Round-UpGold, Green, And A Nod To History: Presenting The Most Noteworthy Watches Showcased At LVMH Watch Week 2024
With varying colours, materials and functions, the four major luxury watch brands under the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy umbrella—Bulgari, TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith—showcase quite the diverse mix of watches at the fifth edition of the LVMH Watch Week 2024, being held in Miami, from January 28 to February 1. Here are some of the best watches on display
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This week, at the LVMH Watch Week 2024 in Miami, luxury watch brands that fall under the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) group present their latest releases. Among these are Bulgari, Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith. Significant new entrants to the fair are Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth, two brands created by maverick watchmakers and later acquired by the LVMH group. Keeping up with horological trends, colour makes a big splash this year, and green seems to be the hue of the future. Various materials such as gold, rose gold, King gold, ceramic, Saxem (an aluminium oxide alloy), steel and titanium—some decorated with gems—make their presence felt at the luxury watch symposium. And each of the watches has a unique story behind it. We bring you the most noteworthy new releases of the year.
Bulgari at LVMH Watch Week 2024
Bulgari Bulgari Rose Gold 38mm
Bulgari’s ‘time is gold’ theme finds expression in the new Octo Finissimo, Bulgari Bulgari and Lucea timepieces. Each of these new watches, whether in yellow gold or rose gold, exhibits the mystical and legendary qualities of the precious metal. Perhaps the most striking new timepiece showcased at the LVMH Watch Week 2024 is the Bulgari Bulgari 38mm timepiece in a rose gold case with a matching bezel engraved with a double logo. Letting the beauty of the metal shine with a simple yet distinctive design is something one has come to expect from the Roman jeweller. A minimal opaline silver dial features rose gold hands and indexes, beautifully highlighting the bezel. Arabic numerals at 12 and six, and a date window at three o’clock, are the only other markings on the dial. What makes this formal aesthetic a ‘classic’ is the brown alligator leather strap. Textures on the brown leather strap highlight the timelessness of the pink gold case and bezel against a muted white dial. The brand’s self-winding calibre BVL191 ‘solotempo’ (Italian for ‘only time’) powers the watch. This ‘simple’ yet accurate calibre enhances the overall less-is-more impact of the Bulgari Bulgari 38mm timepiece in rose gold.
TAG Heuer at LVMH Watch Week 2024
Carrera Chronograph ‘Dato’ 30 Teal Green
TAG Heuer’s latest addition to their line of Carrera Chronographs with the ‘glassbox’ design is the Carrera Chronograph ‘Dato’ 30 in a monochromatic teal green. The 1966 Dato (date) chronograph was originally the first of the Carrera chronographs to feature a date window at 12 o’clock. Two years later, the date window was shifted to nine o’clock, and to balance that, at three o’clock was a 45-minute recorder. This mono sub-dial ‘dato’ layout of the Dato 45 was revolutionary. In 2021, the brand released a limited edition reissue of the Dato Chronograph in collaboration with Hodinkee with the date at nine and a 30-minute counter at three o’clock. At the LVMH Watch Week 2024, TAG Heuer present the Carrera Chronograph Dato 30 with a mono sub-dial and date window in teal green. The 39mm steel timepiece features the glassbox design that defined the brand’s new releases in 2023. An angular flange houses the minutes/seconds track, with a sapphire crystal glass curved over it, aiding legibility. At three o’clock, a snailed 30-minute counter in teal with white markings beautifully offsets the white date window at nine. Housed within is the brand’s TH20-07 automatic calibre, with an impressive 80-hour power reserve, and a TAG Heuer shield-shaped rotor visible through the exhibition caseback. This reinterpretation of a Heuer classic in a futuristic hue combines the past and the future for the brand.
Zenith at LVMH Watch Week 2024
Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar
The story of the original Zenith Chronomaster and its updated revival in 2021 has been well documented. But, given the brand’s dramatic history and subsequent revival, there are, understandably, more untold stories. The Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar was initially conceived in 1969, around the time the brand’s El Primero movement was introduced. The calibre was designed to accommodate moon phase and calendar functions, and prototypes of the Chronomaster Triple Calendar were created in 1970 as ‘proof of concept’. An almost exact replica of this original blueprint, the Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar showcased at the LVMH Watch Week 2024 features a round 38mm steel case and curved sapphire crystal glass, like other Chronomaster Original timepieces modelled on the A386.
The brand have released three dial options, one in white with black counters, and slate grey and olive green with white counters. In all three, the date window at 4:30, day display at 10 o’clock, and month of the year at two match the colours of the dials. A moon phase display in the 60-minute sub-dial at six o’clock features a polished rose gold moon against a blue disc decorated with five-point stars. Rose gold hands and indexes are coated with Super-LumiNova. A central chronograph hand measures 1/10th of a second, marked around the periphery of the dial. The Zenith El Primero 3610 calibre powers the timepiece, with timekeeping, calendar, moon phase, and chronograph functions.
Hublot at LVMH Watch Week 2024
Classic Fusion Tourbillon Orlinski
Hublot’s collaboration with French artish Richard Orlinski has resulted in some beautiful watches since 2017, which take geometric facets to another dimension. With this latest collaborative timepiece released at the LVMH Watch Week 2024, the angular 45mm case of the Classic Fusion Tourbillon Orlinski has been reimagined in ceramic, and bright pops of colour. The yellow or sky blue ceramic cases feature matching bezels with six characteristic H-shaped screws, and matching rubber straps. Skeletonised dials decorate both timepieces, with the angles of the bridges enhancing the geometry of it all. At six o’clock is the tourbillon, held in place by bridges.
On the yellow timepiece, black bridges dominate the dial, while a matching crown at three and black-plated titanium screws on the bezel enhance contrasts. A black minute track on the flange is marked in yellow, and yellow indexes and hands stand out against the black of the movement. In comparison, the sky blue version is more low-key, as rhodium plated bridges, hands and indexes almost blend in with the pale blue flange, giving the watch a calm sky aesthetic. The sun and sky were the inspiration for these timepieces, like the rest of Orlinski’s sculptures featuring a ‘born wild’ theme. The really wild part about this watch, though, is the HUB6021 calibre visible through the dial and caseback. The manually-wound calibre offers a whopping power reserve of five days, as indicated via a sub-dial between eight and nine o’clock.
These were only the highlights of the LVMH Watch Week 2024. Judging by just these watches alone, the future of horology looks bright (pun intended) as brands delve into their histories to pave the way forward. The archives are, after all, full of what makes a timepiece great, and the main reasons why these brands are still around.
Stay tuned as The Watch Guide brings you more on the new releases from the LVMH Watch Week 2024
