ON THE WRIST: Aquaracer Calibre S Chronograph

CAF7013.FT8011

TAG Outlet / Bicester Village 13th March 2017

I've been hoping for some time that this particular model would appear in the TAG Outlet, and finally one has appeared! Offered at a very decent £980, this is definitely the best looking of the yellow faced Aquaracers in my opinion. It's hard to see on the photo above, but if you stare hard enough you can just about make out that there is a darker yellow circle on the middle of the dial, I'm not sure I like it, and kind of wish the whole dial was a nice uniform yellow.

Speaking of yellow, there's no getting away from the fact that this is a yellow watch, and not everyone's cup of tea. For me, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with yellow dials. I like colour on watches, but generally 'details' rather than blocks of colour. Yellow is a great detail colour (the chrono hand on my Aquagraph for instance), but on a whole dial it can be a bit much. I like it, but at the same time it doesn't really say 'luxury' somehow.

The black rubber strap is very nice and looks much better on this watch than the bracelet. The black obviously compliments the yellow and matches with the black ring around the edge of the dial. The black detailing around the hour markers is a nice touch and the lume on this watch looked excellent even in the shop. 

After my last run in with a Calibre S (on the Fernando Alonso model I tried on a few weeks ago) I was relieved to find this one worked perfectly. You push the crown in to set the hands to 12 O'Clock, and then you operate the chronograph as you would expect (press the top pusher to start and stop, bottom pusher to reset). When you stop the chronograph the sub dials indicate the tenths and hundredths of a second. I expected these to snap into place, but in actual fact they move at a rather leisurely pace.

While the Calibre S function is quite cool, I have to say I didn't get the same feeling of 'luxury' I get when I wake up my Formula One Kirium and the hands return to the correct time, but at least it worked properly this time. The watch also has a perpetual calendar function, which is apparently a bit of a faff to set up (this uses the sub dials to read the two figures of the date) but once set should provide a lifetime of accurate date reading (as long as the battery doesn't run out I presume?).

I must say the case is very nice, quite substantial with a lovely brushed finish. The black ring around the inner edge of the bezel really works with the yellow dial, and the black sub-dials are actually applied rather than being printed on as you might have thought from the picture.

So overall, I was quite impressed and the price is excellent (Watchfinder are selling a seven year old Calibre S Aquagraph for £995 today, albeit not this exact model), I've been waiting a while to see this as well so you have to wonder why I didn't get my wallet out...

Well, I'm still in two minds about that yellow dial to be honest, plus the watch wasn't 100% perfect, there was a small mark on the brushed bezel and another couple of fine scratches on the polished sides of the case. Nothing terrible admittedly, and when you consider the saving on offer certainly not a deal breaker.

I did seriously consider adding it to my collection, but in the end there were a few things holding me back. It didn't quite give me that 'got-to-have-it' feeling, the yellow dial (or rather the darker centre section) is something I'm still not entirely sure about and the other thing was (unfortunately) my previous experience with the Calibre S. Hmm...

Thinking about it, when you look at the Calibre S watches in the outlet (and there were quite a lot, including a nice looking Carrera), you have to wonder how old these watches are. For sure the Fernando Alonso special edition on sale is nigh on ten years old and essentially (warranty or not) this is a quartz watch. True there are some good discounts on offer, but still, it makes you think...