Heritage watches are finding new fans in 2024 – from the Cartier Tank and Van Cleef & Arpels Ludo, to Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, read on for a rundown of fresh takes on famous names
- Classics like Patek Philippe Nautilus, IWC Ingenieur SL, Longines Spirit Zulu Time, Zenith Pilot and Tag Heuer Carrera have all been refreshed and reissued
- The cherished work of famous designers like Georges Favre-Jacot, Gérald Genta and Jack Heuer is now being carefully revisited for the enjoyment of new generations of watch lovers
Gérald Genta is one of the 20th century’s most celebrated watch designers, the man behind iconic models like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak of 1972 and the Patek Philippe Nautilus of 1976. Yet another classic – though less well known – sports watch of the era by the late designer (he died in 2011) was the IWC Ingenieur SL, which itself was an update of a 1950s design.
The model disappeared from IWC’s repertoire for decades but as the 1970s “brutalist” style of steel sports watch design is enjoying a revival among enthusiasts, IWC has relaunched it this year.
The Ingenieur Automatic 40 is a sympathetic update of the original design, newly engineered and equipped with a modern automatic movement but reflecting the same aesthetic codes of the Genta original with the five exposed bezel screws and integrated metal bracelet.
There are three references in stainless steel and one in titanium. As Christian Knoop, chief design officer at IWC says, “It’s not every day that a designer gets the chance to work on an icon like the Ingenieur SL. We were aware of the enormous responsibility this task entailed and proceeded very cautiously.”
While keeping faithful to the original design signature, he believes they “have succeeded in creating a new and contemporary interpretation, perfected down to the smallest detail”.
The IWC Ingenieur is one of a host of revivals and refreshes of heritage designs that have been launched this year. Except for a limited-edition titanium model in 2021, Breguet had not touched its Type XX since 2010, the 50th anniversary of the first chronograph model being delivered to French military pilots. Longines too has updated its classics Spirit Zulu Time and Flagship Heritage, the latter of which originates from 1957. Elsewhere, Zenith returns to the aviation sector with a reboot of its long-standing line of Pilot watches, and of course the 60th anniversary of Tag Heuer’s Carrera continues apace with two new chronograph pieces.
After being relaunched in 1996 following a long hiatus, the Carrera accounts for over 30 per cent of Tag Heuer’s business. The new 42mm stainless steel model is directly inspired by the original 1963 racing chronograph that Jack Heuer designed to appeal to professional drivers and sports-car lovers with its dashboard style dial. The name is drawn from the infamous Carrera Panamericana, a cross-Mexico race of the 1950s, and both the two new pieces capture the essence of the original but are powered by the in-house automatic chronograph Heuer 02 movement.
