches

 

INSTRUCTIONS: TAG Heuer F1 Kirium and Aquaracer Chronotimer

 

        F1 Kirium                                 Aquaracer 'Chronotimer'

If you own either a TAG Heuer F1 Kirium or a TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Chronotimer' but don't have an instruction booklet then you might be a bit lost. Both these watches use the same movement (the multifunction ETA E20.321) and here below I bring you the instruction booklet for these and probably many other watches.

I know this isn't a very exciting post if you don't own one of these watches, but every time I post a set of instructions for a complicated watch I get at least one person thanking me so it's worth it.

OWNED: TAG Heuer Kirium Quartz Watch

WL1116.FC6113

These days it seems like I only get around to writing 'Owned' posts about watches as they are heading out of the door to their new owners, and sadly this one is no different. Yes, the WL1116.FC6113 is the latest watch to get its marching orders from my collection, lasting only just over two years since I bought it in September 2020.

When it arrived it looked fantastic, but the blue leather strap had clearly seen better days and I ordered one from TAG Heuer direct (via Bicester Village). I can't remember the exact price but I think it was roundabout £90, maybe £115... something like that anyway. 

FEATURE: Keeping Track of Wrist Time 2022

 

Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to 2023. We start the year with everybody's favourite post... 'Keeping Track of Wrist Time' (I jest of course, it doesn't get any more self-indulgent than this!), in which I reveal which watches I wore the most (and least) during the year of our Lord Jean Claude Biver 2022. 

I know, it's a LOT, just keep calm and we'll get through this together! Haha.

Now if you've already read my 'Another Crazy Year of Watch Buying' post that went up a few days ago, you'll know that there's been a fair bit of coming and going this year. Actually a lot more going than coming... which is a good thing, because looking back it's clear that I had (and still have, truthfully) far too many watches to actually wear them all. In fact I'd be somewhat surprised if I'd worn my Microtimer more than 25 times since I bought it back in 2017. And given it cost me £85 for a new battery last year, that isn't a good ratio!

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Kirium Chronograph Restoration by Nekkid Watchmaker

 

BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Kirium Toolkit

While the more sensible side of my brain knows that I need to stop purchasing things just because they have a TAG Heuer badge on them, unfortunately my less sensible 'collector' side still can't help itself when it sees a shiny object... so when this cool TAG Heuer Kirium toolkit came up on eBay a few weeks ago I knew I would end up buying it as long as it didn't attract silly sums of money.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Kirium Quartz Chronograph

 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Kirium Quartz Chronograph

 

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Pieces in the Latest 'EST 1897' Sale

 

Apologies to anyone not living in the UK, unfortunately this may not really be relevant to you...

You may or may not be aware of EST 1897; on balance I'm guessing not since they haven't really penetrated the market to the same extent that (for example) Watchfinder have, but they do have a considerable amount of pre-owned watch stock including a lot of TAG Heuer pieces. You may even have one of their branches nearby and not know it, because while they do have their own branded stores they also operate through any network of pawn shops, which means you can have watches sent to your local store to try on.

I have personally bought two watches from my local EST 1897 pawn shop and had zero problems with either. Both had a year's warranty (now expired) and both were bought during one of the company's fairly frequent sale events. I was very lucky to pick up my Link Searacer for the ridiculously low price of £500 (reduced from £995 - which is much more like it, but in fact still quite low) and I also bought my 2000 Exclusive in two-tone from them at a decent discount too.

This morning I got an email from them telling me that their latest sale was starting today and I headed over to their website to check it out. Unlike most pre-owned watch companies, when EST 1897 do a sale they don't just pick out some slow moving stock and drop the prices, they just reduce almost everything they've got - which is pretty silly when you think about it, but it does present some great opportunities for the potential customer.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer F1 Kirium Quartz Chronograph

 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer F1 Kirium Quartz Chronograph

 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Kirium Quartz Chronograph

 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer F1 Kirium Quartz Chronograph

 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Kirium Quartz Chronograph