By Victoria Townsend 42,195 km or 26.2 miles. Tag Heuer has been accompanying competitive sports for over 150 years, and marathon races are among them. Official Timekeeper and Official Watch of last Sunday’s 2016 Paris Marathon, the 40th to date, the watch brand has also partnered with the marathons of New York City, Chicago, London, Berlin and Moscow. The second most important after New York City, this year’s Paris edition saw a total of 57,000 competitors from 140 countries at the starting line. Going beyond the limits of normal physical endurance perfectly embodies the Tag Heuer slogan of #Don’tCrackUnderPressure that accompanied the runners through the streets of the French capital. Cybrian Kotut from Kenya won with a time of 02:07:11; his compatriot Visilie Jepsheko was the first lady to finish in 02:25:53. Among the new Tag Heuer models introduced at Baselworld this year, the Carrera HEUER-01 is made to time the winners. First presented in 2015, this signature chronograph model promised to be the backbone of a new collection, with a new case, new construction, new design and new automatic in-house caliber HEUER-01 based upon the 1887 calibre. Presented in titanium carbide coated steel with a perforated black rubber strap, the modular case construction with 12 different components was designed to open up the possibilities to combine new materials, colours, treatments and finishes.

By Victoria Townsend “It’s classic with a twist“, smiled Vacheron Constantin Artistic Director Christian Selmoni, in Paris last Thursday for the unveiling of ‘Elégance Sartoriale’ - the watchbrand’s latest collection from the series of Métiers d’Art. Vacheron Constantin knows all about sartorial elegance. The high watchmaker from Geneva has been dressing the pockets and wrists of gentlemen for over 260 years, and even went so far as to launch its own customizable watch collection with the ‘Quai de l’Ile’ in 2008. So when it met up with Vitale Barberis Canonico, the oldest textile manufacturer in the world that has been supplying the finest fabrics to the best of tailors since it was founded in Pratrivero Italy in 1663, a shared project of sartorial elegance was developed, resulting in 5 new watch dials inspired by the noblest of fabrics and motifs.

By Pooja Agarwal The Happy Diamonds by Chopard got even happier this year. The new version of the precious gems are prong-set to shine even brighter, and still whirl around as playfully as ever. At Baselworld, Chopard revisited the iconic timepiece in which the Happy Diamonds were first introduced in 1976.

By Roberta Naas Every year we delight in finding amazing timepieces at Baselworld. This year was no exception. True, due to global economic downturns and investment-shy retailers, there was not as much newness (in terms of quantity) unveiled at the exhibition as we may have liked, but what was introduced was quality timepieces. In fact, this could be the year that the “less is more” mantra, or “quality over quantity” played out the strongest. Among those quality watch unveilings this year were several “world firsts.” In fact, we counted nearly a dozen that are worthy of discussion, but that is far too many for this article, so we are planning installments. Here we bring you the first four world-first or world-record-setting watches unveiled at BaselWorld 2016.

By Pooja Agarwal Conscious of the needs of their female collectors, Breguet has launched the Tradition Dame 7038 timepiece at Baselworld. Finally, women can enjoy a piece from the technical Tradition collection by the Swiss watchmaker, which proudly exhibits almost all the movement's components on both sides of the mainplate. The watch case has diamonds, of course, to further win hearts. Breguet’s Tradition collection has surely been enhanced with the introduction of this new self-winding Tradition Dame 7038 model.

By Victoria Townsend When Graff Luxury Watches presented the manual-winding GyroGraff timepiece with a double-axis tourbillon and innovative moon-phase indictor at its very first Baselworld in 2014, surprise was enormous and success was immense. Two years later, the family-owned company goes one step further with the unveiling of the GyroGraff World.

By Victoria Townsend The concept is clear, sapphire crystal clear. We were expecting to (re)see the white version – the ‘Big Bang Unico Sapphire’- presented just a few weeks ago, but ten years after the launch of the “All Black” collection, Hublot surprises us and brings it all together with the introduction of the ‘Big Bang Unico Sapphire All Black’.

By Roberta Naas We know there are Corum Bubble lovers out there. In fact, there is an entire sect of what could be called "Bubble-risti" (a term only those familiar with the "Paneristi" will understand). Since the wildly outrageous Bubble watch was launched in the year 2000, the watch has achieved an almost cult-like status. Over time, the line slowly devolved -- to the chagrin of many. Then, at last year's Baselworld, Corum marked the return of the Bubble in honor of its 15th anniversary. A clamor of joy could be heard around the world and the brand knew bringing the collection back was a genius move. Since then, there have been several important new editions -but this year's may top them all.

By Victoria Townsend From racer spirit to classic, from moonphase to tourbillon with fusée and chain transmission system, Zenith brings us five new timepieces as varied and distinctive as the wrists that will wear them. The luxury watch brand that makes all its movements in-house, winner of 2,333 chronometry prizes since its founding in 1865, is creative with competitive pricing.

By Roberta Naas It isn’t every day that we get to put our hands on more than 40 carats of diamonds and gemstones meticulously set in a timepiece. This year at Baselworld, though, we have had several such opportunities and one of the standout experiences has been getting up close and personal with the amazing new Chanel high-jewelry Les E’ternelles De Chanel secret watches. Developed as a capsule collection, these incredible high-jeweled masterpieces deftly demonstrate the Parisian brand’s savoir-faire when it comes to jewelry and watches. The timepieces pay tribute to the iconic quilting motif for which the brand is known. In fact, the quilting is a motif Mademoiselle Chanel developed and carried through on haute couture and leather goods such as handbags and clutches. The pattern has become a flagship for the brand.

By Roberta Naas It is definitely a record year for Bulgari when it comes to watches. This year, the brand not only unveils several all-new collections, but also brings the beloved Serpenti to new heights and unveils the world’s thinnest Minute Repeater. Yes, that was a lot to say in a single sentence, but imaging unveiling all of that in a single year. To some it may seem incredible, but to me – having visited the Bulgari workshops in Le Sentier recently, as well as the dial making factory – I fully understand how this brand has sped forward into the limelight of high watchmaking. We will bring you more on the story of the Bulgari workshops soon, but in the meantime, let’s focus on Baselworld 2016 and the products that are all abuzz for this brand.

By Victoria Townsend Blancpain presents its Annual Calendar GMT from the Villeret collection with a new, modern look, fitted for the first time with a stainless steel case. This new material for the 40 mm x 11.04 mm thick case is a perfect match for the easy-to-read white dial with stainless steel hands and hour-markers Day, date, and month are read in a rapid eye movement from 2 to 4 o’clock, while a small 24-hour counter at 8 o’clock indicates home time with GMT local time provided by the central hours hand. The self-winding 6054F caliber requires adjustment once per year, between February and March, easily made with Blancpain’s patented under-lug correctors – one at 1 o’clock to change the day, and the other at 5 o’clock to adjust the month. Fast GMT and date corrections, along with time setting, are made with the crown.

By Roberta Naas It’s another bang-up year for Jacob & Co., the brand that has been offering daring extremes in watches for years. This year, the brand continues to stretch the imagination and bring the incredible to fruition in two new timepieces that will have you lusting to see the watches in person. Taking the already well-known and much-loved Astronomia to new heights, Jacob & Co unveils a new realm in three-dimensional glory with the Astronomia Sky watch. While this timepiece may be a third generation of the original Astronomia Tourbillon that was first introduced in 2014, it is a totally new rendition – a reconfigured movement and a new complication. In fact, the Astronomia Sky Triple Axis Gravitational Tourbillon offers astronomical sidereal time display (tracking solar time and calendar time), a celestial sky dial, a three-dimensional moon and a center globe of the Earth.

By Roberta Naas It is a big year for Ulysse Nardin. The brand that has regularly been on the cutting edge of technology and innovation once again wows us with its technical prowess. At this year’s BaselWorld, Ulysse Nardin takes a bold leap forward – combining its marine heritage roots dating back to the 1800’s with a visionary look forward. For the first time ever, the brand introduces two new haute horology complexities into the Marine Chronometer line. Now, before you have the chance to say it, we will acknowledge it: building a COSC-certified Marine Chronometer is already a horological accomplishment. However, this year Ulysse Nardin takes the line to all new heights.

By Jordan Smith For their latest collaboration with Hublot, Berluti has taken their tradition for fine leather craftsmanship a step further with the Hublot Classic Fusion Berluti. In the new piece, Hublot's innovative brand of watchmaking meets Berluti's emblematic Venezia leather and patina for the creation of a piece that makes leather the undisputed star.

By Victoria Townsend Among the many novelties from Patek Philippe this year, the World Time Chronograph Ref. 5930 is gaining favours with the press and collectors. For the first time, the Geneva-based watchbrand combines its patented World Time mechanism with a proprietary chronograph, resulting in an easy-to- read and easy-to-use timepiece that provides the local time in hours and minutes, a display of 24 time zones, day/night indications, a chronograph hand and a 30-minute chronograph counter at 6 o’clock.