First I want to say that my fiancee isn't very interested in watches. She doesn't really understand why I spend so much time with you guys here... but of course she considers the hobby ok and harmless. Most guys browse for porn, but we geeks browse for watches. Guess we're all perverts.
She wears a watch though, a gen Citizen quartz. A watch that she particularly never liked. But, like most "normal" people she didn't really care. It's just a watch, right?
But... I showed her a few ladies' watch pictures a few months ago, trying to "break the surface"... and asked which watches she'd like. She's just 24 and sporty, so diamond Guccis, Pateks and Rolexes were naturally out of question. Those are for the rich old ladies. Turned out Omega Constellation and some Ebels were "very nice"... but when she saw the TAG Link ladies' model her comment was "Now that's a nice looking watch!"
She didn't really want a watch, but I thought it would be a nice surprise... and lots of people have asked about ladies' models. And why not review one for the community? So TAG Link it should be.
I don't know how much advertising and "branding" affect on people's judgment. TAG is heavily advertised by celebrities, and this particular model is promoted by the Hollywood actress Uma Thurman. Perhaps these things and advertising affect people on subconscious level... and perhaps even made my fiancee to choose this particular model?
To be honest I was a bit hesitant to buy a rep for my girl at first, but then the genuine TAG Link (ladies model) isn't horologically very interesting. It has a standard quartz movement, like many expensive genuine ladies' watches. And to be honest I don't think TAG's (or any other high-end manufacturer's) quartz line is worth the money. So why not get a rep for 1/15 of the price?
Of course... before my purchase I asked my girl if she could wear a rep. She said yes... and she wouldn't want to wear a $1.4K genuine watch anyway. Once again... "it's just a watch", right? Whatever you do, don't buy her a rep and pretend it's an expensive gen. Just like Kanerich says "girls don't mind reps, but they do mind liars." Well said mate!
3 months later:
Narikaa got back from his travels and I went to his photo gallery to see if he came back with some new and interesting goodies (as usual). And bang... there were lots of nice ladies' reps available. Including one good looking and fairly accurate TAG Link. I asked the basic specs, asked Regs personal opinion about the watch I was interested in... and paid for it. After 2 hours it was already posted and I received a tracking number. Everybody knows about Narikaa's flawless reputation, so it's needless to repeat that all here. To make it short: Excellent dealer, lots of interesting and rare models... and fair pricing. That's Reg.
The first impressions of this watch were positive. Very good quality "feel", excellent bracelet finish, a rotating bezel with an audible click and very sharp and crisp dial print. I think I have developed "an eye" for good reps so I already spotted these things from Reg's sales picture.
Only the hands and pearl are luminous, not the hour markers. I'm quite sure this is exactly how the genuine is, too.
The crown isn't a screw-down model and the watch has no quick-set date. This is typical for quartz watches, and it means you have to roll on the hour hand 2 full circles to advance the date by 1 step. Quite annoying but not a big deal, really.
The pearl is a bit oversized, which wasn't apparent at all, until I took some pictures of the watch. The ladies' watches are SO small... and the oversized pictures exaggerate everything even more. I couldn't find the exact match from the genuine versions. All the genuine pics I found had "metallic" bezel numbers, not black.
This doesn't mean this watch isn't available with black bezel numbers, I just couldn't find a reference pic. Again, it's almost impossible to find anything other than the factory shots.
The bracelet is similarly constructed as the gents' model, with oversized fliplock clasp.
Just like on my gents' model the clasp was extremely stiff and tightly closed. So it needed some fine tuning. I used a nail file to make the iron that locks the clasp a bit thinner. My fiancee is 5'4 tall, 114 lbs girl and her wrist is only about 5'7 - 5'8. Still, the bracelet has a "loose and comfortable fit" with all links intact. If you (or your fiancee) is a bigger lady... or even "midsized caucasian lady" you'd better ask for a spare link from your dealer. I'm quite sure the bracelet has been designed with smaller Asian women in mind.
The bracelet links were a bit stiff to bend properly, so they needed to be oiled, which always makes wonders. These are standard procedures... and just one reason why we don't pay 15 times more for our watches. Very typical rep stuff that you have to do when you receive a new watch. Other than that... all perfect. Needless to say the quartz movement is dead on accurate.
As you can see we now have two Link reps in the family.
EPILOGUE:
So, the most important question remains: Did she like it?
Yes, she sure did. I'm sure she couldn't tell the difference between a Casio and Patek Philippe, but she was really happy with her new watch, which was all that mattered.
And to make this review a bit special I included more pleasant "wrist shots" than usual. Thanks to sql_pl for the inspiration!
I hope this "mini-review" can encourage more ladies to buy reps... or guys to buy more watches for their "better halves". Thanks for viewing.
