7 Summer Watches That Can Handle The Heat

To win a place on my arm, a summer watch must look like summer, feel like summer, and cost less than a nice hotel room on the beach. A summer watch should be, like summer itself, uncomplicated. I want it lightweight, like a linen shirt. Colorful, like an ice cream cone. I need to be able to swim with it, but I’m not exactly spending July in the Mariana Trench – swimming-pool depth is fine. For all these reasons, and because it’s made from recycled ocean-bound plastic, my 2021 summer watch is the Shinola Sea Creatures Detrola. I will not pretend it is a great watch. If it were a great watch, I wouldn’t wear it in the brutal sunlight, or let a frozen margarita drip onto the crystal, or fling it onto the floor next to my flip-flops, which are all things I’d like to be able to do with my summer watch. A watch like this is purely for play. I’m totally into the sunshiney yellow on the ridged dial. And the groovy pattern on the woven strap. And the way the hour markers are notched into the rehaut. I appreciate that the flat crown, when pushed in, sits almost flush against the case. And hey, what a nice touch – it comes in a sustainable hemp paper box. Hammock not included.  –Nick Marino

Shinola Sea Creatures 40mm, $450