Planning for the worst

I’ve got an Aquaracer – looks like this:



Pretty sure it’s a WAF2011.BA0818? The only info on it which looks like a model number is this:



I’m trying to make certain I’m right about what it is so that I can make sure it’s properly insured. I’m not a collector, so IHNI how common it is to find these for sale, nor what I’d have to pay if I needed to replace it. And were it to be lost, direct replacement would probably be my only option, as there’s no current model which has the same features (and desirable lack of features) which this one has. In fact, I remember when I bought it that it was hard (to me it was surprisingly hard) to find any watch which had the combination of features I wanted.

I’m waffling on about this (sorry) in case anyone wants to read on, as I’d be interested in any suggestions for alternatives to Tag Heuer (as long as such a request doesn’t cause people to break out the pitchforks and flaming torches). My requirements in descending order of importance are –

1. Day & Date (sorry, McBeardy – for me that is 100% non-negotiable 😉)
2. Rotating bezel with a linear scale, not tachymetric
3. H/M/S hands only – no small sub-dials
4. Large (40mm+)
5. Silver face
6. Automatic mechanical

Very specific requirements, and not common to see them on a single watch. In fact, without giving up at least two of your requirements you're going to struggle I think. It's entirely possible that the WAF2011 is the only one that ticks all the boxes.

WAF2011 is correct, and it's possible it was polished out of the caseback.

That particular model is uncommon - precisely because it's a peculiar set of features. There's one available on Chrono24 from H&T for £945 right now, however.

I agree with @flawless a big list of requirements that not many watches will have.

Possible easier to choose without the bezel requirement & Tag Heuer offer a Carrera in that space.

https://www.tagheuer.com/gb/en/time...41-mm-calibre-5-automatic/WBN2011.FC6484.html

Or the older CAF2011 if you wanted a chronograph

Other than that of the top of my head Seiko will do a Seiko 5 that meets those requirements.

https://www.seikoboutique.co.uk/product-category/mens/seiko-5-sports/filters/dial-colour/silver/

Or https://www.seikowatches.com/uk-en/products/5sports/srpe71

Maybe Hamilton but unsure with a bezel

Thanks.

I guess one way of looking at the requirements is they are specific, or the other way is they're all pretty straightforward.

I just want a watch which tells the time. I don't want a stopwatch. I don't want to know what the time is in other time zones.

I find day & date very useful.

As I don't time events, or go diving, I don't need to do any tachymetric calculations, but I find a pointer to remind me when I parked the car useful.

So apart from the rest - personal aesthetic preferences, and an irrational, emotional attachment to a mechanical movement, it's really all practicalities.

For the avoidance of doubt, I'm absolutely not decrying different aesthetic preferences other people might have. I suspect that most watches with complications are not bought by people who need a stop-watch/elapsed timer/lap timer/phases-of-the-moon indicator - they buy them because they like the look, they admire the intricacy/ingenuity etc, which is all absolutely fine. I admire the intricacy and the skills of the designers and makers, but I just don't want to own one. For me a watch is a machine for telling the time. Yes I want it to look good, and be well made, but apart from the aberration where logically I should have a quartz watch, I take a sort of engineering stance that a machine should be as simple as possible. And yes, I'm aware that I don't need a watch costing hundreds or thousands of pounds just to tell the time.

And thanks to both for other make suggestions. Interestingly, I've just been looking to see if I could find any records from when I bought it (somewhere I do have the box and papers, but can't get at them right now), and I found notes of other ones I was looking at at the time - there was the Oris BC3 Divers and the Fortis B42 Marinemaster

Thanks.

So it's not been an investment, then - that's less than it cost 16 years ago.


Are there any other marketplaces/sellers I could look at, to set up searches to build a "reference" of prices for insurance replacement values?


And when I do, how do I stop myself looking for a Fortis IQ watch, as I've always fancied one of them...



😁

Damasko would be an option also. But would be more cream rather than silver

Cream (or white) would be fine.