With upcoming holidays to (hopefully) hotter places on the horizon, we want light, fun and colourful summer watches on our wrist.
“Summer's the time to chase adventures, make memories, and express yourself with vibrant style,” says Charity Mhende, watch enthusiast and content creator @pulseonthewrist. “From colourful dials and stackable mini-watches to jewellery that tells time, I love that there are countless ways to embrace the season's fun and show off your unique personality.”
So, what are the ultimate summer watches? Experts and collectors from around the world give a shoutout to their top picks, starting with my own.
Honeybees are synonymous with summertime. Whether you’re trying to fend them off poolside or at sidewalk cafes, they’re part of summer. I'm buzzing for this automatic and waterproof timepiece from Mr. Jones Watches, adorned with an intricate bee design by artist Andy Wilx. On the dial, a supersized gilded bee hovers over foliage and flora, shimmering and matching my (hopefully soon-to-be) golden tan. £695. At mrjoneswatches.com
“One of my favourite parts of summer is watching the sunset and the moonrise, seeing the stars appear over the ocean, it’s one of life’s little daily poetic treasures,” says J.J. Owens, founder of Daily Grail. “The Biver Carillon Catharsis emulates not only that exact scene, but the mechanics are on a completely different level. And since it is summer, I would absolutely add a blue ostrich strap to match the sea.” POA. At jcbiver.com
“Summer means being out the whole day,” says Thomas Brechtel, a watch writer and photographer. “It has to be robust, tough, waterproof, and no leather strap. Summer also means that I don’t count the days or seconds, so hours and minutes are enough on the dial. The ultimate summer watch has to have a greatest possible style and design available, and this for sure comes from Parmigiani Fleurier, a watch that looks like the sun.” £23,220. At jurawatches.co.uk
“My travel watch these days is the Bianchet Flying Tourbillon,” says collector Chronopeace. “It’s lightweight, water and shock resistant and it comes with a flying tourbillon, but is fairly priced. And looks COOL for the hot summer.” Chronopeace wears his on a blue strap, the signature colour of his watch collection. POA. At bianchet.com
So bright you’ll have to put sunglasses on to look at it. “No contest, it has to be this bright yellow and sunny analog G, with a black dial and white hour markers,” says G-Shock collector Andy McIntyre. “It’s iconic, solar powered and gives off sunny vibes. It ticks all the boxes, it’s my ultimate go-to holiday G.” £175. At amazon.co.uk
With an assortment of rainbow-hued straps to choose from, you can customise the F.P. Journe Élégante according to your mood. “The bright coloured straps are made of rubber so I don’t need to worry about sweat, and I have them in many colours,” says Mervin Ling, founder of the F.P. Journe Collectors’ Club. “They offer more than 10 colours such as burgundy, pink, yellow, Tiffany blue, orange or white.” POA. At fpjourne.com
"No Greeny, Go Burgundy!,” says Danar Widanarto, known as Chronondo, who usually wears green as a signature colour (and wears watches on his jacket). “I have been wearing so many green dial watches lately and I think I need a refresher like this Armand Nicolet VS1 with the burgundy dial and burgundy strap. It reminds me of ripe juicy berries,” he adds. “Burgundy is probably the colour of 2024.” CHF 1,350. At armandnicolet.com
More Casio, a pop culture staple, and it’s now clear that a G-Shock is the ultimate summer flex. This fresh model looks like a Japanese cartoon version of a G-Shock. “It has everything I need: 200 meter waterproof, world time function, countdown timer and alarm clock,” says collector Martin Wingenbach. “The whole thing in a look that hardly anyone will have.” POA. At g-shock.co.uk
More summer berries coming your way. “My other ultimate summer watch is the Nomos Club Campus in deep pink,” says Wingenbach. “It comes in two sizes, 36 and 38mm. Due to the intense colour, it has a great presence even on larger wrists despite its small size.” You can keep it on while you swim and £1,300 is exceptional for this Glashütte number. £1,300. At nomos-glashuette.com
“The ultimate summer watch is my vintage Seiko diver,” says Brynn Wallner, founder of Dimepiece. “At very wearable 33mm, it was marketed as a ladies' watch in the '80s/90s when it was sold, and everything was executed perfectly – that is to say that its sporty design was just as considered as the men's version, it's AUTOMATIC and it doesn't have any unnecessary frills. Why don't they make smaller watches like this anymore?”
“You can never go wrong with a G-Shock in the summer,” says Mhende. “I personally love the ruggedness of a ‘Casioak’ with the femininity that I wear it with. I usually wear my bronze watch in the summer with my pearl earrings and rings. The colour of the watch is especially great when I’m sun-kissed, and the mashup of the pearls makes it unique to me and my style.” £499. At thbaker.co.uk
Technically not a wristwatch, but hear us out. “I’m also living for the watch jewellery trend!” says Mhende. Aside from its accessible timepieces, Fossil also has jewellery, such as this playful and chunky watch ring. “It's all about effortlessly adding a watch to your look and a pop of colour, perfect for those who love a layered jewellery look like myself.” £139. At fossil.com
