Why 2023 is the year of the chronograph: 6 watch brands celebrating the stopwatch complication, from the Rolex Daytona and Tag Heuer’s Monaco, to Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Offshore

Jun 17 , 2023

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Le Mans, Tag Heuer Monaco, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore “End of Days”, and Breguet Type 20. Photos: Handout

In the world of timepieces, 2023 is the year of celebrating chronographs, like the Rolex Daytona that debuted at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race, paying tribute to ‘Paul Newman’ editions

Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Offshore ‘End of Days’ honours Arnold Schwarzenegger and put the brand on the map among athletes and celebrities like Muhammad Ali, Jay-Z and LeBron James

So far, 2023 has been a stellar year for chronographs, with a healthy mix of brands commemorating anniversaries for their chronograph collections, releasing editions of other iconic pieces with the stopwatch complication, and releasing stellar one-off pieces just because.

The complication itself needs little introduction – chronographs with subdials and pushers that help track time by whole and split seconds are ubiquitous in horology. As a result, these instruments are pivotal to human endeavours requiring this specific type of timekeeping, such as for racing, diving, aerospace, and even space exploration.

Here are some of the most important releases from this year so far that feature the stopwatch complication.

1. Rolex

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Photo: Rolex

Rolex is celebrating several big anniversaries this year, such as 70 years for the Submariner and the Explorer, respectively. However, in 1963 – just 10 years after both of those models were released – Rolex launched the Cosmograph Daytona, which immediately associated the brand with its namesake racing mecca in Florida in the US.

Not long after that, actor Paul Newman was gifted a then-exotic variant of the watch (with a coloured chapter ring and unique subdial indices) by his wife Joanne Woodward, and “Paul Newman” Daytonas are especially beloved by collectors. Now, any Daytona associated with the actor commands massive values on the auction block to this day.

The Rolex Oyster Cosmograph Daytona associates the watch brand with the American racing hub. Photo: Rolex

Rolex pulled out all the stops for the big 60th anniversary of what some view as the definitive chronograph. At Watches and Wonders in March, both standard and platinum versions of the Daytona were upgraded to feature the new calibre 4131, with the platinum version now being the first Rolex piece in almost 100 years to feature this exhibition caseback so far.

A “reverse panda” Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona was recently launched at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Photo: Rolex

More recently, Rolex debuted a Daytona at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race. This recent 18-karat white gold piece features a “reverse panda” face (black dial, white subdials) with the subdials featuring indices that evoke those of the famous “Paul Newman” Daytonas, and a red “100” indicator to mark the centenary of the famous endurance race.