Jill Duggar and her husband opted for a bit of light and subtle racism on Halloween this year.
On the former’s Instagram story in the wake of going out for candy with her kids on October 31, Duggar shared a photograph of her and Derick Dillard’s costume.
As you can see down below, Jill was dressed like a garbage man.
Derick, for his part, was dressed like a bag of garbage.
Jill Duggar and Derrick Dillard speak here as part of a documentary on their family. (Image Credit: Amazon Prime)
You may have to follow along closely here and pretty pretty well attuned for current events and/or the Presidential election, but…
Donald Trump wore the same exact kind of vest as Jill during a recent rally.
He did so after a comedian named Tony Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” during a speech at Madison Square Garden six days ago as part of an event honoring Trump at which the former President later spoke.
Trump donned his ridiculous attire after Joe Biden mumbled a remark that implied to some as if he were classifying Trump’s supporters as, you guessed it, garbage.
Jill Duggar and her husband on Halloween. (Instagram)
There’s admittedly a lot here. It’s a lot to decipher and work through.
But it seems impossible to believe that Duggar wasn’t purposely wearing the same outfit as Donald Trump — and equally hard to believe that she and Dillard weren’t making a statement about having to take out the garbage.
With the garbage, in this racist case, being residents of Puerto Rico (who are U.S. citizens!) and/or various types of immigrants.
Would anyone really be shocked to learn that Jill Duggar is on Team MAGA?
Donald Trump greets supporters during a campaign event at the Resch Center on October 30, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On Reddit, meanwhile, users had plenty to say about these costumers.
“I mean, seems like they got the costumes right. They definitely voted for garbage and have garbage beliefs. So accurate,” one person wrote, for example.
Another individual referred to the couple as “classy,” in a sarcastic manner,” while a third added:
“I’m sure their Jesus is really proud of them.”
And we mean, look, we could be way off base here. Jill and Derick could just be big fans of sanitation workers, who were also admire and who do a vital job in this country.
But come on now: Do you really think that’s the case?
In 1860, skirts were so wide that fashionably dressed women could no longer fit through doorways. (Photo Credit: Wikpedia)
Why is the study of historical costume important? For designers it’s a source of inspiration, in fact some often name their collections based on a particular period in history. You only have to look at designers such as Yves Saint Laurent whose Beat collection for Christian Dior in 1960 was inspired by the existentialists of Paris’s bohemian Left Bank. Ralph Lauren has based many of his collections on historical references. In 2018 he said “I loved East Coast preppiness, the utility of the cowboy’s worn jeans, American folk art, the glamour of Hollywood, and the rich heritage of Native American craftsmanship.” And of course Alexander McQueen, the master of fashion history, with his collections: Highland Rape in 1995 that focused on English violence towards Scotland; his Joan collection in 1998 inspired by French folk heroine Joan of Arc and many others. Here’s a full list of his past collections.
For designers, the study of fashion history is mandatory. It is not only a source of inspiration, but it chronicles the social status, gender roles, and cultural practices of a particular time and place.
Let’s take a look at some of the most ridiculous fashion, some hits and some misses, and how fashion continues to challenge the status quo.
FASHION’S WIDE LOAD
A Pannier dress by an unknown designer, ca. 1750, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Photo Credit: The MET)
Pannier dresses, popular in the 18th century, were so wide that women often found themselves stuck in doorways. These voluminous skirts required careful navigation and considerable space abut showcased the wearer’s status and the extravagance of the period. One of the most asked questions is how did women use the toilet when a wearing a pannier, hoop, bustle and/or caged skirt? The answer: They wore split-crotch drawers and therefore never had to pull them down as they used a commode and chamber pot. They would simply lift up the skirt, hoop or crinoline, and sit down either at the front or the back of the chair/commode, or they would place one foot on the chair while holding the chamber pot. The split-crotch drawers make it easy to do the rest. For a ‘not at all indecent’ video of the toileting process, click here.
FRENCH NOBLEWOMEN’S EXTRAVAGANCE
One of Marie Antoinette’s Most Epic Hairstyles. (Photo Credit: Huffington Post)
French noblewomen in the 18th century took hairstyling to new heights—literally. Inspired by naval victories, their elaborate coiffures often included miniature ships, complete with sails and rigging, perched atop their heads. Some of the most extravagant millinery designs would follow, such as the high-heeled Schiaparelli shoe hat, created in 1937 in collaboration with Salvador Dalí and Philip Treacy’s outstanding and outlandish creations. Click here to see some of Treacy’s masterpieces.
FASHION DOLLS
Fashion doll with accessories, c1755-60. (Photo Credit: Victoria and Albert Museum, London)
In the 15th century, fashion designers showcased their creations on little dolls instead of live models. These miniature clothes mannequins were sent to clients, offering a glimpse of the latest trends from which they would order. Designers back then were definitely more sustainability-minded compared to today’s practice of creating, fabricating and constructing hundreds of samples, several times a year, all full scale.
VICTORIAN BOYS IN DRESSES
Victorian boys wore dresses until they were 4 to 5 years old. (Photo Credit: Facebook the vintage everyday)
In Victorian times, it was customary for young boys to wear dresses until they were about four or five years old. This practice made diaper changes easier and was a social norm of the era. However, the trend went out of fashion by the 1920s. Although Egyptian, Greek and Roman men wore togas and Scottish men still wear kilts, the concept of men wearing skirts and dresses didn’t pick up steam until 1990 when Jean Paul Gaultier designed the man-skirt. In 2023, Harry Styles became the first man to wear a dress on the cover Vogue magazine.
THE RISE OF WOMEN’S SHORTS
A model wearing shorts in 1954. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
It wasn’t until after World War II that it became socially acceptable for women to wear shorts in public. The war brought about significant changes in women’s fashion, as practicality and comfort took precedence over pre-war norms. Today, women’s shorts have gotten even shorter and include names such as hot pants, short shorts, booty shorts, high cut shorts and even buttocks-exposing shorts, in an attempt to challenge societal norms.
THE BIRTH OF THE SHOULDER BAG
Betty White in her American Women’s Voluntary Services uniform. (Photo Credit: Betty White Ludden Trust)
Shoulder bags for women first appeared during World War II as part of service uniforms. Practical and functional, these bags soon became a staple in women’s fashion, blending utility with style. Fun fact: Did you know that the original Hermès Bag Birkin had a shoulder strap but was later removed for all future Birkin Hermès bags? But in 2023, with a surge of younger consumers who favor hands-free handbags taking over the luxury market, Hermès released the Crossbody Birkin.
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Kamala Harris says she’s always looking out for her own … putting her rally on pause to direct medics to someone who needs help — and, saying that’s what leadership’s all about.
The veep hosted a star-studded rally in Atlanta Saturday … and, when she finally came out to speak, it seems she noticed a supporter who was in distress — and, she immediately stopped her speech to help get medics to her.
Check out the clip … KH points into the crowd and asks for a medic to hustle over — before asking fans to part so the emergency medical team can get to the person in need.
After a moment, it seems everything returns to normal … when Harris says that this is what she and her supporters do — they always look out for one another.
KH’s crowd cheered her on while she adds that’s just how her team rolls … and, that’s what true leadership looks like.
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With the election days away, Harris brought all the stars out for her ATL rally … with Spike Lee, 2 Chainz, Monica and Victoria Monet coming out to speak on her behalf.
Monet gave an impassioned speech about her three-year-old daughter … saying she wants to make sure her daughter has bodily autonomy, the ability to live freely, affordable healthcare and more — so, people need to get out and vote for Harris.
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Worth noting … there was a second rally for Harris supporters today too — which took place in North Carolina. There, Khalid came out and sang his hit “Location” while Bon Jovi hit the stage and performed “Livin’ on a Prayer” with The War and Treaty.
Kamala’s got a ton of celeb supporters … but, looks like she’s looking out for the well-being of her normie fans, too!
Neary 65 million Americans have already cast their votes ahead of next week’s election—and the race between the two candidates is tightening up.
Cryptocurrency has been a significant issue in the presidential race, with former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump pivoting from a skeptic to a self-proclaimed crypto candidate, while current Vice President Kamala Harris—who took over for President Joe Biden as the Democrats’ pick in July—has signaled an intent to break from the anti-crypto policies of the current administration in which she serves.
At Decrypt, we’ve been covering the ins and outs of the role of cryptocurrency in American politics throughout the entire election cycle. But with just three days left until Election Day, here’s a primer on where Trump and Harris stand on crypto, and what you might expect if either secures the win next week.
Donald Trump
Ex-President Donald Trump has been far louder than Harris on the topic of crypto.
Previously anti-Bitcoin and skeptical of the crypto space, the business and real estate mogul has taken a sharp U-turn on the topic, coming out as an advocate for the industry and picking up ample support and donations along the way.
I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
Fast-forward to 2024 and Trump has released multiple sets of NFT collectibles, called for the Americanization of Bitcoin, and even has backed a decentralized finance (DeFi) project called World Liberty Financial alongside his sons. World Liberty hasn’t gotten off to a great start with prospective investors, though sources tell Decrypt that it plans to issue a stablecoin.
Like some other Republicans, Trump has railed against central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), or digital dollars—effectively government-backed cryptocurrencies that don’t yet exist in the U.S., but frighten the libertarian wing of the GOP and large parts of the digital asset space due to fears of increased government surveillance.
His promise to help Bitcoin mining—a big business formerly dominated by China, but now with a lot of American players—perfectly fits Trump’s fiery protectionist brand. As does his desire to fire crypto bogeyman Gary Gensler, the crypto-targeting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman.
Top executives in the crypto space have since backed Trump for his apparent passion for the industry, or at least his willingness to publicly engage with an industry that most politicians have avoided.
If elected to a second term, will Trump live up to his promises to protect crypto in the U.S. and advance the industry?
Kamala Harris
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris was initially quiet on the topic, and unlike Trump, certainly hasn’t been seen tossing burgers to Bitcoiners at a BTC-themed New York City bar.
But crypto is a part of the former attorney general’s agenda.
In October, Harris said she had plans for the space when a part of her “Kamala Harris Will Deliver for Black Men” platform included a commitment for specifically for the African American community.
A document for the campaign said it was for “supporting a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets so Black men who invest in and own these assets are protected.”
The framing proved controversial, particularly since it was arguably her most specific comments to date about crypto. But a spokesperson later clarified that such plans were intended for all Americans, and wouldn’t be limited by race.
That isn’t the only evidence that the crypto industry will fit into her presidential plans, however. Harris has said that blockchain, AI, and other emerging technologies will be innovated upon in America, and before that told donors at a fundraising event that she would encourage growth for the digital assets space in the country.
Billionaire businessman and crypto enthusiast Mark Cuban previously toldDecrypt in July that the Harris campaign reached out to the former Dallas Mavericks owner with questions about digital assets. He later said the Harris camp was “far more open” to the space than the Biden administration—and he’s not the only crypto heavyweight who’s optimistic about Kamala.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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Sophie Price, Katie Price‘s little sister, has welcomed a baby girl into the world.
It is the second time becoming an auntie for Katie, who has five children of her own.
Katie Price’s sister Sophie Price gives birth
Taking to Instagram on Saturday night, Sophie shared a video of herself holding her newborn.
She wrote alongside the clip: “Our little family is complete… Olive Florence Beatrix Brooks arrived yesterday morning, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Her followers gushed over the news as one person said: “Congratulations to you all, well done Sophie. So happy for you. Love her name.”
Another wrote: “Huge congratulations to you all hun. Olive’s a beauty.”
Katie Price is now an auntie of two! Her sister Sophie Price has had a baby. (Credit: Channel 4)
Who is Sophie Price?
There are 11 years between 46-year-old Katie and 34-year-old Sophie. While Katie has said that they are “like chalk and cheese”, the sisters seem very close, hosting The Katie Price Show podcast together.
They also share an older brother, Danny, who tends to keep a lower profile.
Sophie, who previously worked as an assistant press officer for BBC Children In Need, has been with her partner Harry for 12 years. The couple had a baby boy, Albert, in 2021 and tied the knot in 2022.
Sophie announced the news of her pregnancy back in May, via an Instagram post.
“Round two…Due November 2024,” she captioned an adorable photo of herself, Harry and little Albert all smiling as they held up a scan photo.
Her famous big sister seemed over the moon at the news, commenting: “The best news ever I get to become a auntie again” followed by three heart emojis.
Sophie, who is very active on Instagram, has kept her followers updated throughout her pregnancy journey with regular snaps and videos.
Read More: Katie Price calls police after vandals ‘throw acid’ at Ranger Rover while she and kids slept at home
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Strictly star Pete Wicks apologised to his pro partner Jowita Przystal tonight after making mistakes in his routine.
Pete and Jowita performed a Salsa to Another One Bites The Dust by Queen for Icons Week. However, after some mistakes in the performance, the couple only bagged 22 points out of a possible 40.
Craig Revel Horwood gave them just a four. However, it was Shirley Ballas who came under fire for her feedback to Pete.
Pete scored a 22 for his performance with Jowita tonight (Credit: BBC)
Pete Wicks on Strictly
As they finished their routine, Jowita hugged Pete. The former TOWIE star was heard apologising to her as she comforted him.
Shirley making an excuse of ‘you were giving it your all’ for mistakes? Pipe down. It was sloppy.
When it came to the judges’ feedback, Shirley noted that Pete had made “a lot of mistakes”. However, she said she wasn’t going to go into the mistakes and instead, spoke on the positives.
The judges then gave their scores, with Craig giving them a four while Shirley, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke gave them a six.
Pete apologised to Jowita for making mistakes (Credit: BBC)
Viewers fumed over Shirley for not going into detail about Pete’s mistakes.
One person said on X: “Shirley making an excuse of ‘you were giving it your all’ for mistakes? Pipe down. It was sloppy.”
Another wrote: “Shirley needs to stop excusing male celebrity mistakes because ‘they’re giving it their all’ both Pete and now Wynne [Evans].”
A third added: “Why is Shirley not going to over judge Pete???”
Shirley came under fire for her feedback (Credit: BBC)
Meanwhile, someone else said: “SHIRLEY ‘I’m not going to over judge this’ [BLEEP] OFF YOU’RE A JUDGE FOR A REASON.”
Others felt gutted for Pete. One said: “Oooo not a great dance from Pete tonight. It all just seemed to fall apart. 3/10 for me I’m afraid. Gutted I love Pete.”
Another commented: “Who decided that Another One Bites the Dust was suitable for a salsa FFS. Poor Pete.”
Someone else feared: “I’m gutted for Pete he may find himself in the dance-off.”
For all the latest Strictly Come Dancing news head to our dedicated Facebook page here.
Read more: Strictly star Pete Wicks sparks ‘worries’ ahead of Icons Week performance with partner Jowita Pryzstal
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Still, some Marvel shows — particularly the Disney Plus run beginning with 2021’s WandaVision, the point where Marvel Studios stopped licensing its characters all over the place — are more canon than others. And some Marvel shows are better than others. Marvel Studios worked out a popular formula for its billion-dollar movies, then applied the same formula to its shows, better integrating them into the MCU, but also turning them into just one more vehicle for setting up future plotlines and characters while neglecting the story supposedly being told. How do other companies’ canon approaches to Marvel stories compare to that dynamic ? We put every installment of MCU-integrated TV on the same scale to rank them and find out.
[Ed. note: Not included on this list are pre-MCU Marvel shows like Blade, or Marvel shows that were specifically declared non-MCU canon in their day, like the excellent mind game Legion, the X-Men spinoff The Gifted, or the animated series Guardians of the Galaxy. Latest update: November 2024, to include What If…? season 2, Echo, and Agatha All Along.]
Photo: Katie Yu/Hulu
2020’s Helstrom was the last of the live-action MCU shows released on Hulu before the launch of Disney Plus, and it was canceled after one nearly universally panned season. The show is borderline unwatchable, a dour procession of exorcist and paranormal tropes with only the loosest connection to the comic book characters it’s based on. Following a pair of siblings with demonic blood that gives them superpowers, it lacks likable characters, meaningful stakes, nuanced performances, or even impressive special effects. If you’re looking for a spooky supernatural story about fighting demons, check out Evil on Paramount Plus. If you want superheroics, you’re better off watching anything else on this list. —Samantha Nelson
Image: ABC
Originally planned as an MCU movie and its own MCU sub-franchise, Inhumans suffered in part from the same thing that gave it so much potential: It’s built around an entire society hidden from the rest of the world, where separatist superpowered folk live according to their own laws. But a series about supers who aren’t attached to human society has none of the relatable aspects that make MCU characters interesting. And the story, about a coup that might turn the Inhumans’ awful, oppressive oligarchy into a different kind of awful, oppressive oligarchy, doesn’t have a lot of stakes for the average viewer.
When an alternate version of Inhumans’ Black Bolt (still played by Anson Mount) eventually turns up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, that gave MCU fans a lot more rooting interest in the character. But it still doesn’t make Inhumans any more interesting or watchable. The acting is stiff, the writing is clunky, bad guy Maximus (Iwan Rheon, famous for playing Game of Thrones sadist Ramsay Bolton) is ridiculously obvious in his clumsy evil, and even once the action moves from the moon to Earth, the story never feels like it’s about actual people. Technically, it’s all there in the series title, so we can’t say we weren’t warned. —Tasha Robinson
Photo: Gareth Gatrell/Marvel Studios
If you gave me 14,000,605 tries to guess the events of the MCU version of Secret Invasion before it came out, I never would have gotten close. Unfortunately, in this instance, that isn’t a good thing. The Disney Plus show was never going to be much like the comic story it gets its name from — mostly a series of massive fights featuring every Marvel character you can think of, and a few more you couldn’t name if you tried. But leading up to release, it seemed like the show would at least involve some hidden identities and intrigue to go along with its all-star cast.
Instead, Secret Invasion never managed to do much of anything except disappoint fans. Its story, about a rogue sect of Skrulls infiltrating the ranks of world leaders and Earth’s mightiest heroes, kept gesturing at being a universe-shattering event. But it only amounted to a bland terrorist plot with one minor twist that didn’t change anything about the larger world of Marvel movies and shows. Worst of all, the show’s just pretty boring. Almost no one important turns out to be a secret disguised Skrull. Their Skrull plot doesn’t threaten anything particularly important. Every fight in the series looks like garbage, and there’s really no tension to speak of. Add all this onto the fact that it’s completely out of step with the plot of The Marvels, and it seems likely Secret Invasion is a show Disney and Marvel desperately want fans to forget. —Austen Goslin
22. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
Photo: Jessica Miglio/Marvel Studios
James Gunn’s Christmas special featuring his take on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy team is consciously cheesy, but the self-awareness doesn’t make it any less grating. At feature length, Gunn has much more space to veer between action, silly character bits, and sentiment, but the roughly 40-minute run time here makes all those twists feel rushed and clumsy, and the humor is particularly forced.
Marvel rounded up most of the GOTG regulars for this outing (apart from Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, for story-continuity reasons), but the story centers on Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) trying to give their buddy Peter “Star-Lord” Quill (Chris Pratt) a traditional Earth Christmas by giving him a human present: his favorite movie star, Kevin Bacon (Kevin Bacon). So the story directly centers the kind of shallow “non-humans trying to understand human stuff” that’s usually more of a welcome side note in GOTG stories, and the results are pretty dire. All the broad, flat conversations about The Meaning of Christmas, meant as retro callbacks to an earlier era of holiday specials, are meant to feel playful and nostalgic, but they aren’t clever enough to feel like commentary instead of copycatting. —TR
Photo: Michael Desmond/Hulu
Frankly, Runaways would probably be several notches higher on this list if the titular runaways had run away earlier. Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona’s original comics series, which launched in 2003, let the young protagonists find out early that their parents were powerful supervillains, and run off together out of fear and frustration, leading to plenty of plots about homeless kids coming to terms with their powers and fighting villains without adult assistance. But the 2017 TV adaptation spends its entire first season with the kids wheel-spinning about what to do after they see evidence their parents are murderers. As they dither in uninteresting ways, the series dilutes the focus on their characters further by giving equal screen time to their parents’ soap-operatic power struggles and relationship dramas.
Subsequent seasons finally put a little more focus on the young heroes, but the show really never overcomes the problem of its overcrowded cast, or its baffling attempt to make the parents personable and sympathetic, even as they’re systematically exploiting and murdering young people. And its focus on short-term, quickly resolved subplots, like a trying-to-be-current plot about mind control spread through cell phones, prevented the show from building up series stakes or meaningful energy. —TR
20. Cloak & Dagger (2018-2019)
Image: Freeform
The Freeform show Cloak & Dagger started off strong, driven by the powerful chemistry between Tandy Bowen, aka Dagger (Olivia Holt) and Tyrone Johnson, aka Cloak (Aubrey Joseph), teenagers trying to understand their new powers and the nature of the accident that sparked them. Because the writers were focusing on extremely minor Marvel characters, they didn’t need to adhere to comics canon — they were free to deliver a mix of heady wonder and romance, combined with sharp examinations of police brutality, addiction, and corporate malfeasance.
That early charm wore away as the show’s stakes increased and the comics tropes piled up. A twist on fridging meant to be edgy still came off as unnecessarily brutal, the writers tried to make the show’s least interesting character work by giving her an evil personality, and both seasons ended in near-apocalyptic conflicts. It isn’t a terrible YA adventure, but it’s a textbook case of diminishing returns. —SN
19. Iron Fist (2017-2018)
Photo: Linda Kallerus/Netflix
The first season of Iron Fist was rightly maligned for its rich, white man-child hero Danny Rand (Finn Jones) using his Chosen One powers to show up the people of color who are meant to be his loyal friends. But when Raven Metzner took over as showrunner for season 2, he oversaw a remarkable course-correction by shifting the focus away from Danny and building up the supporting cast.
Sacha Dhawan does a remarkable job as Danny’s brother-in-arms-turned-bitter-rival Davos, and Luke Cage cop Misty Knight (Simone Missick) is just as dismissive of Danny’s abilities as a vigilante as she works to come up with better solutions to Chinatown’s problems. The writers still didn’t seem to know what to do with some of the supporting cast, and the show continued to suffer from having too many subplots and villains, but it ended in a strange and surprising place compared to where it began. It’s almost sad that there wasn’t a third season or spinoff that could have really embraced the potential to explore the MCU’s deep well of mystic kung-fu weirdness. —SN
Photo: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
Marvel’s short-run series tracking the future of minor Hawkeye adversary Maya (Alaqua Cox), a former protégé of Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk, stays resolutely low-key and small-scale compared to other contemporaneous MCU stories: It’s far more of a crime thriller than a superhero story. After shooting her former mentor in the face at the end of Hawkeye, Maya returns to the small Oklahoma town she came from, and starts to reconnect with her Native American heritage while plotting a takeover of Kingpin’s organization. Kingpin, who survived the shooting, has other plans. Five episodes doesn’t give this story a lot of room to breathe, and Maya, a Deaf woman who communicates in sign, is so tightly controlled and repressed that it can be hard to get much nuance out of either her relationship with crime or her relationship with the equally impassive, close-to-the-vest crime overlord who still wants her in his fold. The idea of going small-scale and personal for a different type of MCU story is a good one, but Echo veers between appealingly distinctive and far too inert. —TR
17. Agents of SHIELD (2013-2020)
Photo: Mitch Haaseth/ABC
ABC’s Agents of SHIELD was the show most closely tied to the MCU before Disney Plus came along. It stars recurring MCU film character Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), who is mysteriously resurrected after being killed by Loki in The Avengers, then tasked with leading a group of agents investigating everything from rogue Asgardians to cyborgs. The show’s first season was written to complement the Captain America: The Winter Soldier revelation that SHIELD had been infiltrated by Hydra, which gives the story an excellent twist as several main characters show their true loyalties.
But that connective tissue wore thin over time, and later seasons saw the characters sent to space or entirely different timelines so they could avoid intersecting with the MCU films. When the show is firing on all cylinders, Agents of SHIELD is among the top Marvel series, embracing the genre-bending sensibilities of comic book stories and a heavy dose of meta humor. Unfortunately, it spends a lot of time foundering, taking several seasons to become a true ensemble show, and even then, struggling with separated characters and a rotating cast of varying quality. —SN
16. The Punisher (2017-2019)
Photo: Cara Howe/Netflix
Jon Bernthal’s gruff, fierce portrayal of Marine-turned-vigilante Frank Castle is the true highlight of Daredevil season 2, and the first season of The Punisher is among the best stories in the Netflix MCU. While the character’s legacy is highly problematic, showrunner Steve Lightfoot manages to keep the show from being just a brutal revenge fantasy by delivering plots that examine PTSD, the military industrial complex, and ethical hacking. The show is also buoyed by a fantastic supporting cast, with Ben Barnes playing an all-too-charming villain, and Castle’s sidekick, Micro (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), giving the series some desperately needed levity.
The second season fails to recapture that magic, though, with Micro’s absence keenly felt and DHS agent Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah) going from fierce foil to victim. That season’s plot also feels like a retread of the same conflicts presented in season 1, with little new to say. Most of the Netflix MCU shows experienced a quality dip after their first season, but The Punisher’s second and final outing was the worst offender. —SN
Photo: Sarah Shatz/Netflix
Netflix’s single-season crossover series attempted to be a kind of miniature TV version of The Avengers, one-upping Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist by bringing all the heroes together in one big plot line. It lacks Avengers’ impact or scope, but it does share some of its strengths: Bringing these four heroes together in different combinations lets the writers explore their personalities and abilities in new contexts. As they banter and snark at each other, they highlight some of the individual faults that bugged fans of their solo shows. And as they learn to work together, the ways their abilities and personalities synergize injects some fresh energy into their individual stories. The overplot here is disappointing, but the characters themselves are generally both funnier and more thrilling than they were on their own. —TR
14. Werewolf by Night (2022)
Image: Marvel Studios
Cheeky in the same way as The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special but a lot more nuanced in its sense of play, the one-off (so far) Halloween special Werewolf by Night leans heavily on classic Hollywood horror and Hammer Film Productions movies for its particular brand of self-aware cheese. But it also tells a solid (though abbreviated) story about misfits facing off and teaming up to address a power shift in a family of monster-hunters. It doesn’t feel like a part of MCU continuity — the tone and look are radically different from any previous MCU story, which is a breath of fresh air — but longtime Disney composer turned director Michael Giacchino confirms that it’s part of the mainline MCU narrative, which raises a ton of fun questions about the implication of this weird, gleefully ghoulish little side story. —TR
13. Luke Cage (2016-2018)
Photo: Myles Aronowitz/Netflix
The first half of the first season of Luke Cage is nearly perfect, with Mike Colter’s titular hero with unbreakable skin still struggling to make a real difference when fighting against the formidable mix of criminal and political power wielded by Mahershala Ali’s Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes. Yet the series takes a hard turn when Stokes is replaced by the generic psychopath Diamondback (Erik LaRay Harvey), and it becomes borderline unwatchable. Season 2 is more consistent, though it never really reaches the highs of season 1.
It’s too bad that the Netflix MCU ended before showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker could really develop the examination of moral compromises he was clearly setting up with Luke walking dangerously close to Stokes’ path by the end of season 2. But in spite of those flaws, Luke Cage is a vibrant portrait of Harlem, with an impeccable soundtrack and fantastic performances that call on the significant charisma of Colter, Ali, and Theo Rossi, who plays Stokes’ opportunistic underling Shades. While the other Netflix MCU shows largely focus on withdrawn, brooding heroes, Luke Cage revels in his powers and fame, which gives the show a uniquely bombastic quality. —SN
Image: Marvel Studios
It’s reasonable that so many of the Marvel shows following Avengers: Endgame deal with that movie’s world-changing aftermath and the characters who are mourning, coming to terms with loss, and reflecting on their identities. But coming after several more dynamic shows dealing with the same issues, Hawkeye feels unusually small and low-key, with minimal ambitions and a notable lack of original unique elements. It gets a little borrowed energy by bringing in a dangling plot thread from Black Widow and a villain from Netflix’s Daredevil, but mostly it feels like an attempt to introduce a new hero (Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop) and to MCU-ify some other relative Marvel Comics obscurities. The show isn’t bad, it just isn’t much. —TR
11. What If…? (2021-2023)
Image: Marvel Studios
The first season of What If…? went underseen and underrated, possibly a victim of MCU fatigue, prejudice against animation, or fans’ feeling that speculative multiverse stories don’t matter to MCU continuity. (Little did they know, back in 2021.) But it’s much more of a thrill than the Marvel stalwart gave it credit for: Its nine episodes start with straightforward “Make one change to the Marvel Universe” stories (Peggy Carter gets the super-soldier treatment instead of Steve Rogers, Erik Killmonger has a crucial early meeting with Tony Stark, and so forth). But once the AU training wheels are off, the season rapidly escalates, becoming big, cosmic, exciting, and dangerous. Season 1 is really about the integrated package, not any individual episode.
But season 2 lets the show down significantly, posing a bunch of much less iconic questions and not coming up with many memorable answers. The climactic conflict isn’t as memorable or as wild, and its nods to far-flung MCU characters feel a lot more rote than the careful integration of the first season. This is a show that literally has the license to do anything: Seeing it do so little with that freedom is particularly disappointing. —TR
10. Jessica Jones (2015-2019)
Photo: David Giesbrecht/Netflix
Jessica Jones had the mixed blessing of a stellar first season with a near-unbeatable villain in Kilgrave (former Doctor Who star David Tennant), whose voice is inescapably mesmeric, to the point where people kill each other or themselves at his casual verbal command. Krysten Ritter gives a consistently layered performance as the superhumanly powerful title character, a detective trying to ignore the deep traumas Kilgrave inflicted on her in the past, while dealing with his return. If the subsequent two seasons had been as targeted and intense as the first one, this series would probably top this list. Instead, Jessica Jones suffers from the way its second and third seasons lose focus, tension, and personal stakes by comparison. Still, it’s well worth sitting down to that first season, a street-level superhero series, crime procedural, and personal story about abuse and recovery all rolled into one. —TR
Photo: Gabor Kotschy/Marvel Studios
Is Moon Knight a canon part of the MCU? Executive producer Grant Curtis says it is, but apart from the tiniest references — a mention of Black Panther’s Ancestral Plane, another of Madripoor — the links are minimal, tenuous, and easily explained away, given Marvel Studios’ new focus on multiverses. Still, Disney Plus includes the show on its “MCU in timeline order” list, placing it right after Hawkeye.
But Moon Knight’s lack of visible MCU tie-ins also leaves it light on the usual burdens of forwarding a giant franchise’s narrative agenda. That gives creator Jeremy Slater and his team plenty of room to tell their own thrilling weird-adventure story, built heavily around the mystery of what’s going on with Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), whose visions of a supernatural world sometimes coincide with blackouts that leave him with blood on his hands and a contemptuous voice in his ears. The ending is rushed per usual in an MCU series, but most of what happens on the way there is engaging, exciting, and actually pretty weird and daring for an MCU show. It’s all boosted by Isaac’s clear enjoyment of his wild dual role, a constant series of surprising reveals, and action that takes place both on a worldwide scale and a very personal one. It’s one of the stronger MCU series, marred mostly by a tendency to zip past important plot points without letting them breathe and to spend too much time on largely irrelevant red herrings. —TR
Image: Marvel Studios
Jessica Gao’s series She-Hulk has a whole lot going on in its first season — too much to fully cohere by the end, though its week-to-week attempts to balance a legal drama, a fourth-wall-breaking comedy, and a wry running commentary on societal sexism are still a lot of fun to watch. As the title character, Jen Walters/She-Hulk, Tatiana Maslany carries a lot of weight on her shoulders as she tries to keep the show’s emotions relatable and realistic, even when she’s turning directly to the camera and mocking her show’s structure or the latest plot development. The first season fizzles out a bit by the ending, leaving Jen in a weird state of “Is anything here real, and does any of it matter?”, but the journey to get there is light, airy, and often sharp as hell in its observations about the day-to-day flak professional women have to navigate over their gender. —TR
7. Agatha All Along (2024)
Photo: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
The follow-up to WandaVision revives Kathryn Hahn’s amoral, power-seeking witch and gives her a tragic backstory and what looks like a particularly odd future. But it never fully locks down who she is or what she wants, unless what she wants changes literally from moment to moment. That said, season 1 tells a much more direct, streamlined story than a lot of MCU shows, with more compelling new characters and a lot of “What’s really going on here?” mystery. The central plotline about the Witches’ Road gives the show both a ridiculously catchy ballad (which Marvel exploited to its limit for marketing purposes) and a fairly surprising twist, albeit one entirely in keeping with WandaVision.
If the real intention here was just to put yet another young hero on the board for future Marvel movies, mission accomplished, more or less. If it was to thoroughly confuse the issue of what magic means in the MCU, mission also accomplished. But muddy focus and unanswered questions aside, this quest-driven story is more visceral fun than a lot of MCU shows, from the goofy imaginary police procedural in its opening episode to the high point where the audience finally gets to see what’s going on with Patti LuPone’s theatrical fortune-teller character. —TR
Image: Marvel Studios
The first Disney Plus MCU series to get a second season (while leaving the story wide open for a possible third), Loki is an ambitious oddity that introduces new strengths and new faults in just about every episode. The first season is more about setting up a wave of Kang-based Marvel movies than anything else, but it features plenty of striking design, goofy antics, and startling settings. Season 2, on the other hand, loses most of the sense of fun in favor of a dour story that spends far too much time on repetition and technobabble. Given the chance to finally stretch out a little and explore its characters, it simplifies most of them and muddies the rest. At least it expands past that sense of just being another MCU tee-up. But neither season fully gets a handle on Loki himself.
Loki has swung from villain to antihero to hero and back again so many times now that it’s hard to keep score of who he even is anymore. While season 1 put him on a clear track toward finally finding a true “glorious purpose” and an identity that won’t immediately shift, and season 2 seems to land him there. But his arc is one of many in the show that could have been more powerful if it had been more clearly defined. Tom Hiddleston gives the character a wounded humanity, whether he’s playing comedy victim or noble striver, and season 2 at least tries to pay off that humanity with a grand, noble gesture. But while Loki is still more memorable than a lot of Disney Plus MCU shows, it’s frustrating how much of season 2 is devoted to action that makes little sense, and characters making immense choices they never explain. —TR
5. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
Photo: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
As a story about how former Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes deals with his many MCU traumas and how Sam Wilson decides to take up the Captain America mantle, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is pretty rushed, and in the end, clumsy. As a story about a network of secret super-soldiers who could be labeled terrorists or freedom fighters, depending on your perspective, it’s well-meaning, but often just graceless. But as a story about two men trying to separately deal with losing their mentor and inspiration, each resenting the other for doing it wrong until they finally bond over what they learned from him, it’s resonant and thoughtful in a way MCU stories rarely can be.
Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, as the titular main characters, bring a vital combination of warmth and prickliness to their roles, which helps make their sometimes broadly drawn characters feel vulnerable, human, and engaging. At its absolute best, this action bromance is so good that it’s actively frustrating when it blows some of its narrative potential by zipping past important plot points with a hand-wave or a stuffy speech. —TR
Image: Marvel Studios
WandaVision takes quite a while to reveal its agenda as yet another post-Avengers: Endgame story about navigating grief and loss. It starts with its central character, Wanda Maximoff, in complete denial, having created her own cheery sitcom reality with a re-creation of her dead love, Vision. The series creators play around with that faux reality, jumping through decades of sitcom styles and generally having more fun with design, direction, and overall style than any MCU show so far.
That freedom to creatively explore her character while being outright weird is one of the two biggest things that makes WandaVision a standout. The other is the depth of the series’ emotions, as Wanda navigates her own rage, guilt, and selfishness on top of everything else. The series wraps up messily, with plenty of loose ends that it means to set up future movies, so it never feels like a fully self-contained story, but it certainly is a wild ride while it lasts. —TR
Image: Marvel Studios
In a world inundated with superhero properties (the 19 on this list are just a drop in the bucket of the broader slate), Ms. Marvel actually managed to make an origin story feel like a treat. Credit any number of creative choices, including the show’s vibrant, Into the Spider-Verse-esque visual identity, or the way it gives protagonist Kamala Khan an actual life beyond the bounds of superherodom. But some acclaim should certainly be reserved for Iman Vellani, the absolute star at the center of it all. She makes Kamala feel alive whether she’s staring down a big bad or a big crush.
In her hands, Ms. Marvel is the all-too-rare MCU property that feels like it has the engine to run for a while, even if it’s still sorting out how to handle Ms. Marvel’s villains or cultural identity. At six episodes, its weakest link (hopefully) is that it’s only just getting started. —Zosha Millman
2. Agent Carter (2015-2016)
Image: ABC
Where WandaVision explores what happens when an immensely powerful superhero loses the love of her life, Agent Carter flips the formula by exploring the same kind of grief, but steeping it in powerlessness. After the events of Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America’s “best girl” Peggy Carter is mourning his supposed death, but also trying to carry on as a hero in an environment that increasingly doesn’t want female heroes.
Mimicking the real-life societal shift that moved women into traditional men’s work during World War II then sidelined them again when the soldiers came home, Agent Carter deals closely with the sexism and condescension Peggy (played fiercely by Hayley Atwell) faces on the job at the FBI-like Strategic Scientific Reserve. When her sexist fellow agents contemptuously treat her like a side-piece Captain America foolishly allowed a little equality, she’s forced to chase down America’s enemies on the sly alongside Howard Stark’s butler Jarvis (James D’Arcy). The series is sharp, with meaningful conflict, a satisfying Marvel-movie overplot, and a noir-movie concept of both the gender wars and the job of a private investigator. Atwell and D’Arcy make a terrific team. And the show even looks spectacular, with a Technicolor-style sense for style. It’s unquestionably MCU-modern rather than a period piece, but it takes all the most beloved ideas about costuming, cinematography, humor, and storytelling from the period it’s evoking. —TR
Photo: Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
The first of the Netflix MCU shows, Daredevil established the darker, street-level tone of the venture while still feeling very much like a superhero story, complete with costumes, secret identities, and spectacular fights. The one-shot hallway fight scene proved that Marvel didn’t need a movie-sized budget to create epic set pieces, while the battle between Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), which weaponizes every stray object found in a newsroom provides a strange mix of high stakes and whimsy.
But even more astounding than the combats are the performances. Cox is absolutely believable in his portrayal of a hero driven by a mix of rage and Catholic guilt as he tries to make the world better, both as a lawyer and as a vigilante. Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin is a study in how to make a compelling villain. The show is also a launchpad for The Punisher, with Frank Castle serving as a perfect cautionary tale of what Matt Murdock could become if his friends don’t keep him in check. Daredevil isn’t perfect: The back half of the second season descends into an endless onslaught of ninja to set up The Defenders, and the writers never seemed to know what to do with some of the supporting cast. But the show never failed to be creative and ambitious, and its finale provided a satisfying and hopeful conclusion to a major chapter in superhero television. —SN
Chronographs are watches that have stopwatch functions, and they’ve been around for centuries. The best chronograph watches in the world come in all shapes and sizes, from heritage to sports models.
We’ll go over what you need to know about the different kinds of chronographs on the market before we get into our list of top 14 chronograph watches below!
Types of Chronograph Watches
There are two main types of chronograph watches: the mechanical and quartz variants. A mechanical chronograph has an actual hand which you can use to measure time with, while quartz models use an electronic oscillator powered by a quartz crystal.
Although they seem pretty similar on paper, their overall performance is actually quite different! Mechanical chronographs are powered by a spring, which you’ll need to wind regularly.
They can also be affected by various factors like magnetism and gravity (especially the ones with tourbillion movements). On the other hand, quartz chronographs are battery-powered devices that generally offer pretty stable performance in multiple conditions – they’re not as susceptible to external forces!
Unlike an automatic watch where the mechanism is internal, a chronograph watch has a stopwatch function and other dials clearly on display. On most chronographs, there is a second hand which moves when you start the stopwatch.
History of Chronograph Watches
French watchmaker Louis Moinet is credited with inventing the first chronograph in 1816.
Not long after, the Rattrapante chronograph was created. Meaning to catch up in French, this kind of watch was invented in 1844 by Adolphe Nicole.
A rattrapante chronograph has two seconds hands – it lets you record an event by pressing the button that starts and stops one of the hands, then allows you to record another separate time with the other hand. A lot of rattrapante chronographs are designed for sports watch enthusiasts because they’re often equipped with tachymeter scales on their outer bezels.
Another kind of chronograph on the market is the Column Wheel chronograph, invented by Louis Moinet in 1816. A column-wheel controls the way that two separate chronograph seconds hands work together, and they were originally designed to be used as stopwatches instead of luxury watches.
A vintage chronograph watch mechanism under repair
The best part about this kind of watch is their simplicity – they have fewer parts than other kinds of chronographs which allows them to be more accurate. Column-wheel watches are also very easy for the user to operate because there’s only one button necessary, so you can start and stop both hands at once with just the press of a single button!
A third kind of watch that falls into the chronograph category is called a Perpetual Calendar. It’s capable of displaying both calendar dates and moon phases.
Perpetual Calendar watches are often equipped with two rattrapante hands for recording multiple events. The best part about this kind of chronograph is that it’s extremely useful – you can use the stopwatch function to time your laps during a race.
The first ever automatic chronograph was launched in 1969 as a joint venture between watchmakers Breitling, Hamilton and Heuer and movement specialist Dubois Dépraz.
What is the Best Luxury Chronograph?
Now let’s get into our list of the best chronographs on the market. We’ll be going over their features, what they’re capable of doing and where you can buy them from.
17. H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Flyback Chronograph
H. Moser & Cie is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 2005 and based in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland. They are known for producing high-end mechanical watches with in-house movements and innovative designs.
The H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Flyback Chronograph is a stunning timepiece that combines elegant design with high functionality. Featuring a sleek, streamlined case and a sophisticated chronograph function, this watch is a testament to precision engineering and timeless style. masterpiece in the world of luxury watches.
H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Flyback Chronograph
16. Tag Heuer Monaco
The Tag Heuer Monaco is more than just a watch. It’s a statement piece that exudes sophistication and elegance.
With its iconic square shape, it’s a timepiece that doesn’t blend in with the crowd. The actor Steve McQueen was a fan of TAG Heuer and had a prized Heuer Monaco watch that he wore in the movie Le Mans. This cemented its place as one of the best chronograph watches on the market today.
Its precision and attention to detail are unsurpassed, and its style is a perfect blend of classic and modern design. The blue dial version of the Monaco is a particular favorite amongst collectors and enthusiasts.
The Tag Heuer Monaco
15. Dan Henry 1963 Pilot Chronograph
We’re kicking off our list of the best chronograph watches with a vintage inspired timepiece by watch enthusiast Dan Henry. The company has a great selection of watches that are perfect for everyday wear.
The 1963 Pilot Chronograph from Dan Henry is a great choice for anyone looking for an affordable, high-quality watch. With a simple design and Swiss movement, the 1963 Pilot Chronograph is great value for the price – just $280.
This retro watch features a double deck sandwich dial and a 12 hour rotating bezel. On the caseback there’s a 3D embossed image of a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane.
This watch’s water resistance is 165 feet maximum and there’s also a date function. Whether you’re looking for a gift for a friend or simply want to treat yourself, the 1963 Pilot Chronograph from Dan Henry is an ideal choice.
1963 Pilot Chronograph
14. Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph
The Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph is a unique watch that combines two classic designs, a perpetual calendar and chronograph.
This stunning timepiece has many features that make it aesthetically pleasing and also functional. The dial of this watch features an automatic movement with the day, date and month indicator at 12 o’clock and moonphase indication at 6 o’clock as well as the chronograph function.
Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph
13. TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph
The TAG Heuer Carrera is a great chronograph for people who want a smart casual vibe. This watch comes in various stylish editions that makes it perfect to wear on formal occasions.
It has a patented chronograph function which means you can easily determine the time of multiple events with just one press.
TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre
12. Zenith El Primero
Zenith El Primero is a luxury watch that has been in production since 1969. It has become known as one of the most accurate timepieces ever produced.
El Primero means the first in Spanish, as Zenith was the first high frequency automatic chronograph movement to be fully integrated. The Zenith El Primero movement is a high frequency automatic winding chronograph with a power reserve of 50-55 hours, depending on the version chosen. It is water resistant to 10 ATM.
This model has been around for over 50 years, starting out as a handmade timepiece that sold for $15,000 USD and becoming available in more affordable quartz chronograph versions priced between $4000-$5000 today.
This extravagant watch comes in a number of different styles and colors with the option to add diamonds for an additional price.
A. Lange & Sohne are known for their high-end luxury watches with complicated features and the Datograph is no exception. This high-end chronograph has 729 parts!
There is a perpetual calendar that allows you to display the date, day of week and moon phases throughout different cycles. This watch also has a flyback chronograph with a jumping minute counter.
The chronograph has a column wheel mechanism like we talked about earlier, which makes it extremely accurate! It also comes with their patented stop-seconds tourbillon system ensuring optimal precision over time.
Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon chronograph
10. Hublot MP-05 “LaFerrari”
The LaFerrari is inspired by the iconic car of the same name. This sporty chronograph has titanium bridges and other components that are made out of grade five black PVD finished titanium while others are crafted from TPT carbon.
The entire movement has an astonishing 50 day power reserve and contains a chronograph function with one minute flying tourbillon. This limited edition watch has a total of 637 components.
Hublot MP-05 LaFerrari watch
9. Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute
The Petite Heure Minute from Jaquet Droz is an elegant timepiece that offers remarkable features at a very affordable price. This watch has a Rattrapante chronograph that’s great for recording multiple events, as well as a perpetual calendar with moon phases and date display.
You can also use the stopwatch function to time things like your laps during a race or if you’re cooking something in the kitchen. The Petite Heure Minute from Jaquet Droz is an elegant timepiece that offers remarkable features. There are several versions including the Petite Heure Minute Dragon, Buffalo and Smalta Clara Humming Bird.
Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Dragon John Howe
8. Breguet Classique Chronograph
Abraham-Louis Breguet created the world’s first self-winding watch known as the Perpétuelle in 1780, and the world’s first wristwatch in 1810.
The Classique Chronograph from Breguet has a very elegant design that’s inspired by the movements of pocket watches. This luxurious watch is decorated with rose gold and has chronograph subdials for recording seconds, minutes and hours at a time.
This Breguet watch also comes with their patented self-winding technology which means you don’t have to worry about changing battery or winding up your watch every few days!
Breguet Classique Chronograph
7. Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Chronograph
The Jaeger-LeCoultre has a sporty look to it that’s suitable for casual and formal occasions alike. This chronograph comes with an antimagnetic movement which is great for protecting it from damage when you’re in a magnetic field.
Inspired by vintage styling, the Master Chronograph has two counters that indicate hours and minutes. There’s a tachometer around the outer perimeter, which comes in handy for measuring the speed of travel from one point to another.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Chronograph
6. Rolex Cosmograph Daytona
The Cosmograph Daytona from Rolex is one of the most sought-after chronographs on the market and it’s easy to see why! This watch has a 40mm Oystersteel case. Oystersteel is a superior stainless steel alloy which takes on a lovely sheen when polished.
It also comes with the Rolex patented Oysterlock safety clasp that ensures your watch stays securely fastened to your wrist at all times.
Paul Newman was a big fan of the Rolex Daytona. His 1968 Rolex Daytona watch sold for a record-breaking $17.8 million. On the back, it is inscribed with the words, “Drive carefully, me”!
The legendary movie character, James Bond, also wore Rolex chronographs in several films including a Rolex Submariner in From Russia with Love.
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona
5. A Lange & Sohne Tourbograph Perpetual “Pour le Merite“
Introduced in 2017, the Tourbograph Perpetual “Pour le Merite” from A. Lange & Sohne is a limited edition of 50 timepieces that’s great for collectors or people who love to show off their watches! This chronograph has a solid silver dial and platinum case.
It is a unique combination of a fusée-and-chain transmission with a chronograph, rattrapante, perpetural calendar and tourbillon.
Tourbograph Perpetual “Pour le Mérite” programme wheel
4. Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/12G
The Nautilus from Patek is one of their most popular watches and it’s easy to see why! Designed by famous watchmaker Gérald Genta, this distinctive chronograph was inspired by the submarine in Jules Verne’s classic novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
The shape is designed to resemble a ship’s porthole. This iconic watch has a stainless steel case and works equally well in sporty and formal settings.
It also comes with their patented chronograph function which is great if you need to measure the time of something very precisely.
Patek Philippe Nautilus
3. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph
Also designed by Gérald Genta, the Royal Oak looks sporty yet classy. It has a distinctive octagonal bezel and an easy-to-use chronograph function if you need to record multiple events in a single day.
There are quite a few different versions, including the A-series Royal Oak, the UAE limited edition and the Royal Oak Offshore. This timepiece was worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie End of Days.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Watch
2. IWC Portugieser Chronograph
The Portugieser from IWC is a very classy looking watch that goes well with both casual and formal wear. This chronograph timepiece comes in stainless steel with a see-through glass back.
It has an easy to read display which makes it perfect for people who can’t see small numbers or subdials easily.
The Omega Speedmaster is a watch that has been worn by several astronauts. It’s the only watch to have been approved for use in space, so it should be no surprise that this Swiss-made chronograph has a fascinating history. In fact, NASA chose the Omega Speedmaster as its official timepiece because of its accuracy and reliability under extreme conditions.
In 1962, astronaut Wally Schirra wore the Speedmaster during the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission. This helped pave the way for NASA’s decision in 1965 to use this model as the official U.S. astronauts’ watch with their launch of Gemini 3 and subsequent missions through Apollo 11 in 1969 which included lunar landings.
The Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch has a stainless steel case, tachymeter bezel and black dial with luminous accents. It’s also water-resistant up to 50 meters deep.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch
Chrono24: The World’s Watch Market
Do you love collecting and trading luxury watches? If so, Chrono24 is the site for you. They have a huge selection of chronograph models. Chrono24 isn’t just a website to buy or sell one type of watch; it’s an entire marketplace that specializes in all types of luxury timepieces.
Whether you’re looking for Rolex, Breitling, Cartier or Movado watches or other brands, Chrono24 will have something to suit your needs. You can also trade in vintage watch models and get money back on them.
Final Thoughts: Best Chronograph Watches
A chronograph watch is a great way to add style and functionality to your timepiece. With so many options on the market, it can be hard to know which one is right for you.
We hope this list of the best chronograph watches in the world has helped you narrow down your choices and find the right model for your needs. Be sure to check out our other style articles for more tips on finding the perfect watch that will hold its value.
Bored Apes, Pudgy Penguins, Cool Cats – this NFT collection debuted far later than all of them, but in the space of two years, it has grown to become a major player in one of the world’s largest entertainment industries.
This NFT collection is Azuki.
Starting with landmark debut mint, Azuki has been met with a few controversies, but stands proudly today as a new force to shake-up the anime industry. What is Azuki, what should you know about the collection, and why should it be on your radar?
Here’s our complete 2024 guide to Azuki.
What is Azuki?
Azuki is a collection of 10,000 anime-style avatar NFTs, inspired by modern manga and Japanese streetwear. Each NFT features a unique mix of traits, including hairstyles, clothing, accessories and more, giving each Azuki a one-of-a-kind look.
Created by Chiru Labs – a team of LA-based artists and developers – the collection is led by the pseudonymous originator known as ZAGABOND. With a team that holds vast experience in crypto, technology, and gaming, Chiru wanted to build an NFT collection that took a unique look at the anime industry.
Holders of Azuki NFTs are granted an array of benefits. These include membership to online collective “The Garden”, access to exclusive asset drops and unique collaborations, entry to holder-only in-person events, and much more.
There are long-established rumours of Chiru Labs looking at developing a native token for the Azuki ecosystem, but as of writing, this has yet to come to fruition.
The history of Azuki
The Azuki collection was minted on January 12, 2022 using a Dutch auction format – where prices start high and decline over time. The initial price was set at a hefty 1 ETH, but that didn’t stop the collection from selling out within 3 minutes, raising an incredible 8,700 ETH – worth over $29 million USD at the time.
Following this landmark launch, Azuki NFTs surged on secondary markets, seeing over $300 million USD in trading volume – boosting the floor price into double-digit ETH.
In April 2022, Azuki debuted Beanz – a 20,000-piece companion collection. These NFTs were airdropped to existing Azuki holders, giving them access to exclusive Discord channels and merchandise releases. Beanz have become a low-cost entry point to the Azuki ecosystem, and are regularly traded volumes to this day.
The start of 2023 saw the introduction of Hilumia, an online experience in the Azuki universe. Open to the public, but with only Azuki and Beanz holders able to interact, Hilumia hosted branded games, activities and online content, giving fans a deeper look into the world of Azuki.
April 2023 saw Azuki partner with IPX, the company behind Line Friends, for a branded collaboration with the Beanz collection, resulting in exclusive co-branded merchandise and real-world activations.
During their “Follow The Rabbit” event in June 2023, Azuki announced their second companion collection: Azuki Elementals. The collection minted out in 15 minutes on June 27, but controversy arose over the lack of minting limits, and the similarity of the art to the main Azuki collection.
In response to the backlash, Azuki revealed that an anime anthology series was in production. Its official announcement came in January 2024, with global advertising firm Dentsu announcing their involvement in April 2024, helping to assemble an all-star team of anime veterans to work on the project.
This anime series, titled Enter The Garden, premiered in late April 2024 with the first episode, titled The Waiting Man. The episode was met with rave reviews for its writing, voice acting, and overall quality – especially as a free-to-air series hosted on YouTube.
In June 2024, ZAGABOND revealed Azuki’s long-term goal – to create what he termed “anime 2.0”, powered by AnimeCoin. September 2024 saw the reveal of Anime.com – including new Azuki mascots Ayame and Decky – alongside a public waitlist, and the private launch of AnimeChain.
It hasn’t all been sunshine and roses. It came to light in May 2022 that ZAGABOND had been involved in several abandoned NFT projects, such as Tendies, CryptoZunks, and CryptoPhunks. There were widespread fears that Azuki could become a rug pull, causing a sharp decline in floor prices – but after an apology from ZAGABOND, and the commitment shown to Azuki to date, any fears have largely disappeared.
As mentioned earlier, the Azuki Elementals mint in June 2023 fell short of expectations. With no minting limits, all of the Elementals were minted solely by Azuki and Beanz holders, meaning there was zero public access. Due to how similar the Elementals looked to the original Azuki collection, the prices of both Azuki and Beanz fell dramatically – although both stabilised in due course.
What’s next for Azuki?
The goal of Azuki is clear – to shake up the anime industry, and to improve the experience of being an anime fan.
Episode 2 of Enter The Garden is set to premiere very soon, and Azuki continues to grow across its animations, merchandise, behind the scenes content and more.
Though we are yet to discover the exact purpose of Anime.com, AnimeCoin and AnimeChain, there are high expectations for each of these initiatives – especially given the expertise, commitment and quality demonstrated into their flagship Enter The Garden series.
Chiru Labs continue to put their holders – and the wider anime community – at the heart of Azuki, and they’re taking this community-driven approach from web3 into a mainstream environment.
In just two years, Azuki have had a groundbreaking impact on web3. In 2025 and beyond, they could have a revolutionary impact on the anime industry.
Web3 gaming platform Immutable has received a “Wells notice” from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — signaling that the SEC may be preparing a lawsuit against the company.
In a statement published Friday, Immutable noted that the SEC’s notice includes “non-specific allegations” related to securities law violations and alleged misrepresentations by the company.
Although the exact reasons for the SEC’s action remain unclear, Immutable believes the issue may relate to the 2021 listing and private sales of its IMX token — an ERC-20 utility token central to the Immutable ecosystem. The SEC may consider IMX a security.
The Wells notice was not limited to the company itself; the SEC also issued notices to the Immutable CEO and the Digital Worlds Foundation, the organization that issued the IMX token.
Immutable expressed disappointment over the timing of the SEC’s actions, particularly as the Web3 sector continues to seek regulatory clarity in the United States.
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The company noted that the SEC’s approach to Web3 has been inconsistent and has often lacked clear communication. “It appears that some elements of the SEC do not want to engage in a constructive dialogue,” Immutable stated.
Concerns grow over SEC’s approach to Web3
Immutable criticized what it sees as a lack of transparency from the SEC, a sentiment shared by many in the industry who feel that the agency’s actions have hindered the growth of blockchain technology and Web3 initiatives.
Immutable’s statement referenced previous SEC actions within the Web3 space, drawing parallels to cases like the one involving Ripple, a blockchain-based payment platform. Last year, a U.S. judge ruled that Ripple’s XRP token was not a security.
The SEC later investigated Ethereum as a potential security, only to drop the case after blockchain technology firm ConsenSys filed a lawsuit to protect the Ethereum ecosystem.
The SEC has taken similar steps against other companies, particularly those operating in the non-fungible token (NFT) space. In one recent instance, the SEC issued a Wells notice to OpenSea, stating that NFTs traded on its platform are securities.
Other notable cases include actions against the Flyfish Club, an NFT-based restaurant, which agreed to a $750,000 settlement in September over claims of offering unregistered securities.
Similarly, the SEC penalized media company Impact Theory $6.1 million last year for issuing unregistered NFT securities called “Founder’s Keys.” The Stoner Cats NFT project faced similar allegations and paid a $1 million penalty, while Dapper Labs recently settled a lawsuit related to its NBA Top Shot NFTs for $4 million.
Industry leaders and community call for clarity and support
These legal actions have led to widespread concern within the Web3 community, with many creators and companies calling for greater regulatory clarity. In July, two artists took legal action against the SEC, seeking guidance on whether NFTs should be considered securities.
The uncertainty around NFT classification has also led some organizations to advocate for more defined regulations. The Digital Chamber, a U.S.-based blockchain advocacy group, recently urged Congress to classify certain NFTs as consumer goods rather than securities, following the SEC’s enforcement action against OpenSea.
To support NFT creators and provide legal protection against the rising regulatory challenges, Coinbase launched a $6 million legal defense fund in September. The initiative, a collaboration with OpenSea, a16zcrypto, and several law firms, aims to offer free legal assistance to those facing SEC actions related to NFTs.