Best New Sports Watches 2023
Keep life sporty, or at least sporty-adjacent with these elegant timepieces.
Time is always of the essence, but don’t you think especially so when it comes to sporty watches? Yes, there are new patented technological feats, but much of the appeal of these particular time pieces comes down to the chicness of the shapes, the straps and the mix of materials.
HERMÈS H08
SHOP NOW: Hermès H08 watch, $25,100 from Hermes
First launched in 2021, and designed by Philippe Delhotal, creative director of Hermès Horloger, the Hermès H08 watch ought to further one’s resolve to be both sporty and stylish, precious and useful. Balance is particularly in play here, especially as this update mixes rose gold, a blackened titanium caseback with a black ceramic bezel and crown, and the choice of a black webbed fabric or rubber strap. Indeed the graining on the dial (a bit like a stainless steel pan, as suggested in one review) contrasted against the shine of the gold on the plated hands and Arabic numerals is particularly striking. The size, 39mm, and the shape – cushion or square with softened edges – remain the same and are a reminder of the maison’s instantly recognisable shapes and design codes. It’s fitted with Hermès’ own self-winding movement and has a 50-hour power reserve.
THE GRAND SEIKO
SHOP NOW: The Grand Seiko, $19,950 by Seiko
To mark 110 years since Seiko released the first Japanese wristwatch, the Laurel, Grand Seiko has unveiled a limited edition piece in its honour. The Seiko Watchmaking 110th Anniversary Limited Edition may have been recreated in modern hard titanium but it uses traditional Japanese craft, such as the Urushi lacquer detail (which dates from the Jōmon period, 13,000 BCE-400 BCE) on the 38mm dial and gold maki-e hour markers. It’s equipped with the manually wound calibre 9S64, visible through the caseback, and you can swap out the plain leather strap for one that incorporates yoroiori, a Japanese weaving technique once used for the armour of samurais whereby thin strips of leather and fabric are laced together.
OMEGA THE SPEEDMASTER SUPER RACING
SHOP NOW: Omega The Speedmaster, Super Racing, $17,375 by Omega
Omega is charging forth into a new year with patent-pending whizzbangery, i.e. a new movement that allows the watchmaker to achieve precision of just 0/+2 seconds a day (meaning it gains no more than two seconds per day, and doesn’t lose any.) The Spirate™ System was 10 years in the making and the nuts and bolts of it is a redesigned balance spring, the one that controls how fast the wheels inside a mechanical watch spin. But aside from these horological feats, at 44mm, dressed in racing black and yellow colours and glow-in-the-dark SuperLuminova indexes, and with a honeycomb patterned dial, it looks good too. There’s sentiment in the colours and design, a reference to the Seamaster Aqua Terra 15,000 Gauss, which marks its tenth anniversary this year. You can swap the steel bracelet for a sporting NATO recycled nylon with black and yellow stripes too.