by Sylvia Mcelherron

Created on: September 30, 2009

Men just love watches, and it is no surprise that most men also love sports. But gone are the days when you had to leave your watch in the locker while you had a swim or a workout. The watch industry are now producing a range of dedicated sports watches with larger dial size, bolder styling and more impressive features than ever to cater for this trend. But how do you choose the right sports watch for your needs?

A sports watch is generally a more robustly built timepiece but some watches are not suitable for high impact sports so before you buy, check the manufacturers manual first. A quartz sports watch is practical and cost effective but if you can afford it there is nothing quite like the added kudos of a skilfully crafted mechanical sports watch.

When choosing a sports watch, water resistance is a must, this means that the watch has been sealed to protect it. Water resistance is measured in metres and is available in a wide range, depending on requirements. Choose resistance of at least 100 metres if you want to swim whilst wearing your watch and 300 metres or more if scuba diving is your thing. Even if dipping your toes in the sea is about as close as you get to swimming, adequate water resistance will protect your watch from accidental exposure to water and humidity.

Next, choose what functions you want your sports watch to have other than telling the time. A chronograph function will measure time sectors using independent hands which the wearer can stop and start as required. If you need to measure multiple competitor times for comparison and so on, a split-seconds or rattrapante chronograph has two seconds hands, one of which can be stopped when an intermediate time sector is reached while the other continues, when the split-seconds timing hand is released it immediately catches up to the position of the other hand - not only an impressive feat of watchmaking genius but quite amazing to look at too.

Stainless steel is probably the most popular construction material for a sports watch as it is tough and easily cleaned, but other cutting edge materials such as titanium, carbon fibre and even ceramic are finding their way into this niche of the industry.

Finally, if you need a little inspiration to make your choice of sports watch follow the example of your sporting hero. Many themed watch collections such as motorsports tribute pieces have been released over the years and certain brands receive celebrity endorsements from a wide range of sports such as golf, sailing, formula 1 and tennis. So next time you are watching your sporting hero on the television, see what they have on their wrist and make that your choice.

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