What Is The Best Summer Watch?

As summer kicks up another few notches, the month of August feels like a dreamy sequence of BBQ’s, afternoons spent at the local beer garden and ever-decreasing holiday countdowns. That just leaves one question; what's the best summer watch?

Whether you're lounging by the poolside, embarking on a seaside adventure, or simply enjoying getting to know a new city, the right watch can effortlessly complement your summer wardrobe while keeping you fashionably on-time. From sleek and sporty designs that thrive in the heat to elegant timepieces that exude sophistication for dinners in exotic places, here’s a curated selection of the best watches to adorn your wrist this summer.

My idea of the ‘perfect summer watch’ is something bright and lightweight, with a decent water resistance rating, that you can dress up or down through strap swapping, depending on where the summer takes you. The popular Nomos Club Campus, in my eyes, does the trick and the Endless Blue (ref. 724), my personal favourite, practically screams “take me to the Caribbean”. If blue isn’t your thing though, the model shows off a vibrant line-up of colours, with references offered in pretty much any colour you could hope for from the adventurous to the restrained.

Available in two diameters, 36mm or 38mm (which technically measures at 38.5mm), the Nomos Club Campos wears a little bigger than you’d expect thanks to its prominent and proportionately long lugs, but with its slim sub 9mm height it doesn’t feel at all overwhelming on the wrist. Quite the opposite in fact, its robust stainless steel hardware adds to its ‘go anywhere do anything’ appeal, but its sleek and sophisticated look keeps it from feeling like a tool watch.

Admittedly, I’m not usually a fan of California dials but the Nomos Club Campus is an exception. Blending Arabic and Ruman numerals seamlessly, with an added touch of white Super Luminova for enhanced visibility, the dial feels uncluttered and the orange accent on the subdial is a nice touch, especially for the summer months.

Each model in the range features identical technical specifications, despite the vastly varying dial options, and comes equipped with Nomos’ tried and tested Alpha caliber. The reliable manual movement offers a 43-hour power reserve as well as 17 jewels and has made multiple appearances across Nomos’ portfolio over the past few years, including in their popular – models. The water-resistance rating for this model is 100 metres, so you know you’re safe when lounging beside the pool or taking a dip in the nearest ocean, where the Endless Blue model is guaranteed to look right at home.

My one and only pet peeve with the Nomos is its lack of rubber strap option, but with a catalogue as extensive as WatchGecko’s on hand, that needn’t be an issue. Just pop this on an AquaTropic or something from our Mayday Sailcloth range and you’re good to go, all summer long. 

Much like with some of my other suggestions in these collab pieces, I’ve gone for a watch that’s a bit more attainable and one I’m considering purchasing for this very purpose. The C60 Atoll 300 was released by CW a couple of years ago and adds a nice splash of colour to the brand’s C60 lineup of divers, with a lacquered dial in either blue or white. The former would be my pick here, given its vividity and the transition from blue to green as it goes from the outside to the centre.

This dial pairs especially well with the Atoll on the blue Aquaflex rubber strap and looks fantastic for a watch at its modest £760 price tag. The polished and raised numerals in white increase legibility and contrast the deep blue dial well, in a similar way to the silver and white handset. The 40mm case diameter and 47.4mm lug-to-lug are sensible proportions, while the 11mm thickness also keeps this slender enough to carry a semblance of style.

The movement inside is a CW favourite with the reliable Sellita SW200-1, which offers 38 hours of power reserve, as well as reasonable accuracy with +/- 20 seconds per day of tolerance. There is also 300m of water resistance, in keeping with the other pieces in the C60 lineup, meaning you can take this watch diving to a reasonable depth without having to worry.

It may not be the first option that comes to mind for most, but the Christopher Ward C60 Atoll 300 is my pick for the best summer watch, simply because of its winning combination of an eye-catching dial, comfortable proportions and wallet-friendly price. You can’t ask for much more than that. 

If money was no object for your summer watch, what would be on your wrist? You probably don’t have in mind a gem-set Rolex for a whole lot of reasons, including keeping it safe. However, you have to say that this Rolex, Yacht-Master in 18K rose gold with a gem-set bezel, on a black Oysterflex strap has a lot of summer vibe to it.

The Yacht-Master was auctioned by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at their New York watch sale, held in June. Estimated at USD $50,000 - 100,000 it sold for USD $95,250, (approximately £74,170), including buyer’s premium.

Think of a glistening Mediterranean Sea somewhere along the French Riviera, or maybe the Greek Islands, or Dubai. Wherever you went with this Rolex it would be like a little ray of sunshine on your wrist.

The watch has the moniker of “Haribo” after the German sweet manufacturer that makes colourful fruit gummies, and the name suits this Yacht-Master. As Phillips noted in their cataloguing Rolex launched this gem-set bezel version of the Yacht-Master, reference. 116695SATS, at Baselworld in 2017. This watch is from 2018 and originally sold in Italy.

While gem-set watches can have a bit of a polarising effect for collectors, with some liking them and others not they are very carefully crafted pieces. In this case the bezel is set with 38 sapphires (blue, orange, yellow, and pink), 8 tsavorites (green), and 1 triangle cut diamond at 12 o’clock. Each of these gems would have been individually selected for their clarity and colour then cut to shape to perfectly fit into the bezel. 

When it comes to choosing watches for a summer holiday or prepping the top layer of my watch storage box for the warmer months, I always keep a few things in mind. First, I want something comfortable. I don’t want a heavy leather strap or a metal bracelet that’s going to make me sweat. I also want something that’s relatively water resistant. I’m not a deep sea diver by any means, but it needs to be a watch I don’t have to worry about when I’m at the beach or by the pool. Finally, it needs to be colourful. I want a dial that’s fun and playful to complement the season’s mood.

So, my summer watch of choice is the Oris Divers Sixty Five Cotton Candy Steel. The Divers Sixty Five is one of the most tried and tested models from Swiss watchmaker Oris, boasting robust 100 metre water resistant cases, Swiss made mechanical movements and retro-esque, nautical-inspired detailing. Those in the Cotton Candy series are the cream of the crop in my opinion; they swap out the traditional silver, navy and black dials with exciting pastel hues of pink, sky blue and mint green. At 38mm wide, they’re also a great size and use the Oris Calibre 733 over their newer in-house Calibre 400 for a more affordable price point.

The Oris Divers Sixty Five Cotton Candy does also come in bronze, and while this is certainly a great case metal for summer thanks to its saltwater resistance and unique patina, the steel models have a stronger grasp on a larger audience – myself included. I’d wear my Oris Divers Sixty Five Cotton Candy Steel on the recycled perlon strap during the day, but happily swap it out for the full metal bracelet for a dressier look during the cooler evenings.

When it comes to big, bold, bright, colorful watches, yellow is one of my favorite colors. I don’t think I can pull off something like pink, and I don’t care for all-white watches (looks a little too Jersey Shore - although I suppose that is a beachy, summery look). Yellow for me captures the essence of summer: fun, sun, warmth, light. It also pairs surprisingly well with other colors in an overall outfit, if you care about that sort of thing.

This brings me to my pick for the best summer watch: the G-SHOCK Ref. 6900 - Subtract by Ed Sheeran. The bold, bright yellow resin case and strap immediately draw attention and evoke a sense of sunny days at the beach. The black watercolor splatters on the strap add a unique artistic flair, inspired by Sheeran’s album artwork.

Muted reds, oranges, greens, and blues on the dial add a balanced contrast to the bright yellow case, and an extra splash of color. The G-SHOCK’s iconic “Triple Graph” display with yellow surrounds ties the whole look together seamlessly.

They come with a metal bracelet or a rubber strap, and to my mind at least, it’s the matching colour rubber strap that these watches actually look best on: emphasising the stunning shade of the dial and delivering an upbeat vibe to match the best season of the year.

If you think summer, you think beaches – and the rubber strap version also underlines the versatility of what is in any case an extremely practical watch for all occasions, with 100 metres of water resistance and an in-house fully-automatic mechanical movement, which gives you a power reserve of about 45 hours.

Best of all, these watches start at under £2000, meaning that they’re perfect for both daytime as well as the evening. Longines is now part of the Swatch Group, and it’s definitely tapped into the Swatch philosophy of happy, youthful, go-anywhere watches when it comes to this latest creation – with the quality and prestige that will last for several summers.

The summer season invites a fresh approach to your watch collection, and adding a vibrant touch can truly brighten up your style. A standout choice for this time of year is the Breitling Endurance Pro 38, especially in its eye-catching pink variant. Priced at £2750.00, this watch offers a compelling mix of design and functionality that’s hard to resist. If you have the opportunity to try it on, you’ll be amazed by how light it feels on your wrist. Weighing in at just 50 grams, the Endurance Pro is crafted from Breitling’s proprietary Breitlight® material—a super tough carbon composite that is 3.3 times lighter than titanium and 5.8 times lighter than stainless steel.

Beyond its lightweight construction, the Endurance Pro is designed to withstand the rigours of active lifestyles. Its toughness and high scratch resistance are complemented by the exceptional accuracy provided by Breitling’s Calibre 83 SuperQuartz COSC-certified movement. This ensures that the watch is not only durable but highly precise too, and the addition of a chronometer only adds to its overall appeal.

Available in both 44 mm and 38 mm sizes, the Endurance Pro caters to different wrist sizes and style preferences. While the dial of the smaller 38 mm version may appear busier, it maintains a visually appealing and sporty look that stands out.

The Endurance Pro is ideally suited for warm weather with its 100 meters of water resistance, making it versatile enough for a range of activities, from beach outings to casual strolls. Whether you pair it with jeans, joggers, or shorts, this watch effortlessly complements any outfit, adding a touch of sportiness to your summer wardrobe.

In summary, the Breitling Endurance Pro 38 in pink is more than just a watch—it's a vibrant companion for the summer, offering a blend of advanced materials, precise timekeeping, and a splash of colour that is both trendy and versatile.

One of the most quietly understated yet interesting Swiss brands out there is Longines, with a quality heritage (since 1832) that most people somehow don’t notice: in fact, the Conquest family of watches celebrates its 70 ^th birthday this year.

To celebrate, Longines has come out with a range of new pastel-coloured Conquests that are perfect for the summer. The industry as a whole has been recently breaking down barriers between men’s watches and ladies’ watches, and most of the new sizes – which range from 30mm to 38mm (you can already get a 34mm and 41mm version) – are perfectly unisex.

What really brings these watches to spectacular summery life are the new dials, with the duck egg blue in particular being absolutely on trend, as well as the light green and you can also get a candy pink version.

I thought choosing a holiday watch would be an easy decision, but I started to overthink what the definition of what one actually is. Whenever I think of ‘holiday’, it's typically a ‘vacation’ that often involves a combination of summer, sun and relaxation - so for that I'd therefore typically choose something tough and comfortable along the GADA (“go anywhere, do anything’) line that would be suitable for all types of summer activity to include it's use in sun, sand, sea, walking and the heat (or, conversely, extreme cold).

Rather than select anything from the infinite, universal horological catalogue, I have, for the purpose of this article, chosen one of my own, favourite microbrands: a Newmark 71 Sports (skin-diver) model.

Newmark, in its current guise, produced this modern variant of their 70s’s diver/sports watch a few years ago (via Kickstarter) offering 3 dial colourways (black, blue, silver), two bezel types (one to track time and the other for measuring an additional time-zone) and coming with, or without, a date complication.

The 40mm ‘71’ wisely utilises the hi-beat, Japanese Miyota 9039 (true non-date) automatic movement to offer reliable time-keeping at an affordable cost. Sapphire glass features twice: once for the watch’s crystal and secondly for the bezel’s inlay that ratchets on a clever ball-bearing mechanism (60 clicks, anti-clockwise for dive style and 12 bi-directional for the second time zone version).

The watch is water resistant to 200m and the lugs measure 20mm, which is ideal to facilitate numerous strap-change options. But my favourite feature is the incredibly bright green lume - the watch doesn't even have to try and charge up. Of all the watches, and across numerous price points, I have owned or reviewed, this is by far the best for luminescence: ideal for measuring remaining oxygen levels in the murky depths amongst the shipwrecks or taking a time-check around a campfire under a summer night’s star-laden sky. Perfect. 

Summer is always a great time for watch lovers. The opportunity to be outside and take your watches on daily adventures while the weather’s nice should never be ignored (especially if you have a particular penchant for tool watches capable of withstanding knocks, submersion, and a dash of perspiration).

Better still, is the more frequent absence of long sleeves, meaning the size of your chosen timing companion can increase without the concern cuffs getting in the way. And then there’s the sunshine itself! Many dials look their best in natural light, and thanks to the sunlight above Britain’s habit of being regularly diffused by stubborn cloud cover, fans of watch photography have reason to rejoice.

Over the years since the brand’s foundation in 2017, I’ve written frequently about my love for Laventure watches, a small, one-man-brand based just outside of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. I own three of the brand’s watches (the inaugural Marine in green, 2018’s Sous-Marine bronze with a black dial, and the Chronode-powered Automobile chronograph from 2022). Truth be told, my most worn watch over the period of the brand’s existence is the bronze-cased Sous-Marine, partly for its comfortable black FKM rubber strap, and otherwise for its moody versatility. However, given that model is neither available nor the possessor of an exciting dial, I don’t think it’d be fair to choose it here (although for anyone interested in the brand, the latest wave of releases saw the first unlimited model hit the shelves — it is a beautiful GMT and still available, so check it out here.

For a watch that ticks all the boxes I outlined above, I would go for my recently acquired Fortis Novonaut. The Novonaut is built like a tank meaning it pairs well with T-shirts and extreme activity, it is water resistant to 200 meters (as all modern Fortis watches are), and it has a curiously engaging “black” dial, that throws out shifting shades of brown in natural light. That warmer tone to a dial that appears flat black on press images harmonises beautifully with the Berlac Fluor Orange chronograph seconds hand and dial accents. It’s a glorious combo and the perfect beater for the outdoors.

And if you don’t fancy the additional weight of the block bracelet, every single one of Fortis’s modern watches has a 21 mm lug width, which means any strap in the catalogue will fit any watch. The Novonaut looks particularly cool on either the hybrid strap (which fuses rubber and webbing with a military look) or the brand’s hook straps, which are effectively a simple band of stretchy fabric, perfect for more intense activities and significant weight reduction on the wrist.