When I got a promotion, long before I became a watch nerd, I wanted to celebrate so bought myself a lightly used TAG 2000 quartz with the arabic numbers and back and red bezel:
I knew nothing about watches, but knew I had to have a TAG Heuer. Anyway, come the end of the month I needed to set the date but couldn't find any way to pull the crown out. I assumed it was stuck so took a pair of pliers to it but nothing was going to shift it. Exasperated, I just wore it with the wrong date until a work colleague noticed and asked why the date was wrong. He laughed and showed me how to unscrew the crown. It still makes me hang my head in shame.
Anyway, I got the pliers damage sorted at a little watchmakers in Clerkenwell and wore the watch every day for nearly 10 years and it took everything I threw at it. I still regret selling it as it would have been perfect to pass on to my son.