Will These Watches Help You with Your Summer Tan? There's Only One Way to Find Out

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The snow has melted and Aperol spritz is back on the menu. With Memorial Day nigh, our daydreams uniformly depict white sand beaches far, far away from our desks. But procuring the right trunks or bikini is easy enough. It’s selecting the right watch to wear on the sand and into the water that takes more thought. It can’t be just any piece either. So many mouthwatering timepieces you’d sell your kidney to own go the way of Elphaba when drenched in water. To wit: It’s vitally important to buy something that’s submersible to at least 100 meters (300-ish feet). Added to that, a leather or satin strap is verboten, unless you like having a soggy wrist. For littoral excursions, think metal, rubber, and nylon. You don’t want that vintage dress watch that granny used to wear to become a statistic, do you? Here, in no particular order, a survey of 10 of the best watches to rock at the beach all summer.

Submariner (No Date)

Ask any watch enthusiast to close their eyes and picture the perfect one-watch collection, it’s likely that the only syllable to escape their lips will be “Sub.” Originally released in 1953, the Submariner is the O.G. of divers and James Bond’s preferred timepiece—sans cyclops date function—in the Sean Connery days. True to its name, this sleek 41mm hunk of stainless steel is submersible up to 300 meters. It bridges all sartorial gaps: Whether your beach outfit is a linen suit and Borsalino or just a Borat bikini, the Sub goes with it.

Nautilus 5726/1A-014

Who says a beach watch can’t be highly complicated? Patek Philippe doesn’t think so, since they gave this highly coveted 40.5mm stainless-steel Nautilus—designed by Gerald Genta and originally released in 1976—variation 120 meters of water resistance. Do you need an annual calendared and moonphased watch on your wrist while swimming with hammerheads? Ummm...yes!

Sorayama Special Edition

The Bulgari aluminium line helped define the late-’90s watch world. And now that the era of minidiscs, Tamagotchis, and “Bondi Blue” iMacs is back in vogue, so too are these 40mm, aluminum-and-rubber beauties. This one is a special edition with a dial designed by Japanese illustrator Hajime Sorayama and features 100 meters of water resistance.

Marine 5517

Breguet is one of the world’s most storied luxury watch manufacturers, originally founded the year before the American Revolution began and whose most famous commission was a wildly complicated watch that Marie-Antoinette of France never got to enjoy. So it might come as a surprise to some that the brand has a beach-ready watch on a rubber strap among their offerings. This 40mm, 10-bar bad boy is made of titanium and is a great choice to wear while windsurfing in St. Barts.

Overseas Chronograph

This Overseas is one very versatile, 150-meter submersible piece of eye candy. At 42.5mm of stainless steel and featuring a chronograph movement and reverse panda dial, it makes a statement on the sand. It also comes with two OEM straps—calf skin and rubber—that are a synch to switch out. It don’t get much more versatile than that.

Royal Oak Offshore Music Edition

Arguably one of the coolest dials of all time, this 10-bar, 43mm black ceramic Offshore is louder than any beach bum’s boombox blasting “Cruel Summer.” With its rainbow VU-meter dial and rubber strap, it’s like a beach bonfire disco on your wrist.

Streamliner Tourbillon 40mm

A tourbillon at the beach, you say? Are you crazy? Why, yes! But this elegant and highly complicated H. Moser masterpiece has a water resistance of 120 meters, so maybe you should live a little. Add the nonpareil cool factor of the Vantablack dial—a shade of black so dark, it absorbs over 99 percent of light—and a rose gold case, and your wrist is surely going to turn heads.

Sport SBGE257

This watch has so much going for it. Like...a lot. Grand Seiko is known for its superior craftsmanship and innovative movements, both of which are on full display here. The legendary Spring Drive movement is a major selling point, with the hypnotically smooth secondhand sweep. The 40mm, 20-bar SBGE257 also has GMT complication, so you can keep track of two time zones while skin-diving.

Sub 300T Professional

A preferred timepiece of French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, this 42mm is a legend unto itself. The 300 was first introduced in 1967—in this electric shade of orange—and it still looks fresh and enticing 56 years later. If, for whatever reason, that underwhelming whodunit you bought at the airport isn’t keeping your attention, get yourself a Dräger rebreather and take this watch to barotrauma depths.

Laureato Absolute Passion

Dating back to the mid-1970s, when luxury sports watches with integrated bracelets were becoming a thing, the Laureato by Girard-Perregaux is an IYKYK in the world of haute horology. This 44mm chronograph beast is made of titanium, belying its heavy appearance, and is water-resistant up to 300 meters. With the red-and-black PVC case, it gives “red sails, thunder ocean” vibes.

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