Sports watches

A sports watch makes it easy to set personal goals and track your athletic performance. Our range of over 500 sports watches for men and women includes models designed for diving, outdoor activities, and surfing from renowned brands such as G-Shock, Citizen, and Garmin. Not a hardcore athlete but still want to monitor your activity levels? Smartwatches featuring activity trackers and step counters are the perfect solution. At mastersintime.ch, you will find sports watches ranging from approximately €40 for a Casio with tide information to €350 for a digital, solar-powered Pro Trek outdoor watch, and upwards of €3,000 for an Edox dive watch. Make your choice based on features (running, fitness, tracking, golf, cycling, etc.), water resistance (10 ATM for swimming, 20 ATM for recreational diving), and movement type (automatic, quartz, or solar). The strap material is also important; it needs to withstand impacts and moisture (from sweat or water), so opt for metal, rubber, or textile. We will adjust the strap to fit you and set the watch to the correct time before shipping it.

All sports watches

A sports watch is characterized by its high durability, water resistance, and features specifically designed to measure athletic performance. The origins of watches intended for sports date back to the period between the 1920s and the 1960s. The introduction of the first waterproof watch case by Rolex in 1926 laid the foundation for dive watches capable of withstanding extreme pressure. The rise of automotive and motor sports is inextricably linked to the evolution of the chronograph, or stopwatch, watch. Before the advent of computers and digital sensors, racing drivers and their pit crews relied entirely on mechanical chronographs to measure lap times.

From the 1980s onwards, the sports watch evolved from a mechanical timepiece into a wrist-worn computer powered by a microchip. In 1982, Polar launched the first portable, wireless heart rate monitor, which quickly became the standard for sports watches. Later, smartwatch brands like Garmin added GPS technology to sports watches, enabling outdoor athletes and cyclists to accurately track their routes and speeds. This brings us to the advanced multi-sport smartwatches of today.

Features of a sports watch

Sports watches are made from sturdy, scratch- and shock-resistant materials such as plastic, steel, and titanium. They are easy to read and feature a high-contrast digital display or luminous hands for visibility in the dark. The watches have robust buttons that are easy to operate with sweaty hands or while wearing gloves. Finally, sports watches must be able to withstand sweat and rain showers; they therefore always have a water resistance rating of at least 5 ATM and come with a flexible strap made of silicone, rubber, or nylon that is moisture-resistant. Watches designed for water sports are water-resistant to at least 10 ATM, while diving watches are rated for at least 20 ATM.

Running watch

Although they have technically been surpassed by GPS-enabled smartwatches, many runners still swear by traditional running watches, such as the Timex Ironman, due to their extreme reliability. They are lightweight and shock-resistant, often cost very little, never require charging, and feature physical front-facing buttons that always work—even in pouring rain or while wearing gloves. A separate heart rate monitor (chest strap) connects to the running watch via analog wireless radio signals.
A smartwatch with running functions uses sensors and GPS to measure and analyze running performance, routes, fitness levels, and recovery. Optical sensors on the back continuously monitor heart rate. Routes can be mapped out and saved, and some smartwatches are compatible with apps like Strava.

Dive watch

The characteristics and minimum requirements for a dive watch are internationally defined by the ISO 6425 standard. This means the watch features a unidirectional rotating bezel used to track dive time (and oxygen levels). Dive watches have highly luminous markings for optimal underwater readability and are water-resistant to at least 20 ATM (200 meters). Some dive watches designed for greater depths (such as the Citizen Promaster Marine) feature a small valve on the side of the case. During stays in deep-sea decompression chambers, tiny helium atoms can penetrate the watch case. The automatic helium release valve allows this gas to escape during ascent, preventing the watch crystal from popping off due to internal pressure buildup. Although professional divers nowadays typically wear digital dive computers, the analog dive watch remains popular among recreational divers and those who appreciate the sporty aesthetic.

Sports watch for water sports like sailing and surfing

While a dive watch focuses purely on depth, a surf or water sports watch is designed entirely around activity at the water's surface. Both traditional digital water sports watches (such as the G-Shock G-Lide) and modern GPS watches offer highly specific functions—most notably, tide information (tide graphs).

Outdoor sports watch

An outdoor sports watch, such as the Casio Pro Trek, is designed to withstand the rigors of the wilderness. These watches are built to handle navigation, altitude tracking, and extreme weather conditions encountered during hiking, mountaineering, or trail running. For every mountaineer and hiker, the holy trinity consists of the altimeter, barometer, and compass.
GPS-enabled smartwatches designed for outdoor enthusiasts often feature detailed topographic maps and navigation functions.

Multisport smartwatch

A smartwatch with multisport capabilities (such as a Garmin Fenix) offers significant advantages over a standard sports watch. While a traditional watch simply tracks the duration of a single activity, a multisport smartwatch measures and analyzes multiple data points simultaneously. Key benefits include built-in sensors (such as heart rate monitors), in-depth data analysis, going beyond mere timekeeping, coaching and recovery advice, real-time navigation, and music playback during workouts.
The four metrics VO2 max, HRV/heart rate variability, recovery time and training intensity work together as a complete ecosystem to tell you how fit you are, how hard you worked, and when your body is ready to go again. This is a game-changer for sports performance tracking and a significant improvement on traditional sports watches.
Additionally, these smartwatches often include standard smartphone features, such as sending and receiving messages, calendar access, and contactless payment capabilities.

How to choose a sports watch

Features

If you simply want to be more active or go for the occasional jog, a basic smartwatch with a step counter or a digital watch with a timer will suffice. If you engage in intensive sports, determine which features you need and choose the watch that best suits those requirements.

Battery or solar

A basic digital sports watch usually runs on a battery that lasts for several years. A smartwatch generally needs to be charged daily. To prevent your watch from running out of power during use, you could also opt for a solar-powered watch that charges using sunlight and artificial light.

Quality standards

With watches that meet strict ISO norms or the military MIL-STD-810 standard, you can be confident that the watch is resistant to extreme temperatures, drops and shocks, corrosion, and high water pressure.

Water resistance

It is important that a sports watch is at least resistant to sweat and light rain. Therefore, always choose a sports watch with a water resistance rating of at least 5 ATM; this allows you to wear the watch while showering. Watches intended for water sports such as swimming, snorkeling, and surfing should have a water resistance rating of at least 10 ATM, while diving watches require a minimum of 20 ATM. You can read more about this on our page regarding water resistance.

Popular choices

The most popular sports watches on the mastersintime.ch site are the G-Shock G-Squad and G-Shock Digital with Bluetooth connectivity, followed by the Timex Triathlon Classic. The most popular smartwatch with sports features is the Garmin Venu 4.

How much does a sports watch cost?

You can buy a digital Casio sports watch with a tide table or fish finder for less than €50, while a Timex Triathlon watch costs €73. A Pro Trek outdoor watch costs around €199. Water sports watches start at around €40, and dive watches are available across all price ranges starting from approximately €100, going up to €3,400 for a 50 ATM (!) automatic chronograph watch from Edox. Smartwatches with sports functions at mastersintime.ch range from approximately €230 to €3,200, depending on features, materials used, and certification.

Sports watch maintenance

A sports watch is subjected to a lot of wear and tear: sweat, shocks and impacts, water, and dirt. Taking good care of your sports watch will help it last longer. Wipe the watch clean and dry after use. Replace the battery regularly when needed and have the watch’s water resistance tested by a watchmaker afterwards. Also, replace the watch strap regularly. This keeps your watch looking fresh and neat.

Frequently asked questions about sports watches

What is a good budget sports watch?

Timex’s digital sports watches are high-quality and feature the iconic Indiglo backlight. You can also find excellent, affordable watches with one or more sports functions in the Casio and G-Shock collections. If you are looking for a simple smartwatch with a step counter, the Ice-Watch Ice Smart is a great choice. If you want multiple sports functions and navigation, opt for the Garmin Vivoactive.

What is the difference between a sports watch and a smartwatch?

A traditional sports watch performs very few calculations itself. It simply displays data such as time, lap time, and sometimes heart rate via a connected chest strap, on the screen. You have to calculate your average pace yourself, either in your head or with pen and paper. A smartwatch with sports functions combines GPS, internal sensors, and algorithms to calculate complex data in real time. It plots your route live on a map, calculates your exact speed per kilometer, and estimates your fitness level (VO2 max) and recovery time afterwards.

Is a sports watch suitable for daily use?

A sports watch is, after all, a watch that displays the time and date, so in that sense, it can be worn every day. However, due to its sporty appearance, it is less suitable for formal wear or a business environment.

Is a sports watch really necessary?

For those who only occasionally go for a mountain hike, hit a ball, go for a casual run, or take a short bike ride, a sports watch isn't really necessary. But if you start training more seriously and want to track your progress, a sports watch is practically indispensable.