: I have come across a Tag Heuer watch and is wondering if anyone
: knows if it is real. The code on the back cover is WG5114-P0. It
: is a stainless steel Link Calibre 36. The three chronograph
: dials on the watch are 24 hour Format, Month and Day. Any help
: would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Jody.

I'm by no means an expert on the post-merger watches, other than knowing a bit about the Classics range. But I figure the same approach to validating a vintage Heuer should work for a TAG-Heuer too.

I can't be as definitive as I might be on a vintage watch but this throws up a number of red flags to me. I had a look through my TH catalogues but I don't have anything going back as far as this. A poke round the net turned up some info though:

- W in a TAG-Heuer watch code indicates a watch only. Chronographs start with a C. I'm not 100% sure if this was always the case, but it is nowadays as far as I can tell.

- The WG5114 code is for a Sport Elegance watch (aka S/el) - this is what the Link series was called from 1987 before it was named Link in 1999, so doesn't have "Link" wording on the dial. It is a watch only (no chrono functions) with a blue face - doing an item and description search worldwide on eBay will turn one up at the moment and that one looks like all the other examples turned up by Google.

- The Calibre 36 movement is a high quality genuine chronograph. In its Link application (do the same eBay search but for CT511B), it has registers for perpetual seconds, 30 minute and 12 hour capacities. It would make no sense whatsoever not to use it for a proper chrono - having non-functional chrono dials or dials for month and day is quite common on fake watches, I'm afraid. The Cal 36 movement adds considerably to the value of the watch, and thus makes it desirable to add to the dial if the watch is not genuine.

- The Link watches are fairly commonly faked. One way of telling is that the links are often a solid piece in the fake, unlike the real bracelets, which have two separate parts - giving a lot of articulation, a comfortable watch and the series its name.

Photos always help, but without them, I'd have to conclude that the watch is an attempted replica of a Link CT511B mated with an earlier caseback (possibly also not genuine). I hope you haven't sunk any money into it yet. The eBay search for CT511B should give you an idea of what you'd need to pay for a Link Cal 36 - it's by no means a cheap watch and anything that seems too good to be true probably isn't true after all.

Hope this was of some help!