The Classiest Tag Heuer Ever!

OK OK OK .. I know this might be a controversial opinion but I am yet to come across a Tag Heuer watch that is as classy, sporty, dressy, and timeless as the Tag Heuer Grand Carrera Calibre 6. Readers beware! this watch is not in production anymore by Tag Heuer. So this is as much a public service announcement as much as it is a plea to Tag Heuer to bring this timeless classic back! 

Let me get the specifications out of the way before I shower this watch with praise and maybe set it up for some either favourable or harsh comments from my fellow watch lovers! 

Reference Number: WAV511C

Water Resistance Depth: 10Bar

Movement: Calibre 6 COSC

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Lug Width: 20mm

Case Thickness: 12mm

Dial Window Material Type: Sapphire Crystal

Dial Diameter: 40mm

Lug to Lug: 47mm

Watch Strap Type: Stainless Steel Bracelet

Dial Colour: Dark Brown

Yes Yes this will be a biased take on the watch! This was the first "serious Swiss watch" (whatever the definition of that is these days) that I purchased after moving back to Australia and developing my watch hobby. To that effect, Vintage Watch Co made this experience an absolute breeze (https://vintagewatchco.com.au/). So to say that my take on this watch is going to be slightly biased is a gross understatement. I will do my best to be objective.

Movement: 

As everyone already knows the movement is the heart of any watch. And the heart that beats in this watch is the extremely robust Calibre 6. Based on an ETA 2895-2, housing 27 jewels, COSC certified and beating at 28,800 beats per hour. It also features Côtes de Genève decorating on the rotor which is mesmerising, to say the least. Well at least for me! The power reserve is approximately 40 hours, which might seem substandard as compared to other watch releases from the past 5 years, but the whole package more than makes up for it! The movement does have hacking and hand-winding features. Unscrew the crown and it pops out and that is the hand-winding position. One more position out and that will help you quick set the date and pull it out to the last position and you can get the hours and minutes (and the seconds dial waits till you are done and patiently waits and doesn't move!)

Grade: A (would be a plus if power reserve was higher)

Case: 

The majority of the case is brushed with some edges and the rim of the bezel is polished, which is home to a sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective coating. The crown guards are pronounced and obvious which then protects a Tag Heuer branded crown, which looks like a tyre. Do not be worried about the texture of the crown, cause it is THIS texture that helps you oh so easily turn screw and unscrew the crown. The tactile feel is just fantastic! The lugs are slightly curved, but they do not add significantly to the profile of the watch due to "all wrist size" friendly dimensions. And that is just half the story. Turn this watch over and you will see a seethrough case back which gives you a peak into the heart of the watch (as mentioned before). There are two separate sapphire windows with a case back which is secured using 6 screws. 

Grade: A+

Bracelet:

The watch that I picked up came with a steel bracelet. The majority of it is polished with alternative centre links being polished (yes yes it's a scratch magnet). The bracelet has plenty of half-links for anyone to get a great fit. If you cannot get a great fit you need a new wrist, not a new bracelet (yes yes too harsh I know). The bracelet has a push-button folding clasp, brushed with the Tag Heuer embossed. The bracelet does taper. 20mm to 17mm at the clasp. That gives it that classy touch. 

Grade: A

Dial: 

The dial is brown with a Circular Guilloche. But that is not even the most mesmerising part of the dial. It is the way that the seconds are displayed that really drew me to this watch. The GT engine-inspired, rotating system makes reading the seconds hand at a glance a breeze. You will find the date window at the 3 o'clock position. That is the only minor flaw of this model, in my eyes. They should have moved the Tag Heuer logo down a few millimetres and put the date window at the 12 o-clock position. The symmetry of the dial then would have been simply perfect. There is a bit of text on the dial, but it does not feel over the top. Grand Carrera Calibre 6 are written in 3 different fonts and sizes, followed by an automatic chronometer and is officially certified below the seconds display. It is just enough without being over the top (unlike the thesis that Rolex write on their submariner dials!). If you want to get a watch for the lume, this is not the one for you. It is poor on the best of days. It is a minimalist design for all occasions for sure!  

Grade: B+

Overall grade: A minus (the date position and the lume)

That is my grade. Does that matter? Absolutely NO! My wife is NOT a fan of this watch. It is barely passable for her! Does anyone else find that relatable? 

A Homage Watch to fall in love with: Pagani Design PD-1667

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY PAGANI! 

The word "design" in the name Pagani Design is a bit of a misnomer. Established in 2012, Pagani Design is located in Guangzhou off the coast of China facing the South China Sea. Their value proposition stems from photocopying all of the marketing material of Rolex, Tag Heuer, and Omega among other luxury brands, and offering their customers spec monsters at a fraction of the price. 

The Pagani Design PD-1667 is a homage to the No Time to Die Omega Diver 300M- Co-Axial Master Chronometer 42 MM Ref Number 210.90.42.20.01.001. And the similarities are fairly obvious. A little peak at the images placed below should be a giveaway. The recommended retail price of Omega in Australia is roughly $AU14,000 on the mesh bracelet. I feel this is an important point that should be noted, given that almost all other seamasters can be purchased for <$AU8000

The watch arrived Friday (12th February) and I have worn it for 2 days non-stop (did not even take it off before I went to sleep). But before I breakdown my experience thus far, let's have a look at the specifications of the PD-1667:

Model Number: PD1667

Water Resistance Depth: 10Bar

Clasp Type: Folding Clasp with Safety

Movement: Japan Seiko NH35A

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Feature: Shock Resistant, Auto Date, Complete Calendar, Water Resistant, Swim, Luminous Hands

Lug Width: 20mm

Case Thickness: 14mm

Dial Window Material Type: Sapphire Crystal

Dial Diameter: 42mm

Lug to Lug: 49mm

Watch Strap Type: Fitted Rubber Strap

Bezel Material: Ceramic plus liquid metal

Luminous Material: Super-LumiNova

Watch Case: 316L stainless steel

The movement is the heart of all watches. The PD-1667 is powered by the Japan Seiko NH35A movement. It's one of the world's most popular movements which are used by multiple microbrands. It is basically the unbranded version of the Seiko caliber 4R35 movement and boasts a power reserve of approximately 40 hours. Although it is rated at -20 to +40s per day, mine is running at a more than acceptable -10s/day. I have set it to +3 minutes and I am all set for the next 20 days! For all my felow engineering/watch nerds, you can find more information about this movement here.

Housed in a full 316L stainless steel construction with sapphire glass with a screw-down crown (giving it a rating of 100m of water resistance), transparent case back, the price tag of ~$170 is really stretched thin across all of these features that are packed into this monster of a watch. There is a tad bit of joy associated with just holding your watch and rotating it in your hands and having a look at all parts of the movement. And at this price point, it is a great feature of the watch.

The minute and the hour hand follow the skeleton design of the Omega with a lollipop seconds hand. The dial is black but it has a rough texture to it. All the text on the dial is printed on including the Pagani Design logo, Automatic, the water resistance rating, and the fact that its heart is a Japanese movement (Japan Movt at the 6'o clock marker). It has the single batons at 6 and 9 o'clock positions with a double baton for the 12'o clock marker. All of this is topped off by the very classy, elegant, and simple date window. This date window starts transitioning into the next day at around 10:30pm and over a period of 90 minutes ticks over to the next day. The polished finishing of the case and the sides of the bezel make this watch a real head-turner.

(Screenshot from YouTube Video)

I bought the PD-1667 on a fitted rubber strap. It looks brilliant and it just feels amazing on the wrist. Very snug and comfortable fit and even when I am out and about in 35 degrees Celcius with 75% humidity (I live in Brisbane) and was sweating my ba*** off. But it is fairly difficult to size the strap. The strap into the clasp is a very (very) tight fit and I hope that you can size your write and use the correct hole with your first go! Needless to say, I didn't, and took me more than 5 minutes to resize it. The Pagani Design printed logo on the clasp is a nice and classy touch.

The bezel is one of the prettiest features of the watch. It is a 90 clicks unidirectional bezel with a ceramic insert painted with a brownish fauxtina. The sounds of the clicks are very crisp and I plan to use it constantly when I time by timeboxed activities at work or at home every day. On closer inspection, the bezel appears to be very clean with a quality finish, including the brushed finish on the metallic surfaces. However, there is "one marker" worth of play in the bezel. This play, however, enables me to perfectly align the bezel with the minute markers. So silver lining I guess.

The lume is fairly impressive. The minute markers and the hands stay lit up for close to 15 minutes after I come back home from my daily walks. That is fairly impressive as watches that are an order of magnitude dearer does not have lume that lasts this long.

1-year warranty means nothing. If the watch took 6 weeks to get here, I cannot imagine going through the pain of exercising my rights that a warranty affords me given the current climate. If anything does go wrong, you are better off just getting a new NH35A movement into the watch or getting yourself new spring bars and fitting it in yourself or at your local watch repair store (Mr. Mint for my fellow Aussies).

There is one thing that would highly recommend everyone to avoid. If you got this beauty of a watch with the fitted rubber strap, the pillows in a low-cost watch box (like the one I have) is not the ideal place to store your Pagani Seamaster. I tried to force the issue and the photo below depicts the fruits of my misguided labor. I do have a toolkit and 25 minutes later, I was able to put the spring bars back into place and resuscitate my purchase.

The packaging is decent (placed below). It included an instruction manual, a warranty card (throw it away! It is of no use), a rectangular "pillow" and a wiping cloth. I was nervous when I initially saw the size of the packaging. I do not trust any handlers to treat packages with any level of care (especially when they have a fragile sticker on them). A single layer of bubble wrap in the box was all that was protecting the watch from death. I guess mine has survived (for now) and I couldn't be happier.

This one set me back $AU172 including multiple coupons from Aliexpress and import taxes. But it was very much one of those buy and forget sort of deals. Do not expect overnight or even a 72-hour delivery window. I ordered this on 1st January 2021 and it arrived on the 12th of February. I wanted to not think about it, but that was nearly impossible. I am a watch nerd and I checked tracking almost every day hoping for progress. But if you can put up with the long delivery times, it is well worth the wait. 

Overall grade: A-

Would I recommend it to a friend? In a heartbeat! I already have and 2 of them are about to purchase a couple of them! Where is my commission, Pagani?