Given the choice, I'd love to buy watches in person all the time, but considering I mostly buy weird stuff, vintage/neo-vintage, or smaller brands with limited retail distribution, buying online is my only option.

As much as I'd love a perfect, original, mint vintage watch, I've never actually bought one for fear of actually wearing it. The way I see it, if the watch made it through decades with absolutely no wear, I don't want to be the guy to change that. I'd much rather have a slightly worn watch of the same type that I can add a bit more wear to guilt free.

That being said, I'm not a fan of heavily patinaed dials and cases. While they can very attractive, since they're all unique, it's hard to get excited about them unless I have the opportunity to buy that specific watch at that specific moment. I'd rather one that's worn, but otherwise cosmetically close to how it left the factory than the 'piece unique' that is a patinaed dial.

I'd also much prefer a scratched, but unpolished, case than a heavily polished one. I'm also not opposed to refinishing a case to bring it back to original condition and finish (only start scratching it up again, of course), but since that's a large monetary and time investment, I haven't done that either.

Very nice. I'm a bit fan of that case design, though the -8100 you picked up is a little smaller in diameter than my -8041. The case is really fantastic in profile, with the curve of the case side coming to a point right in line with the crown and the bezel chamfered on the top and bottom side to form another sharp point. It's really quite lovely, though it sits high on your wrist.

My vote is GQ, but I'm biased. This thing is shockingly accurate, despite being 46 years and unserviced - a few seconds a month in the 6 months I've owned it. It also looks pretty good on a strap too, which isn't the case with the hooded lugs on that KQ. 

I went with Option B because the watches on my current wish list are generally between $1500 and $3000, and I could get two or three of them with $5000 to spend. 

Even if I was starting my collection over, I could be very happy with a two or three watch collection with a $5000 budget. 

To add to this, the DC80/82 (no date/date), which have an external rotating bezel and ice hardened case compared to the fixed bezel, surface hardened case of the DC70/72.

I think it's insane that TAG doesn't sell reproductions of the classic Carrera chronos in the original style and (near) original size as regular production models. It seems like they release an LE of the originals every few years that sell out in a minute, but good luck trying to get one of them. 

Compare this to Zenith who have faithfully repro'd various El Primeros to rave reviews, along with mid priced brands like Hamilton who have done the same, at least within the limitations of the movements they have available. Same with Breitling. I get that TAG probably wants to make their own future rather than rely on the past, but if you want to get the brand back on the 'hot' list with enthusiasts, a readily available Carrera chrono is a great way to do it.