LVMH Watch Week 2022 wrapped up last Friday the 28th of January after revealing dozens of new watches from Zenith, TAG Heuer and Hublot. It’s the third edition of Watch Week and the second consecutive event held online. While it’s always nice to see the latest creations in person, the digital platform is a great way to see what’s new and hear from the designers and execs behind the watches.

This year’s focus was on the Zenith DEFY collection. The first DEFY came out in 1969 at a time when watch manufacturers were playing around with cool case designs and creative shapes. Think Heuer Monaco and Seiko Astron. The DEFY combined a faceted octagonal steel case with a 14-sided bezel to create a sporty industrial look that foreshadowed watches like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. The hour markers were also unique – rectangular stacks of 4 bars that resemble the sandwich navigation icon found on countless websites.

For 2022, Zenith presented a modern take on the original with the DEFY Revival A3642. Same shape, same markers, same date aperture tucked at 4:30. It features a warm brown gradient dial and comes on a Gay Frères steel ladder bracelet with spaces above and below the center link rungs. The 250-unit limited edition DEFY Revival is a comfortable 37mm automatic that looks like it would pair perfectly with a martini and an Eames lounge chair.

Several other models in the Defy collection debuted during watch week.

The DEFY Skyline is built around a an elegant 41mm brushed steel octagonal case that’s available with black, white and blue dials made dimensional by a textured grid of 4-pointed stars.
There’s a small seconds dial at 9 o’clock and a date window at 3 that are contained under a sapphire crystal and 12-sided bezel. Zenith has long been a movement innovator and they’ve flexed that muscle again with the Skyline’s El Primero 3620. It’s a hi-beat caliber that runs at 36,000 VpH and powers the 1/10 second seconds hand to complete a full rotation in 10 seconds instead of the usual 60.

The DEFY Extreme Carbon is a carbon/titanium 1/100 second automatic chronograph.
Its open dial is peppered with pops of color around the perimeter and on each sub dial. The octagonal case/12-sided bezel combo is present again, this time with a brushed finish on a black rubber strap. The DEFY Chroma offers a completely different take on the chronograph. It has a white ceramic case, a white open dial and a white strap but with a rainbow of colors stitched into the strap and on the dial, it is definitely not a monochromatic watch.

Standout dials on the steel DEFY Midnight that make these two variants spectacular.
One is a red to yellow gradient called Midnight Sky and the other, the Midnight Borealis, captures the blue to green spectacle of the Northern Lights. Diamond markers and diamond set bezels add just the right amount of sparkle to the night sky.

The focus for Hublot at Watch Week 2022 was on Big Bang and yellow gold. The watches ranged from simple (well, at least simple for a Hublot) to complex as the manufacturer introduced fresh combinations of materials, complications and styles. Every watch in the collection is unmistakably Hublot – bold, masculine and angular. Yellow gold appears frequently, which Hublot’s CEO Ricardo Guadalupe explains: “Embarking on our fifth decade, we decided to revisit yellow gold – one of our core materials – with not one, but six pieces. This is the first time we have unveiled such a rich set of pieces based on a single theme. The best way to reiterate our continued connection to our DNA and our ongoing commitment to forging our future!”

The watches include:

Classic Fusion Chrono: A classic Hublot design fusing gold and rubber together.

Spirit of Big Bang Chronograph: A tonneau case measuring 42mm on a rubber strap.

Big Bang Integral: A solid gold column wheel chronograph in a round 42mm case on a yellow gold bracelet.

Big Bang Unico: An open dial lightens the look on this bold flyback chronograph powered by the in-house Unico movement.

Integral Time Only: A three-hander with a skeletonized date wheel that’s also available in ceramic and titanium.

For something completely different, check out the new Big Bang Sang Bleu II collaboration with Maxine Plescia-Buchi. Three 500-unit limited editions are chiseled out of green ceramic, black ceramic and polished Magic Gold, which is exactly what you’d think would be needed to create designs as otherworldly as these.

Striking in a very different way is the Big Bang Unico Golf Orange Carbon. The carbon/texalium case is a mechanical tool watch for golfers that displays total score, shots on the current hole and the hole you’re playing. It even tells time, too! Hublot partnered with Dustin Johnson to create what he describes as a watch that’s “so complex and beautiful, but also so light and easy to use…it’s the kind of device that slows everything down, encouraging you to stay calm while you’re out there.”

A slew of Aquaracer Professional models were on display at watch week along with three new Autavia COSC certified chronometers to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the watch. Each of the 11 Aquaracer Professionals carry the collection’s signature details – steel case, unidirectional rotating 12-sided bezel, water resistance to 200 meters, an assortment of dials in black, blue, white and mother of pearl and choice of quartz or automatic movement. Most feature a dive bezel steel insert though there is also a radiant diamond set ladies version with diamond hour markers. The Aquaracer is available in 40mm and 30mm case sizes, all of which come on a polished steel bracelet with brushed center links.

According to Frédéric Arnault, TAG Heuer’s CEO, “The Aquaracer is every bit as much a TAG Heuer signature as Carrera or Monaco. Its codes and the philosophy behind it were defined decades ago and continue to be as relevant and exciting as ever, particularly in this season of new beginnings and new journeys. The Aquaracer Professional 200 is a companion for a fast-paced, unforgettable life full of adventure and achievement, a life lived beyond the edge.”

The Autavia debuted in 1962 with a name assembled from AUTomotive and AVIAtion that had been used in early 30s for Heuer dashboard timers. The Autavia was discontinued in 1985 when TAG acquired the company then reintroduced in 2003. For the 60th anniversary, TAG Heuer introduced 2 flyback chronograph variants and a GMT version. The chrono is available in black DLC-coated steel with a black dial or a steel case with a panda dial and black ceramic bezel insert. Both are beautiful but there’s something special about the panda dial that really captures the spirit of the early Autavias. The pushers on both are a nice evolution of the original, too.

Of all the watches I saw at LVMH Watch Week 2022, the Autavia GMT is the one I’m most excited to see in person. I like everything about it – the 42mm brush/polish steel case and bracelet, blue sunray dial, textured crown, friendly Arabic numbers infused with Super-Luminova, orange highlight on the GMT hand and ceramic bezel that transitions from black to blue. It appears perfectly proportioned and ready to wear anywhere so count me in.

All of these watches will be shipping soon and there’s a lot of new stock already in store. Come look around and say hello. I’ll probably be at the TAG Heuer case with the GMT on my wrist.

Bobby Frank is a freelance writer and musician based in Nashville. He’s been an avid watch collector since discovering a sample case full of early digital watches at his father’s office in the late 1970s. Current favorites include the Glashütte Original PanoMaticLunar, Zenith Chronomaster and Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet One. A timekeeper to his core, Bobby plays the drums in several bands that perform across the Southeast including Tennessee Dead, a Grateful Dead tribute band.