REVIEW – New TAG Heuer Link Calibre 16 Chronograph

[slask111 0]

Great review, Thnx. I had the old model but found the lack of ar annoying, so I sold it. But this 43mm version do look the part. After some aftermarket ar this would be a killer of a watch. Enjoy it :-)

 

Skickat från min GT-I9100 via Tapatalk 2

[clutchrep 0]

OP, which TD did you order this rep from

[scavenger 0]

OP, which TD did you order this rep from

 

From the review: "I ordered this from Watch International and Rochest looked after me the entire way"

 

Email them at [email protected]

[Theduke.williams 1,034]

What a gorgeous looking watch. My ultimate would be one of these but with a glass display back. I know it wouldn't be true to original, but then that's my taste.

[Buckydevil 0]

Brilliant review, really enjoyed reading through this and gonna have to try and resist making a purchase now..

[scavenger 0]

What a gorgeous looking watch. My ultimate would be one of these but with a glass display back. I know it wouldn't be true to original, but then that's my taste.

Just a thought - how about contacting one of the TDs and sourcing a TAG caseback cover with clear display? Quite a few reps have it (e.g. the Carrera Day-Date) and so long as the size is the same it should fit. Could work out OK seeing as you're not too concerned about accuracy to gen where the caseback is concerned. And I know TDs are often quite happy supplying parts too.

 

Brilliant review, really enjoyed reading through this and gonna have to try and resist making a purchase now..

 

You should know that in this hobby... Resistance is futile!

[gerry013 0]

Very nice review, thanks!

 

I also have this one from Toro

[Chairman7w 0]

Wonderful review, thank you for posting.

[Dinicol 0]

Wow,what a great review, got to get me one.

[305vtec 0]

nice

Let me preface this review by saying that I am new to the rep scene. I only got into this less than 2 months ago and up until then my only knowledge of reps was of cheap knock-offs hawked on the streets of Asian holiday destinations. Never did I imagine there was a world of high-end top-quality replicas waiting to be discovered. Then I ran into this and the other forums. I read, and searched, and read, and searched, and then read some more… and gradually built my knowledge base. So my heartfelt thanks go out to the admins that maintain this forum, to those experts who write their awesome reviews, to those who take the time to share their knowledge by way of FAQs, and also those who contribute their individual opinions to the rep community.

 

I've lurked the entire time I've been here, I’d like to now contribute my little bit by way of this review. My dear friends, I present to you the (replica) TAG Heuer Link Chronograph.

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Admittedly, I’ve always been a fan to TAG watches. I've owned 2 quartz models of the 2000 series up until a year ago. These have served me well, each lasting well over 10 years before I replaced them. Then in 2010 the Link series caught my eye. My grail watch was now the Link Calibre S and a year later I was able to purchase this. Later in 2011, TAG refreshed its Link series. The changes were relatively subtle and can be found in the dial face, subdials, bezel, case and bracelet. More information on these updates can be found here and here.

 

While I was, and still am, thoroughly happy with my purchase of the superseded Calibre S, I was intrigued by the new line and found the Chronograph quite appealing. So imagine my pleasure at discovering that a rep of this existed and that it looked, to my eye at least, to be quite accurate! Here’s a comparison of the gen (left) and the rep (right).

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Near as I could tell, it looked like a perfect rep!

 

 

I ordered this from Watch International and Rochest looked after me the entire way. The process and service were fantastic; all my questions were answered and queries of the QC pics addressed to my complete satisfaction. As with anything in life, a little bit of patience goes a long way and Rochest always got back to me with responses to my emails.

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I couldn't have been happier with watch I received. It surpassed my expectations of what a rep would look and feel like and upon initial inspection I would have found it difficult to tell it from a gen. This thing had weight, the details looked accurate and from a visual perspective the build quality looked solid.

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The 2011 Link Chronograph replaces the previous model’s dial pattern with a vertical streak texture effect. The subdials have also been subtly altered and now overlap slightly with the oversized running seconds at 9 dial being the only one retaining the polished border outline. I do believe I prefer the new dial face design, it looks simpler and, perhaps, slightly more elegant. And, true to the gen, the new case has got some sexy curves!

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Another difference in the 2011 Link is the TAG Heuer logo. The 2011 gen has an applied logo, as opposed to the outgoing model which has a printed one. Now all my research to date has led me to believe that whilst printed TAG logos on reps have been done correctly, applied logos have been missing the arrow at the end of the 'G'. Ladies and gentlemen, this rep has an accurate applied logo! Observe below.

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As I'd mentioned before, the 2011 update also saw changes to the bezel and case. The bezel is now a two-part affair, with the traditional circular bezel featuring the tachymetre scale being set on top of a 'cushion' bezel with angled edges. TAG marketing calls this "a highly complex, sophisticated geometry" Whilst the circular upper tachy bezel is polished, the 'cushion' below it has brushed elements. This further contrasts with the curvy polished case as shown in the images below.

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The watch has a closed caseback – which, again, is true to gen. And.... judging by the picture I really should clean out :P

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And now we come to the bracelet itself – the part that makes the Link a Link! The replication here is just, in a word, magnificent!! The 2011 Link range features flatter, squarer links that fit more tightly together than the previous version. This actually contrasts with the curvy polished body of the case described above.

 

Whilst it could do with a bit of cleaning in some areas to make the joints glide even more smoothly, the bracelet's build quality is outstanding with each individual S-link component fitting together tightly and accurately. As with the previous Link Chronograph rep, the bracelet resizing mechanism has been copied and remains 100% faithful to the gen. You won't see any unsightly sizing pin holes on any of the S-links themselves here! Oh and speaking of the S-links, the outer faces are brushed steel, whereas the edge surfaces are polished.

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The clasp holding it all together is also modelled on the real thing with a folding clasp and push-button deployment system.

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So.... it's all good yes? Super rep? Not quite.... This is a rep after all!

 

Since we were only just talking about the clasp, I might as well start there. The watch that I received has a clasp that can be a little bit stiff to deploy, even when both push buttons are pressed firmly. I put this down to manufacturing tolerances with the higher accuracy and quality control of the gen components leading to better fit and finish overall. When closed, the rep's clasp also exhibits a slight gap as can be seen in the picture below.

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Next item on the list: the crown size and chrono pushers. I do not personally believe that the crown size is as wrong as some people think. The gen 2011 Link Chrono was supposed to have a re-designed, shorter crown and smaller chrono pushers. This is probably the picture that people had in mind:

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I would argue that the image above is an artist's impression and that the photo lineup below shows the crown on the actual manufactured product. (These images were obtained from AD sites and the rightmost pic is a screen capture off the TAG Heuer official site.)

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I won't talk to the size of the chrono pushers, but the crown itself does seem to be quite a fair bit larger on the real thing as opposed to the artist's impression. Indeed, this appears to be borne out by Spikedlee's pics of his gen Link Calibre 16 Chrono (many thanks to Spikedlee for his kind permission to use his photos).

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However! This isn't to say that the rep's crown is completely accurate (it's a real bummer, I know!). Here's a pic of my rep from an angle that kinda shows the flaw in the crown's accuracy.

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See how it almost seems like it's not fully screwed in? That slight additional protuberance from the base of the case? Well that's caused by the design of the rep itself. There seems to be a washer-like thingy on the case that stops the crown from screwing in fully. Take a look below.

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And again, here's what it looks like with the crown fully screwed in.

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I'd say the extra height of the crown is no more than 0.5mm off the gen; on the wrist and from almost any other angle, this discrepancy is all but impossible to spot. Check out all the other photos above and the wrist shots further down if you don't believe me. Here's a closeup of the crown and chrono pushers that shows how difficult it is to see this flaw (the bezel hides it quite nicely, I think, from a straight-on/top-down view).

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Finally there are those little things that one would expect from just about any rep out-of-the-box: inaccurate date font (again very hard to see to the untrained/uninformed eye), and the AR not being quite as good as on the gen (as evidenced by the heavy presence of reflections on the crystal as I was taking these photographs).

 

Here's a shot demonstrating the difference between my gen Calibre S and the rep Chrono. The crystal on the Calibre S pretty much disappears unlike the Chrono.

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And while I had the Calibre S out, here's a comparison between the bracelets of the new flatter, squarer 2011 Link (left) and the older more rounded version (right).

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And so we come to the end of this review. Bottom line: I love this rep! The minor flaws and inaccuracies I outlined above are miniscule and, to me, easily accepted as being part of the rep compromise. There's no way I could justify paying retail for the gen Link Calibre 16 Chronograph, not after having previously bought the Link Calibre S. The watch looks amazing, the build quality is solid and all this for a price that won't break the bank – what's there not to love?

 

Thank you all for reading this, I hope you've enjoyed the review as much as I did writing it. I also hope it's helped some of the people in this great community. Let's end with some obligatory wrist shots!

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[Baldrick 1]

@305VTEC.....ARE YOU A FUCKING IDIOT .....OR WHAT...NO......DON'T ANSWER THAT....OBVIOUSLY....!!!!

 

Why the fukk did you feel it NECESSARY to embed ALL 31x of the OP's original photos in your fuckin' idiotic response of "nice"...wasting bandwith and annoying the fuck out of members who perhaps don't have fast connections......grow the fukk up

[wat44 0]

Worse than that... It isn't nice!

[yems93 0]

Hello,

 

I have buy this watch from Trusty Time. I have the white model, and I love it. I have some questions:

 

-How Can I remove one or two links of the bracelet? I have read this topic (http://www.rwg.bz/board/index.php?showtopic=17441) but it's not the same bracelet.

 

-How to screw the crown? Rotate this on counter clokwise?

 

Thanks for your answer.

[onzenuub 307]

http://www.ruralgeek.com/wpblog/?page_id=138

[scavenger 0]

Good on ya Onze!

[Jagsman 20]

First review I have read, if all are so comprehensive i will be really impressed.

 

Thanks for taking the time, I'm now going to try to work out how to buy one!

[yems93 0]

First review I have read, if all are so comprehensive i will be really impressed.

 

Thanks for taking the time, I'm now going to try to work out how to buy one!

 

 

I have buy mine from Trusty Time. Trusted dealer: Good service, fast shipping and nice communication.

 

For the white version :http://www.ttw888.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=41_212&products_id=9552&zenid=dfd1b099d3afabd245149719c9219836

For the black version : http://www.ttw888.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=41_212&products_id=9553&zenid=dfd1b099d3afabd245149719c9219836

[harrykojima 0]

such a great and helpful review thank you!

[Chairman7w 0]

What a wonderful review, and fantastic pics. This is now on my want list. Thank you!

[scavenger 0]

I have buy mine from Trusty Time. Trusted dealer: Good service, fast shipping and nice communication.

 

For the white version :http://www.ttw888.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=41_212&products_id=9552&zenid=dfd1b099d3afabd245149719c9219836

For the black version : http://www.ttw888.co...5149719c9219836

 

I too have bought (other reps) from Trusty Time and have had the same great service and fast shipping from them. The watch comes from the same factory no matter which dealer you buy from so you'll get the exact same one as discussed in the review.

 

Glad to hear people are still enjoying this write-up!

 

Scav.

[mike1212 0]

 

 

Glad to hear people are still enjoying this write-up!

 

Scav.

 

Hello Scav, thanks for the review it helped me. I have now got my 1st rep on its way, just got to pick another .

 

Mike

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Dafydd57 0]

Removed

Edited March 21, 2013 by Dafydd57

[ahcleo 0]

Thanks for the review Thread Starter, it has helped me to decide on my next rep.

[Leon666 0]

Great review

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bayl 0]

Awesome review!

Thanks.