THE BEST Watches

Tag Heuer’s Monaco watch gets the custom treatment with Bamford Watch Department; choose your own colors for up to nine elements, including the logo, markers and more.

Due out July 15th, the new Nike+SportBand features a high-contrast screen with white background, improved water-resistance with a welded seal and compatibility with iPods and iPhones.

Never has obtuse looked so good: Urwerk’s King Cobra UR-CC1 goes horizontal with its watch face, made possible with vertical triple cams, retrograde cylinders and rotating disks.

Short for Cyan, Magenta, Green and Black, Meister’s CMGK watch celebrate FatLace’s 10th anniversary and sports triple chronos, a Japanese movement and stainless steel inner case.

Hamilton’s iconic Ventura watch gets a special Chrono edition thanks to a collab with nano universe; it’s limited to 50 pieces and sports a hybrid gold and black calf leather strap.

Limited to 3,000 pieces, Suunto’s Core Extreme is a premium version of their flagship multifunction watch; it includes an altimeter, barometer, compass and chrono in a black case.

Named after the Isle of Man motorbike race, the Chronofighter Tourist Trophy sports a carbon fiber bezel, “30” minute counter (ironically, the average speed limit there) and triskelion emblem.

New York’s Complete Technique joins with Japan’s Alive Athletics on the WT001-BH, a military-style watch with gunmetal stainless steel and AK-47 engraving; limited to 75 pieces.

Part analog watch, part direction finder, Wenger’s stainless steel Nomad LED Compass features a red LED digital readout that can switch between day, date, time and compass.

With its cacophony of dials and counters, TAG Heuer’s Monaco LS Chronograph Calibre 12 is an eyeful; it’s set in a square 40.5mm stainless steel case with beveled sapphire glass.

Clad in a black stainless steel case with anti-reflex sapphire crystal, Sjöö Sandström’s Swedish Night Chronolink is not just an analog watch; it packs a digital worldtimer underneath.

Ulysse Nardin’s caseless, one-of-a-kind Freak Black Out watch is being sold at Only Watch 2009; it’s an auction of ultra-lux timepieces with proceeds going to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

JeanRichard’s Brutale watch gets a Chronoscope edition; produced with Italian motorcycle maker MV Agusta, it sports a carbon fiber dial, bike-inspired counters and rubber case.

Celebrating this year’s Perfect Polo Match with 11 of the world’s best players, Big Bang’s Polo de Paris watch sports logos on the case and dial, a ceramic case and sapphire crystal.

Gorgeously clad in an all-titanium case, Vogard’s Chronozoner has a rich mechanical design further accentuated by a rotating timezone bezel that is also daylight savings aware.

Like a touchscreen phone, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s AMVOX 2 Racing Chrono ditches its start/stop buttons; the carbon fiber chronographs are activated by pressing the domed sapphire crystal.

Botta-Design’s modern Clavius watch gets further refined with this second version; it eliminates most of the markings, instead reducing the dial to four sections for an ultra clean design.

Emulating a fighter cockpit’s readouts, Breitling’s Airwolf and Skyracer Raven watches sport a high-tech black and steel look, rubber-molded bits and a turbine-shaped caseback.

Alpina’s Extreme Divers lines get yellow, orange, blue and black models for Spring/Summer 2009; each sports a black PVD case, 1,000m water resistance and sapphire crystal.

FLuD introduces a slew of new watches for Spring/Summer 2009; our favorites include the skateboard-inspired Deck (which uses actual Griptape) and the basketball-styled Timeout.

Breitling means to be taken seriously with their Chronomat B01, which features their first 100% in-house movement; we also like the retro-style numerals and 500m of water resistance.

As its color scheme suggests, Hublot’s Big Bang King All Black/Blue is a diver’s watch good for up to 300m; it sports a ceramic bezel and case, rhodium-plated dial and sapphire crystal.

Despite a wavy bezel and guilloche pattern, Oris’ ProDiver Chrono means business with a 51mm titanium case good for 1,000 meters, sapphire crystal and helium relief valve.

Part futuristic, part rugged, Franc Vila’s EVOS 8 Cobra watch is designed with extreme sports in mind; good for 300 meters, it’s made with carbon fiber and DieHard Extreme steel.

A mix of art deco and contemporary lines result in a sleek, elongated profile for Oakley’s Warrant Watch; it features a stainless steel case, Unobtainium rubber strap and sapphire crystal.

NauticFish’s Waterwall Pro 500 watch looks good on land and underwater, with 500m of resistance, a 120-click diver bezel, Luminova phosphorescent dial and 4.0 mm sapphire crystal.