Editors' Picks: Our Favorite Summer Watches

The weather is heating up, and it's the time of year when we're all switching out leather straps for sweat-proof rubber ones, pulling our most colorful dials from storage, and shaking up our rotation of daily drivers to match the season. Down below, our Editors share their own personal definition of what makes the perfect summer watch, and detail what pieces they'll be wearing through heat waves, barbecues, and general summer adventures. 

Danny Milton: Omega Seamaster Diver 300m Green

Here's a watch I never thought I'd love. It's 42mm in diameter, has a mighty steel bracelet with a big ol' clasp, and boasts a ceramic dial and bezel insert in dark green. It shines, and it's become one of my absolute favorite watches in my collection, full stop. But now that summer weather has arrived, it has also become my go-to for the season. There's just something about an SMP300 that screams summertime. It actually motivates me to go to the pool more often. It's a perfect short-sleeve watch, and is versatile enough to be a one-watch collection until September (but really forever). It's iconic because of its ties to James Bond, sure, but this ceramic green model just feels unique in its look, with all-white text and a color that changes from de-saturated grey to vibrant green depending on the light. I love a lot of watches that I own, but this one owns the summer this year.

Blake Buettner: CWC Ti300

While it’s easy to go for something vibrant and colorful when it comes to summer watches, I generally leave that for my wardrobe. That means the watch can take a back seat and focus more on comfort, reliability, and practicality. For that, I’m reaching for the CWC Ti300 titanium dive watch. The lightweight titanium case features a fixed-lug design and an expressive flared lug, so it’s still got plenty of personality, while the high-torque quartz movement brings some ease of mind to timekeeping. Further, this watch has some serious military bona fides, so it’s got an interesting backstory to boot. Finally, as only passthrough straps can be used, this watch can be taken in a variety of different directions to complement any summer outfit I’m liable to throw at it.

Erin Wilborn: Nike Triax

As with everything in the watch world, the key details of what makes a great summer watch are, ultimately, subjective. The things I’m looking for, above all else, are: affordability; durability/ease of use; and a little bit of aesthetic quirkiness. Basically, I want something I can throw on in the morning, sweat in as I set out and brave the heat, and that's fun enough that I’ll want to put on every morning. For me, summer is the season for funky, digital watches.

While I’ve been rocking a Shark Freestyle for the past several summers, this year I’m switching it up for a change with a vintage Nike Triax from the early 2000s. A relic of Nike’s not-so-distant past (currently, the brand has discontinued its foray into watches and only offers sports-performance smartwatch straps), the Triax was made for runners, and its strange, asymmetrical case shape is built around ergonomics and comfort. I love this odd period of design when, especially at the more affordable end of the price spectrum, brands were really going gung-ho on using injection-molded cases and designs (if you like the Nike Triax, there are also a ton of Oakley watches that scratch the same itch). This thing is only splash-proof, so I will be returning to my beloved shark for trips to the beach and pool. I think watches of this kind are becoming a little more hyped now, but for the record, I scored this particular one for just $34.99 on eBay, so I definitely recommend doing a bit of digging to find yourself a steal.

D.C. Hannay: Doxa Sub 200T

Honestly, this one isn’t even a contest for me. Usually, an Editor’s Pick requires a bit of rumination on my part, but without even thinking, my favorite summer watch is the one I have on my wrist as I write this: my Doxa Sub 200T, and it’s not even close. While there are plenty of hitters on my tool-watch bench, this is the one that always seems to get the call-up. And besides its fantastically wearable 39mm size and undeniable swagger, this is a competent, confident, and complete Swiss diver, no apologies necessary. The Sub 200T nails the summer watch brief for me in four key metrics: firstly, water resistance, 200 meters in this case (as any diver worth its sea salt possesses). No need to think when engaged in spontaneous waterborne hijinks, or more deliberate pursuits, like, say, actual diving. Second off, as many of you know, a timing bezel is far more useful in daily life than one might realize, because not only can you use it to time your decompression stops, but it also makes getting a perfectly medium-rare cook on that tri-tip a cinch.

But nearly every dive watch in existence shares these qualities, so why the Doxa Sub? The remaining two criteria are where this watch excels, and the first of those is color. Summer calls for setting aside the more sober tones of dark blue, gray, or black, often associated with cold weather, and Doxa does color better than just about anyone you can think of. While you can certainly wear a black Sharkhunter or deep blue Caribbean in hotter climes, nothing says tropical like the cheerful turquoise of the Aquamarine colorway, the Vitamin C overload of the orange Professional, or my own pick, the sun-drenched yellow of the Divingstar. The traditional Iconic dial versions are vivid and super-saturated, but if you fancy a bit more sparkle, each of these dials is also available in a sunray finish. But the biggest reason the 200T is my watch of the summer? It’s the brilliant simplicity of its ratcheting on-the-fly clasp adjustment, coupled with the sinuous, slinky luxury of the beads-of-rice bracelet. Far less fiddly than more complicated solutions, when things heat up, this combo works so well that I don’t need to stop and think about it. Heck, I don’t even need to take the watch off. I just squeeze the triggers, and voila: my wrist no longer resembles that bratwurst someone left on the Weber too long.

Bilal Khan: Chopard L.U.C Sport 2000

My personal rule for a summer watch basically comes down to one factor: does it have a rubber strap? Fortunately, the neo-vintage Chopard L.U.C Sport 2000 has been my trusty go-to for a couple of summers now, and it checks off more boxes than just about any of my casual watches. The strap is excellent quality, but the 40mm case size, 100-meter water resistance, and that legible dial with classic good looks come together in this watch. And considering it’s summer most of the year here in Los Angeles, there’s really no reason for me to ever wear anything else.

Jonathan McWhorter: Seiko 5 GMT SKK033

For this list, my “favorite summer watch” is a watch that I actually own and actually have been wearing all summer (so far). It’s the Seiko 5 GMT SSK033. I love this watch for all the same reasons that I believe this line of watches is already so widely loved. This Seiko 5 GMT looks great, runs great, and doesn’t ask too much of your wallet for the privilege. I really appreciate how the watch sits on the wrist, the short lugs helping the 42.5mm case sit just right on my 6.75” wrist. It’s a larger size than I would typically choose in a watch for my collection, but the combination of measurements keeps me coming back; it’s just so comfortable. 

One critique I have heard of this model is that the color scheme seems like it would create problems for legibility, which is something that would only be said by someone who hasn’t held this watch in person. The hands stand out against the dial just fine (superlatively, even); if you have a hard time reading this watch, you should probably get your eyes checked — for medical reasons and not just because your opinion is wrong. Another critique I’ve heard thrown around is about the bracelet, and this remark holds more water than the dial remark, though barely. The bracelet is handsome and will certainly do, though I’ve personally opted to wear the watch on a dark blue NATO-style strap, which has really brought the SSK033 into daily-everywhere territory.

Mark Bernardo: Norqain Freedom Chrono Enjoy Life Sprinkles

Summertime brings to mind images of backyard cookouts, swimming pools, sunning at the beach, and the perfect accompaniment to all of these activities, a chilly ice cream cone. Swiss indie brand Norqain has leaned into this seasonal treat as the inspiration for its “Enjoy Life” series, kicking it off in 2025 with a single timepiece in its Freedom Chrono collection whose tricompax dial had pastel-toned blue, pink, and “pistachio” subdials. The brand expanded on the theme with this year’s “Sprinkles” models, whose pink “Strawberry” and light-blue “Blue Raspberry” dials feature a playful textured effect that resembles the colorful sprinkles that top off an ice cream sundae. The sprinkles even make their presence known when the sun goes down, glowing bright blue thanks to a Super-LumiNova coating. 

It helps that the Freedom Chrono Enjoy Life “Sprinkles” edition is also a legitimately impressive Swiss-made watch. The 40mm case and three-link bracelet are both made of 316L stainless steel, with a box-type sapphire crystal over the dial and a flat sapphire pane in the caseback with an on-theme ice-cream illustration. Inside, the proprietary Norqain Caliber N19, based on the Sellita SW510a, stores a power reserve of 62 hours and drives the watch’s chronograph functions, as displayed on the colorful, sprinkled dial’s three subdials and its sweeping central seconds hand. A set of vintage-style pump pushers on the right side of the case activate the chronograph; on the opposite side is another Norqain hallmark, a small plaque that can be personalized for the owner. There’s even a tachymeter scale around the edge of the dial in case you want to use the chrono to time those summer road trips. 

At the risk of grasping at the lowest hanging fruit for this category (and apologies for mixing the food metaphors, I guess), I can’t think of a watch more suitable for summer wear than the Freedom Chrono Enjoy Life “Sprinkles,” and Norqain earns a tip of the beachcomber bucket hat for both the conception and execution of this seasonally perfect timepiece.