Elite Traveler Spring 2020

STYLE MEN’S WATCHES

by Roberta Naas

TIMELY ADVENTURES

With more and more people looking for active experiences and adventures in life, watch brands are keeping pace by creating timepieces designed to go the distance, whether your adventure of choice is diving, flying or exploring. Some brands look to their rich heritage supporting explorers to create watches with a vintage look, while others highlight their technological advancements with modern design. All use the most state-of- the-art materials available and have movements designed to handle the most challenging environments.

OMEGA SEAMASTER DIVER 300M CHRONOGRAPH If you love scuba diving — or just the look — Omega, with its long history of dive watches, should be top of mind. Its partnership with GoodPlanet Foundation led to the award-winning documentary, Planet Ocean , designed to raise awareness of the critical need to protect the sea. Recently, Omega partnered with the Five Deeps Expedition to reach the deepest points of the Earth’s five oceans. This 44mm Seamaster Diver 300M watch houses the brand’s self-winding Co-Axial Master Chronometer Caliber 9900 movement, which attests to its chronometric precision. It is equipped with a chronograph and features a black ceramic diving-scale bezel, and the hands and indices on the black ceramic dial are filled with white Super-LumiNova for easy underwater readability. Approved by METAS and water resistant to 300 meters, the watch also blocks magnetic fields. $26,000 in 18K Sedna gold, Omega in New York, +1 212 207 3333, omegawatches.com

BLANCPAIN FIFTY FATHOMS AUTOMATIC Blancpain has created dive watches for professionals since the early 1950s, and now it supports causes that raise awareness of the fragility of our oceans as part of its Ocean Commitment program. The brand regularly backs preservation efforts, supports scientific expeditions around the world and sponsors underwater photography to inspire the public to support ocean conservation. The Fifty Fathoms collection features its iconic dive watch, designed for deep-water dives. This automatic version is fitted with the brand’s caliber 1315 that has a silicon balance spring. It offers date, a central seconds hand and a unidirectional sapphire bezel with a diving scale. The markers and hands on the ceramic dial are all coated in Super-LumiNova so they glow in dark waters. Measuring 45mm in diameter, the watch is water resistant to 300 meters and offers 120 hours of power reserve. $35,800 in 18K rose gold, Blancpain in New York, +1 212 396 1735, blancpain.com