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      01-21-2015, 10:02 PM   #6
tony20009
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Drives: BMW 335i - Coupe
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I think the uncomplicated Tag with the blue numbers is going to be your most versatile option. It's the one I'd pick from the bunch you noted. Not that any of the ones you noted are going to be bad choices. Each of them is a nice watch.

I'll tell you what I tell everyone who asks me a "which one should I get" question:
Try them all on first and narrow the list based on what feels most comfortable on your wrist. If, after that, you really don't have a preference among the ones you identified, buy the least expensive one.
That's the advice I give when I know there's not a substantive difference in quality, styling, construction or usability among the watches they say they are considering. And that's very much the case with the watches you've pictured.

Some folks may have differing views re: the brand prestige between Tag and Breitling. That's fine, but as watches, no matter their brand prestige, the only real difference between them is that the Breitlings you showed can be expected to yield chronometer grade timekeeping. The Tags may yield that same level of timekeeping, but as they aren't marked as "chronometers," Tag isn't "on the hook" for guaranteeing that they do. Mind you, chronometer performance is only promised so long as the watch is in a tip top state of repair/maintenance.

(As goes chronometer grade timekeeping, I can almost certainly assure you that your life will not be positively or negatively affected by the few seconds per day's worth of difference between a chronometer grade movement's accuracy and that of a non-chronometer grade one. If it will be adversely affected by that difference, I strongly advise you to buy a quartz watch instead of a mechanical one because no matter how good/accurate a mechanical movement is, you'll have to correct the time it displays at least once a month, more often depending on how "anal" you are about the watch showing the correct time.)

About the only thing I'd say to you re: the specific watches you identified is that you may want to look into the cost differential for having the GMT and chronograph watches serviced. Generally, the fees for maintenance are a good deal higher for complicated watches. They're not called "complications" for no reason. <wink> Also, whereas one can generally get by extending the recommended service intervals on an uncomplicated watch (time-only or time+date) for quite a few years beyond the typical three to five makers advise, doing that with a complicated watch is an act one undertakes at one's/the watch's peril.

What I find is that folks who really just want a nice watch that they don't have to put much thought (or money) into beyond wearing it day in and day out are best served by buying a nice, uncomplicated watch such as several of the ones you identified above. (One need not even spend Tag or Breitling money to get a nice watch, but if one of those is what you want, fine.) I generally suggest avoiding dive watches as one's "only watch" for they really aren't dress watches. That said, nobody is going to chide you for wearing a dive watch with a suit or dinner jacket; it's your own sartorial sensibilities that matter in that situation, and if you're okay with wearing a sport watch in a dressy situation, then fine.

You are keen on a Tag, and have been for a while, so I think that's what you should buy. You won't be content, or certain that a Tag isn't what you really want, until you buy one and wear it and decide first hand. You may as well buy it now for the price of new ones won't go down as years go by, and until you do buy one, you'll want one.

I sense that one final bit of info may be useful to you and it's this: there's not much of a correlation between price and quality when it comes to watches. Yes, below a certain price -- ~$500 -- watchmakers take various shortcuts in order to hit an MSRP that's in line with what their target customers will pay, and some of those shortcuts can result in a watch being a notably lower quality piece, while others have no material impact on the watch's performance and durabilty. Similarly above a certain price -- ~$6K -- the quality isn't going to get better, it's just that the extent of decorative features the watchmaker can include in the piece will be greater.

Between those two endpoints, the quality is more or less pretty consistent across brands, and it's not going to make too much difference what one chooses or spends unless one has some very specific reasons for needing this or that feature/functionality. The decoration of the movements will vary with price. Minor case and bracelet attributes will vary too. Some watches will be chronometer grade; some won't. Some will have folded end links; some will have solid end links. Yes, those are differences, but practically speaking, for most folks they don't make a difference in how the watch performs.

All the best.

PS
Have a look here -- http://www.calibre11.com/tag-heuer-buying-guide/ - the whole Calibre 11 site for everything you could want to know about Tag watches.
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Cheers,
Tony

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