WATCHES
69businesstraveller.com DECEMBER 2017→1 TAG HEUER AUTAVIA JACK HEUER
SPECIAL EDITION
All-action sports chronographs were everywhere
thisyear, from Tudor ’s Heritage Black Bay Chrono
to Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe. But my
pick is the TAG Heuer Autavia – specifically, here in
a guise created to commemorate legendary former
CEO and honorary chairman Jack Heuer ’s 85th
birthday. It swaps the normal bezel, all easy-to-
read numerals, for a slightly more techy steel one
and, as a result, looks better on a steel bracelet.
Reviving the Autavia was a stroke of marketing
genius on TAG’s part (if not an overly risky decision)
but it has been executed with a sure hand.
US$5,560;tagheuer.comDAILY WEARER OF THE YEAR BEST FIRST WATCH UNEXPECTED SUCCESS OF THE YEARACTION HERO OF THE YEARHERE WE PRESENT THE WATCHES
THAT STOOD OUT IN 2017,either
for doing a simple job better
than their rivals or for doing
something unique and worthy
of attention. They’re not
necessarily the “best” watches
of the year, but I have allowed
myself one personal favourite
(number 9)...2 IWC INGENIEUR AUTOMATIC
Making a watch that you could wear day in, day
out and have no complaints about sounds like
such a simple prospect –indeed, it’s what most
people look for. But simplicity is a hard thing to
get right; this year, IWC has nailed it with the
Ingenieur Automatic, which sees the model return
to a round case after an oversized, chunky phase.
US$5,000;iwc.com3 JUNGHANS FORMA
Even the most seasoned watch collectors start
somewhere, and if you’re taking your first step into
mechanical watches this year, you could do a lot
worse than the Junghans Form A: an automaticmovement, handsome looks rooted in mid-century
design at an approachable price, and, as an added
bonus, it’s unlikely all of your friends will have one.
US$1,100;junghans.de4 HUBLOT CLASSIC FUSION ITALIA
INDEPENDENT
By now we shouldn’t be surprised at anything
Hublot does, but putting a houndstooth cloth
across the dial of a Classic Fusion, and continuing
the same material into the strap? Like wearing
double denim, it absolutely shouldn’t work – yet
in this case, it absolutely does. The ceramic
chronograph is my unexpected hit of the year.
US$15,500;hublot.com