We Went Hands-On with the New Releases from LVMH Watch Week, and These are Our Favorites

The new releases from LVMH Watch Week came to New York City last week, and of course the Worn & Wound team was there to check them out. It was the first big batch of new releases in 2023, and Bulgari, TAG Heuer, Hublot, and Zenith all brought a variety of watches to display. Here are initial impressions from Blake Buettner, Kat Shoulders, and Zach Kazan.

Kat Shoulders 

My favorite watch from the LVMH Preview was the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph. There were no doubt higher end horology pieces at the preview, but as far as watches I’d be ready to buy on the spot, this one won the day for me. I’ve been known amongst the Worn and Wound crew to not be a huge titanium lover, and quite honestly, I’m perfectly OK with that. The metal typically isn’t my favorite to wear due to the lighter feel. However, the grade 2 titanium that TAG uses felt incredibly nice in person and high quality. Maybe it was the sand blasted finishing as well, but something just really struck me about this particular Aquaracer. The finishing, the feel, the bezel action…it all just comes together perfectly in my opinion.

The older I get, the more comfortable I am in this hobby saying that quartz is actually really convenient. Add the ability to charge the movement via solar power, and you have a really great tool watch you literally never have to worry about. The grayed out Aquaracer shutter dial that we’ve become familiar with along with the ice blue hands and text is eye-catching in person, and somehow makes what could be a very masculine dive watch into something that could be worn by both genders easily. The TAG Aquaracer Solargraph in titanium is certainly up to holding its own against some of the more popular titanium dive watches we’ve seen in the last couple of years, and has most definitely won me over. 

Zach Kazan

Regular readers will not be surprised to learn that the standout watch for me at last week’s LVMH Watch Week was the Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Yellow Neon SAXEM. It’s no secret that Hublot’s big, synthetic sapphire tourbillons have become personal objects of obsession for me since experiencing last year’s purple novelty. The new one, in a shade of fluorescent yellow that immediately makes me think of tennis balls, isn’t made from sapphire, exactly, but Hublot’s exotic SAXEM material, which incorporates rare earth elements into a sapphire alloy to create a finished material that is remarkably solid in the hand, totally translucent, and free of flaws. 

Regrettably, I haven’t spent enough time with Hublot’s SAXEM and regular old sapphire cased watches to feel out much a difference in weight, finishing, or feel (though I welcome the opportunity, if anyone at Hublot is reading), so I can’t really comment on any tangible benefits of SAXEM over any other variety of synthetic glass. But as an aesthetic object, this thing is wonderful. The color will deservedly get most most of the attention, but the case itself is incredibly cool, constructed from multiple pieces of SAXEM and held together by screws, it looks and feels like a deconstructed version of a Hublot, and despite the large size, it wears quite easily thanks in large part to one of the supple rubber straps you’re likely to experience. Ultimately, it’s a perfect example of what Hublot is doing really well right now, which is leaning into their reputation for extravagant flash while executing on a very high level. 

Speaking of extravagance, I have to mention a watch that legitimately took me completely by surprise. The Serpenti Tubogas Infinity by Bulgari represents the first time the brand has adorned the long, coiled Serpenti bracelet with diamonds, which run from the watch case (shaped like the head of a snake) through the bracelet in a wave-like pattern. While Bulgari gets frequent mention in enthusiast circles for their Octo Finissimo line, the Serpenti might be an even better representation of the brand for its expression of classical high jewelry making. The Serpenti has been around in one form or another since 1948, and when it comes to watches that are specifically and unapologetically marketed toward women, there are few that are more iconic. 

In photos, it’s easy to appreciate the Serpenti Tubogas for its beauty and originality, but handling it drives home both the craftsmanship and sheer ingenuity of the watch. Each bracelet is constructed of gold bands wrapped around a central steel coil such that the interior “spring” remains invisible even when the watch is uncoiled to fit over the wearer’s arm. There’s a tactile pleasure in unwinding the spring and letting it snap back into coiled form that is completely unlike anything else you’re likely to experience in a watch made for men, and the diamond setting in the bracelet itself is very impressive.

We were told by Bulgari in our meeting at LVMH Watch Week that there’s been a renewed interest in a men’s version of the Serpenti, and they hinted that something is in the works and not too far off. That is a fascinating prospect, and we all look forward to seeing what a version of this watch made for male wrist (or forearm) might look like. Part of the charm of the Serpenti as it stands today is the seemingly delicate nature of it, and I wonder if a version that is simply larger, perhaps in a steel or titanium format that recalls the Octo Finissimo, would have the same effect. Regardless, the new Serpenti from the Infinity collection shown last week is a beautiful thing indeed, and easy to admire even if it would never look at home on my own wrist. 

Blake Buettner

I’ll be honest, the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Solargraph is the watch that most excited me both going into, coming out of LVMH Watch Week, and I can’t wait to get more hands-on time with a sample soon. I also very much enjoyed the Sorai from Hublot, not only for its lovely color scheme, but also for the optional velcro strap it came with. But in the spirit of mixing things up, I’ll talk a bit about another watch that left an impression, and that is the Zenith Defy Skyline Skeleton. 

The Defy Skyline Skeleton was more of a surprise than anything else, mostly because I didn’t expect it to be as pleasant as it was. I’ll admit, I thought the watch would be a bit much to manage when I first saw the press images. Gone was the sleek profile of the Defy Classic, replaced instead by the bolder Skyline case. I still prefer the case of that Classic, but the Skyline Skeleton revealed itself to be quite compelling on wrist. 

It was wearable, and as we’ve discussed before, that matters more than the numbers. I also appreciate the move to a dateless layout, and the spastic subsidiary seconds migrating to the 6 o’clock position. In total, the dial works way better than many “open” dials like this, with a healthy amount of legibility still on offer. 

That said, I do hope we get another Skyline with a similar slim case as the Defy Classic, as that now represents a hole in the Zenith range. Perhaps we’ll see something along these lines at Watches & Wonders later this year. Here’s hoping. In the meantime, keep an eye out for a deeper hands-on experience with that Aquaracer Solargraph.