TAG HEUER ENTHUSIAST: FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The 2018 Link Calibre 17 Chronograph

Friday, 19 January 2018

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The 2018 Link Calibre 17 Chronograph

CBC2110.BA0603 CBC2112.BA0603

A few weeks ago I tried on the three hand Link for the first time and while it was a nice enough watch, it didn't really excite me. The dial seems a little bit empty and I'm not used to wearing watches without bezels so it didn't quite gel with me. Now, from their SIHH adjacent boat, TAG have launched this new chronograph version and I must admit it definitely appeals to me more than the basic version.

One of the things that's getting people excited is the use of the Calibre 17 movement which gives a dial configuration of 3-6-9, rather than the more usual 6-9-12 configuration you get with the Calibre 16 movement. I can't say this is quite that exciting to me because a) I already have a 3-6-9 dial watch in the Aquagraph, and b) I quite like the 6-9-12 dials, although I can understand that the 3-6-9 gives more symmetry and puts the logo at the top of the watch rather than the 3 position, which can sometimes look a little clumsy especially as there's usually a date fighting for the same real estate.

There doesn't seem to be much point talking about the case and bracelet as I've already covered this and unusually the chronograph model comes in the same 41mm size as the three hander which means everything should be identical to the Calibre 5 model in that regard. Having said that, there's no mention regarding the thickness of the case, and it would be unusual for a chronograph to fit into the same case as a non-chronograph (and TAG's website doesn't give detailed case information unfortunately).

I think the only reservation I have about the new dial is the text printed across the 6 O'clock sub dial. It doesn't help that that sub-dial is the smallest of the three and it definitely looks a little cramped, I get that the owner would likely want Calibre 17 on the dial as it marks the watch out as something a little special but the 'Automatic' line seems a little unnecessary, especially when space is at a premium.

The other thing worthy of mention is the date window, for some reason they've gone for white on black on the black dial model but black on white on the blue dial. I might not have noticed if they hadn't been presented together, but once you notice the white background on the blue model it looks kind of wrong, or perhaps 'cheap' (in comparison). However, on their official website, the pictures show a white background on the black dial watch as well, so it's unclear as to which the watch will actually come with.

Prices for the new chronograph are £3900, which is a £1600 premium over the Calibre 5 model. Also, TAG have launched diamond bezel and diamond bezel / bracelet versions of the 41mm Calibre 5 three hand model. It's not clear whether these are aimed at women or men, but since Cara Delavigne's TAG Heuer was of a similar size I'm guessing they are treating them as unisex. The diamond bezel version costs £5,100 while the bezel/bracelet version costs considerably more at £16,700.