Tag Heuer has made some interesting watches over the years. Some of the more curious watches include those with the Calibre S movement. The movement is an electro-mechanical movement, which purports to feature the best of both quartz and mechanical movements. It features multiple complications, but is also fiddly.Let’s explore this further, featuring the Tag Heuer Caliber S SLR Laptimer. Reference CAG 7010. It is an interesting watch, with solid finishing and a good array of functions. But, it is also non-intuitive to use. The watch was made from 2008 to 2012 and the styling is reminiscent of the time. The movement is an Electro Mechanical movement, which purports to have “mechanical prowess & with quartz accuracy.”So what is the watch like?

What exactly is it?

Let’s start with what exactly the watch is. It is Electro-Mechanical. This means that it is a battery operated movement, but it has some mechanical movements to mimic how an automatic watch might work. Tag Heuer states that it has 230 components. It purports to have a chronograph accuracy of 1/100 seconds. It has 27 jewels.The movement is neat. But, it is relatively unloved. Automatic-watch purists will not like the battery function. Quartz users will wonder the point of the watch. Thus, the watch appears without a clear target audience. However, Tag Heuer deserves credit for attempting an interesting movement.The watch has several ‘complications’. These include a perpetual calendar up to 2099, which includes a date complication, and chronograph complication.The complications are nice to have. However, they can be fiddly to use. Let’s look at an example. In an ordinary watch, to set the time, you will pull out the crown and rotate it as necessary. In the Tag Heuer Caliber S, to set the time, you must pull out the crown. You must then remember which of the buttons to press and how many times to set hours, minutes, or seconds. This can be similarThe perpetual calendar can also be fiddly to use, even if it is nice to have. The date is difficult to discern on the dial. Certainly, you can learn how to read the date. But, it is not intuitive and not user friendly if you cycle between watches in your collection. It is also challenging to set. It requires you to remember which sub-dial indicates the year, month, or date and to remember the order in which you set these using the correct button combination.

Aesthetics

What about the aesthetics? Well, it was made from 2008-2012. I think it shows. The sportiness reminds me a bit of Oakley sunglasses. I could see Darude wearing this in sandstorm. However, it does look interesting and the finishing is solid. The watch seems large at 47mm case diameter and 13.8mm thickness. However, it wears smaller than the dimensions would suggest and is not ‘too large’.Let’s start with the dial. The dial is the highlight. The dial is textured with vertical black stripes. Further, the crescent-shaped sub-dials have subtle crescent texturing within them. The watch has a black/red color wave. Whether this is desirable is personal taste. The dial is legible. The red highlights make the watch easier to read and emphasize important sections within the dial.The finishing is good quality, especially for the price point. The case is brushed stainless steel and looks pleasant. It is not a finger print magnet and looks pleasant. The buttons are textured, which makes them easy to use, especially when exercising. However, they are spongy.The crowns are a highlight: there is a ordinary crown to engage with time setting. There is also a ‘crown’ for the internal bezel. The operation is smooth and they are easy to use, subject to the fiddliness of using the functions and setting the time and date. The crowns are textured and easy to grip. They operate effectively and feel ‘solid’.The case back is closed. It says SLR for Mercedes-Benz. I suspect that no SLR owners bought this watch. However, the case back is pleasant, if unremarkable. There is some text that provides some information about setting the time, and date. However, the text is insufficient to understand how to use the watch.The rubber strap is interesting. It has texturing that harks to the SLR McLaren’s side grills. It is an interesting tie-in that at least relates to the focal vehicle. It makes the watch look less like a cash grab and more like a genuine attempt to make a homage. The clasp is functional and easy to operate. It is signed with “SLR”, to emphasize the connection if it were not already obvious.

Value

Are these good value? Well, it depends what you pay. You get an interesting movement. The movement is inexpensive to service. It cost me AUD 420 to service mine and that included a complete overhaul of the movement. But, I also suspect that many people will not bother with the complications (and will not even be able to read them). But, it is a perfectly functional sports watch and the complications are nice to have.The watch is well worth considering. However, there are some alternatives. These include used Omega Speedmasters and Breitlings. The Tag Heuer SLR Calibre S can be good value and is an interesting addition, depending on what you are looking for with a watch.