5 new watches with an adventurous streak

There are just those watches designed and built for the great outdoors. Perhaps it’s the dial aesthetic, case material, colour, strap, or the robustness of its build. Or possibly, a combination of these factors. If this is the look and feel you’re aiming for, regardless of whether or not you’re actually planning to take it on a trek to Mt Everest or a sail across the torrential Drake Passage, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite ones that have just been launched.

1. Montblanc 1858 Geosphere

One of the key pieces of the Montblanc 1858 line, the 1858 Geosphere – distinct for its two domed hemisphere globes and worldtime complication – is an homage to the world’s Seven Summit mountaineering challenge. This year, it comes in titanium combined with blue and contrasting icy white design details, finding inspiration in the colours of glaciers and ice that can range from the purest white to the deepest shades of blue.

2. Panerai Luminor Luna Rossa GMT

The Luminor Luna Rossa GMT is one of the four official watches Panerai designed for the Luna Rossa Challenge Team, an Italian sailboat racing team and strong contender at the 36th America’s Cup. The watch is water-resistant up to 300 metres, and comes in a grey dial with white Superluminova for legibility even int he dark, which is housed in a 44mm sandblasted titanium case that’s built to withstand the rigours of the sport. Turn the watch back and you have engravings of the Luna Rossa logo, Luna Rossa AC75 monohull and America’s Cup trophy.

3. Breitling AVI Ref. 765 1953 Re-Edition

Breitling honours the legacy of a 1953 AVI Ref. 765 classic chronograph, otherwise known as the Co-Pilot, with a faithful re-edition. Much care and research have gone into this year’s Co-Pilot, and is based on one of the early iterations from that year, which is also inspired by the onboard clocks designed and produced by Breitling’s Huit Aviation Department in the 1930s and 1940s. The watch has a very distinct look with a rotating bezel and Arabic numerals – oversized to ensure legibility required by aviators.

4. Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Azzurro Chrono

Make your vintage car racing experience on point wearing the Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Azzurro Chrono. Not only does it have the aesthetic nailed down, it has features that make it ideal for timing laps at a race circuit or monitoring special sections during a reliability trial, with a central chronograph hand with a trio of dashboard-like sub dials designed to separately record periods of 60 seconds, 30 minutes and 12 hours, all to chronometer-grade accuracy. There are push pieces to ensure the mechanism is quick and easy to stop, start and re-set even when wearing driving gloves, and the varnished blue and grey bezel insert is marked with a tachymeter scale to enable speed and distance calculations. And for that nice finish, a perforated leather and tyre-tread rubber strap, echoing vintage race cars.

5. Ulysse Nardin Diver X Cape Horn/ Nemo Point

Ulysse Nardin has partnered with Vendée Globe, touted to be the world’s most challenging sailing race, and created two watches: the Diver X Cape Horn and Diver X Nemo Point. Water-resistant to up to 300m and comes with a titanium case and rubberised or carbon bezel, the watches are designed with the aesthetic that perfectly encapsulates the boldness of sailing in the world’s roughest seas, and built to withstand it. They are aptly named after a two torrential routes: Nemo Point and Cape Horn, and are fitted with a fabric velcro strap.