ON THE WRIST: Three Links Go Head to Head to Head!

WJF211C.BA0570       WJF2116.BA0570       CJF7110.BA0587

TAG Heuer Boutique / Bicester Village, 13th December 2018

The Link range is one that's never really spoken to me... in truth I've always preferred the
(original) S/ELs, and it's quite remarkable how TAG turned one of their most in your face designs into one of their most mainstream and mundane. In the past I've always been underwhelmed by every Link I've seen, even the new ones leave me pretty cold, but on the wrist one of these three finally caught my attention.

First on the wrist was the brown dial WJF211C, this measures 41mm in diameter and while it's nice to see a Link without a black face (because an awful lot of them have) for me the brown doesn't work quite as well as on the Grand Carrera chrono I tried on a few months ago. Somehow the brown made the Grand Carrrera look classy and different, but here it kind of makes the Link look even more meh than it already was. To be honest I think the brown on the chrono was darker and in some lights looked black, whereas this is definitely more, well... brown.

I must admit I'm not exactly crazy about the small seconds at the 6 position either, but it's cool how they've integrated the date window into the subdial and kept the symmetry going. I'd prefer it if the subdial was a little more subtle (ie- it didn't have that whacking great silver frame around it, but I guess it's churlish to moan about a watch being dull and then criticising it for being 'not subtle' enough!

The watch has a display back (the other two have solid casebacks) although to be honest you can't see an awful lot back there, especially as it seems to have a rather intrusive rotor. I think it might have been better to go with the solid caseback in this instance as it really isn't worth the extra cost it must have put onto the RRP.

Next on the wrist was the WJF2116 which is also 41mm in diameter, but because of the increased width of the bezel (to accommodate the GMT numerals) in the cabinet next to the other watches you would swear it was 39mm. On the wrist it looks fine, but against the other pieces on display it appears significantly smaller so maybe if you have a small wrist and you think 41mm is a little large then this may well be the Link you are looking for.

I like the dial, the horiziontal striping looks great and the date window is nice and unobtrusive (not to mention colour matched to the dial) and the red highlights on the second and GMT hands adds a nice touch of pizazz to an otherwise fairly standard black and silver watch. Like the Calibre 6 above, the GMT isn't overly blessed with lume, indeed while the Calibre 6 does have some small pips around the dial as well as on the hands, here it's only the hands that get the glow in the dark treatment.

I get that this isn't a dive watch, but most watch enthusiasts like at least a bit of lume and the hands only route is never really satisfactory because in the dark you need at least some kind of reference, even if it's only one pip at the 12 position. But this is a small gripe, the main thing I didn't like about this one was that the bezel is so highly polished (as on many Links) which makes the numerals harder to read than is ideal. Also I'm not a fan of highly polished bezels because I just know it's going to scratch and I will forever be hiding it under my sleeve so as to preserve it's lushness for as long as possible.

Overall though, it's not a bad looking watch. I'm not one for travelling so a GMT function is pretty useless to me - I'm curious, though, to know why this one isn't branded as a 'Twin Time' like the Carrera GMT models?

I've long suspected that the most likely Link to catch my attention would be a Calibre S, and so I was disappointed when I tried on the white dial version a few months ago and found it rather unexciting. This time however, was completely different. The plain black dial is the perfect backdrop for the polished steel indices and makes this whole dial come alive beautifully.

Needless to say this was my favourite of the three pieces by some considerable margin and the 43mm diameter was a big plus point too. This one has a lot more wrist presence than the other two and really belies that 'boring' Link preconception. I really liked this a lot, I already have the Calibre S in my yellow dial Aquaracer and it never gets old watching the hands swirl around the dial on command, and the 1/10th and 1/100th of a second subdials are brilliantly thought out (even showing the date when not in use).

Again there's not a lot of lume on this one, just the hands, but to be honest the dial looks so rich and classy I'm prepared to overlook that small oversight on this ocassion.

All these three watches seemed to be on the same bracelet, but in actual fact the Calibre S is a BA0587 whereas the other two are on a BA0570. The bracelet itself is very nicely made and seemed very comfortable (admittedly I wasn't wearing it for long, but Links are renowned for their comfortable design), my only complaint really is the clasp. On these bracelets you have a fold over piece which you have to get your nail under. I don't mind that particularly, but once you've pulled that aside there's no obvious place to take hold, you just have to grab the edges of the bracelet and pull, which is okay I suppose, but it's definitely a minus point. However, it is possible to get this watch on on a BA0592 bracelet which has a two button clasp... which would be nice

Overall, all three watches would be ideal for anyone looking for a smart watch to wear with pretty much anything. The brown dial is a little less adaptable I suppose, and that one for me is a distant third here. While I like the GMT design, the bezel definitely makes it appear a little small, even if it's not so noticeable on the wrist. But for me there's one clear winner here and is currently way out in front when it comes to having the potential to join my collection at some point.

PRICES:

Currently these three watches are available in the Bicester Village outlet at the following discounted prices...

WJF211C.BA0570 Calibre 6 Brown Dial - £1890 (RRP: £2700)

WJF2116.BA0570 Black Dial GMT - £1890 (RRP: £2700)

CJF7110.BA0587 Black Dial Calibre S - £2085 (RRP: £3200)