Summer Watches
This summer's coolest timepieces share a slick dark palette and sport an array of new features.
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1. ORIS KAZUKI NAKAJIMA LIMITED EDITION
Designed for Japanese Formula 1 racer Kazuki Nakajima (whose number, 8, is popped on the minute scale), this conservative watch has ghostly black features that are easy to read in sunlight, not so much indoors. Comes in an edition of 1,088, with each piece individually numbered. $1,650; oriswatches.ch
2. TAG HEUER AQUARACER 500M CALIBRE 5
Winner of the coveted European Red Dot design award, Tag’s latest dive watch gets more serious with the addition of a helium escape valve. The hefty, confidence-inspiring piece, with steel bezel, is rated to 500 metersand is game for any watersport, while looking suitably industrial. $2,450; tagheuer.com
3. BELL & ROSS BR01-93 24H GMT
From sometimes blingy Bell & Ross, this dual-time instrument (the bold orange hand shows the time back home) might be a status symbol if its oversize face, aviation-style numerals, and heavy rubber strap weren’t so extremely, well, tasteful. $4,500; bellross.com
4. TX T3C310 Linear Chronograph
As the company describes it, the T3C310 is “liberated from the tradition of circularity,” in that its four-hour chronograph uses a 30-minute linear scale that, with a dagger-like orange hand, is surprisingly user-friendly. The functions are controlled by four separate motors, and this model has a tough steel case. $650; txwatches.com
5. SECTOR COMPASS CHRONOGRAPH
Italy’s Sector hopes to make it big (literally) in the U.S. market with this attention-grabbing, jumbo-faced compass watch. You’ll either love it or hate it: With a chronograph on the main dial and a devoted dial off to the left for a second time zone, it demands serious real estate on your wrist. Either way, it’s unlike any compass watch we’ve ever seen. $395; sectornolimits.eu
6. SWISS ARMY INFANTRY VINTAGE CHRONO
Amid a general trend toward heavier, fatter watches, this latest iteration of the 1940s-throwback Infantry line is a handsomely thin diversion. Its coolest feature? A telemeter around the dial. Soldiers once relied on them to gauge their distance from artillery fire; civilians can use them to measure the gap between lightning and thunder. $595; swissarmy.com
7. OAKLEY 12 GAUGE
Swiss-made but all surfin’ USA with its ocean-blue face, Oakley’s 12 Gauge has a super-strong case made of corrosion-resistant 316L stainless steel, plus alarm, stopwatch, and a smooth rotating bezel for a second time zone. The band is made of the same grippy “Unobtainium” rubber found on the nose and temples of Oakley sunglasses. $1,195; oakley.com
8. CASIO G-SHOCK GW2000BD-1A
With its tachymeter and Mach 1 indicator (as if), this classic G-Shock masquerades as an aviator watch. We love it because it does so many of those Casio thingsatomic timekeeping, solar power, stopwatch, alarms, etc.while being stylish enough to wear with a suit. $350; gshock.com