Thursday, 12 March 2020
Wednesday, 11 March 2020
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Two-Tone Blue Dial Watch
WBD2120.BB0930
I honestly never thought I would own a two-tone watch, until one day I rather unexpectedly found one in a pawn shop window... since then I've bought two more and now I have an S/EL, a 3000 Series and of course that original 2000 Exclusive, all of which I wear regularly. So I was intrigued to see this new two tone Aquaracer as I've been quite impressed with some of the bi-colour Aquaracers I've seen in the Bicester Village outlet, but underwhelmed by the conservative dial colours they tend to have (largely silver/champagne). Also this one rather reminds me of a gorgeous 1500 Series that I've seen on eBay time and time again (one which is definitely overpriced, but damn did they do an amazing job of photographing that thing). I would add a link here to that watch, but of course I can't find it - maybe somebody finally caved and bought it... I wanted to, but I just knew it couldn't look as good as the photographs...
You would be forgiven for thinking blue dial two tone Aquaracers were a common item, after all blue and gold go together so well... but while there have been some, they aren't as common as you might think. Sure there's the WAB1120 and the WAK1120, but these are older style Aquaracers, if you want one of the more up to date AR's with the angular bezel there's really only the WAY1122 or the WAP1121, both of which are limited editions.
So I for one am very pleased to see this one added to the range, I reckon that colour combination is going to like dynamite on the wrist and maybe something to add to my list of 'future possibilities'! I will have to reserve judgement though because an awful lot will depend on the exact tone of the gold they've chosen, it could look incredible or it could ruin it completely - we'll have to wait and see.
Pricing is hard to determine as it's not yet on the new TAG Heuer website - I have found it on American websites where it is being sold at $3000 and also at $2810, the second one is quoting the list price as $3750 which equates to about £2900 over here in the UK. I have a feeling it might be a little more than that somehow, as that seems a little low to me.
WBD1325.BB0320
Not to be out done, there's also a smaller 'ladies' model which is quartz powered rather than the Calibre 5 automatic of the gents version. This one is 32mm versus the larger 41mm for the WBD2120 and features the very attractive wavy blue dial as seen on the recently released WBD131D. Personally I'd quite like to have seen the wavy dial on the men's version too, but I guess it might have looked a bit too 'Omega' for comfort...
Again pricing is hard to pin down; I can only find this on one US website which gives a price of $2300 (£1784) but again that looks optimistic to me and I suspect it will be over £2000 in reality. Looks absolutely fantastic in this picture though...
Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Monday, 9 March 2020
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Watch
WAY101L.FC8222
The thing I'll probably miss the most about Baselworld 2020, is those naughty media people who just can't help themselves when they've got a photo of a watch that's under embargo for months to come... maybe it's accidental, or maybe it's deliberate (maybe it's even collusion?) but those pictures always seem to come out somewhere, and so it was with this WAY101L Aquaracer.
This one has only recently arrived in the stores but I've had a photo of this watch since last May I think, and what's made it all the stranger is that I've also known the part number for months, because this one has been offered for 'sale' on some unscrupulous watch websites for quite some time now.
Some of you may be thinking that you've seen this one for sale locally a long time ago, but the chances are you're probably getting it mixed up with the WAY101E; that watch is largely the same only the colour scheme is reversed, indeed these watches share the same NATO strap. I actually find it quite hard to decide which of these two I prefer, on the one hand I do rather like the green bezel, but on the other I also like the green numerals on the grey bezel... I guess if funds enable you could get both and wear them on alternate weeks? :)
I like both of these watches then, but as ever, I do wish both were available on bracelets; it seems such an obvious alternative. I wonder if you could order it with a bracelet for a few hundred sheckles more? I'll try and find out... I really can't see why not, after all, last year AMJ Watches was offering the Aston Martin Formula 1 on a bracelet.
Ah, but every time I see this watch I can't help but think of the 'other' watch that was in those photos from Baselworld 2019. Actually there were several but all have since been released, all save for one. As such that watch has taken on almost mythical status in my mind, as not only is it elusive, but it's perhaps the most unusual looking Aquaracer I've ever clapped eyes on.
The release of the WAY101L gives me hope that the WAY101K isn't lost forever, perhaps it was intended to be launched at Baselworld 2020... or maybe Mr Bianchi has deemed it too wacky to release and put the kibosh on it? I do hope not, as I'm dying to see what that freaky bezel is made of.
Anyway, the WAY101L is 43mm and quartz powered and available now (on the NATO) for £1350
Sunday, 8 March 2020
Saturday, 7 March 2020
BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer Watch Winder
TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 21st February 2020
On numerous occasions over the last few years when it comes near Christmas and my birthday my wife has floated the idea of buying me a watch winder, but to be honest I've never really been that interested. I have four automatic watches, but I only wear them occasionally, so to keep them running all that time in-between seems a little pointless and to my mind all it's really doing is bringing the inevitable service closer. It's a different kettle of fish if you have a watch with a perpetual calendar complication or something like that where allowing the watch to stop means a lot of hassle to reset it, but if like me you just have a day/date to fiddle with then it's not exactly a massive deal to put it right and wind.
So really I was never that bothered, albeit I knew that TAG Heuer watch winders existed... mainly because I had seen photos of (Calibre11 moderator and previous T.H.E. interviewee) Hubert's, but I had no idea where to get one or even if they were on general sale. Even if they were available I (rightly) supposed they would be prohibitively expensive and so as much as I liked the look of them it was something I was resigned to never owning.
That changed a couple of weeks ago when the Bicester Village store got in this 'ex-display' model, it's in very good condition, but there are a few little marks here and there, mainly on the glass doors. The list price was a fairly ferocious £1260, which as I suspected was quite a bit more than I was willing to part with, but the sale price was a massively more affordable £252.
I must admit I very nearly passed on it, but then I thought better of it and posed the question to my wife if she still wanted to buy me a watch winder for my birthday? The answer was yes and so I took it home and played with it a little bit before removing the batteries and handing it over for safe keeping until October.
Yes indeed, this one is battery operated... which I'm actually quite pleased about because where I want to put it there are no plugs nearby! You can get a mains adaptor for it, but it didn't come with one and I shan't be bothering with that. The batteries sit behind the metal plates you can see in the picture above and are easily accessed with the edge of a coin.
The only thing I am a little worried about is the watch holders, which seem to be incredibly strongly sprung and I'm a little concerned about the strain it's putting on the strap of my titanium Calibre 16 Carrera. I'm probably worrying unnecessarily, but it does look mighty tight on there... odd really as I have quite big wrists.
Of course it's slightly disappointing that I have to wait seven months to get my hands back on this, but still I'm sure it will be worth the wait, and at least I will have it in time for my end of 2020 State of the Collection post. :)
Friday, 6 March 2020
Thursday, 5 March 2020
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 7 GMT 'Batman'
WAY201T.BA0927
A few weeks ago I was pondering the now cancelled, sorry 'postponed'... Baselworld 2020 and what TAG Heuer might be bringing to the show. For some reason (probably because I'd recently watched a video about the Rolex Batman I shouldn't wonder) the idea popped into my head that they might perhaps produce an Aquaracer 'Batman' GMT and for several minutes I was very pleased with myself. Until that was I remembered that they already have GMT 'Batmans' in both the modern Carrera and Formula 1 ranges and let's not forget of course the 'Pepsi' GMT in the Aquaracer range. 'So much for that prediction,' I thought as I mentally discarded it...
Odd then that less than a month later I'm looking at exactly the watch I predicted and what a beauty it is! Clearly one shouldn't get too carried away until the watch has actually been wrapped around the wrist, but I haven't been this excited about a new model since the green dial Aquaracer... and we know how that turned out don't we? Yeah.
Actually at the start of this year I kinda decided that since there wasn't anything urgently demanding my purchasing attention, now might be a good time to send a few of my watches off for repair and servicing. To that end my blue dial 2000 Exclusive (the one with the dodgy crown) has gone back, as has my black dial S/EL (chronograph minute hand doesn't work and I want the dial and hands re-lumed) and my blue dial Kirium is next in line for attention - but I'm somewhat conflicted about what to do with that one because maybe it would be more cost effective to look for another one and start again! I shall write about these in due course, but the two watches that have gone back already made a significant dent in my finances, so this Aquaracer might have to wait a while. Still, we don't want to rush in to anything we might regret, do we?
I've tried the 'Pepsi' bezel Aquaracer on a couple of times over the last year or two and while I've always liked it, it's never really quite landed with me, not to the extent that I've wanted to put my hand in my pocket at any rate. This could be a different matter though, going from these pictures I'd have to say this one looks fantastic; I've always liked the 'Batman' bezel better than either the 'Pepsi' or 'Coke' variants, but I've never wanted to spend the money for a Heuer 02 GMT and the Formula 1 version doesn't really ring my bell enough to warrant a purchase. This on the other hand looks the business, especially that blue dial; that really looks like something I could get used to owning!
My only gripe though is the GMT hand, I cannot for the life of me see the logic of having a blue hand on a blue dial like that. Okay it's a slightly lighter blue, but surely a black hand would have been better? That aside I'm eager to see one of these and to find out if the watch is just as delectable in the flesh, I do hope so and perhaps this one can put my green dial Aquaracer frustrations to bed finally?
Wednesday, 4 March 2020
Tuesday, 3 March 2020
ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Monza 40th Anniversary Calibre 17 Chronograph
CR2080.FC6375
TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 28th February 2020
Of all the TAG Heuer / Heuer watches released over the last few years, the Monza 40th Anniversary has to be one of the most written about and one of the most universally well regarded. Indeed, while I had my reservations about the strap when I wrote my first 'On the Wrist' post back in October 2016, I was pretty clear on my feelings about the watch in general (even if my opinion has perhaps wavered back and forth just a little in the meantime). So it was nice to get a chance to get one of these on the wrist again and see where I stand with it now at the tail end of February 2020.
The first thing to say is, my feelings about the strap have softened somewhat, I still don't really like it but I'm not as 'vehemently' opposed to it as I was way back then. If I bought one of these I would undoubtedly change the strap, perhaps for a leather racing strap with smaller perforations and some red stitching; y'see those big holes just don't sit right with me I'm afraid and I don't see that changing any time soon. But, I get that this is a homage to the 1970s and as such the strap is entirely appropriate, it just doesn't float my boat... which is fine, it can be easily replaced (and kept in the box in mint condition, obviously).
The design remains super-cool and the faux aged lume doesn't seem as offensive on the eye as the last time I came across one in a jeweller's window. Actually, looking at the watch again today I was a little thrown by the 'bezel' since it looks a lot like polished ceramic. I never remembered anyone saying it was ceramic so I looked into it and it seems that no it isn't ceramic, but it is a higher than usual grade of titanium which can be highly polished. I'm still having a hard time believing it isn't ceramic though and I keep trying to reassure myself by checking various websites because the bezel and case genuinely don't look as if they are made of the same material.
The Monza is perhaps the perfect watch for someone who kinda likes the Monaco but can't quite commit to the fully square case, it certainly wears a lot more 'organically' on the wrist as the chamfered edges smooth out the shape somewhat. The white hands are super legible here, I really like the contrast with the black dial and the red detailing really pops on this watch. Incredibly, I've only just noticed that the two sub-dials are completely different sizes, which is odd because that kind of thing usually stands out a mile to me! I have to say I think TAG Heuer did a superb job of balancing the dial using the red flashes on the left hand side and whatever you think of the case, this one truly has a very good looking dial.
Clearly the grade 5 titanium (oh yes it is) bezel is fixed and as you'd expect from a proper racing chronograph this one features a white tachymetre scale around the edge, with another subtle but very worthwhile piece of red detail highlighting the higher numbers at top right. The backplate is solid rather than crystal and marked with a red Heuer logo over which is printed 'Monza' in white. These watches are individually numbered at the bottom of the caseback but unfortunately there's no mention of the total number of pieces (best guess is that it's likely to be somewhere in the region of 4-5000).
I'm not sure how I feel about those silver pushers and crown, I do kind of wish they were black, but I think they've taken their design cues from the 1976 model. I guess I would get used to them, and actually I think they are more noticeable in these pictures than they are on the wrist, which is interesting.
I do like this one a lot, but I still don't think it's one that I will pick up - mainly because the prices have held up a little too well. A brief glance at Chrono 24 tells me that for a pre-owned model you are going to be looking at the extremely high £2000s (and by that I really mean £2995!) to secure one of these and at that price I think I'd find something I liked more. If the Monza appeals to you though and you live in the UK, you can actually get one of these new with a two year warranty from the TAG Heuer Bicester Village boutique for £3075, which seems to make more sense to me; this is a 30% reduction on the current list price which is £4395.
As always, stock is limited (may well be only one piece available) so call the store on 01869 249008 for details and stock availability.
Monday, 2 March 2020
Sunday, 1 March 2020
ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre S 'Fernando Alonso' Limited Edition
CAF7113.BA0803
TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 21st February 2020
2007 should have been a spectacular year for the Vodofone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team and this should have been the watch that celebrated Fernando Alonso's third Driver's World Championship on the trot... except things didn't quite work out that way. Coming in to the team fresh from Renault and with a rookie teammate in Lewis Hamilton, Fernando felt that he had the upper hand and the team behind him... but, well, that whole situation imploded pretty quickly and the upshot of that was that against all the odds new Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonnen stole the championship away from the two McLaren drivers at the very last race. Ron Dennis must have been livid beyond words...
Wherever you stand on the rights and wrongs of that season, it's pretty clear that Ron was in a tough spot - on the one hand he had a two time World Champion who rightfully (let's be honest) expected to be top dog in the team, but on the other hand out of the blue he had the new Michael Schumacher to deal with; talk about dreams turning to nightmares - if nothing else the team's dramatic implosion went a long way towards vindicating Ferrari's somewhat controversial attitude towards their driver parity over the previous few years.
This then is the 2007 TAG Heuer Aquaracer Vodofone McLaren Mercedes 'Fernando Alonso' Limited Edition, and yes, believe it or not this is a brand new piece that you can buy today at the TAG Heuer Bicester Village store.
Truth be told, I thought we'd seen the last of these, but somehow the stock keeps popping up... is there a cupboard in La Chaux de Fonds that someone forgot about or something? I mean thirteen years is quite a long time to have stock of anything never mind a watch that is limited to 3500 pieces, then again last year Bicester had a ladies 2000 pass through their doors (which sold in no time incidentally).
By today's standards I guess 3500 pieces isn't really all that limited, but then I guess no one knew that Fernando's tenure with the McLaren team would be so brief and with his departure from the team at the end of the season the watch was probably a bit of a hard sell going forward. Now though, it's something of a novelty, especially in new condition, marking as it does one of the most controversial seasons in Formula 1 history.
The watch is on the conservative side size wise, with a diameter of 40.5mm; this aligned with a relatively slender thickness and a smooth, chamfered bezel makes the watch very wearable and one that will easily slip under the cuff of even the tightest shirt. It's a lovely colour, a mixture of two tones of silvery grey pimped with splashes of red on the chronograph hands and the tail end of the 1/100th of a second subdial.
If you are not aware of the Calibre S chronograph it really is worth checking out. In normal (time) use, the two subdials at the bottom of the dial indicate the date (here it is the 21st of the month). Once you press the crown in the three main hands reset themselves to the 12 position and the 'date' hands reset to '0'. Now you are in chronograph mode and the main hands count seconds, minutes and hours. The subdial hands stay at '0' until you stop the chronograph, then they indicate the 1/10th and 1/100th of a second readings. You can also switch between chronograph and time modes without stopping the stopwatch function.
Most cronographs never really get much use, but this is one that you will play with every time you wear it; it never gets old seeing the hands spin around the dial and set themselves at '12' ready for you to press the top pusher... it's certainly a watch that will amaze your friends as they're almost certain to have never seen that particular trick before.
This CAF7113 comes on a bracelet but you can also get a fitted rubber strap for it too, which looks pretty cool. Price on the bracelet is £2010 (current list price £3095), call the store on 01869 249008 for details and availability.
Saturday, 29 February 2020
Friday, 28 February 2020
ON THE WALL: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 Dealer Clock
Dealer clocks are hugely desirable, you only have to take a quick look at eBay to see pieces being sold for hundreds of pounds with no real way to know if what's being offered is genuine or not. Because generally speaking, dealer clocks are not sold to the public, they are promotional tools given (or maybe sold, I don't know) to authorised dealers and which perhaps have to be returned one day or are quietly sold privately.
There's no real way to authenticate a 'dealer clock', because these pieces aren't made by the brand they represent and the concept of 'genuine' doesn't really apply in the same way as it does to watches. That said I'd wager quite a lot of what's offered on eBay is probably not 'genuine' as they tend to be simple designs and not really quite the same as the kinds of things you see on jeweller's walls.
The chance to buy a genuine 'dealer clock' directly from the brand then is something quite unusual, and this is something way beyond anything I've ever seen on eBay....
I've actually seen one of these before; you may remember I visited a TAG Heuer dealer called AMJ Watches in Newark last May (to see a solid gold 6000 Series, which I think they've since sold as I can't find it on their website now) and they had one there which I drooled over extensively, but I never actually thought I'd see one come up for sale through official channels!
This one (actually there are two available) is currently on display in the TAG Heuer boutique at the Cheshire Oaks retail park (which is an excellent day out by the way, I've been there many a time and rarely spent less than four or five hours browsing!). I gotta say I was quite shocked when I was sent these photos as I really didn't expect to see one of these for sale, I've always hoped for a chance at the 'Aquaracer' wallclock like they have in Bicester Village, but this is truly 'next level' especially as I own the watch that this is modelled on.
Unfortunately, after my initial excitement, I came to the conclusion that this wasn't for me, even though I really like it and I know when these are gone I will probably rue my decision endlessly. The thing is not so much the cost, although at £875 (list price £1750) this is by no means cheap, but more the realisation that this needs to go somewhere with 'scale' and really somewhere with 'modern' decor. I have a friend who has a huge house, onto which he's just built a large extension with a bar / pool room and this would look outstanding in there, but in my little 13ft square lounge with mid brown carpet - not so much!
So it's not for me, sadly... even though I want it badly! But maybe you have the right kind of environment for such an outstanding piece? If so you can contact the Cheshire Oaks store on 0151 356 3298, or if you are nearer the Bicester Village store I am told they could work something out for you, their number is 01869 249008.
I really do think this is a stunning clock and I wish I had the kind of house where it would look good, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on this one.
TAG Heuer Carrera Wallclock Dimensions: Height - 48cm, Width - 42cm, Depth - 12cm.
Thursday, 27 February 2020
Wednesday, 26 February 2020
ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Monaco Quartz Watch with Diamonds
WAW1313.FC6247
TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 21st February 2020
Technically this might be considered a 'ladies' watch, but throw your preconceptions out of the window for just a cotton-pickin minute; after all, those pesky wimen are wearing 'our' watches these days and no doubt doing their bit to exacerbate the supply and demand issues with your favourite Rolex models! So I say two can play at that game, and while I initially asked to have a look at this with a view to reviewing it as a ladies model, well... that's not quite how things transpired.
The WAW1313 is positioned, as you'd expect, with all the other 'ladies' watches in the cabinets on the left hand side of the TAG Heuer store, strange then that I'm told that everyone who's tried it on so far has been a man. Somehow that didn't surprise me, I'm only surprised that as yet it hasn't sold... because this is a gorgeous watch indeed!
You may remember that I was rather excited when the quartz Monaco was announced a couple of years ago, but then when I tried it on I was disappointed because it was too small and too 'feminine' looking... odd then that I liked this one as much as I did. I suppose that's because I'm approaching it from a whole different perspective and perhaps because I've got used to wearing smaller watches in the meantime. Even so, I was expecting this to look a little bit lost on my wrist and it really didn't... perhaps the white dial and strap makes the watch wear a little bigger than it really is?
The dial on this one is really nice, it's split into three with the left and right sides faced in mother of pearl, while the middle section is a matt white with vertical fluting, it looks okay in the photographs but it looks incredible on the wrist. The hour markers are diamond and there's a row of diamonds along the top and bottom edges, maybe this is the deal breaker for you? But men wear diamonds too, there's a goodly selection of diamond bezel Carreras to choose from after all...
But yeah, I get it - it takes a confident man to wear a diamond encrusted watch, and an even more confident man to wear something that's at least 'perceived' to be a ladies watch. Personally I would wear this 100%, and I'm definitely not a reed thin, androgynous teenager with skinny jeans, £1000 trainers and an edgy haircut - far from it!
Oddly, I still don't think I would entertain the black dial 'unisex/mens' version of this watch, partly because as a 'man's' Monaco I still think it looks effeminate and small, but this... this is a different story. In fact I would seriously consider adding this to my collection but for one small detail - the price.
Y'see, once you start putting diamonds on watches the price starts climbing faster than you can say 'automatic movement' (which this doesn't have incidentally, like most women's watches this one is a quartz) which means this watch has a heart stopping list price of £4050! Thankfully Bicester Village's price is a lot more palatable at £2835, but even so that puts it into pre-owned Calibre 12 territory... which makes it a very tough call for me, as much as I liked it.
My other concern really is the white strap, I just know I'm going to get it dirty... but damn I really like this watch!
Contact TAG Heuer Bicester Village on 01869 2490008 for details and availability
Tuesday, 25 February 2020
Monday, 24 February 2020
ON THE WRIST: Zenith Pilot Montre D'Aeronef
96.2431.693/21.C738
TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 21st February 2020
When I first saw this watch I must admit it did arouse my interest, which is odd... because for me the traditional 'Pilot' watch is something that I really don't get the love for; especially the massively oversized ones with the equally oversized 'onion' crowns. And yet, for some reason this one gave me pause for thought, and now getting it on the wrist makes me pause for thought all over again, because I really, really like this one!
Okay, let's just face the 'size' issue head on, this is 48mm in diameter, but looking at it I actually guessed 45mm - so I would say it wears a little smaller than it actually is; probably because it's black PVD titanium and lighter than you might think. Then again, that crown is HUGE, but because the 'Bund' strap lifts the watch up off the wrist it really wasn't an issue at all; I thought it would wear horribly, especially for someone like me who wears my watches as close to my hand as possible, but it was absolutely fine.
*Some slightly odd people do wear their watches a little way down their arm apparently - Jody from the 'Just One More Watch' youtube channel being a prime example...!
Everything about this watch is big, even the buckle... I didn't measure it but that has to be at least 1" across there. I like the star detail as well, and incidentally, that's not a scratch at the top right corner, just one of my hairs looping over the buckle. They've also made a nice job of decorating the back of the 'Bund' strap, I was expecting it to just be plain on the back so this was a rather nice surprise when I turned it over!
I know the 'Bund' strap isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I've always had a bit of a soft spot for any kind of 'cuff' strap and I would definitely keep it in place. There's nothing to stop you removing it off course, but I would suggest that if you do the crown might become an issue. As you can see in the picture below, the crown is very nearly as wide as the whole watch and I wouldn't fancy that pressing into the back of my hand. Incidentally, I didn't take the watch off the cuff, but if you do there is a nice engraving on the back of the watch as well.
Some pretty decent lume on the dial and hands here too, sorry for the slightly blurry photograph by the way - I only took one 'lumeshot' photo so it will have to do. Actually the Arabic numerals are the only thing I'm not 100% crazy about, the shape is okay, but I'm not sure about the finish of them - it's kind of somewhere between desert camouflage and faux patina, still they look great when they are glowing.
Small running seconds at the 9 position is something a little different and there's also a small plate on the left hand side of the watch (which I unfortunately didn't get a shot of) which tells you the watch is a limited edition and contains this watch's individual number out of 1903. The pusher at the top left of the case is to advance the red skeletonised hand which is the GMT hand on this watch. Around the dial you will find 24 markers indicating the hours of the day and night, you can just about make them out in the picture above actually.
While I was trying on this watch I was mistakenly under the impression that the watch was more expensive than it actually is (which is always a good thing, no?), in fact the list price of the watch is £6400, but currently at Bicester Village this one is available for £3800, which seems remarkably good value. Sure, it's not something you're going to wear every day, but it's clearly very well made and with fantastic attention to detail.
Like I said at the start, Pilot watches aren't really something that I've ever dreamed of owning, but if I was to go down that route this Zenith Pilot Montre D'Aeronef would definitely be right up there at the top of my list.
Call the TAG Heuer Bicester Village boutique on 01869 249008 for more details and availability.
Sunday, 23 February 2020
Saturday, 22 February 2020
SPOTLIGHT ON: DIY Battery Replacement
CG1120-0
Collecting watches is great fun and there are bargains to be had - I've been very fortunate to find a good number of watches at very reasonable prices... but, last year it dawned on me that I needed to start saving some money for repairs and battery replacements and so I set up a little fund for that very purpose.
Then my 1500 Series GMT battery died, it was the first battery I'd had go (apart from my F1 Kirium, which has a 'sleep' function and needs a new battery every 5-7 years) and I paid £50 to have the battery changed on the spot, with a 100M test, which it passed. But looking at my collection I started to think, three years of collecting and no batteries - 24 quartz watches; these things are all going to start going at once and it is going to sting!
Then I robbed that fund to buy a watch... it was bound to happen.
:)
Then I was going through my watch stuff and I found a receipt that came with my 2000 Multigraph, someone paid £90 at 'Watch Station' for a new battery and a water resistance test (which it failed!), and I bought that watch for about £250 if I remember correctly. This, I decided, was madness...
It kinda brought it home to me that if you send your watch back to TAG Heuer, that's one thing; I've sent my F1 Kirium back twice since I bought it (from new) and it cost me £85 or £95 the last time (IIRC) and if you do that then they test it to the full water rating and presumably change the seals if necessary, the downside is that it takes a few weeks to come back. On the other hand, if you take it to a good local watch man (somewhere like 'Time to Time' in Debenhams), you will get it back within the hour, and it will be tested (but only to 100M) but if it fails the test it will then need to be sent back anyway - at further expense, or you still have to pay and accept that the watch is not watertight.
Now if you have one or two watches, like me when I bought my first TAG Heuer, then you can accept a cost of £85 every few years, especially if you bought the watch new and it cost you £1000+, then it's reasonable to invest in it, but once you start buying from eBay and you pick up watches for £2-300, then it starts looking a bit silly to pay 1/3 of the price every few years just to get the battery changed - especially since you don't really know the history of the watch and if it's watertight anyway.
So towards the end of last year my wife's classic Formula 1 needed a new battery, which seemed to me like the perfect opportunity to have a go myself. I asked her if she wanted me to try doing it or did she want to pay £50, she said 'have a go', so I opened the back and got the number off the battery. A few days later the battery arrived having cost me the sum of 99p including postage (not even a cheap battery, a Swiss made Renata) and though it was slightly daunting, in truth it was pretty straightforward and once I'd done one I felt a lot better about it. My wife was over the moon that I'd saved her £50, so all well and good.
Then, as anticipated the watches started going, first my 500M Aquaracer, then my two-tone 3000 and then my two-tone S/EL, all within a few weeks. I tried to get the back off the Aquaracer but it would not budge and I decided maybe it would be best to send that one back, especially as the bezel needed some attention, so I sent that one back to TAG Heuer, but the 3000 I did myself and again it was straightforward.
Then came the S/EL, and taking the back off of that one I saw what I had dreaded finding... the battery had a metal plate across it held on by two tiny screws. This I was not keen on since I was sure to drop the screws (probably into the movement), but knowing I have several watches with this movement I figured I was going to have to give it a go.
Then I came across a video showing you how to change the battery in this movement and I realised that actually you don't need to undo the screws completely, you only need to loosen one of them and the plate swings out of the way - result!
Now, you might suggest that this is all very well, but when you take it to a store you are having the watch 'resealed'... which was my original thought, but really they don't do anything other than screw the caseback down, they don't 'reseal' it, all they do is test it to see if it is waterproof or not - and if that is important to you, then the DIY route is probably not for you. But personally I don't get any of my watches wet - ever, even my 500M Aquaracer, so for me this is not an issue.
But in any case, it doesn't really make a difference whether you do it or they do it, if the seals are good then it will be 'sealed', there's nothing they can do different to you, there's no magic watch voodoo spell they cast over the watch as they re-assemble it, it's just a screw-down back - all they can 'do' is test and tell you one way or the other.
So like I say, when you buy a second hand watch, unless you get a test receipt with it you really can't be sure if the seals are okay or not, but if you open the back and the o-ring is in good condition the chances are that it's okay. Again, I wouldn't recommend swimming with a watch unless you've had it tested, but if you pick up a watch for £250, do you really want to spend another £50-100 testing it?
I guess what I'm really saying is that if you have a lot of watches and you don't want to end up paying hundreds or possibly thousands of pounds out just to have the batteries changed, it's worth thinking about doing it yourself. The tools required can be purchased for less than £10 on eBay and the batteries are often 99p... so far I've found it's pretty simple, much easier than I thought it would be.
I'm not saying I would do all my watches myself, I'm minded to send my Microtimer back perhaps... and maybe my pristine F1 Kirium, but the watches I've picked up from eBay for less than £500 I will definitely do myself. Realistically, there's every chance that the last owner did exactly the same thing, if there's no receipt you just don't know.
There's another element to this as well, which has just occurred to me, if you have a large collection of watches. In a larger collection like mine, there's always going to be a watch that's the 'bottom' of the pecking order, the one that for some reason you just don't wear that often - even though I really like it, my silver 6000 Chrono is that watch at the moment, and not so long back I was thinking of selling it, I even listed it on eBay for an hour before I changed my mind and took it down. So if you're in that position with a watch you don't really want to have to spend £60 on it every few years... just to keep it in your watch box, that might be enough to persuade you to move it on. After all that watch is probably worth between £500-600 at the moment, so it's 10% of its value each time.
But I know some of you will find the idea of opening your watch yourself 'horrendous' and not so long ago I would have been the same. But really it isn't that hard and we're not talking about doing anything 'demanding' or technically difficult here - it's just a battery change, and you're perfectly happy to change batteries in pretty much everything else you own, aren't you?
For those of you keen to give it a go I have added a new 'Page' to the tab at the top of the blog called 'Batteries'. This contains some instructional videos and I will also use it to keep a record of which batteries are required for each of my watches. If anyone wants to let me know which battery your TAG Heuer takes I am more than happy to add that too.
Friday, 21 February 2020
Thursday, 20 February 2020
ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 Chronograph
CV2013.FC6234
TAG Heuer Outlet / Bicester Village, 19th September 2019
As 'Bdev' rightly pointed out in the comments section under my post about the new brown Aquaracer the other day, one brown dial piece I kinda forgot to include was the CV2013 Carrera Calibre 16. I say 'kinda' because I didn't actually forget about the watch, I just forgot to include it in the post... and in fact I've been sitting on a post about the CV2013 since I tried it on last September.
Okay, to be honest, I have tried to complete this post several times, but there has always been something more interesting to talk about and so it's kinda been left behind. As such this watch has long since departed the store, so while I can tell you the price it was then (£2555, down from £3650) there's no guarantee that if it comes back into stock it will be the same price. In fact, I would expect a price hike of around £50-80 given recent movement in the stock.
Long term readers will know that I haven't always been kind to 'brown' watches, or perhaps more accurately watches that come on brown straps... but over the last couple of years my stance has definitely softened. I think the black PVD Carrera with the 'sand' coloured numerals (which came on a weathered brown leather strap) was the catalyst for change and, well, I turned 50 last October so I'm getting to that age where brown straps start to make more sense... :)
This one certainly has some character, pairing a brown dial and aluminum bezel insert with some orange highlights for that full on 70s effect, and while it's not something I would buy, I did quite like that it was a Carrera but one with a whole different aura about it. Like, I'm not a fan of the Omega Speedmaster, but when you see it in an unusual colour, say with a white or blue dial, it looks a whole lot more interesting somehow.
I think with the brown bezel this is a whole lot less subtle than the new Aquaracer and less likely to be mistaken for a black dial watch. If you're the sort of person who wears natural colours and say light blue jeans this would probably work well for you, but if you're like me and tend towards black and dark blue, well this probably isn't for you... unless you wear brown shoes with black clothes, in which case you're clearly a 'maverick' and there's no point in even trying to reason with you!
On the wrist it's your regular 41mm Calibre 16 Carrera; so it's probably a little thicker than you'd really like, but not so bad that you'd write it off altogether. I'd be interested to see one of these on the optional BA0794 bracelet as that might be more appealing to me, as it is there's a little too much brown going on here for me... but I'm willing to bet that whoever bought this one is more than happy with their purchase.
If you are interested in this watch, the store may be able to help you, give them a ring on 01869 249008.
Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Tuesday, 18 February 2020
SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Formula 1 'Ukyo Katayama' Special Edition
382.513/K
The classic Formula 1 range is all about colour and fun, and you can't get much more colourful and fun than this Ukyo Katayama special edition. For those of you who are too young to remember, Ukyo Katayama is a Japanese racing driver most famously remembered for his Formula 1 career which lasted for 97 races over six seasons (1992-1997) and took in three teams (Tyrell, Minardi and Larrousse). During this time he managed to score 5 World Championship points, which sounds rubbish but you have to remember that when Katayama was racing only the top six finishers scored any points* and he wasn't driving anything like a competitive car.
Indeed, one look at the 1992 F1 Championship shows that Mansell dominated and scored nearly double the second place driver's total, but it was still only 108 points, and of the 39 drivers who competed only 19 managed to score a point at all and only 8 of those got into double figures.
*During Ukyo's time in the sport the points system was 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, as opposed to the slightly ridiculous school sports day 'everybody' wins nonsense we have now. Winning a single point was a big deal back then.
Actually what Ukyo is perhaps most remembered for is a very dramatic crash off the start at the 1995 Portugese Grand Prix held at the Estoril circuit. This left him in hospital for for two days with a strained neck and bruising, but it could have been a lot worse!
It seems like TAG Heuer were a personal sponsor for Ukyo Katayama; as you can see he had a TAG Heuer logo on the sleeve of his race suit. This sounds surprising for someone who didn't exactly set the F1 world alight, but what you have to remember is the massive popularity of Formula 1 in Japan during the 80s and 90s (you couldn't even buy tickets for the Japanese Grand Prix without entering a lottery first!) and as the only Japanese driver in the championship Ukyo was a superstar at home.
I don't think I've ever seen a watch dial with a signature on the glass before, that's pretty damned cool. It's actually on the back of the glass as well, so it won't come off when you 'Polywatch' it to get the scratches out. Smart thinking TAG Heuer!
I guess really, signature glass aside and backplate aside, this is nothing you couldn't put together yourself if you had enough classic F1s (I'm only slightly surprised they didn't 'half and half' the strap as well, perhaps they thought that was a step too far!) and although it really is a complete dog's dinner of a watch, I cant help but like it! For me this is the 'ultimate' 80s Formula 1, it evokes the spirit of the decade and it's just a pity that Ukyo wasn't driving for Benetton at the time as that would have made it even more appropriate.
Prices on these are all over the place, I found one for sale for £1100... but I'm reliably informed (by Snowy on the Calibre11 forum, who owns not one but two of these!) that these are generally available for $3-400 dollars in Japan. I'd certainly consider swapping my classic F1 for one of these if the opportunity arises!
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