FEATURE: My Wife's TAG Heuer Watch Collection

You may remember I wrote a post called 'Women and Watches' in May last year, which focused on the increased levels of luxury watch advertising appearing in women's magazines. This struck me when we were away somewhere and I happened to flick through my wife's copy of Marie Claire to kill time while waiting for her to do something or other... and it really did surprise me just how much was going on in there. Tudor had a full page ad, as did Mondaine and Omega had a double spread. Then there was several pages of editorial photo shoots featuring among others TAG Heuer.

So apparently chicks dig watches now! Of course I already knew this because my wife has a pretty decent collection of her own. Indeed, this post has been so long in the making that her collection has actually more than doubled in size since I started writing it! And of course I'm all for it... what could be better than a wife who shares your all consuming hobby? 

Yes sure, I still get the occasional rolling eyes when I talk about purchasing another piece, but I'm sure it would be a whole lot worse if she didn't have an interest herself and it sure made our visit to the TAG Heuer manufacture in 2018 a whole lot more interesting for her.

WK1313-0

It all started about 15 years ago, when I decided to buy my wife a 2000 Series for her birthday. I had recently bought my first TAG Heuer (my F1 Kirium) and I had seen her peering at the blue dial 2000s in the cabinet in Goldsmiths, so a few days before her birthday I took her shopping and fooled her by walking straight past the door, before turning around and dragging her inside. She was pretty taken aback, but very happy and she's loved that watch ever since. It's still in very good condition, the polished over-riders on the bezel are a bit scratched up but other than that it's excellent. I noticed the lume is still pretty strong as well when I was putting it away after taking this picture.

962.215

Of course, my wife kept her blue 2000 for best, but it wasn't long before she started thinking about getting a pre-owned one to wear to work... so her next piece was this grey dial 2000 which she bought off eBay for just under £200 (IIRC). Unfortunately a few years after she got it we were out on a country walk and she tripped and fell while wearing it, which scratched the glass and scuffed the clasp. She lived with it like that for a long time until it started losing time and needed a service and at that point she decided she might as well get the sapphire replaced and here it is looking as good as new.

WAH1314.BA0867

The collection stayed largely unchanged for nearly a decade, until 2014 when my wife and I came into a little bit of money unexpectedly and she suggested we both buy a watch! Don't know where that came from but it cost me as the watch I settled on (the Aquagraph) cost more than the windfall... ah well. My wife on the other hand had her eye on this lovely steel and ceramic Formula 1. They made several different models of this with varying amounts of diamonds, some had diamond bezels and one had a circle of diamonds in the centre of the dial. My wife liked that one but they didn't make it in the smaller size and my wife has very small wrists so she settled for this one.

I really like this watch, every time I take it out of the box to change the date I am super impressed by the ceramic bracelet and the overall design. They do of course make something very similar in a 41mm, but it doesn't work as well at that scale in my opinion.

Oris Artelier Silver Skeleton

What.... the hell! Yes indeed, it's not a TAG Heuer! I know I was as shocked and appalled as you are, but truth be told this is a gorgeous watch and it's all TAG's fault at the end of the day. Y'see, when I bought my Carrera Heuer 01, my wife said that if they made a ladies version of that she would buy it. Of course, they never did and since they didn't have any ladies skeleton watches for her to buy, when this one popped up at a discounted price it was game over.

We found this one at the 'Artelier' store at Bicester Village, which has since closed down. They had a good selection of watches in there over the years including Breitling, Maurice Lacroix, Chopard and Porsche Design, but this the only thing we ever bought there.

WAT1418.BA0954

Hmm, this was the third 'diamond' watch in a row, and what a beauty! This one features a stunning purple Guilloche dial with diamond hour markers and not only that, it's an unusual one made only for the Chinese market. It's not a limited edition or numbered, but it's pretty scarce and very hard to find any details on the internet about it. 

This is one of the joys of Bicester Village, you just never know what you are going to find... if I remember correctly I visited the store alone and described it to my wife when I got home and then we went all the way back a few days later to see it and she decided she wanted it straight away.

It's another beautiful watch, but the date window is so ridiculously small it really might as well not be there. That dial is really nice though... 

https://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/04/buying-experience-tag-heuer-lady-link.html

WAA1412.BA0760

My wife was looking for an Alter Ego for a while, but she wanted to expand her range of dial colours so she didn't want the common or garden blue or black models. She settled on the pale pink but found it hard to find one to buy, until she found this at a Cash Converters in Wakefield.

They weren't keen to haggle, but my wife got them to drop it a little bit and she left with it, complete with barrel box for £280. The bracelet is a pain in the butt to size, as it has tiny little screws holding it together and the TAG Heuer boutique in Hull couldn't even help. Eventually she sent it off to be sized and at the same time she had it refinished (it was pretty scratched up to be fair) and it came back looking much, much better.

Another really cool watch, but what were they thinking with that crown. For a start it's completely smooth and where they put it the bracelet is totally in the way when you are trying to adjust the time - thank God it doesn't have a date!

http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/07/buying-experience-tag-heuer-alter-ego.html

WAF141X.BA0824

This one was actually purchased before the purple Link, but it had to sit in the box for six months waiting for our 25th Wedding Anniversary to arrive. We had planned to go to Geneva for our anniversary and had both been saving hard for that, when on a trip to Bicester Village we came across this Swiss 150th Anniversary model. 

Years before we had seen a similar piece in the window and my wife had always regretted not buying it, so this time we had to be decisive. It was clear she loved it so I offered to buy it for her for our anniversary and she offered to pay for the holiday. What better gift could there be, it has several Swiss cities on the dial including Geneva and even though our holiday to Geneva was actually a few weeks before our actual anniversary I let her take it anyway.

Interestingly, in the buying post for this one I mention trying to get a post about my wife's watches finished.... it only took me another two years!

http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/03/buying-experience-tag-heuer-aquaracer.html

WA1415

My wife looked at classic Formula 1s for ages, eventually deciding against the resin strap versions and then flip-flopping between the pink and green colour schemes. Unfortunately finding either of those in good condition was a very frustrating experience, not helped by shady sellers on eBay using generic pictures of the watches they were trying to sell rather than photos of the actual watch they had to sell!

In the end she took a chance on buying from the USA and scored a really tidy piece, although when I took it out of the box I was horrified at how short the bracelet was and started searching eBay for spare links; however, when she tried it on it was way too big for her tiny wrist! At least she didn't have to wait to long for this one as it arrived just a few days before her birthday.

http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/04/buying-experience-tag-heuer-formula-1.html

WG141C

I came across this one on eBay last Summer and sent my wife a link to it, often these emails don't get much response but this one was met with much excitement. I'd been looking at red S/ELs for myself for ages, but the prices were always over the top. This though was listed with some really poor photos, but an attractive opening bid of £300... and after some nail biting, that is exactly what she ended up paying.

This is a great watch, albeit a very, very small one. I think it's 25mm or thereabouts... I took a photo of it next to my 45mm Carrera Heuer 01 once, which was rather hilarious. Since then I managed to get my own red S/EL so now we have a matching pair.

http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/07/buying-experience-tag-heuer-ladies-sel.html

WL1316

I bought this as a surprise for my wife, and when it turned up it was a bit of a mess. I spent a good bit of time polishing it up though and it came out pretty darned good in the end. My wife loves it as well, but I knew she would because she had been looking at these on eBay on and off for a long time.

These Kiriums really do have the most gorgeous blue dials and the Mercedes hand set looks great against it, I do like the later Kirium hands, but these look great too.

https://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/10/buying-experience-tag-heuer-kirium.html

WBD1316.BA0740

So that's watch number ten, which is almost the end, but not quite because in another few days the green Aquaracer can finally come out of the cabinet. Yes it's very nearly my wife's 50th birthday and at last she can get her hands on her WBD1316. And that really is a beautiful watch, pity they only made a few and they've all gone now.

http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/10/buying-experience-tag-heuer-ladies.html

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500M Quartz Watch

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Connected Gen 3 V TAG Heuer Modular 45 Gen 2 by Tommy Bayshore

FEATURE: Keeping Track of Wrist Time #1

At the start of the year I decided it would be a good idea to keep a track of which watches I wear each day. The intention was not to influence wear rates, merely to observe - but I think the act of writing down what I was wearing each morning had the unintended effect of making me choose less randomly, I suppose this was inevitable...

Even so I am somewhat surprised by the results, especially when it came to the two watches that I have worn the most over the last three months. While I do like my red S/EL I really wouldn't have pegged the blue dial Aquaracer as a top watch, but it seems like I go to it quite often according to these figures. I didn't realise how much I liked my Link Searacer either...

Now, there are some caveats to mention. I don't wear my automatic watches to work, so I wouldn't exepect the Aquagraph, the WAY208C Aquaracer or the two Carreras to be front runners here... and given that I won't be going out much in the next few months I guess they won't be getting much wrist time for a while, unless I start wearing them around the house!

Also the watches marked with an asterisk have been somewhat compromised:

The 932.206 3000 Series is currently out of action because I need to sort out a pin to hold the strap together. More on this another time...

The WAJ1111 Aquaracer was away for several weeks at the service centre having a new battery and a new bezel spring fitted, but I have it back now.

The CG1110 S/EL is currently away at the service centre having a service, polish and re-lume.

The WN1112 2000 Exclusive is currently away at the service centre having a service and the crown repaired.

The WAZ1014 is currently in the safe at TAG Heuer Bicester Village as it came back from a warranty repair minus the lume on the minute hand and had to go back again, it came back just before the lockdown started but I didn't get a chance to collect it.

Don't know when I will get the last three back again as the service centre and Bicester Village are both closed for the time being.

The one that sticks out I guess is the F1 Kirium, which I've only worn once in the last three months. Not because I don't like it, but I am a bit precious about that one as it was my first ever TAG Heuer and aside from a small scratch to the AR coating on the sapphire it is pretty much mint. I don't like to wear that one to work either, but then it has to compete with my automatics for wrist time when going out.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out over the year... and it's now been three months since I added any watches to my collection!

GALLERY: TAG Heuer S/EL Quartz Watches

INSTRUCTIONS: Setting Time and Syncing Analog and Digital Displays on the F1 Kirium and Aquaracer Chronotimer

While setting and adjusting the digital display on the F1 Kirium and the Chronotimer is intuitive, I always struggle to remember how to adjust the hands and I can never be bothered to search through the mountain of watch boxes to find the manuals.

1. Rotate the crown until the T1 time is showing in the display.

2. Pull the crown out to the '2' position* 

3. Pressing the top pusher changes the display between 12hr and 24hr

4. Press the lower pusher to switch between hours, minutes and seconds on the 

digital display, turning the crown to set each individually.

5. Press the crown back in.

6. Rotate the crown until the 'neutral' display appears (ie. no
digital time visible)

7. Pull out the crown, the letter 'R' will appear

8. Press button 'B' (the lower one), the time will appear and start flashing

9. Rotate the crown to adjust the analog time until the analog time
matches the displayed digital time for all three hands, then press the
crown back in.

*Crown positions: 0 - pressed in, 1 - standard, 2 - pulled out

To set the date...

Select the day/date function and pull the crown out to position 2

Briefly press the top pusher to select date display mode (D/M or M/D)

The date. month and year is changed by rotating the crown.

Briefly press the bottom pusher to confirm your selection

FEATURE: Surprises in a Japanese TAG Heuer Catalogue

Over the past couple of weeks I've spent an inordinate amount of time searching out part numbers and photos to add to my Gallery blog and my list of TAG Heuer part numbers. I started out trawling my physical catalogues and then hit on the idea of utilising the scans on the Calibre 11 website (it's actually easier, and I don't have all the catalogues David has put up there). 

I completed the first line of catalogues and then opened the 'Japanese 1988' catalogue thinking 'this will be a waste of time' it'll just be a 'greatest hits' mini-catalogue. How wrong could I be? Very wrong, actually. In all I found 18 watches that I didn't already have in my list, albeit some of those were duplicates in different sizes.

First off we have what I initially thought were solid gold versions of the 3000 Series, but I've subsequently discovered are merely gold plated. These come in four different sizes with the 006, 008, 013 and 015 suffixes. 

937.413SG

I naively assumed that SG stood for solid gold, but a quick look on eBay shows one of these and the backs of the bracelet links are clearly steel, so I am rather disappointed because I rather liked the idea of a solid gold 3000.... bah! And given that information I think the seller is rather optimistic if they think they are going to get £750 for it...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Tag-Heuer-3000-Gold-38mm/254541767005?hash=item3b43df215d:g:GdYAAOSwLB5ebo6b

Next up we have something which is not quite as interesting perhaps, but still something I hadn't come across before, that being the gold dial variant of my own two-tone 3000 Series. Actually, there are plenty on eBay, I just never noticed so that's a failing on my part!

935.413

Again this comes in multiple sizes, but only three this time (406, 408 and 413). Incidentally, if you are not aware, the number ending in '08' is the smallest and definitely a ladies watch, the '15' is slightly larger but still a ladies watch, the '13' is what was back then called a 'boys' watch, or 'midsize and finally the '06' is the full size man's version. I'm sure many, many people have been caught out by this when buying 3000s on eBay as in the photos they all look incredibly similar (in fact the same thing happened to me one time when I accidentally bought a very small S/EL!).

I have to say, I definitely prefer the look of my two-tone 3000 with it's grey dial and plain black logo, this is a bit much and the gold on the dial doesn't really seem to match the bezel. It could be the photo of course but it kinda looks like it has a bit of a green tint to it as well, which I'm not too keen on either.

916.413B

Next we have the black dial variant of the 'Executive' series. That series is something of a forgotten one, but this black dial variation is even more of a rarity. Pretty much all 'Executive' models are two-tone of one description or another, I guess luxury was very much tied up with gold plating back then... but I think this black and gold design is one of the best. 

Only two sizes of this one, the mid-size '13' and the smallest '08' ladies. It's a pity the light is shining on the bezel in this picture, but I'm pretty sure it's largely black with a gold quarter running from the 12 to the 3 position.

280.001

Bearing in mind this catalogue was from 1988, a good couple of years after the TAG takeoever, it's slightly surprising to see the 'Heuer' branded Moonphase pieces in there. especially as they don't feature in any other catalogues I've looked at so far. There's three models on offer. two sizes of this gold dial / gold case on a tan strap and a white dial version on a black strap that looks like it might be steel, but again the picture is hard to read so I can't be 100% sure.

936.006SB

But this might be my absolute favourite of the lot. There are gold and black two-tone 3000 Series in the general catalogues, but they always have gold bezels (and sometimes gold centre links), this is the first time I've seen a full black 3000 with only the bezel markings and crown in gold. I think this is stunning, especially with that gold ring around the dial.

However, we are looking at a watch that, if one could actually find one for sale, is 32 years old now. What are the chances of that black finish still being intact? And even if it is, is it actually as black as it looks in the photo or is it a kind of dirty grey? On paper I would absolutely love to get hold of one of these, but I would need some convincing before parting with my cash.

Again though, it's odd that this particular range is branded as Heuer, not TAG Heuer - especially as there are definitely TAG branded 3000s by this time. So here's my theory... if you look back to the 1985 Heuer catalogue, it appears that there was a watch largely similar to this, but with a gold bezel. So perhaps what they did was they had some left over stock, or maybe incomplete watches and they just decided to put a black bezel on it? And maybe because they didn't have too many pieces left they just put it out in one market - in this instance Japan? It's only speculation on my part but the Heuer dials certainly suggest it's a possibility.

Once again this model comes in all four sizes, though whether any of them will ever come up for sale I really don't know.

The catalogue also contains a 'gold' 3000 cronograph, a different take on the black/gold 3000 chrono and a couple of pocket watches (with no part numbers, annoyingly). Also if you look right at the back end you'll even find something called a Heuer Anenometer, which I assume measures wind speed! I really couldn't have been more wrong about this catalogue could I?

Check it out here:

https://www.calibre11.com/catalogues/tag-heuer-annual-catalogues/1988-japan-tag-heuer-catalogue/

THANKS TO ROCKBURNER FOR HELPING ME GET BETTER IMAGES FOR THIS POST!

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 3000 Series Quartz Watch

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Tristar Quartz Watch

954.406

If you ever find yourself on the TV game show 'Pointless' and you get asked to name a TAG Heuer model range that nobody remembers, you really could do an awful lot worse than to answer 'Tristar'. As names go it's not one of the most 'evocative' TAG Heuer have ever used, indeed it doesn't really evoke much in the way of anything does it? Unlike Monaco or Monza (or even Aquaracer) it's a perfect example of literally 'doing what it says on the tin' as this watch has not one, not two, but (wait for it) three stars on the bezel. Well, actually that's not strictly true... there are actually twelve stars on the bezel, but clearly they are arranged in four groups of three, so I guess we'll let them off there...

The Tristar range first appears in the 1987 TAG Heuer catalogue (it's listed in the 2000 section as a 'special' in fact), but it's a natural extension of what was going on at the tail end of the 'Heuer' years and I could well believe it was already in development before the takeover occurred; have a look at the 3000s from around the mid 80s and you'll see what I mean. Not unlike the 3000s, the Tristar isn't a thing of 'conventional' beauty, but oddly I kinda like it for all it's 80s kitsch. There's something intrinsically 'Soviet' about this one; for sure it's the stars... but even those lines around the bezel have something of the old 'CCCP' about them.

The Tristar range came in four basic configurations; black and gold with a black dial, black and gold with a white dial (those two are definitely not going to be to everyone's liking!), standard 'two-tone' with a blue dial and this version which matches a 'two-tone' bracelet and case with a champagne dial.

Kudos to TAG Heuer, they've given the watch a matching champagne date wheel, but those hands look a little on the slender side to me. They're long enough, but rather too delicate for such a brutalist bezel don't you think?

I'm slightly surprised to read that this model is 40mm in diameter and I do rather wonder if they haven't included the crown in that measurement. Back in the 1980s 37mm / 38mm was more the standard, more's the pity as I'd love a 41mm black and gold 3000 for example!

I actually really like the old 1980s watches with the black and gold finishes, but I'm yet to see one that's in good condition. 80s black PVD isn't the hardiest of coatings and watches that are pushing 35 years old and which have been worn generally look a bit of a mess, what I really need is a NOS piece... albeit I'm sure one of those would cost a pretty penny!

Speaking of which, this watch is exactly that, a 'new-old-stock' piece complete with hang-tag and box (no pics of the box though...) in 'as-new' condition. I found this one on eBay.it, and it's currently offered at 636 Euros (reduced from it's original price of 795 Euros).

I think this is the kind of watch that deserves a decent price, but one that needs to find the right buyer. Obviously, this isn't going to appeal to a lot of people and many wouldn't want this at any price, but someone will and I reckon they'll probably get something close to that price if they wait long enough. If it genuinely is 40mm I wouldn't mind it myself, but whether I like it enough to part with my savings in these rather uncertain times... I don't think so, unfortunately.

If by some random chance you might be the right person to take it off the seller's hands, here's the link to the sale: https://www.ebay.it/c/719611885

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 2000 Series Multigraph Quartz Chronograph

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 Review by Random Rob

ON THE WRIST: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02 Carbon Collection / Rose Gold Limited Edition

CBG2052.FT6143

TAG Heuer Boutique / Meadowhall, Sheffield 16th November 2019

Anyone who's ever written a number of reviews knows that the easiest ones to write are the ones where you either strongly like or dislike the item in question, it's the ones in between that are hard because they don't stir you one way or another. But there is a different type of 'difficult' review and this is one of those... I don't know how many times I've written this review (it's at least 4 though), which is probably why it still hasn't seen the light of day four and a half months later. Still, here it goes - if nothing else at least it will be out of the way!

As you can probably imagine, I like nothing more than visiting a TAG Heuer boutique, well... maybe visiting Hotel Chocolat, which is just a few doors down here at the Meadowhall Shopping Centre. Obviously it's a whole lot cheaper in there and they often give you free chocolates to nibble on while you potter around the store drooling at all the goodies on display. I jest of course, but I've never knowingly left a Hotel Chocolat empty handed, that's all I'm saying...

The Sheffield store is actually owned and run by Watches of Switzerland, and this franchising seems to be the way things are going as I believe there's quite a few new boutiques opening now that are off-shoots of high street jewellers. On the surface you wouldn't know any different; inside it's very much like the Oxford Street store, although a bit smaller and with a bit less choice. You see, not all boutiques are equal and it pays to be aware that while the name over the door is 'TAG Heuer' the range of watches available only extends as far as those which Watches of Switzerland have signed up to stock... oh and also, if you bring your watch back here under warranty apparently you'll be asked to pay £35 to insure the watch's safe return to the service centre... which I wouldn't be very impressed with to be honest!

Anyway, I've always had a (not so) secret penchant for the old CAR2A5A rose gold and black Heuer 01 Carrera, so on paper at least this new one looked right up my street and I was excited to spot it in the store. This one is part of TAG Heuer's 'Carbon Carrera Collection' and indeed when these watches were launched I picked this as my favourite of the three on offer (based on the pictures). Since I posted that post I've seen the other two watches and taken rather a shine to the CBG2017 (bottom left) which has some blue detailing on the dial and carbon lugs to match the bezel. In fact I would go as far as to say that if there's any watch in the current TAG Heuer line-up that could potentially part me from four months wages, this is probably it.

So what then of the rose gold lugged version? 

Well, in essence, from a distance, in pictures and from a way away, this Carbon Carrera looks pretty good. But get it out of the cabinet and something goes awry. I've noticed on some of these 43mm Carreras that the straps seem out of proportion with the head, and that's also the case here. But this wasn't an issue on the CBG2017 so what gives?

Partly I think it's the gold lugs, the CBG2017 has black (carbon) lugs so the bracelet and lugs meld into one, but here it only serves to accentuate the impression that the strap is too wide for the head. Take the picture above, at first glance the watch looks great, but the longer you look at it the more the bezel looks too small, see how far around the bezel the lugs seem to reach?

And the other problem for me seems to be those gold subdial rings, again on the CBG2017 the majority of the dial is black (save the bottom subdial ring which is blue) and this helps the watch look cohesive, but here those gold rings seem to jump forward like two bug eyes and to me at least detracts from the overall aesthetic. I also think they might have added just a little bit too much red as well, the CAR2A5A was a lot more sparing with it and it looked a lot better in my opinion.

Admittedly the carbon bezel is a cool addition to the watch, but I still can't help feeling that I prefer the Heuer 01 layout with the 6, 9, 12 subdials. I know I'm probably in the minority with that view, but I've just never taken to the Heuer 02, at least not on the skeletonized models.

It's actually very confusing and frustrating to have two very different opinions about one watch, but it just goes to show that seeing pictures and videos on the internet is no substitute for going to the store and seeing it for yourself. Some of the photos I've seen do give me the same feeling that it's not quite in proportion, but it still looks better in the pictures than it did wrapped around my wrist. 

List price on this one is £7950, which puts it up against some stiff competition like the Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 (for example), but honestly this really was quite a let down for me and as the CAR2A5A is now available pre-owned for less than £5000 I think if I was genuinely in the market for a black and gold TAG Heuer then that is where my money would be heading.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Quartz Watch

SPOTLIGHT ON: Three Unusual and Rare Limited Edition TAG Heuers

CN1118

Researching the archives for missing models to add to my big list of numbers is certainly throwing up some oddities that even I hadn't come across before, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share three very rare TAG Heuers with you.

First we have the James Tomkins Limited Edition 2000 Exclusive pictured above. James is an Australian rower who has won seven world championships and three Olympic gold medals and is Austalia's most awarded oarsman. I'm guessing this was probably released around 2000 or thereabouts, at least judging by the engraving on the back which celebrates James' achievements up until 1999... but unfortunately James 'only' won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics so it could have been released slightly later and they didn't bother to mention that...?

If you thought the 50th Anniversary Monacos were rare (with just 169 of each model made) then this will really blow you away because this really is one of the rarest TAG Heuers ever made, just thirty of this limited edition model were produced and (presumably) it was only available in Australia.

I think they did a pretty nice job on it too, with James' signature on one side of the silver dial and 'World Champion Rower' on the other. It's understated, but it's enough and the backplate engraving is neat without being over the top.

WH5114-2

Our next limited edition comes in the shape of this handsome 6000 Series on an black alligator strap, the dial featuring the name 'Luis Figo', who I must admit I was completely ignorant of before today. I presumed he might be a racing driver from South America perhaps, possibly someone who raced against the great Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s and 60s... but no, apparently he is a retired Portuguese footballer who played throughout the 90s and eventually retired in 2009.

Indeed, Luis Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo was heralded as one of the greatest players of his generation and when he retired he held the record for the most international caps for Portugal (127), though this has since been taken by Cristiano Ronaldo (who also has his own TAG Heuer watch of course, the CR7). Anyway, he must have been pretty special because Real Madrid paid Barcelona 62M Euros for him in 2000!

The dial features Figo's signature and if you notice a red no '7'. I can't say I'm keen on the lower numbers on the dial being upside down, I think that's a curious design choice though I don't think it was something specific to this model. This piece was made in slightly higher numbers than the James Tomkins model, with 150 being produced, and again I would imagine it would be hard to find one of these outside of Portugal or Spain.

CAR2C14.FC6327

Lastly we come to this Japanese only Carrera, launched to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Heuer wristwatch chronograph in 1914... it's a bit of an obscure anniversary that one, and I'm not quite sure why it was only celebrated in Japan. Also, Longines released their first chronograph a year earlier in 1913, so it's slightly strange because watch companies kinda like to celebrate things they do first, not a year after somebody else...

So it's a bit of an odd one this, and that goes for the design as well. I imagine those Arabic markers were chosen because they look 'classic' but to my mind they don't really fit on a watch which is clearly as modern in design as this one is.  The Calibre 1887 movement is also a tad on the small side for the 45mm case size as well and whereas in some of the other bullhead models the dial is split to rather cleverly hide this, here with a flat dial it's all too apparent, especially since they've gone with bright white subdials. Eeeek!

I'm definitely not feeling this one I'm afraid, but if you are the good news is that there were 200 of these made, so it's the most 'available' of these three, but again, whether you'll be able to find one outside of Japan, who knows...

Of the three I think I'd probably plump for the Luis Figo first and then the James Tomkins, as for the 100th Anniversary Carrera... well I think I'd leave that well alone. 

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Watch

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Formula 1 Quartz Alarm Watch

WAU111D.FT6024

Obviously while I'm working on my 'BIG LIST' I'm viewing hundreds of watches a day, but one that caught my eye was this quartz Alarm Formula 1. There have been lots of alarm F1s over the years, but I don't think I'd noticed that they had made a black PVD model before - and one with a grand date no less!

I really like the boldness of the design here, the white contrasts superbly against the black dial and bezel and makes me pine for my old WAH1110 somewhat. This piece looks the same size as that dear departed watch, but apparently it's 1.5mm bigger, which just makes me like it all the more, because at 40.5mm I always felt the WAH1110 was just a little on the small side.

I like how they've created the impression of a chronograph by putting the alarm and the running seconds in symmetrically positioned subdials, that's pretty smart thinking. This in turn has left plenty of room at the base of the dial for the grand date (with colour matched date wheels) and the 'TAG Heuer Formula 1' text in bright white.

Again they've played it smart keeping almost everything on the dial white, including the TAG Heuer logo itself: this makes the watch very legible and also makes the small flashes of red on the alarm hands really pop too.

I really like the design of these FT6024 rubber straps, but if I was to buy this watch I would do it in the knowledge that I'd have to buy a replacement because the clasps on these are evil and they rip your wrist to shreds in minutes. It's a real shame, but at least there is a quick simple and relatively affordable fix in the shape of the BT0714 rubber strap which also features a ribbed design with the TAG Heuer logo and critically a pin and buckle fastening.

All in all this one looks really smart, but tracking one down looks slightly challenging. There's a couple of them available on eBay; one from America that is £850 and one from Japan which is slightly more expensive at £1015. Amazon will sell you a new one for about £1400 - but it's from a third party seller (as everything seems to be on Amazon these days) so I would be ultra-cautious about that, particularly as the seller has an 84% rating, which doesn't sound terribly promising to me!

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 2000 Exclusive Quartz Watch

VIDEO: TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 Review by All Things Random

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 'Maui' Limited Edition

WAF2012.BA0818

Yes, another 'Island' based limited edition TAG Heuer Aquaracer, but not a new one this time, in fact I'd estimate this was perhaps about 10 years old judging by the bezel design. Some of you may remember an 'On the Wrist' post from about 18 months ago where I tried on a Carrera Calibre 16 at Bicester Village that had a beautiful black mother of pearl dial. Seeing these photographs took me straight back to that watch, which really was quite stunning although it looked rather smaller than it's 'official' 41mm size on the wrist.

Like that Carrera, this automatic Aquaracer is also a numbered limited edition, 700 pieces this time though rather than the 300 of the CV201P-0, and this one also celebrates the island of Maui, which unlike Amami Oshima I have at least heard of and I could probably have a good stab at pointing it out on a map because of course it's part of Hawaii!

I do like the back plate engravings TAG Heuer put on these 'island' watches, it must be a great reminder of a holiday and if I was ever on a cruise ship somewhere like that I reckon I'd find it hard to resist buying one myself. But the dial is the real hook here, albeit I'm not sure if I'd prefer the 'Maui' branding to be just a little bit more subtle... especially that big white whale tail. And while I'm being critical, I'm not sure there's really enough room for the day/date complication on this dial, it does look just a little bit crammed in there, don't you think?

Black mother of pearl is a rather underused material in the watch world, there have been some ladies Aquaracers of late, which look really nice, but to find a black mother of pearl watch for a guy is quite unusual. I really liked it on that Carrera and I like it here too, but I'm not sure I'd want it as my only watch... still, I guess as a reminder of an exotic holiday location it more than fits the bill.

Pre-owned prices seem to hover between $1300-$1600 for these watches, but there really doesn't seem to be that many for sale. Actually I've just found a Japanese website which had one for sale, and it describes this piece as a '10th Anniversary Diving Edition', unfortunately that's all the information I can glean on this one.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Aquagraph Calibre 60 Chronograph

NEW PAGE: TAG Heuer Part Number List Menu

No doubt some of you will be aware of the 'TAG Heuer Enthusiast Gallery Blog', but it has been an immense source of frustration to me since I created it because the search facility is very unreliable and the label search is hard to find (initially) and not very user friendly once you do.

So a while ago I decided I wanted to create an index of TAG Heuer part numbers and link each one to the relevant page on the Gallery blog, thus making something useful out of something which was difficult to use and never generated the interest I'd hoped given the enormous amount of work that went into it. After some thought I decided that rather than list everything in one big alpha-numerical list I would split the codes by 'model' so that all the Carreras / Aquaracers / Autavias, etc were together.

This list is still a long way from being complete, but I have started to add the ladies watches and I'm now in the process of scouring my catalogues for more missing models to add to the list. This will be a long term, ongoing project that will never have an end, and I'm fine with that.

I also decided to put notes next to models which were unusual or noteworthy (for example limited editions) and this makes for quite some interesting viewing.

I will also add some 'pre-formulated' searches at the bottom of the list which will allow you to browse all the model groups, and eventually I may add labels to all the entries so that I can add even more searches such as dial colours.

Please be aware that this list has been and continues to be an enormous amount of work and while I am trying my best to ensure accuracy between model numbers and pictures I wouldn't use this to authenticate models you are looking to buy. I simply don't have enough time to ensure that kind of accuracy and if you do find something you think is potentially 'wrong', plrase leave a comment.

Similarly if you think you have identified a model which is missing, please leave a comment pointing me in the right direction - but as yet I haven't broached the subject of the Connected and as I said I have only added a small number of women's watches, both of these are now in the pipeline and I expect them to be added in the next week or two.

You can access the new page by clicking on the tab at the top of this page... or by clicking this link:

http://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/p/120.html

I hope you all enjoy browsing the list as much as I enjoyed compiling it!

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Aquaracer 'Amami Oshima' Limited Edition

WBD2117.BA0928

While researching the 'One Piece' Aquaracer limited edition box set I wrote about the other day, I somehow managed to stumble onto an article about this new 'Amami Oshima' Aquaracer which is due to be released in the next few days. Truthfully I had never heard of 'Amami Oshima' but it's clear from the dial that this is another Aquaracer destined to be sold in a holiday destination and on cruise ships, and there's nothing wrong with that in my book. Indeed, I was most taken with a 'Hawaii' Aquaracer I saw in Bicester Village a few months back which featured an island and a turtle on the dial and a cool palm tree engraving on the back (unfortunately I can't find a picture of the back of this watch at present).

So, according to Google, 'Amami Oshima' is the largest island in the Amami archipelago between Kyushu and Okinawa, and is one of the Satsunan islands. It covers about 700 square kilometers and has a population of approximately 73,000 people. The island is of volcanic origin and as such is very lush, the climate is described as 'humid and subtropical' and it's main industries are agriculture, fishing and the distillation of Shochu, which is a spirit made from rice. The other main economical activity of the island is tourism - hence this Aquaracer.

The WBD2117 is 41mm in diameter, so it's the smaller of the two current Aquaracer cases and it houses the regular Calibre 5 automatic movement. This model is limited to 500 pieces and will cost 280,500Yen. There is also a ladies version...

WBD1417.BA0741

This is much the same as the men's variant, but smaller at 27mm in diameter and rather than an automatic movement this one carries a quartz module. Again this is limited to 500 pieces and is priced at 170,500Yen.

I guess there's not too much more to add, perhaps I should do a post about the various 'Island' themed watches TAG Heuer have released over the years, as there are quite a few of them now.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer 3000 Series Quartz Watch

SPOTLIGHT ON: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 01 'Manchester United Triple' Limited Edition

CAR2A1AC.FC6416

The last time I was in the TAG Heuer boutique in Sheffield I caught sight of a Manchester United branded Carrera Heuer 01 and noted that the badge looked a bit more tastefully executed than normal; what I didn't realise at the time was that I was looking at the new 99 piece limited edition Carrera made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Manchester United achieving the 'triple crown' in 1999! Truthfully, I was not aware that such a thing existed, which rather makes me wonder... if I, as someone who spends literally hours a day making it my business to know, then how did I not discover this? Is it some kind of secret watch that only certain people get to hear about? Bah! :-/

Anyway, if like me your interest in football ceased when you discovered cars, girls and rock music... the 'Triple Crown' is not unlike what Fernando Alonso is trying to achieve by winning the F1 World Championship, the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500, except with football. So basically it means they won 'The Premier League', 'The F.A.Cup' and 'The UEFA Champions League'; in the process becoming the only English football club ever to do so. Pretty impressive I'm sure you would agree?   

It's a nice looking watch too, which isn't something I've been able to say about all the Manchester United branded watches that TAG Heuer have made over the last few years... that red strap would look pretty rad on my own Heuer 01 I'm sure, and as I noted earlier the logo is finally rendered in a way where it doesn't look completely out of place and generally obnoxious. I'm not having a go at TAG Heuer here, Manchester United's logo is not, I'm afraid, a thing of beauty as far as I'm concerned and I consider it something of an achievement that they've made it look this good here.

The back is nicely done as well, although as ever I fail to see the point of putting display backs on watches if you're going to print all over them, you might just as well give it a normal caseback and knock £50 off the price. As you can see from the image above, the watches are marked 1 of 99 rather than individually numbered, which is the way things are done these days, whether you like it or not. I guess it doesn't really matter, but it does take the fun out of it slightly as some people like to get meaningful or low numbers, but then I guess it does mean that nobody has to have number 86...

The CAR2A1AC is a full sized Heuer 01 at 45mm and as such it won't be to everyone's taste, but I surely love the feel of mine on the wrist and the design of the strap really helps minimise the 'oversizeness' of the watch, it helps enormously that the lugs blend into the strap without a step as it makes the overall feel very cohesive, very similar to a Microtimer actually,which is also a big watch that wears exceptionally well on the wrist due to a very wide strap. 

Oddly, both Goldsmiths and Mappin and Webb are listing the regular 'Red Devil' Carreras under this part number, the Mappin and Webb listing even stating it is limited to 99 pieces - surely some confusion there then? I think they are mixing this model up with the CAR2A1J.FC6416, which has a red devil logo and red baton markers on the dial instead of the full, gold Manchester United logo.

It's a nice watch then, with black gold hands, a 50 hour power reserve and I presume a ceramic bezel (though I cannot seem to be able to confirm this), even so it seems to be quite a chunk dearer than a regular Carrera Heuer 01 at £5395. Also, I can't quite get my head around the concept of celebrating a 'Triple Crown' victory that happened at the tail end of the last century... I mean, I can't imagine TAG Heuer releasing a watch to celebrate Mika Hakkinen's 1998 and 1999 back to back F1 World Championships... or let's imagine they had jumped from McLaren to Williams instead of Red Bull, could you honestly see them celebrating that teams domination of F1 during the early to mid 90s? It seems a bit odd really, and unfortunately highlights the teams rather less than stellar record since the departure of Alex Ferguson. 

All that said, this is definitely my pick of all the Manchester United branded TAG Heuers released thus far, hopefully they will only get better from here.

GALLERY: TAG Heuer Kirium Quartz Chronograph