Here is a watch that I have owned for over ten years but have never worn. It was a bit of an unwanted swap and needed some work including new spring bars and gaskets.
I finally got around to fixing it up this weekend and here it is.
It is the Tag Heuer 2000. It dates to about the late Eighties and is just a straight continuation of the Heuer 2000 after Tag took over. it has the round bezel on a jet black dial with the simple round, baguette and diamond batons as per the original design. Tag slowly altered the details of the model in later iterations. I prefer this original version and though Tag Heuer have critics, I find this dial and hands combination quite attractive.
These 2000’s are the classic Tag Heuer’s that helped make the brand a success and. This is the ‘full size’ version, meaning it is 41mm wide, which is quite small by today’s diver’s standards, but many out there will like the size, though the general trend is for much bigger watches in general and particularly diver’s. This one is very slim at only 8mm.
It has seen plenty of wear over its life but is running perfectly well now. The dial, hands, batons and sapphire crystal are perfect.
It has a solid link bracelet with integrated diver’s extension, the bezel is unidirectional it now has just a very small bit of slop in it, not very noticeable though.
Here it is with a similarly sized Seiko diver from the same period, the dimensions are almost identical. I don’t think the Tag Heuer will get any wear but I will be holding on to it notwithstanding.
So any fans of this model out there, or small diver’s as a breed?
Mitch
Last edited by Mitch; 28th May 2018 at 15:30.
Nice job Mitch. This model was the one that first attracted my attention to the brand actually. I'm still a fan of this case size too. My Dad has the two-tone model.
Being way out of my budget at the time I remember buying a fake one from a bloke on the street in Knightsbridge for £15. It was a very decent copy and ran for years.
Nice. I have a 2000 myself, bought it at a jeweller's in Frankfurt in 1996. Blue dial, blue leather strap. It's one of my more frequently worn watches, along with my PRS 29a and my SeaHamster.
I bought my wife one of these a few years ago, possibly slightly later as I was told it was from the 90s, but it looks the same. She wears it every day and has a had a few compliments on it. The lume has aged nicely. I change the battery and spruce it up every now and then, although she manages to keep it without a mark on it. I really like it and it seems to be robust and reliable.
I was eyeing one of these up the other day. £500-700 on watchfinder!
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I had this model in about 92, and wore it until an ex-GF stole it 6 years later. I wasn’t sad to see it go at the time, as Beaverbrooks and TH took eternity to fix a failed bracelet, although now I’m a WIS I bet it was nothing more than a spring bar. IIrc it was £450, about a third of the cost of the Submariner I really wanted. As Nostalgia is making me lust after the things of youth, I have been looking at eBay for another. I like them now more than I did at the time.
Dave
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I still have mine, it’s been faultless for nearly a quarter century and is remarkably well made for the price point. Fit and finish are very good, even picking it up now alongside watches that are 10x the price.
To be honest, I can’t see any rationale to criticise anything about the 2000 series, brand snobbery aside.
Originally Posted by JGJG
I certainly believe the early series 2000's stack up very well. The bracelet is nothing special but has solid links apart from the end links.
The dial is very well done in my opinion and the case has a nice flow to it, I think they were right to carry over the Heuer design initially. The subsequent changes never improved on the initial design, started to become fussy.
Mitch
Nice touch Mitch.
I have a 2000 Series Exclusive which my wife bought me as a 1st wedding anniversary gift, 24 yrs ago last week actually. I had it refurbed a couple of years ago after 20 yrs daily work wear (I'm a builder, so it took some hammer).
She bought it as a replacement for this model below which got nicked after we were burgled literally weeks before we got married. I repurchased this minter a few years back for nostalgia purposes. Neither of them get much wrist time now due to a box full of others sadly....
Found a pic I took of mine, a couple of years ago
I'm rather fond of the 2000 Series, and quite nostalgic about them, as despite never owning one they were popular whilst I was growing-up, hence I have a hankering to pick one up sometime for retro fun. Nicely sized, distinctive looks, and (as has been said already) they played an important mainstay role for TAG Heuer.
I had the 38mm version, which I used as an excellent holiday watch, great size and nice and light/thin for the WR.
Only things I did not really like was the bracelet, not at all comfortable and not a fan of the Mercedes hands to be honest.
Tag Heuer by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
I've a lot of love for these watches. I wore one every day throughout my twenties. My dad still wears his blue dial one.
Surprised they are going for so much. Perhaps if it is one of the early Tag continuation models of the original Heuer design. All the original Heuer issued 2000's are quartz.
In the early 90's Tag changed the bezel shape to a 12 sided one and started altering the batons. It slowly became a bit more of a fussy design, obviously still attractive to the public as they sold really well.
The quality is pretty good on these 2000 Tag Heuer's. The brand started to take the pee a bit with some other later models, plastic bezels not so good fit and finish etc. Taking advantage of the popularity of the 2000 to issue more overpriced watches and that is why they still pick up a bit of stick as a brand, even though some of their latest stuff is actually very good.
Mitch
My wife still occasionally wears my old Tag F1 (full lume dial) that I bought in 1992
It has worn the years surprisingly well needing only a very occasional battery change.
I remember lusting after it for a couple of years and then working one summer doing loads of extra hours at my part time DIY store job to buy it (was still at school at the time).
More of a ladies watch now as it seem tiny!
The same model as I bought abroad on holiday in 1994, a Tag Heuer 2000 series auto.
It started life with a two tone on a leather strap, but that went manky pretty quickly so I bought a two tone Tag bracelet for it
The picture above was taken at the end of the bracelets life, it lasted a good 16 years. I then changed the bezel and crown for stainless steel versions and bought a stainless steel aquaracer bracelet for it at the same time.
It still gets worn
I'm a big fan of the 2000 Professional series and my dad bought the exact same watch as yours in the early 90's whilst on holiday abroad and still wears it most days now. It looked great on his wrist and Tag were very popular at the time so I bought the same though updated version in 1996. The cost was around £600 which was a huge amount of money for me at the time. It still remarkably looks almost new but I'm careful wearing watches anyway and because its relatively small and thin by modern standards it fits under any cuff.
It's a quartz model no. WK1110 "full-size" so 40mm across though that included the crown.
As regards smaller divers generally most of mine are larger except the similarly proportioned Seiko SBCM023 though the Seiko's quite a bit thicker.
Cheers
Neil
Nice rescue!
I've had just about every model of the 2000 series and I would suggest it is probably the definitive "entry level" Swiss watch.
They regularly crop up for sale for £200-£300 and for that money it's a robust Swiss workhorse with a nice rugged style and a badge on the dial that virtually everyone recognises.
I'm seeing less and less of them these days but I must have had a dozen over as many years and can guarantee I'll have another at some point.
My parents bought me a 2000 just like yours Mitch as a graduation present in '93, except mine is the automatic version with an ETA movement I wore it for years, nice watches. I think it's in the loft at my Mum's place, will have to see if I can find it next time I visit. The tritium lume should be nicely mellowed by now.
From all the posts on this thread it seems that the 2000 series is pretty well liked and has good nostalgic memories for many.
It might even convince me to actually wear it occasionally, something I have never done in over 10 years of ownership. My wife would think so, when I was working on it she said "why don't you wear that instead of your stupid Casio's?"
Mitch
I had one of the automatic variants I bought in 91 I think. Full set I gave it to my brother., I might get it back as he has a P.O. now.
.
And mine! Like many here my first “proper” watch 20 years ago. I need to wear it more often now I think.
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Nice to see TAG getting some positive comments here for a change..
the 2000 is where many of my generation started to get into mechanical & say prestige watches...like many was a McLaren & Senna fan & why I wanted one.
Mine was the equivalent of engagement ring back in 1996/7. White face & kindly bought in from Abu Dhabi by a friendly Air Hostess saving a chunk of money on UK RRP at the time. I had to collect it from her house & she opened the door in her dressing gown & led me up to her bedroom for the exchange of goods... ahem
[downtown]
sadly....
this wasn't to be another Robin Asquith style Confessions of a watch collector episode & i merely left with the timepiece! Hey ho...
So... used to love wearing this on workdays - has same movement as my Steinhart i have now which cost less than the TAG did back then! Alternating it with my later (sadly gone) Bond Seamaster on weekends.
Duval service was crap of course & couldn't fix the jingle jangle shoulders properly & just bent them despite going back twice - never been right since..
i bought a genuine brown leather strap for it which i think really suited it as much as the bracelet but is now a bit tatty too.
The satin finish is a pain of course at getting scratches that can't be polished out
It fits much better than other larger pieces under cuff shirts & is still a quality watch for the money- & shows how TH have lost their way a bit these days..
Would like to wear it again but the crown/tube has broken & i can't wind it anymore & of course isn't waterproof. Because its value so low it's that dilemma now of how much it's worth spending on it.
Hopefully one of our kind members here is going to fix it for me sometime. Trouble is saving to replace the Seamaster means it's unlikely to be for some time.
Last edited by lordloz; 30th May 2018 at 21:20.
That is nice, very clean design. It must have been NOS back in 1996/7 as it is the original Heuer design and Tag had moved the 2000 to a 12 sided case and had changed the batons much earlier than this.
You are right about the end links they can have gaps and it would not be easy to stretch them to a good fit. Also you are right about the finish, not so easy to polish out marks, too easy to get a more shiny finish than original.
Mitch
Thanks Mitch - it has worn well - (the lume faded nicely but still looks good ) to being NOS -
I think it was current at the time as sure was in current catalogues for year. may try and find them - Was definitely the model i wanted though so was delighted with it & the air hostess..
...not so delighted with Duval customer service it was under warranty went sent back & they were useless.
new shoulders & bars & still no good.
Just remembered box outer disintegrated too!
by the way-
son has lost his box stuff with moving as i got him a blue quartz 2000 in 2007
he has lost spare links & needs some if anyone knows non TAG sources as they will want silly cash for them)
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Former pres Obama’s 1500
(Couldn’t post the pic using Tapatalk so here’s a link to a WUS post its pics)
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f25/bar...er-187769.html
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You also need to get that bezel lined up properly!
And mine! Like many here my first “proper” watch 20 years ago. I need to wear it more often now I think.
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The exact same as mine, an auto 2000 with the earlier bezel and dial - although mine was two tone originally and has a later bezel fitted now! I bought mine in 1994 on the leather strap which looked a lot nicer than the bracelet when it was new.
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