The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5

I first became interested in TAG Heuer timepieces more than 20 years ago after viewing my friend's 2000 series gold and stainless steel watch. I ended up purchasing a S/el after being impressed with his collection of TAG Heuer watches and decided to get on board too. So whilst my old S/el is still going strong, I decided to also get myself a later model - after all, you can never have enough watches.

So it didn't take long to decide on my new TAG Heuer; the Formula 1, nope, just not for me. The Monaco maybe? Nah, the square watch even if it is a Steve McQueen classic doesn't suit me; I am not a fan of the Carrera as I prefer a simple and elegant design. The link series, just a later version of the S/el so there was only one choice for me - the Aquaracer.

Where to start, the 41 millimetre diameter stainless steel case is a nice size for my wrist, I find some watches a little small, this one rounds out nicely. The chronograph version was 43 millimetre diameter but as I already have a few chronograph watches, I decided to select a simple face and I really liked the ceramic bezel. The three row band is big and chunky in a H link design.

After upgrading the rounded and smooth finish of my S/el; I was looking forward to a totally different style of watch and this is exactly what I wanted. It is ironic insofar as I was originally looking at the 2000 series 20 years ago before deciding on the S/el and ending wearing a descendant of the 2000 series.

Needless to say, the face is scratch resistant sapphire crystal with an angled date window at the 3 o'clock position to identify the automatic watch. The Calibre 5 automatic movement is Swiss made; the Calibre 5 was an ETA 2824-2 in the Aquaracer series but I believe the later Aquaracer now uses the Sellita SW-200 movement which some people dislike.

I am informed Sellita has now improved greatly, that is in the last 20 years although some are unconvinced. As this timepiece is new, I will have to determine over time if the movement remains as accurate as they advertise.

The case is water resistant to 300 metres with the time adjusted by a screw-in crown, I learnt about the screw-in crown the hard way with my S/el when I couldn't get it to work the first time I attempted to adjust the time. The face of the timepiece is horizontal streak pattern whilst the quartz version with luminescent index and number markers, I was originally not a fan of the streak design but the face has really grown on me.