Watches and Wonders 2022: Chanel, TAG Heuer, A. Lange and Söhne, Hublot

Among several debuts, Chanel caught our attention with its “Red Edition” collection, which includes three timepieces sporting the sanguine hue, created as a badge of confidence and style. The J12 X-Ray Red Edition features a white gold chain bracelet and a fixed bezel set with 46 baguette-cut rubies, encircling a dial that includes 12 more of the gorgeous stones in place of numerals. Then, two iterations of the Boyfriend Skeleton—one in beige gold and one with a clear crystal sapphire case—highlight the inner workings of its manual wound movement in a rectangular case, complemented by more rubies and shiny red calfskin straps.

A. Lange & Söhne’s Grand Lange 1 is a timeless design that can accompany its wearer through all occasions. A round case measuring at 41 mm offers options for either white or pink gold, each encircling a smooth gray dial that displays hours, minutes, and subsidiary seconds, along with a stop-seconds feature, the date, and a power reserve indicator. Available with a black or reddish-brown hand-stitched strap, the timepiece’s technical specs include a 72-hour power reserve and a manually wound L095.1 caliber movement.

Perfect for those who might describe their style as sporty yet refined is TAG Heuer’s Monaco Gulf Special Edition. The house’s first timepiece to utilize the Heuer 02 automatic movement, the design features a square 39 mm case in brushed steel, enclosing a dial in the Gulf’s colors—sunray blue with stripes of aqua and orange). Held snugly to the wrist with a breathable calfskin strap in deep blue, the wearer can expect to find indications of hours and minutes, a minute chronograph counter, an hour chronograph timer, and an indicator for seconds.

Along with the introduction of several new timepieces from Hublot—like four new colorways of the Big Bang Integral Ceramic and the eye-catching Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Purple Sapphire—the watchmaker debuted a special NFT collaboration with Takashi Murakami. Accessible to owners of Murakami’s Classic Fusion Sapphire Rainbow or the Classic Fusion All Black timepieces, which he introduced with the brand last year, the renowned artist has created two corresponding NFTs. Just as the watches feature Murakami’s iconic smiling flower motif, imagined in an array of rainbow and sparkling black stones, respectively, the digital works include a rainbow iteration and an all-black version. To obtain one of the limited-edition NFTs, owners of the Murakami Classic Fusion timepieces should visit the Hublot e-warranty app between now and April 25.