In the world of luxury horology, there’s something refreshingly honest about a proper tool watch. No diamond bezels or dainty lugs here – this is the realm of reinforced cases, GMT functions, shock absorption and water resistance deep enough to impress a submarine commander.
Today’s crop of adventure watches embraces their utilitarian heritage while layering in the latest materials, technologies and mechanical chops.
From Tudor’s ultra-capable Pelagos Ultra – boasting 1,000m of water resistance and a Master Chronometer movement – to IWC’s tourbillon-bearing shock tank, the Big Pilot’s Watch XPL, this is a golden age for watches built to withstand far more than your morning commute.
Some, like Longines’ Spirit Zulu Time or Rado’s vintage-inflected Over-Pole, offer worldly GMT functionality with no shortage of throwback charm, while others – Citizen’s solar-powered beast or Ulysse Nardin’s record-breakingly light Diver Air – push boundaries in both performance and design.
Whatever your flavour – be it retro steel, featherweight titanium or tactical matte black – one thing’s clear: adventure watches are no longer just tools. They’re statements.
Tudor
Pelagos Ultra
Diminutive and dressy are certainly not words which spring to mind when one has the new Pelagos Ultra on their wrist – this right here is a watch built for action. An extension to Tudor’s already more-than-capable Pelagos dive watch collection, the Ultra really amps up the stats that have already made the Pelagos a go-to tool watch at the mid-range price point.
Living up to its name, the Ultra offers a whopping 1,000 metres of water-resistance, a 43mm case diameter, contrast-luminescent oversized hands/markers, and a diver’s micro-adjust clasp with ‘lume pip’ position indicator.
The case and bracelet are realised in the Pelagos family’s signature titanium, while a Master Chronometer certified automatic movement, with 65-hours of power reserve, beats away within. The Ultra is Pelagos turned all the way up to 11 – and more than worthy of being the lineup’s new flagship model.
£5,070, tudorwatch.com
Longines
Spirit Zulu Time 1925
The Longines Spirit Zulu Time 1925 builds on the brand’s historic work with multiple time-zone watches and clocks; the first known example being a 1908 pocket watch ordered by the Ottoman Empire for simultaneous display of both Turkish and Western time.
The new Spirit Zulu Time 1925 arrives in a 39mm steel case with a rose gold-capped, bi-directional 24-hour bezel, powered by a COSC-certified automatic calibre. It features four hands – including an independently adjustable ‘true GMT’ – and a date display at 6 o’clock.
It takes its name from Longines’ first dual-time wristwatch, the Zulu Time of 1925 – itself named after the military term for Greenwich Mean Time.
£3,750, longines.com
IWC
Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL
Shock resistance and high-end complicated mechanical watches are not natural bedfellows, but with the Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL, IWC has artfully combined the two with seamless ease. Running a flying tourbillon, the watch has been successfully tested at up to 10,000 units of g-force.
Utilising a version of its patented SPRIN-g PROTECT shock absorption system, IWC has suspended the movement within the case (44mm, black Ceratanium) using a cushioning, cantilever spring – the movement also decouples from the crown, when not needed for setting and winding. In short, it can take a hell of a beating.
€213,000, iwc.com
Hamilton
Khaki Navy Scuba Auto GMT 43mm
Also throwing its hat into the multiple time-zone ring comes Hamilton, with the Khaki Navy Scuba Auto GMT 43mm. Combining dive watch levels of pressure resistance – 300 metres, no less – with ‘true GMT’ functionality, the watch is a serious option for anyone in the market for a globe-travelling adventure timepiece.
Available in either steel on a three-link bracelet with a grained white dial [pictured], or in bronze on a fabric NATO strap with a grained black dial, the watch features an appropriately rugged 43mm pointed-crown-guard case. Ticking away inside, you’ll find a self-wound calibre replete with a Nivachron titanium hairspring – furnishing the movement with increased levels of shock, temperature and magnetic resistance for whatever your adventure may throw at you.
£1,265, hamiltonwatch.com
Rado
Captain Cook Over-Pole
A heritage reissue of a watch from Rado’s archives dating to 1962, the Captain Cook Over-Pole sure is a doozy. With a 39mm gold-PVD stainless steel case, bi-directional black ceramic ‘world time’ bezel and handsome silver sun-ray dial, its heritage styling and multiple time-zone function help conjure up thoughts of swashbuckling mid-century jet setters like Gianni Agnelli and Gunter Sachs.
Combining its retro looks with contemporary practicality, the manually-wound Over-Pole is watertight to 100 metres and utilises both Super-Luminova lume (in a vintage cream hue), and a sapphire crystal (in a vintage ‘box’ shape). There’s also a red-lettered date window at 3 o’clock for a final pop of colour.
£2,650, rado.com
Doxa
Sub 200
If your adventure watch tastes skew towards the more traditional, may we draw your attention to Doxa’s latest Sub 200 dive watch – a classic three-hand steel diver with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, anti-reflective coating, and a depth rating of 200m. This latest model introduces a high-polish steel bezel, injecting a touch of the urbane into the Sub 200’s vintage professional looks.
Available in a spectrum of eight different dial colours, spanning canary yellow to pastel blue, or the more demure black dial pictured here, the watch is available with a host of wear options, including FKM rubber and fabric NATO, but I’d advise the steel ‘beads of rice’ bracelet with its dive-suit extension clasp.
From £1,050, doxawatches.com
Ulysse Nardin
Diver Air
With the Diver Air, Ulysse Nardin has broken the record for the world’s lightest mechanical dive watch: weighing in at a remarkable 52g – 46g for the watch head and 6g for the elastic strap.
In order to achieve this, the innovative Swiss watchmaker has created a new stripped-out skeletonised titanium movement and used a combination of titanium, NyloFoil and CarbonFoil for the case. Despite its extreme featherweight statistics, the Diver Air is capable of withstanding 5,000g of shock and has, of course, passed all the ISO 6425 tests (including rapid temperature change, magnetic field exposure, a one meter drop and impacts from a 3kg hammer) to qualify as a proper “divers’ watch”.
£33,420, ulysse-nardin.com
Alpina
Alpiner Extreme Automatic Titanium
The first all-titanium watch ever to come from the 141-year old Alpina brand, the Alpiner Extreme Automatic Titanium measures in at 39mm and can boast 200 metres of water resistance, automatic winding, an ‘H-link’ style integrated bracelet design, and a satin-finish patterned silver dial.
The tessellating triangle pattern found on the dial is, in fact, a signature of the Alpiner collection, symbolising the mountainous peaks for which Alpiner was named. It’s topped off by a 3 o’clock date window and a red-triangle counterweighted central-seconds hand. Alpina is renowned for its dependable and robust outdoor watches and its first foray into titanium is no exception.
£2,195, alpinawatches.co.uk
Micromilspec x Black Badger
Milgraph: Sabotage
Micromilspec has been making waves over the past few years since starting as a closed-market manufacturer of custom watches primarily for military and other professional clients. And now comes a collaboration with indie watch world darling, Black Badger. Known for his sterling work with luminous material, James Thompson aka Black Badger, has previously worked with the likes of MB&F and De Bethune.
Limited to only 75 pieces, the collaboration bears uncommonly bright ultramarine X-1 grade Super-Luminova, developed by the Badger man in partnership with Switzerland’s RC Tritec AG.
£2,900, micromilspec.com
Citizen
Promaster Eco-Drive Diver 300m
For the ultimate in no-nonsense ‘grab and go’ dive watch functionality, look no further than the Promaster Eco-Drive Diver 300m from Citizen.
With its 46mm case, deeply serrated ‘ashtray’ bezel, heavily lumed stocky handset, 4 o’clock offset crown and thick ‘accordion’ polyurethane strap, even casual examination of the Diver 300m immediately reveals its hardcore outlook.
Despite finding a touch of whimsy in its ombré, glossy burgundy dial, it’s a real brawn over beauty watch. The centrepiece is the new in-house Cal.E365 light-powered quartz movement, a leap in solar technology in the Eco-Drive family. It allows for
a full 365 days of running on one charge.
