Watches & Wonders 2024 Roundup: TAG Heuer, Zenith, Hublot, Tudor
Robust functionality and colourful attire, these are the timepieces you'd want for your everyday.
After the esteemed and the fashionable, we round out our Watches & Wonders 2024 recap with the daily dynamos. Workhorses with pure value that will level up your wrist game.
At TAG Heuer, spectacular movement meets stunning design. Portended by its Only Watch 2023 entry, TAG Heuer levels up the iconic Monaco with the brand’s first-ever commercially-available rattrapante chronograph movement. Developed in conjunction with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, the TH81-00 calibre is constructed entirely in titanium and presented with sporty and futuristic finishings on the see-through sapphire crystal dial and caseback. Architectural arches further the avant-garde personality of the watch. The biggest decision lies in choosing between the racing red version inspired by TAG Heuer’s motor universe, or the classic blue that nods to the original codes of the Monaco.
Zenith expands the capabilities of its dynamic Defy. While there’s already a chrono in the big and bold Defy Extreme, the more urban Defy Skyline now welcomes its own El Primero automatic high-frequency chronograph calibre for everyday appeal. The Extreme, on the other hand, is reconfigured into a rugged diver, complete with a unidirectional ceramic bezel, oversized lumed hands and hour markers, and even a helium escape valve. Both come with fully interchangeable straps and the signature starry-sky motif on the dial.
Hublot is ready to party. Who says you need an occasion to celebrate? Hublot certainly doesn’t, toasting its Unico Manufacture calibre with a new campaign and series of animated timepieces. To be clear, nothing has changed in the second-generation automatic flyback chronograph movement from 2018, but hey, at least its latest outfits are pretty cool. There’s a pair of Big Bang Unicos in vivid orange and olive green ceramic, and another in a delightful pink-tinted sapphire casing. Two other celebrants take the bold form of the Square Bang Unico, clad in immutable Magic Gold.
Tudor's got a certified winner. A Black Bay GMT with the comfortable proportions of the 58, styled with a burgundy and black “Coke” bezel — sounds like we've got a banger on our hands. Coupled with attractive gilt accents (bezel numerals, hour marker and hands, including a new lollipop second hand), easy-to-use T-fit adjustment clasp on bracelet and rubber strap, and METAS Master Chronometer certification for additional resistance against magnetic fields, this handsome workhorse packs a whole lot in its 39mm frame. One for the people.
