Our top sportive champs from Watches And Wonders 2022.

TUDOR Black Bay Pro

A rugged alternative to the Tudor Black Bay GMT models, the Black Bay Pro transposes the former’s two-time zone functionality into a watch that looks ready for some time in the wild. Housed in a 39mm case with a fixed bezel with 24-hour markings, the Black Bay Pro eschews the heft commonly associated with sports watches but still exudes hardiness and performance. The automatic Calibre MT5652 that powers this model is the same one in the Black Bay GMT, which is a highly practical and sophisticated engine that allows users to easily set the local time by adjusting the hour hand forwards or backwards in one-hour increments.

TAG HEUER Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver

A breakthrough TAG Heuer dive watch that pretty much does what its name says. The Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver is the most athletic model in the revitalised Aquaracer collection: a 45mm titanium-cased, COSC-certified behemoth that is water-resistant to 1,000m. Despite its size and attributes, the watch is incredibly light, thanks to its titanium construction. As one can imagine, this sporty ticker wears just as well on dry land, too. Equally impressive on the inside, the watch runs on the automatic Calibre TH30-00 that is accurate to -4/+6 seconds a day and offers up to 70 hours of power reserve on a full wind.

MONTBLANC 1858 Iced Sea

An unusual combination of decorative horology and a high performance sports watch, the 1858 Iced Sea sounds like it wouldn’t work in theory, but wins you over at first sight. At its heart, the 1858 Ice Sea is a proper dive watch. Housed in 41mm steel, it boasts a unidirectional ceramic bezel, 300m water-resistance, and robust automatic movement. Most importantly, it is performance-certified by ISO and Montblanc’s own in-house 500-hour test, so it is a legit diving instrument. Yet, the watch also intrigues with artisanal verve. This is courtesy of its captivating dial that looks like it is carved from a block of glacier. In reality, the dial is created using an old decorative technique known as gratté boisé that allows the artisan to recreate the look and textures of glaciers. The 1858 Iced Sea comes in a choice of blue, green and black dial to evoke the different colours of glaciers.

IWC Pilot’s Watch Top Gun Edition ‘Lake Tahoe’

We wouldn’t ever disrespect an IWC Pilot’s Watch by calling it stylish. But man, the Top Gun Edition ‘Lake Tahoe’ sure has us thinking about pairing it with some obscure but pricey streetwear to level up on the swag this watch deserves. The Top Gun Edition ‘Lake Tahoe’s’ pristine hue on the case and strap is inspired by how the eponymous lake, which is located near the Top Gun flight academy, looks during winter. More importantly, the white ceramic case is emblematic of IWC’s pioneering work in the field of material experimentation. The company debuted its first ceramic watch, the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Ref. 3755, back in 1986. It had also been experimenting with coloured ceramic since the 1980s – a particularly demanding endeavour that calls for specialised formula and manufacturing process of zirconium oxide for each new colour.

ZENITH Chronomaster Sport

After a contentious debut in 2021 that divided opinion among watch critics, Zenith is rushing to roll out the Chronomaster Sport watches to address ever-increasing demand. The popularity of the collection looks to continue unabated this year, as Zenith unveils four new references. Our favourite among the quartet is the stainless steel boutique edition with tri-colour ceramic bezel in blue, grey and anthracite that echo the tones on the chronograph counters. There is just something measured and cool about the silver tones on this version that articulates machismo and sportive elegance at the same time. Like before, the latest Chronomaster Sport models are driven by the next-generation automatic high-frequency El Primero 3600 column-wheel chronograph movement, which measures time to 1/10th of a second.

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