FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Link Lady Rose Gold 'Sundial' Dial Quartz Watch

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If ever there was a product line that defines flying totally under the radar, then the latest incarnation of the TAG Heuer Link is surely it. So 'discreet' is the range in fact that for quite a while now I've been expecting it to be discontinued / revamped, but a while back we had a brown/grey dial (the TAG Heuer website describes it as on-trend 'taupe') and now we have this new version with a kind of 'sundial' dial.

Now clearly I am not the target audience so everything I say about it should be tempered by my wife's immediate reaction which was simply 'Wow, I like that!' Excellent, just as well it only has twelve diamonds on it then. Oh, but wait....

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...of course, there is also a blingier version with a forty-eight diamond bezel!

I must admit I share my wife's enthusiasm for this one, the unusual dial is a real attention grabber,  I honestly can't think of another TAG Heuer that has a dial anything like this and I applaud the design team for giving us something new and different, perhaps you might even say a little bit... avant garde. 

Both of these are 32mm in diameter and powered by a quartz movement. The standard version has twelve diamonds (weighing 0.16 carat) and costs £2150, while the diamond bezel version features a total of 60 diamonds (weighing 0.84 carat in all) and will set you back a not inconsiderable £3795.

Is that bezel £1635 better? I think perhaps it is...

You certainly pay a premium for a Link over say, an Aquaracer, but the bracelet alone puts it into a different league. Not that there's anything wrong with the Aquaracer bracelet, but it doesn't have the impact or the 'Wow' factor of the Link. I only have one Link myself (my Searacer Regatta Chronograph) and that's an older variant of the Link design, but it really is quite a statement piece and it's extremely comfortable into the bargain.

Overall I'd say this one is a bit of a winner, and the rose gold hands really imbue it with a sense of occasion. I'm not quite sure though why watch companies insist on putting date wheels on women's watches. They seem to go out of their way to make them as small as possible, to the point where my wife can barely read any of hers... and it's a shame, given the stylish and symmetrical nature of this piece that they gave it a black on white date wheel, especially as it's right next to that diamond hour marker. Still, I guess if it was gold on black it would have been even harder to read than it probably is anyway.