So, you're gearing up for your next big adventure. Or maybe you've just spent the last month convincing yourself to break that auspicious luxury-craving cherry of yours and rough it out for a bit. You've gone out a bought yourself some solid gear from Kathmandu that makes you look like the next Bear Grylls, your leave is set for an eyebrow-raising 'indefinite', your automatic email response is on and working (as confirmed by your multiple anxiety-driven trials), and you've just sorted out international roaming on your phone. But, before you bid farewell to your loved ones, you're going to need a solid watch to get you through your trip. We've put together a list of the 9 best watches you can buy for your next adrenaline-filled adventure, focusing on the key elements of durability, functionality, reliability and versatility.
You can check them all out through our shop on Amazon.
Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar II
Clad in titanium, the T-Touch Expert Solar II is a lightweight tool-watch perfect for the outdoors. Tissot's adventure-inspired T-Touch Expert Solar II holds an enormous amount of tech, perfectly suited for the intrepid traveller, including a perpetual calendar, a chronograph, a world time function, an alarm function, a GMT indicator with a second time zone display, a thermometer, an altitude indicator, a barometer and a compass. All of these incredibly useful functions come from its solar-powered quartz movement. The one-stop-shop for the venturesome traveller!
Victorinox I.N.O.X
Victorinox's I.N.O.X is a no-nonsense watch that will long outlive you, me and anything else on this list. Ticking the boxes of all our aforementioned prerequisites, the I.N.O.X is virtually life-proof. It might not look like much, but the I.N.O.X is battle-hardened and more than capable of joining you on life's adventurous. This will take a beating and then some without even batting an eyelid, and its paracord band perfectly sums up the I.N.O.X's utilitarian approach.
Seiko Prospex Marinemaster
The Prospex Marinemaster is the quintessential divers watch, combining a durable exterior with incredible inner mechanics in the form of Seiko's proprietary spring drive technology. Able to withstand pressures up to 600m below the surface, the Prospex Marinemaster is undoubtedly one of this list's heavy-hitters.
G-Shock Mudmaster
The Mudmaster has been around for a number of years now, and for good reason. It's a beast! Where would an adventure-watch list be without some kind of G-Shock variation. The Mudmaster is my pick of the bunch purely because of the amount of information it gives its wearer. Beyond its solar-powered, digital compass holding, multi-band atomic timekeeping capabilities, the Mudmaster has a special vibration and mud resistant construction. It has multiple gasket used to guide buttons and shafts to keep mud out, and it has the capability of giving your instant access to direction, barometric pressure and temperature information whenever needed. Similar to Tissot's T-Touch Expert Solar II, the G-Shock Mudmaster is a traveller's one-stop watch shop.
Alpine AlpinerX
Featuring sensors on the dial and case which can track the altitude, barometric readings, compass direction, UV ratings and temperature in any atmosphere, along with having a connected GPS and functionality like activity and sleeping trackings, calls and message notifications and being a worldtimer, the AlpinerX is truly the modern-adventurer's best friend. Its fiber glass case is both strong and light, and its digital screen is large and legible, meaning ease of use and lots of practicality. Two thumbs up from us.
Breitling Emergency
A must-have for all adventurers looking to fall off the grid for a bit, Breitling's Emergency is a sort of institution. Revel in the fact that if you royally f**k up, by merely pulling out its one-time-use antenna you'll be saved from certain demise (yes, we're putting that lightly). The antenna is actually really intuitive in that it alerts as well as guides homing and rescue operations. Unfortunately it doesn't come with a how-to-recover-your-dignity guide but hey, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
Rolex Explorer II
Once upon a time Rolex made tool watches that were actually used by professionals for their intended purpose. Now, Rolex still makes those same watches but perhaps they lack the old-school stigma of being solid because they tend to do more desk-diving and photo-shooting than anything. But, don't get it twisted, Rolex watches are made with the sole purpose of being tool watches, and the Explorer II is a prime example of that. Not only does it look immensely cool, it holds its own as one of the best mechanical watches primed and tuned for a life of adventure and wearer-inflicted torture. It will do so without missing a beat, even though you might.
IWC TOP GUN Miramar Chronograph
For the adventurer with deep pockets, we hear you. Here is the TOP GUN Miramar Chronograph from IWC. Featuring a military-inspired olive-theme aesthetic in a ceramic and titanium case with a flyback chronograph, the TOP GUN Miramar Chronograph is uber cool. But does cool cut it? Well, it comes with a NATO strap made of a canvas similar to a cargo belt, a scratch resistant lightweight case and the benefit of having an automatic mechanical movement. Be that as it may, the TOP GUN Miramar Chronograph may just be this list's least suited watch to life on the road, but it does look awesome.
Bremont MBIII
If it can withstand the trauma of being ejected from a fighter jet, then it can definitely handle whatever you or anybody else you come across on your adventure can throw at it. Very handy.
This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Comments