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The Top 5 Watches to Take on Vacation
What could be more fun than planning your ideal vacation? There’s a couple of ways to do this. You can spend days and weeks on research of the best destinations, perhaps creating a spreadsheet to weigh up things like budget, climate, safety, local culture, food, transportation, activities and visa requirements, etc.
Or you could lob a dart at a world map and hope for the best.
Whichever way works for you, the one thing which needs careful consideration, above all else, is the watch you’re taking with you.
What Makes a Perfect Vacation Watch?
A successful vacation is usually one in which you engage in a whole raft of different activities. Moreover, chances are it’s one which takes place in a different time zone.
And because you are unlikely to want to take an entire collection of luxury watches with you to match every eventuality, most holidaymakers opt for one, or maybe two, which can serve multiple duties.
So what are the most important considerations? Obviously only you know what you’re planning to do while you’re away, so the following is a set of general guidelines.
First off, you need to think about the weather. More specifically, are you going somewhere extremely hot? Very high temperatures can affect the sensitive components of a watch movement, especially those in older models. If you remember your grade school science lessons, metals expand in the heat and elements such as the balance wheel don’t have to expand very much at all before their performance is majorly compromised. Modern pieces get around this by crafting the most important parts from heat resistant alloys, but it is worth considering if you’re intent on bringing your favorite vintage watch with you. It’s a similar tale with lubricants. Very hot weather can change the viscosity of the oils used in a movement, again affecting timekeeping.
Be aware of your watch’s water resistance rating too. You’ll most likely end up in the drink at some point, whether it’s the pool, a lake or the ocean. But you want to make sure your watch has as good a time as you. Always check your model’s WR rating. As a quick guide:
- 3 Bars/30m/100’—Keep out of everything but a light rain
- 5 Bars/50m/165’—No more than a splash in the pool if you can’t avoid it
- 10 Bars/100m/330’—Snorkeling and a few light impact watersports
- 20 Bars/200m/660’—Should be good for recreational Scuba diving
- 30 Bars/300m/1,000’—Pro dive watch territory. Also suitable for jetskiing and the like +30 Bars—Go nuts.
Two things to remember; here again, a vintage watch (even a dive watch) will likely not have the same water resistance it once had, no matter what it says on the dial. As well engineered as they are, time has a way of reducing us all, so take extra care. The second is that “life happens”….whether it is accidentally dropping or bumping your watch “just right” or accidentally leaving the crown unscrewed, many daily life factors can contribute to a watch not being water resistant (or being less water resistant). Unless you are certain there are no issues with your watch being water resistant (such as pressure testing the watch right before going in the water), it is always best to play it safe and not wear your watch in the water.
And, if you are taking your watch for a dip in the ocean, make sure to rinse it off afterwards. Salt crystals are no friend to luxury timepieces.
Your choice of bracelet can affect your enjoyment of your watch as well. Out of all the different ways of attaching your model to your wrist, a leather band is arguably the least practical on a vacation piece. Things like sweat, sunscreen and salt water have negative effects on leather, making it swell and become brittle.
Metal bracelets also have their downsides. Go only for those with some form of quick micro adjustment to the clasp. Your wrist is going to expand in the heat and a metal bracelet with a fixed fastening will quickly become too tight.
Try a NATO or Zulu textile band in tropical countries, or a rubber strap is perfect if you envision a lot of swimming.
So, we’re looking for a watch able to withstand the heat, with good water resistance and which is on a comfortable band. What else?
Functionality-wise, obviously a GMT or even a Worldtime model can help stave off jetlag by keeping you abridged of the time back home while you’re away.
If we’re thinking aesthetics though, versatility is paramount. As we said, taking your whole watch box isn’t really workable so the one piece you do bring with you needs to look as good with casual wear, something more dressy and also hanging by the pool.
However, you perhaps don’t want it to look too good. There is a lot to be said for going low-key with your holiday watch. Depending on the country you’re visiting and its inhabitants, drawing attention to several thousand dollars’ worth of hardware on your wrist is not always advantageous; just one more thing to consider.
So we have our list of requirements—let’s see what it’s left us with.
The Top 5 Vacation Watches
The Rolex Yacht-Master 42 ref. 226627
You could get some traction out of the argument that there is no such thing as a low-key Rolex these days. Almost a victim of their own success (if you want to look at it that way) there is no destination on earth, holiday or no, where most people don’t know a Rolex when they see one.
However, if there was a competition to find the most discreet model in the current line-up, then the muted colors and matte-finished form of the titanium Yacht-Master 42 should be well up there.
Released in 2023, it is the first model the marque has released in titanium. Well, the first wearable one anyway, which is not an adjective you can level at the 50mm behemoth that is the Deepsea Challenge.
At its foundation we find much of the classic Submariner in the Yacht-Master’s attributes; the rotating 60-minute bezel, the identical handset and indexes, the Cyclops-covered date display, the overall shape of the case. But the Yacht-Master has always been the more urbane alternative to the dive legend; a watch meant for the gin palace rather than the undersea adventure. Plus, it is larger, something Sub fans were demanding for years and who were only partially silenced by the recent bump to 41mm.
In many ways, the ref. 226627 is the perfect Rolex. Not only is it entirely corrosion resistant thanks to its RLX Titanium case and Cerachrom bezel (two materials which shrug off salt water nasties) it is extremely lightweight, has 100m water resistance, is tough as nails, achingly stylish, is powered by the latest generation Rolex movement, has an Easylink comfort adjustment to the bracelet and it does all that while still not drawing unnecessary attention to itself.
The only thing it is missing for our purposes is a GMT function, but who’s counting?
The Tudor Black Bay GMT ref. MT5652
Do we even need to say anymore that Tudor has long since brushed aside the mantle of ‘Rolex sister company’?
While that may well be how the brand got started; Hans Wilsdorf wanting a more cost effective alternative to the full fat version, Tudor is now very much a manufacture with its own fiercely independent identity. And central to them stepping out of the shadows of their illustrious forebears was the introduction of the Black Bay series.
A collection of retro glory years throwbacks, the original pieces came along in 2012, with the range soon expanding to cover a vast assortment of exquisite and robust models.
And if any evidence was needed that Tudor is now out on its own, it came along in 2018 when the first Black Bay GMT debuted. The 41mm model with the snowflake handset, the old style crown guard-less case, non-magnified date display and subdued Pepsi bezel, stole the show at that year’s Baselworld event (remember them), which is an even greater achievement when you consider Rolex turned up to that one with their new steel Pepsi GMT-Master II—a long absent and lusted after model which saw much of its limelight stolen.
In 2022 the GMT gained a second option when the S&G, standing for their two-tone Steel and Gold version, landed followed the next year by a second all-steel piece, this time with an opaline white dial, each giving dramatically different vibes altogether.
Any of the Tudor travel companions would make ideal vacation watches, but if it was my money, I would plump for the original black dial model on the cool fabric strap with its red racing stripe.
A true ‘traveler’s GMT’, meaning the local hour hand is independently adjustable in one-hour increments, it is also 200m water resistant so it is strong enough for just about anything. The in-house movement grants a 70-hour reserve and the whole thing is understatedly handsome enough to go from beach to beach club with no loss of face.
A fantastic watch from an elite brand, there’s not much room for improvement.
The Breitling Chronomat Automatic GMT 40
Breitling is a superb marque we don’t seem to cover an awful lot in the Beckertime blog for some reason, so let’s remedy that now with a rundown of the excellent Chronomat Automatic GMT 40.
Much of the description is done for us in the title, to be honest. This is a 40mm automatic watch with a dual time function, belonging to the Chronomat collection; a watch with roots which go back even further than the iconic Navitimer.
Launched initially in 1941 as one of the first chronographs with a circular slide rule bezel, it was intended for scientists, engineers and mathematicians.
The Navi actually usurped the Chronomat when it came out in 1952, but the name was brought out of retirement in 1984 after the company came under new management. It fell into another period of temporary decline in the 2010s as Breitling focused more on vintage-inspired models, but it was reborn a second time in 2020, redesigned and re-calibered and has been going from strength to strength ever since.
The Automatic GMT 40 is one of the latest additions to the range, released in 2022 and featuring a ‘Caller GMT’, one where it is the GMT hand which is moved while the local hour hand stays put.
Styling-wise, this is a nicely judged hark back to some ‘70s goodness with a sleek case and what looks, at first glance, like an integrated bracelet. On closer inspection, however, you can see there are indeed lugs but the Rouleaux band, with its ammunition belt-style links, plays visual tricks.
Dial choice is quite extensive, but my personal choice for a trip overseas would be the ice blue faced model—partly because it is cool as heck but also because it sits on a rubber strap, one imbued with the same design as the steel bracelets only more comfortable and tactile thanks to its highly flexible material and three finishing textures.
An out-of-left-field choice for a vacation watch, but one well worth considering all the same.
The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M ‘Summer Blue’
2023 marked the 75th anniversary of just about the only watch on earth that can even come close to the appeal of the Rolex Submariner, Omega’s Seamaster.
To celebrate, the Swiss giant released 11 new models across all of their various Seamaster offshoot ranges (Aqua Terra, Worldtimer, Seamaster 300, Seamaster Diver 300M, Planet Ocean, Ploprof, and Ultra Deep), each with a beautiful ‘Summer Blue’ dial.
Cleverly, these dials, which feature a vignetting effect, were not all uniform in color. Instead, the faces got correspondingly darker on the watches designed to go deeper to signify the light, or lack of it, at great depth. So, the 150m rated Aqua Terra received relatively bright dials, while the Ultra Deep and its 6,000m was practically black around its borders.
Fan favorite, the Seamaster Diver 300M, launched into superstardom by the wrist of Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye back in the mid ‘90s, got the most middle-of-the-road shade, as befits its best all-rounder status.
Without doubt one of the most successful Omega creations of all time, the Diver 300M line has gone through its fair share of updates and alterations, but as with all design classics, there is a definite and easily traceable lineage back to its debut.
This latest piece continues with the famous twisted lyre lugs and helium escape valve at the 10 o’clock common to all iterations in the collection, along with the same skeletonized sword hands we are used to seeing. The case is stainless steel, the bezel ceramic and the movement inside is the very latest METAS-certified co-axial 8800, resistant to up to 15,000 gauss of magnetic interference.
But the story here is the dial. That blue really does scream summer and, matched with the blue rubber strap option, is enough to make you think the sun is shining on even the rainiest day.
A comparatively new inclusion in the list of most influential watches of all time, the Seamaster Diver 300M is an industry heavyweight.
The Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 116710
It isn’t technically illegal to have a list article of the best travel watches of all time and exclude Rolex’s seminal globetrotting masterpiece, but I certainly don’t want to risk it.
We are all well versed in its story by now. That whole Pan Am connection thing in the ‘50s thing is as familiar a tale to us as Goldilocks, and the GMT-Master series has remained in a class all its own for over 70-years.
During much of that time there has been an all-black bezeled variant on offer. Why is that significant? Well, as I’m sure you also know, much of the GMT-Master’s character is wrapped up in its bezels. From the outset, it was the twin colors on the surrounds which made the watch so identifiable. The red and blue Pepsi we talked about earlier was the first, before graduating through the brown and gold Root Beer, the lost lamented black and red Coke and so on and so on. More than just a gimmick, the two shades also helped wearers easily differentiate between the night and day hours on the numeric markings.
But for those who liked their watches a bit more incognito, the all-black bezels were a godsend. Stealthy and unassuming, they were modestly chic and worn by those happy to hide their lights somewhat under a bushel. Unhappily, the last one was retired in 2019 with the demise of the ref. 116710.
It is no secret that discontinued Rolex watches usually become highly sought after, and in particular those for which no direct replacement was issued and which came in the duel categories of ‘steel’ and ‘sports watch’.
The ref. 116710 ticks all three of those boxes and we are already seeing prices on the rise. Fortunately they can still be had for realistic amounts, and so make a very tempting target for anyone wanting their very own example of possibly the most celebrated travel watch ever made; the ideal partner for this year’s summer holidays.
Featured Photo: Mixed art by Oriol Mendivil for BKT Archive.
