Surf’s Up – The Best Watches for Summer 2024

Whatever your plans for summer 2024, choose from these best watches and look cool all season long.

How do you plan to spend your summer? Will you be passing the hours poolside, sipping a sangria? Or do you plan to travel? If you’re less fortunate, you’ll spend your summer working as usual.

Either way, it doesn’t matter how your summer will play out if you have a great watch on your wrist. And believe me when I say this guide to the best summer watches of 2024 has it all.

Want a watch for evening walks along the beach? Or a timepiece that looks fantastic with your cycling gear? From practical GMT watches to sporty chronographs and robust sports watches, I cover everything in this guide.

Why You Need a Watch for the Summer

Look, I won’t lecture you on why you need a new watch for summer. Why, you ask? Because honestly, you don’t.

Most people don’t need a watch at all. We have phones, tablets, gadgets, and our good friend Alexa to help us keep track of time. But if you have a penchant for collecting luxury timepieces, you’ll justify the need for a new one anyway.

When we enthusiasts feel it’s time for a new watch, we’ll stop at nothing to get it. No one will stand in our way.

I say that, but sometimes watch collecting isn’t always that simple. A good friend regularly shares with me the implications of marriage and being a watch collector. Acquiring luxury watches is not the cheapest of hobbies, after all.

You might relate to the following conversation: Partner; “Don’t tell me that’s another new watch on your wrist?”. You: “Hm? What? Oh…this old thing? I’ve had it for years, darling”. (You dash upstairs, gather the paperwork and box, and quickly stash them in the back of the wardrobe).

Mission complete — a new watch for summer! It just required a little navigating.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, my advice is simple. Allow your partner to have a little guilty pleasure of their own.

A holiday with the girls or a spa day, maybe? Even a new pair of shoes every once in a while. That way, they get their fix, and you do, too.

Failing that, you could do what my friend does. Stash that box away and remind your spouse to pay more attention to said watches you’ve “worn for years.”

What To Look for in a Summer Watch

We already established that nothing will stop you if you “need” a new summer watch. All you need to do is whittle down your options.

Perhaps you’ve picked out the perfect polo shirt for the summer, and it needs a timepiece to complete the look.

When shopping for a summer watch, go for something robust and comfortable. Think about what you’ll be wearing your watch for. Are you wearing it as a statement piece alongside dressy attire? Maybe you’re looking for a rugged sports watch for grueling workouts.

Case material is essential when selecting a watch for the warmer months. Watches made from precious metals are perfect for formal evenings and social events.

On the other hand, lightweight titanium and scratch-resistant ceramic are more suitable for outdoor pursuits.

During the lighter months, shed the dull layers and wear a summer watch that will turn some heads. Don’t be afraid to experiment with color.

If there’s a time of year when you can get away with being more adventurous, it’s summer.

Summer Watch Trends

You may want to build up a collection with one of every complication. Or maybe you need a watch for every season? No one’s judging here!

Watches aren’t essential to your daily life, but they make it more enjoyable and exciting. (If you’ve been bitten by the bug, you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that!)

This year, the prestigious Watches & Wonders event, held annually in Geneva, gave us lots of exciting releases. Delights from IWC, Rolex, Cartier, TAG Heuer, and TUDOR adequately capture the trends pending for Summer 2024.

Pastel-coloured dials and smaller case dimensions were on the cards, as were gender-neutral designs and retro digital watches.

To help you stay on trend this summer, check out these top picks, ranging from affordable to high-end. Let’s get stuck in!

Best Watches for Summer 2024

So, here’s what you’ve been waiting for — the ultimate guide to the best watches for summer 2024. I’ve chosen watches that are great for specific leisure activities.

I’m also covering every price bracket, with a rough ballpark figure for each model.

The Best Watch for Cycling: Garmin Forerunner 945 $550

A wearable device like the Garmin Forerunner 945 is perfect for cycling. It’s compact, comfortable, and has a large, visible screen for checking stats while you’re on the go.

The model is a more advanced version of the earlier Forerunner 935 and offers extra features for athletes. These include an optical heart rate sensor and WiFi connection that lets you sync and share data with fellow cyclists.

Ideal for long bike rides during summer evenings, its bright 30.4mm AMOLED screen is easy to read in the dark. Plus, its impressive 36-hour battery life in GPS mode will keep you going for long durations.

The Forerunner 945 offers even more. In addition to feeding your favorite music to your earphones as you bike, you can use the watch directly for cycling.

This smartwatch is compatible with a whole load of cycling-specific apps for tracking routes, rides, and navigation.

The Best Watch for Travel: The TUDOR Black Bay 58 GMT ref. M7939G1A0NRU-0001 $5k

The TUDOR Black Bay 58 is currently a strong contender in the GMT category. It carries all the faithful design codes of the neo-vintage model released in 2012.

It’s the answer to a smaller, more compact version of the Black Bay GMT, which fans have long been begging for. Its 39mm stainless steel case sits at a height of 12.8mm, constituting an excellent GMT watch for small wrists.

Take note of the tasteful gilt markers on the “coke”-inspired bezel. They work beautifully with the two-tone bezel and black dial, elevating the design to dressier heights.

If you plan to travel a lot this summer, you will need a watch like this. Fitted with a Master Chronometer-certified movement and a complication for tracking a second time zone, this is the ultimate GMT.

The Best High-End Dress Watch: The Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Petite Seconde ref. PFC940-2010001-300181-EN $55k

The Tonda PF is Parmigiani’s excellent interpretation of a bona fide sports watch. I’d even go as far as to say that it’s easy to forget what else the brand manufactures. So, on that note, let me remind you of the luxurious Toric.

The supreme Toric line is wholly indulgent and simply stunning. It offers all you need in a dress watch for summer 2024.

This model combines the warm blush pink tones of an 18k rose gold case with a subtly knurled bezel edge. What’s more, its “sand gold” dial bears a beautiful hand grain application.

Look through the caseback, and you can even admire Parmigiani Fleurier’s Cotes de Fleurier decoration across elegant 18k gold bridges. This is a superb dress watch for pairing with dress shirt.

Best Watch for the Beach: The Elliot Brown Bloxworth 3HD ref. 929-102-R55G $650

The Elliot Brown Bloxworth 3HD is really affordable and robust.

The company designs its watches in the UK but manufactures them in China, keeping costs down for both the manufacturer and the consumer. You can’t grumble about the quality, either.

Elliot Brown also makes a totally snazzy orange-colored dive watch in this range, but I’m considering versatility here. This black model will pair with anything and looks great on the beach. For under $700, you can enjoy a 200-meter water-resistant rating and a quick-drying rubber strap.

The Bloxworth also features a legible, layered sandwich dial, excellent case finishing, and sand-colored lume fillings. Elliot Brown describes the quick-change strap bars as “unbreakable,” and they certainly add some fun to strap-changing.

Best Watch for Ocean Dips: The Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M Small Seconds ref. 220.12.41.21.03.005 $8k

Omega is the ticket if you like the Elliot Brown Bloxworth but want an esteemed name on the dial.

The manufacturer is the proud owner of an extensive range of dive watches named the Seamaster collection. Within that series is the Aqua Terra 150M.

You guessed it. It comes with a 150-meter water-resistant rating. It also features a unidirectional rotating bezel, an in-house movement, and a small-second function.

I love the blue-grey color of this dial. It looks at home in the water with its distinctive arrow-shaped minute hand protected by a sapphire crystal front.

Dipping in and out of the water with this watch is a breeze, courtesy of a quick-drying blue rubber band. Its white contrast stitching running up the edges tastefully compliments the “teak” pattern dial and white seconds scale.

The Best Watch for Surfing: The Breitling Superocean Automatic 42 ref. A17375211B2S4 $5,500

Prepare for one of the most colorful Breitling watches ever. This Superocean watch has a rainbow hour track and a vivid yellow band that will get you noticed on the beach.

The watch is part of Breitling’s latest slew of dive watches and takes inspiration from the vintage “Slow Motion” watch.

A little history on that: the Slow Motion was Breitling’s remedy for a legible underwater timing device. By the time the watch arrived in 1967, Breitling already had a suitable dive watch.

But the brand didn’t stop there.

Breitling converted the central chronograph hand into a minute hand. It would make one revolution around the dial per hour, clearly showing the elapsed time when underwater.

A small indicator at 6H would show in yellow to enable the wearer to double-check that they’d engaged the feature.

The Superocean Slow Motion watch arrived during the golden years of the surfing era. Bold colors were the order of the day.

Although modern, the Superocean is no exception. Its rainbow colors, 200-meter water resistance, and black ceramic diver’s bezel are perfect for riding the waves.

The Best Watch for Climbing; The Casio Master of G Mudmaster ref. GG-1000-1A3 $300

It doesn’t matter where you venture with this Casio Master of G Land Mudmaster watch. Its rugged construction is practically bulletproof. Ok, so maybe it’s not that tough, but it will undoubtedly hold its own in the most challenging terrains.

Also, take a look at its price. For $300, you get these features: a digital compass, thermometer, 1/100 second stopwatch, and 200-meter water resistance.

You also get a world time function, LED backlight, auto calendar, low battery monitor, and capacity for 5 daily alarms. Its resin and steel case design is also perfect for rock climbing and outdoor pursuits. You can’t go wrong with G-Shock watches.

The clue is in its name. You can swim with it and complete military drills with it. You can even bathe in mud with it. This G-Shock watch is the ultimate tool watch this summer.

If you’re planning a season of outdoor adventures, you’d be crazy not to add this watch to your list.