Sport watches are undeniably the most popular category of watches on the market today. This comes as no surprise given the growing trend of casual attire in the workplace and beyond (think of a classic suit with the button down swapped for a tee or loafers swapped for leather sneakers). The sport watch is the ideal companion as it offers the perfect balance between refinement and effortlessness.
Sport watches first rose to prominence in the 1970s with the birth of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Nearly half a century later, the sport watch category has evolved in many ways. Yet, models like the Royal Oak have only grown in popularity, proving the timelessness and staying power of the design. The sport watch is the perfect accessory for today’s jet-setting businessperson, taking them from a meeting in London to an F1 race in Monaco.
The sport watch is a broad category of timepieces similar to the tool watch. However, unlike a true tool watch that favors function over form, the sport watch is a seamless blend of the two, combining practical functions with high-end materials. It’s utilitarian enough for a casual scrimmage and stylish enough for dinner and drinks afterward. More and more, brands are pushing the bounds of both elements—technical prowess and superior design. These are 10 of the best sport watches on the market.
Breitling Top Time
Breitling’s Top Time collection dates back to 1964. The model was a direct reflection of the era and foreshadowed the advent of the sport watch a decade later. At the time, Willy Breitling (grandson of the brand’s founder, Leon Breitling) saw the need for a contemporary sport collection with greater focus on aesthetics rather than strictly performance. The collection launched with a stainless steel chronograph, but over the years, Breitling has elevated the line with new materials and complications. For instance, the Top Time Classic Cars Tourbillon offers combinations of bronze, ceramic, and titanium for the cases and walnut burl on one of the dials. In addition, each comes equipped with Breitling’s own in-house Caliber B21 tourbillon movement. The use of new materials is a direct ode to the cars that have inspired the watches in the collection, reflecting the colors and textures of the paint, steering wheel, and dashboard inlays found in the vehicles. In addition, the Caliber B21 is particularly unique for its combination of two complications: a tourbillon and a chronograph. Altogether, you have the blend of form and function that makes for the ideal sport watch.
Frederique Constant Highlife
Frederique Constant is a brand built on the concept of balance. The brand emerged shortly after the quartz crisis with the vision to uphold Swiss traditions in terms of its movement and finishing quality but at more accessible prices than its other Geneva-based counterparts. In the company’s relatively short 36-year history, it has created a whopping 30 in-house calibers while keeping the price of most models below $10,000 offering a massive value proposition. In 2020, Frederique Constant revived its signature sport collection—the Highlife—with a quintessential integrated case design, beautifully etched dials, and the brand’s first COSC-certified movement. In the past four years, the line has taken many forms with one of the latest editions fully embodying the spirit of the sport watch combining a classic stainless steel case with an opaline dial as well as pops of green on the subdials and bracelet. The chronograph is of course powered by one of Frederique Constant’s in-house calibers, the FC-391 with a 60-hour power reserve.
Patek Phillipe Nautilus
When it comes to some of the most iconic sport watches ever made, the Patek Philippe Nautilus is most likely the runner up to the AP Royal Oak. Both models were designed by the legendary Gerald Genta, arguably the inventor of the sport watch. Just four years after creating the Royal Oak for AP, the prolific designer was tapped by Patek to create its signature sport watch, and the Nautilus was born. Today, the Nautilus 5711—a 30th anniversary tribute to the original launched in 2006—has become one of the most highly coveted watches on the planet. The brand retired the reference just a few years ago in 2021, and since then, the demand for the 5711 has only increased. The model has commanded record prices at the auction block, particularly for special variations like the co-branded Tiffany blue model. Today, the Nautilus lives on in a slew of configurations, from stainless steel to gold, in bold colors, and with the addition of gem setting.
Laurent Ferrier Limited Edition Sport Auto 40
Sport watches have taken inspiration from motorsports for a long time. For Laurent Ferrier, its ties with racing run deep, tracing back to the brand’s founders who met while participating in the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979. In 2022, Laurent Ferrier added a new collection to its catalog to celebrate this history, and the brand’s flagship sport watch was born. The original Sport Auto set the foundation for the line with a silhouette that is laid back and refined just like any good sport watch. While it maintained many hallmarks of the typical sport watch’s angular build, its design was a bit more curvaceous with softer lines on the dial. In contrast, the model featured a quintessential integrated bracelet, which has been a signature element of the sport watch since the debut of the Royal Oak. These details have remained core to the collection in each subsequent addition over the past couple of years. However, we’ve seen Laurent Ferrier lean into the fashion side of the sport watch in recent variations with the use of bold colors.
Oris Big Crown Propilot
Oris watches typically fall into the vintage-inspired, tool watch space, and the original Propilot is one example of this. What started as a collection of simple pilot’s watches evolved into a polarizing sport watch—the Big Crown Propilot X Caliber 115, which launched in 2019. The model maintains its tool watch roots with a lightweight titanium case. Yet, its case design leans into the sport watch category with a highly angular and architectural design. The skeletonized dial gives the watch a sleek, monochromatic look while also revealing the powerhouse within: the brand’s in-house caliber 115. Notably, the caliber 115 is a manually wound movement, which is atypical for a sport watch. However, it gives that more elevated and tactile experience often associated with manually wound dress watches.
Piaget Polo
The Polo was the first model Piaget produced that was deemed worthy of its own name. Prior to that, all of the brand’s watches—regardless of the style or purpose—were simply known as Piagets. As the moniker suggests, it’s inspired by the sport, which collides the ruggedness displayed on the field with the luxury enjoyed on the sidelines. The Polo was Piaget’s first sport watch, marking a departure from the brand’s typical bold, colorful, and more sophisticated creations. However, the original Polo was not your typical sport watch—it was made of solid yellow gold. The Polo remained in Piaget’s catalog from 1979 to 1990, but this year, it made a monumental comeback. In honor of the brand’s 150th anniversary, Piaget revived the Polo with a faithful re-edition aptly named the Polo 79. Shortly after, the brand followed with the Polo Date in two variations. The Dates’ design strays from the yellow gold used for the Polo 79 while maintaining the quintessential balance of sportiness and elegance.
Girard Perregaux Laureato
Girard Perregaux’s Laureato also hails from the era of the Nautilus and Royal Oak, first entering the brand’s catalog in 1975. It incorporates many of the hallmarks of the sport watch that were established by the Royal Oak, like a highly architectural design featuring an octagonal bezel atop a contrasting round case and, of course, an integrated bracelet. Another signature design element of the Laureato is its unique and elegant dial featuring a Clous de Paris pattern, a decorative technique dating back to the 18th century. This detail is not only rooted in history but also provides that perfect contrast to the sportiness of the model’s build. While some iterations of the Laureato have leaned into the more rugged aspect of the sport watch with carbon fiber cases and rubber straps, the majority of models in the collection have remained more refined, incorporating precious metals and even gem setting.
H. Moser & Cie Streamliner
Moser’s Streamliner is a relatively new sport watch, first hitting the market in 2020. The collection draws from classic sport watch design cues and takes inspiration from the “streamlined’ designs of automobiles of the century prior. The original Streamliner was a flyback chronograph, but since then, we’ve seen a number of time-only models as well as minute repeaters, perpetual calendars, and tourbillons. Unlike some of its sport watch counterparts, the Streamliner notably has a more rounded aesthetic as opposed to a geometric one with a smooth cushion-shaped case and seamlessly curved integrated bracelet. The Streamliner has also been marked by its bold and colorful dials, from the “funky blue” of the original to newer offerings like fume, onyx, jade, and enamel as well as skeletonized ones. Altogether, the Streamliner offers a decidedly familiar sport watch design with a twist that’s distinctly H. Moser & Cie.
Norqain Wild One Gold
Norqain is another newer brand, first launched just a few years ago in 2018. In short order, it’s become known for its highly accessible timepieces. Last year, the industry legend Jean-Claude Biver joined the company as an advisor to the board and helped develop a brand new collection for Norqain called Wild One. The line debuted with four rugged and colorful sport watches that introduced an all-new proprietary material called NORTEQ that’s six times lighter than steel and three-and-a-half times lighter than titanium. Now, Norqain has firmly elevated the line and crossed it over into the luxury sport watch category with the introduction of the first-ever gold Wild One. The model uses the brand’s proprietary NORTEQ as the base for the case, then casts it in solid 18-karat rose gold. The result is the ideal balance of form and function, retaining the collection’s ultra-lightweight construction with the added bonus of a precious metal.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin
It’s safe to say the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak is still the ultimate luxury sport watch. Over 50 years later, the model’s design and popularity is simply unmatched. The “Jumbo” moniker didn’t appear in the AP archives until the 1990s. However, the term could be used to describe the original Royal Oak whose 39mm proportions were oversized for the era. Beginning in 1992, the brand began equipping several “Jumbo” models with its ultra-thin caliber 2120. It started with the Royal Oak 14811, and since then, we have seen many iterations of the design. One of the latest versions combines two contemporary materials: titanium and bulk metallic glass (BMG). BMG is a cutting-edge material co-developed by AP with a base made of palladium, a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal, which makes it particularly shiny and resistant to scratches.
