Although digital, was this year's edition of the LVMH Watch Week quite the event. Hublot, Zenith, and Bulgari all showed that not even a pandemic could slow down their drive to innovate, as they presented their latest watches. While they all impressed, these are our haute highlights;

Few watch brands have such a tight connection with the world of car racing as TAG Heuer. As this sport rose to new heights after World War II, Heuer as the brand was called back then, was there on the journey with it. TAG Heuer has especially a special connection with Porsche. Not only share many watches their name with that of a Porsche, the brand also sponsored prominent Porsche drivers such as Jo Siffert, who was very successful with the legendary Porsche 917. Later on, Steve McQueen would drive the same type of Porsche in perhaps his biggest movie ever; Le Mans. Here, not only would his overall sport the Heuer logo, just as Siffert, but there was also a Heuer chronograph around his wrist. TAG Heuer CEO Frédéric Arnault has brought the two legendary names together again by forging a partnership with one of the world's most prominent sports car manufacturers.

For Rolex, the beach at Daytona plays an intricate part in their history. It was there that Sir Malcolm Campbell initially did his high-speed runs, breaking the world land speed record five times. Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex, was already in a very early stage interested in Sir Malcolm Campbell's achievements and recognized the potential of collaborating. They teamed up, and Campbell joined the Rolex family, achieving the vast majority of his records with a Rolex around his wrist. In 1965, Rolex officially named their chronograph Daytona, and it would become quickly more famous than the beach it got its name from.

When you say Zenith, you say El Primero. While the brand is about so much more, this legendary automatic chronograph movement continues to shape Zenith. This is not at all a bad thing, as the brand is not stuck on replaying its greatest hits but rather lets the past inspire its future. This also becomes clear when looking at the new watches that Zenith introduced at the 2021 edition of LVMH's Watch Week;

TAG Heuer is a brand with a very rich heritage. Especially in regard to chronographs, few brands can rival the role that TAG Heuer played in this field. Today, this type of complication still dominates the collection of the brand, and rightfully so. However, this doesn't mean that TAG Heuer is dwelling on the past, replaying past hits, but instead letting them serve as an inspiration for the future. A watch that makes this obvious is the Carrera Sport Chronograph Special Edition, which is inspired by the 'DATO-45' model from 1965.

Despite the pandemic, many brands did not hold back when it came to releasing new models. What usually would be launched at one of the fairs or during a special event was now presented by Zoom- and Skype-meetings. Fortunately, this doesn't make the watches any less impressive, as the following five prove;

One hallmark of Richard Mille is that he always likes to explore the boundaries of watchmaking and preferably push them a little bit further back. With the new RM 65-01, he did just that again. With over 600 components, is this one of the most complicated watches the brand has made to date. This is mainly thanks to the split-second chronograph, for which Mille reinvented the complication.

In the four years that Hublot and Berluti are working together, has this powerful collaboration resulted in quite a few emblematic creations. These models had two things in common; they all featured the exquisite Venezia leather that Berluti is known for and used a Classic Fusion as a base model. That changes today as Hublot and Berluti introduce the Big Bang Unico Berluti Cold Brown.

The Santos de Cartier Chronograph can best be described as dynamic elegance. Its sense of refinement comes from the iconic case and its distinct bezel, which now extends to where the bracelet or strap begins, one of the hallmarks of the in 2018 redesigned collection. While it maintains the recognizable profile of the Santos, it also provides it with a fresh look. The chronograph version is visually more dynamic than its time-only sibling. This is in part due to the subdials, which Cartier spaced out perfectly. The dial features the signature Roman numerals, along with a partial railroad track along the outer perimeter, marking the hours and minutes.

The Damier pattern is synonymous with Louis Vuitton. It was the man himself who designed this checkered pattern, which already decorated the trunks and suitcases the company made in the late 1800s. It most certainly stood the test of time, as it is today not only still in production but also in high demand as one of Louis Vuitton's signature patterns. It is also the source of inspiration for two new Tambour watches that come with a sportive twist.

Diamonds are often thought to be the rarest and expensive gemstones in the world, but this is not the case. While they are most certainly precious, there are gemstones found in much lower quantities, like the Paraíba tourmaline. This gemstone was discovered for the first time in 1989 in the Brazilian state of Paraíba, hence its name. Later on, there were also deposits found in Nigeria and Mozambique. To put their rarity into perspective, a single Paraíba tourmaline is mined for every 10,000 diamonds.

Especially in watchmaking, details make a difference. Zenith is a brand that has always had a great understanding of this, which they also underscore with the new Chronomaster Revival Liberty. This watch is exclusive to the North American market, and Zenith will only make 150 pieces of them.

When it comes to pilot's watches is IWC one of the benchmarks. Their history is rich with watches made to be worn in the cockpit, particularly on the wrist of military pilots. In 2018, the brand developed a watch exclusively for the men and women who would graduate from the highly acclaimed Navy Fighter Weapons School "Top Gun" program. It is now time for a limited edition based on this unique watch, whose full name is Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Edition "SFTI," where the acronym stands for 'Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor.'

With its square case is the TAG Heuer Monaco an instantly recognizable icon. When introduced in 1969, it was the first automatic chronograph that featured a water-resistant form shaped case. The rest is history, but not for TAG Heuer. They continued to develop the Monaco further. While this can be very rewarding, it also comes with significant risks. When a watch reaches an icon's status, people usually like it the way it is and often oppose more radical changes. TAG Heuer walked this thin line seemingly effortlessly. Their developments made the Monaco slowly but surely evolve, introducing new colors and designs, even better fit and finish, but never went too far away from what made the watch such a success in the first place.

The days that a watch would be available with either a black or a silver dial are long gone. Color is the new credo, as many brands now release watches in a rainbow of different hues. Recently, the colorful dials of the new Oyster Perpetual 41 even eclipsed the news of the revised Submariner. Blancpain and Jaeger-LeCoultre also offer a colorful take on existing favorites as they launch their new models.

The Tambour was introduced only 18 short years ago, in 2002, yet its impact has been profound. For Louis Vuitton, it was the watch that put them firmly on the map as being a watchmaking 'maison.' The way that the Tambour did this is almost unprecedented, as the model proved to be one of the most versatile designs in the history of watchmaking. It could just as easily be turned into a display of technical excellence, featuring complex mechanical movements, as housing the latest technology as a state-of-the-art smartwatch.