Tag Heuer - Link Calibre S

[tenuk8]

A new quartz wristwatch by Tag Heuer with mechanical chronograph that can measure to the accuracy of a hundreth of a second!

Even if it doesn't have 'temperature compensation' ability for accuracy, its build quality, material used, the avant garde technology introduced and the brand qualify it as a high end quartz.

I'm seriously thinking to purchase the watch, however appreciate any comment and thought from you guys. I still confused though, on the advertisement saying the movement as an 'electro-mechanical'... Can somebody enlighten me on this, is there anything special about it, or just a commercialized name for a normal analog quartz!

[Fatpants]

I think you'll have a hard time convincing those in the know here, that the Aquaracer is HEQ, tbh - the Aquaracer is a "normal" non-thermo compensated quartz watch, that displays the chrono' function in a relatively novel way. However, the ability to time down to 1-100th is nothing special in itself for a Quartz watch - any number of G-Shocks fulfill this at a fraction of the cost of the TAG. Seiko produced a Kinetic powered, 1-1000th of a second Sportura a few years back. That definitely qualifies as HEQ! Why? Its a true Hybrid, with an auto-rotor powered capacitor driving a micro-processor controlled timekeeping quartz cell.

Furthermore, I've owned a number of TAG's over the years, and I've handled a few of the new models, which are priced fairly high in a market place that is very competitive. In comparison to many of their competitors, TAG's, imo, do not come off favorably especially when considering value for money. Just my 2pence.

Fats

[HRH Adam]

my 2c is that most Tags are great watches for women, the quartz models that is. Women that don't care about materials, movement, collectibility, and don't wear the watch on a daily basis due to infinite outfit changes, and therefore shouldn't have mechanical, etc. Its good for a woman who wants a nice looking watch with an instantly recognizeable-as-expensive name :)

Adam

I think you'll have a hard time convincing those in the know here, that the Aquaracer is HEQ, tbh - the Aquaracer is a "normal" non-thermo compensated quartz watch, that displays the chrono' function in a relatively novel way. However, the ability to time down to 1-100th is nothing special in itself for a Quartz watch - any number of G-Shocks fulfill this at a fraction of the cost of the TAG. Seiko produced a Kinetic powered, 1-1000th of a second Sportura a few years back. That definitely qualifies as HEQ! Why? Its a true Hybrid, with an auto-rotor powered capacitor driving a micro-processor controlled timekeeping quartz cell.

Furthermore, I've owned a number of TAG's over the years, and I've handled a few of the new models, which are priced fairly high in a market place that is very competitive. In comparison to many of their competitors, TAG's, imo, do not come off favorably especially when considering value for money. Just my 2pence.

Fats

[TCXO]

I have never owned a TAG-Heuer. I looked closely at perhaps 8 to 10 Aquaracer REGATTA Caliber S watches for purchase; the deal breaker was usually suboptimal alignment of the central seconds hand with the dial flange second markings; lack of a reasonable discount was the deal breaker on the few better aligned pieces I viewed in Switzerland.

Although not thermocompensated, the Caliber S is a very different animal than any other TAG-Heuer analog display quartz watch. A lot of research and development went into the Caliber S and I give TAG-Heuer a lot of credit for doing an all new and refreshingly original, sophisticated quartz caliber at a time when so much of the medium and high end Swiss watch companies are phasing out HEQ watches.

I think the "electromechanical" refers to the fact that these watches have a few hundred mechanical parts in addition to the quartz oscillator/IC/battery/stepping motors. Although the quartz oscillator is not HEQ (not AT cut, not thermocompensated), the use of 5 bi-directional stepping motors and the massive number of mechanical parts make the Caliber S reasonable to qualify as HEQ (at least in my opinion). This logic could perhaps be argued for Seiko Spring Drive and Citizen Campanola being accepted by many of us HEQ WIS as HEQ (although the fit & finish on the Spring Drives and Campanola are some of the best in the watch industry).

Caliber S is Perpetual Calendar too!

Personally I really like the TAG-Heuer Caliber S in the Aquaracer REGATTA. I have only seen the TAG-Heuer LINK Caliber S in photos but it looks nice too. If you truly have a need for a 1/100 chronograph and do not want it served up as a digital display, go with the LINK Caliber S. If you have a need for a count-down timer or are a sail boat racer, go with the REGATTA Caliber S.

Good luck!
P.S. Let us know what you get for a discount.
Please see if you can beat 15% off on a Regatta Caliber S or 20% off on a Link Caliber S.

Cheers!

[Ras44]

So you are basically saying that a quartz Tag doesn't have good materials, good movement, is not collectible, and should be bought by a woman who wants a a nice looking watch with a luxury brand name stamped to it, right? And that none of those attributes apply to a mechanical Tag?

Just to be clear...

my 2c is that most Tags are great watches for women, the quartz models that is. Women that don't care about materials, movement, collectibility, and don't wear the watch on a daily basis due to infinite outfit changes, and therefore shouldn't have mechanical, etc. Its good for a woman who wants a nice looking watch with an instantly recognizeable-as-expensive name :)

Adam