Tag Heuer SLR collection presents probably the most fun designed racing watch ever made. SLR watches not only perform the standard chronograph function (employing two analog subdials positioned between four and five, and seven and eight o'clock), they count laps as well – as if challenging the wearer to ride his or her car as soon, and as fast as they can. In a way, there's something old school about the SLR. “Will you race?” it questions. “Or are you scared?!”

Inspired and designed for Mercedes-Benz SLR, Tag Heuer SLR carries the car's logo and projects a muscular and extremely effective character. The dial's face is covered in guilloche that looks just like a tire's furrowed outer surface, while the three subdials (laptimer, 1/10^th of a second, and 1/100 of a second) are arranged in a configuration strongly reminiscent of the racing car's panel. The SLR joins such high-end company as Jaeger LeCoultre, which created the AMVOX series especially for Aston Martin vehicles.

Several additional touches make the SLR an effective sports racing watch. First, a tachymeter scale allows the wearer to extract additional indirect data, on top of the existing output channels. Second, the pushbuttons and the crown were positioned at 45 degrees, allowing the fingers to press them while the eye has the ability to confirm that the right piece is being activated. Finally, sharp, bright, red colored hands of the chronograph functions contribute to enhanced legibility – these hands remind me somewhat of the similarly adrenaline soaked Blancpain Sports watches.

The chronograph is unique in its depth of function: though fully analog (automatic, purely mechanical movement), it has a memory, and can display the best result using the subdials. Tag Heuer inaugurated a dedicated website that allows you to experience SLR's chronograph by using a demo program. It takes some time to learn to use the watch, but it's great fun even when sitting behind a computer screen.