TIME TO PLAY
Up your game with stylish and sophisticated sports watches from James Free.
Built for jet pilots, the Breitling Avenger is designed to take on the toughest cockpits and keep coming back for more. But you don’t need Air Force credentials to appreciate its bold design, exceptional resilience and next-level functionality. Pairing performance with sophisticated modern aviation style, the collection’s materials—stainless steel on regular models; ceramic and titanium on Night Mission—are the stuff of aviation design, while dial colors are drawn from military uniform shades. All stainless steel versions come with a choice of military leather strap with a folding-pin buckle or three-row stainless steel bracelet with micro-adjustable folding clasp. Ceramic models are paired to a military leather strap with a titanium folding-pin buckle. And whether you can pull off a barrel roll or not, you’ll appreciate everything about the Avenger’s 300m water resistance, easy-grip functionality and corrosion-resistant construction.
Technological advances made during World War II, a post-war economic boom in places that were largely untouched by battle like the U.S. and Switzerland and a renewed interest in sport and travel created a new market for watchmakers in the 1950s: the sports watch. What had originally been considered tool watches for professionals was evolving into stylish and robust timepieces made to address the specific needs of sportsmen and adventurers whether diving, mountaineering, yachting, flying or racing.
Master the oceans with the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300. This 42mm watch, featuring a unique black and green ceramic bezel and a GMT chronometer, is driven by the COSC-certified calibre TH31-00, offering 80 hours of power reserve. It’s the ultimate companion for tracking time across the seven seas.
Robust in construction and designed for legibility and wearability, sports watches boast sturdy stainless steel or titanium cases, highly reliable movements and readable, well-laid-out dials with luminous hands and hour markers to accommodate a variety of conditions and environments. They also have a tradition of incorporating a dazzling and ever-expanding array of sport-specific functions. For instance, dive watches are by necessity luminous and water- proof with screw-down casebacks and crowns. They also boast specially made straps to fit over wetsuits, unidirectional bezels for monitoring air supply, and since their invention have achieved increasing depth ratings with astounding technological advances like the helium release valve.
The Seamaster Aqua Terra is a superb tribute to OMEGA’s rich maritime heritage. In this 41mm model, the symmetrical case has been crafted from stainless steel, with a wave-edged design featured on the back. The silvery dial is distinguished by a horizontal “teak” pattern, which is inspired by the wooden decks of luxury sailboats. There is also a date window at 6 o’clock and blackened hands and indexes filled with white Super-LumiNova. Orange is used for the central seconds hand, the “Seamaster” wording and the four quarter numbers on the minute track. The gray strap is made from structured rubber and includes gray lining and an additional stainless steel link, which integrates it to the case. This certified chronometer is powered by the OMEGA Master Chronometer calibre 8900, certified at the industry’s highest standard by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS).
Racing watches first rose to popularity in the 1960s through auto racing and featured chronograph functions and tachymeters for timing laps. Racing watches today feature tachymeters with scales specific to the speeds achieved by different types of racers —i.e., watches made for auto, yacht and even cycling competitors. When pilots began flying routes over the poles, aviation watches became antimagnetic. Several featured 24-hour dials and tracked a second time zone.
Today, there are aviation watches capable of tracking multiple time zones, with some even having an altimeter function, making those timepieces useful for flying as well as climbing.
Sports watches continue to enjoy tremendous popularity as much for their utilitarian nature as for their bold and flexible style. While designed to aid and accompany the avid sportsman or adventurer, they are also a stylish and classic timepiece versatile enough to wear every day.
From left: The Polaris Chronograph features a superb signature dial in lacquered gray. From the lightest to the darkest, the gradation of multiple nuances is achieved thanks to a process that consists of applying almost 40 layers of varnish followed by colored and transparent lacquer to the dial before the final step: polishing. In its 42 mm steel case, the dial has three levels of finishing: an internal opaline bezel, a grained circle for the hours and indexes, as well as a sunray-brushed center. Perfectly legible, the chronograph stands out for its iconic attributes: central second, tachymeter and 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock. Highlighting the Maison’s watchmaking expertise, its Jaeger-LeCoultre calibre 761 features an integrated chronograph mechanism, equipped with a column-wheel with vertical clutch. The Polaris Chronograph promises 65 hours of power reserve—very welcome for a watch built for adventure. Graced with sporty and functional elegance, it comes with a beige fabric strap and another in black rubber.
Measuring 43.5 mm across and backed by assurances of a 30-bar (300-metre) water-resistance rating, the stainless steel Aquis Date Relief by Oris is a high-functioning, high-performance Swiss made wristwatch. A tool watch you can rely on, the Aquis Date Relief 43.5 mm is chosen for its practical, lightweight rubber strap that comes in a vibrant red. It features an extendable clasp for quick fit adjustments over a wetsuit. Its name derives from the minutes scale in relief on the unidirectional bezel, useful for timing dives (or pasta).
