Defined by a tasteful blend of luxurious detailing and reliable functionality in a robust design, sports watches for men are one of the most sought-after types in the world of watches. Whether one is a watch collector building his extraordinary repertoire, a novice still learning his trade or an admirer of fine horology, a stylish sports watch is on every man’s coveted wish list.
It is an exquisitely crafted timepiece designed to be durable, practical and modish to the point of being versatile enough to be styled for any occasion. Whether you’re planning to spend the day partaking in your favourite sports or heading to a formal event, a luxury sports watch never fails you. It was back in 1972, when Audemars Piguet came out with their steel sports watch — the iconic Royal Oak that set the benchmark and defined the sports watch style in the most magnificent way, heralding an entirely new era of watchmaking. What followed was the growth and expansion of the sports watch market, with several other brands and watchmakers releasing their own timeless interpretations of the style ever since.
How to choose the best sports watches for men?
Be it a traditional piece or a smartwatch like Apple watch or a Samsung Sport, be it a simple time-only watch or one with high complications and activity tracking features, sports watches come in a diverse range with a sea of options.
Always consider why you need a sports watch. Sports watches come with various features and a lot of them are designed for specific purposes with targeted features and complications. For instance, a running watch is usually enabled with GPS and tracking features that can monitor your running strength and pace to help you improve in real-time. The Garmin Forerunner 955 (Buy it for SGD 929 on Shopee Mall) is one such watch. Whereas, if you’re looking for a watch that can help maintain your active lifestyle, Samsung Gear Sport (Buy it for SGD 250 on Lazada) would make for a better option.
It is important to know the look and appearance that you desire from your watch and where you will be wearing it. If you’re looking for a sports watch that also looks dressy, a watch like the Bovet Sportster Saguaro Chronograph (Buy it for SGD 39,246 on Farfetch) can be a great pick. Similarly, if you’re an adventure enthusiast looking for a shock-resistant and tough design, a sports watch that can withstand extreme situations while tracking your vitals and performance should be your go-to.
Here are some of the best sports watches for men to invest in
(Main Image Courtesy: Luminox ; Featured Image Courtesy: Alphacolor/Unsplash)
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The Samsung Gear Sport can be both your companion and an assistant for all that it does and the way it keeps up with your life from work to workout. With a water resistance of up to 50 metres, this sports watch tracks your fitness and health while also managing your work life. Fashioned in an innovative and sporty design, it has a super AMOLED 1.2 inch display that lets you get done a lot with just a tap.
It easily tracks your heart rate, keeps a check on calorie balance, measures your daily progress and acts like a personal coach during your runs and workout sessions. The Samsung Connect lets you control all your compatible appliances and devices like door locks, lights and TV, among others, simply at the turn of the bezel. While compatibility with Samsung Pay NFC allows you to make payments with just a tap on the watch, you can also check your updates, review your calendar, receive phone calls, send texts without pulling out your phone.
This sports watch is compatible with both Android and Apple phones and it runs for days on single charge.
Image: Courtesy Samsung
The Garmin Forerunner 955 is a solar powered smartwatch that converts sunlight to electricity on the watch face, thereby increasing the battery life at unprecedented levels. It is one of the best training and fitness watches that tracks and enhances your sessions. It is equipped with over 40 indoor and outdoor sports modes and exercise options that can be switched on easily to record your performance and give an analysis. Its multi-band positioning setting helps in improving the positioning speed and accuracy even in difficult high-altitude and built-up urban environments.
The watch also tracks your sleep quality, stress, heart rate variation and training loads weekly to indicate whether you’re fit enough for an intense workout. These insights are also provided to you every morning while the watch detects your running intensity to adjust and enhance your pace and tactics for a race in real-time. The watch also informs your nominated emergency contacts with your location in case of any danger or an accident. It has both touchscreen and classic five-button control design to let you operate the watch with ease.
Additionally, you can connect it with Spotify, Amazon Music or Deezer to stream music and also receive emails, texts and other alerts when connected with a compatible smartphone.
Image: Courtesy Garmin
An iteration of the first-ever G-Shock, this sports watch for men is designed with state-of-the-art metals and intricate finishes that are a signature in the entire MRG flagship range. Crafted in a shock and water resistant (up to 200 metres) design, this watch is powered by solar energy and comes with features including battery display, low battery alert and energy saving mode. The battery operating time ranges approximately between 10 months (normal use without exposure to light, after charge) and 22 months (when stored in absolute darkness with power save function turned on, after full charge).
The watch can be connected to the smartphone via bluetooth and can hence, be connected to different apps. Other features of the watch include world time, stopwatch, phone finder option, timer, daily alarms, hourly time signal, auto-calendar, LED backlight and regular timekeeping.
Image: Courtesy Casio
The Tissot Seastar 1000 is one of the most popular diving watches that combines top-notch style and high-performance at its best. It is as functional as it is stunning. This understated Swiss timepiece makes for a great choice for underwater sports as it is water-resistant up to 300 metres.
Powered by a Swiss Quartz movement, the watch is equipped with a unidirectional bezel that rotates anti-clockwise and encases the dial topped with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with double-sided anti-reflective coating. The dial has luminescent hands and markings to enhance legibility under deep waters while the strap has divers’ safety buckles as well.
Image: Courtesy Tissot
A rugged, tough and durable carbon-compound watch by Luminox created in partnership with the face of survival, Bear Grylls, this timepiece is a saviour in extreme situations like diving. While the genuine black rubber strap and the orange bezel lends a unique look to the watch, the design also features Bear Grylls’ logo and motto ‘Never Give Up’ on the back case of the dial.
The watch is equipped with a unidirectional rotating bezel that has a diving zone counting up marking 1-20 that’s further set off by an orange hue for legibility. This helps the divers in measuring the timing of their decompression stops that are mandatory to take while resurfacing. The design is fashioned with a Luminox Light Technology (LLT) that provides a constant glow to the watch for up to 25 years, irrelevant of the surrounding environs, to ensure visibility at a glance even in darkness.
It is water-resistant up to 200 metres and runs on a quartz movement.
Image: Courtesy Luminox
Delivering consistently high performance, durability and reliability is the Seiko 5 Sports watch for men. It is an automatic watch with manual winding capacity that’s powered by Calibre 4R36. It has a stop seconds hand function along with the day and date display feature. The 42.5 millimetre black dial with a see-through case back is accentuated with LumiBrite hands. While the watch has a secure gunmetal grey-hued stainless steel strap, it is also water-resistant up to 100 metres.
Image: Courtesy Seiko
The Sportster Saguaro Chronograph by Switzerland watch experts, Bovet, makes for a great pick if a sports watch is on your wishlist. Crafted using materials like stainless steel, 18Kt rose gold, rubber and enamel, this watch runs on an automatic movement. Its 46 millimetre open-work dial features three chronograph counters. What further adds to its sporty look is the black rubber strap that has a buckle fastening.
Image: Courtesy Bovet
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Answer: Yes, sports watches for men are in trend and have been so for years now.
Answer: The beauty of a sports watch lies in its versatility. While it looks best when paired with casual outfits or training sessions, you can also style it for formal events since they come in dressy designs like the stainless steel ones.
Answer: Some of the most expensive sports watches for men include pieces from luxury watch brands like Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille and Jacob & Co.
