BUYING EXPERIENCE: TAG Heuer SLR for Mercedes Benz Calibre S Lap Timer Chronograph

 

CAG7010.BA0254

I don't know how many times I have seen a CAG7010 at TAG Heuer's Bicester Village store, but up to about 2019 it seemed like something of a constant fixture during my regular visits. I must have tried it on a few times too, and even a year or so ago (the last time I saw an SLR in store) it was the white dial version of this same watch, actually now I come to think of it I don't think I've ever seen an automatic version of the SLR for sale there, only ever the Calibre S version. 

Of course, being something of a contrarian I've long admired the watch, seduced by it's obnoxiously brutalist bracelet and complex quartz movement, but never quite enough to pull the trigger; especially since even at outlet discounted prices these watches were still pretty pricey (£2500-2800... IIRC).

Now admittedly, when you buy from the TAG Heuer outlet stores you are buying an as-new watch with a two year warranty, and that is admittedly appealing when it comes to buying something like this that isn't a bog standard ETA/Sellita type of movement. But Watchfinder also offer a two year warranty on their pre-owned watches and after I gave up on the idea of the blue Dato45 Carrera and bought my long awaited Grand Carrera chrono, my attention turned to this other watch that I had had half an eye on for a very long time.

A few months ago I remember they had three of these, but now of course they were all gone. But then a day later one appeared on the site at £1970, surely a sign! I thought it was a bit steep judging by the previous prices, but then everything has been going up lately I guess. Fortuitously, I was in the midst of contemplating a lowish offer, when out of the blue Watchfinder started their 'TAG Heuer' November sale and suddenly the price plummeted to £1680.

Well, since that was about where I was planning to pitch my offer I decided to grab it before somebody else did. That was Tuesday. I didn't expect the watch to go out that day, but when I didn't get an email the next day I figured they must be super-busy due to the sale. On Thursday they contacted me to tell me my watch was being dispatched and would be with me on Friday, and it turned out the delay was due to them having to fit a couple of links to the bracelet for me that they needed to get from a different branch.

In the meantime, perhaps due to the delay I started to have second thoughts... I watched a video on YouTube of Tim Mosso reviewing the watch and showing it on his wrist. It looked HUGE. I know he has a small wrist, but it looked crazy-big. After all it had been a while and any watch that is officially designated 47mm is a bit scary... so I have to say that it was an enormous relief when it arrived and a) it looked even cooler than I remembered, and b) it didn't seem half as big (on me) as the number would suggest.

I mean, it ain't 'small' by any means. But I'd say it wears more like a 44mm than a 47mm. And really the measurement is rather misleading because due to the design of the case that 47mm includes the chronograph pushers.  

Inevitably, I pressed the crown to activate the chrono mode and immediately thought the watch was broken. It wasn't but it is as confusing as hell when you first pick it up and it seems like the hands are pointing at random places. I will do a post and video at some point explaining how it all works, but I don't want to get bogged down with that just now. Suffice it to say that the Calibre S Lap Timer is a more elaborate version of the standard Calibre S that can store up to twenty timed laps and display them on demand, and also show you the quickest (best) lap too. Pretty crazy stuff, I'd like to see a mechanical version... can you imagine how much that would cost? 

One small issue I had was that when I slid it onto my wrist and held it on place one of the pins in the bracelet started to come out, so I contacted Watchfinder about that. It wasn't the biggest problem since I needed to take a link out anyway, but obviously one day I might need it so I wanted it fixed. When I removed the pin, or rather gently pushed it out... it transpired that the collar was missing, so that explained that!

The watch didn't have the original TAG Heuer box, but Watchfinder sent me one of their new boxes (which I have to say is kinda cheap compared to the lovely WF&Co box they sent my plum dial Kirium out in a couple of years ago!) and more importantly the original operating manual. I was very relieved to see that because I was looking online for a manual and couldn't find one anywhere. Again, I will do a post with all that information in because I know there will be someone out there with a Calibre S Lap Timer who doesn't know how it works. In the meantime if you have a question leave me a comment and I will look it up for you.

This picture is NOT upside down!

As you've probably noticed by now the watch has a second crown on the left hand side of the case. This moves the chapter ring around the edge of the dial. I was a little bothered that this might get moved accidentally, but I don't think it will. While the crown isn't 'stiff' it does require a very positive turn to function and I doubt sufficient friction would encounter from the crown rubbing against one's wrist. And now having worn this for a day I can confirm that the chapter ring doesn't move but that damned crown (which is unnecessarily sharp it has to be said) certainly does dig into the wrist a bit, just like I always thought it would! So much for 'luxury'.

Again as with the Grand Carrer chronograph, I was struck with the weight of this watch and it weighs in at a not inconsiderable 200 grams. No lightweight, but still no match for the (smaller in diameter) TAG Heuer Aquagraph which tips the scales at 250 grams when wearing it's full bracelet - which is why it ended up on the much less tiresome rubber strap! I can imagine it won't be too long before I start thinking about getting a rubber strap for this, but I do really like the bracelet, even if it sadly lacks micro adjustment (not to mention the half links are more like 4/5th links and as such pretty useless when trying for good fit).

On the whole then, I will admit that this watch is not without its faults, but the flip side to that is I feel like it's worth putting up with its shortcomings for the sake of having a truly epic watch on the wrist. Sure this is not going to be everybody's cup of tea and I seriously doubt anyone with a wrist under 7" would be able to wear it, but there's no denying the evident quality in the watch and while I'll barely ever use it that movement is ridiculously cool. 

I looked back in the archives and in 2009 this watch was just under £3000, quite a lot for a quartz watch admittedly, but then this isn't just any quartz watch. According to the CPI Inflation Calculator £3000 in 2009 equates to about £4800 of today's money, so suddenly that purchase price of £1680 looks pretty darned sweet, doesn't it?

The CAG7010 has a water rating of 100M and some fairly reasonable lume; nothing Earth-shattering admittedly, but at least as good as any Carrera that springs to mind and it's not like I'm ever going to get this wet.

I must admit, when I think about how quickly I managed to spend my watch-fund (built up over the last few months by some furious eBaying - including the sale of quite a number of watches) over the space of about three days, and pondering how long it's going to take to build that back up again I could question my decision making. But at the same time I've now ticked two watches off my wants list that I've wanted to own for a very long time, and bought both at pretty decent prices with two year warranties; so overall I'd say that worked out pretty well. 

Besides, I put seven more older quartz watches on eBay last weekend and five of them have already sold... so we shall see where this leads next!