When Jaeger-LeCoultre launched what would become one of its most enduring watches in 1965, it was known merely by the uninspiring code E859, after the brand’s then habit of naming its models based on the three digits of its calibre number. Arguably that conveyed little to potential customers – which is why a US sales agent for the brand took it upon himself to give the alarm diving watch a proper name. What, he must have wondered, would sound potent and powerful? How about taking inspiration from the nuclear-armed, submarine-launched ballistic missile that had been introduced earlier that decade, and which would come to be totemic of the Cold War? Today, of course, we know this model as the Polaris. Watch history is replete with watches given evocative and often fantastic names, among the many no longer extant brands of the 1960s. There was the likes of Favre’s Moon Raider, for example, or Wittnauer’s Futurama. They normalised a trend to use names as a means of imbuing a watch with a certain character: adventurousness perhaps, exoticism, masculinity or, in these instances, a taste of tomorrow’s world. In some cases, the watch name has come to supersede the brand itself.

Watch collectors, in our experience, are acutely preoccupied with the question of what will come next, in terms of their chosen hobby. Maybe it’s a natural side-effect of surrounding yourself with dozens of tiny measuring devices, all designed to tell you how long until the next full moon. Or the next leap year. Or the end of your oxygen supply (that one you really should pay attention to).

Without question, a good watch is for all seasons. Heck, a good watch is for life. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t situations, and occasions, when one watch is more suitable than another. We don’t wear hiking boots to weddings, and we only bring out the bucket hat when we’re sure it’s going to be that kind of night. Your average summer is a real buffet of dress codes, from beach-chic to Shakespeare in the park. We’re not saying they all have a specific watch to match, but that a little seasonal forethought can keep your watch on point wherever you end up. Here are five types of summer watch to bolster your choices.

A watchmaking trade fair might sound a bit staid – and, in truth, they did used to be. But these days Watches and Wonders, held each spring in Geneva, is a multi-million-franc festival of world-class craftsmanship fused with the enviable budgets of the largest luxury groups. So, you get priceless Formula 1 cars on display, Roger Federer and Ryan Gosling dropping by, along with a well-staffed security team. And amid all the glitz, the biggest names in watchmaking reveal their latest creations, from precious dress timepieces to simple dive watches and everything in between. We’ve picked out our favourite upcoming styles from this year’s showcase, below.

When Jaeger-LeCoultre launched what would become one of its most enduring watches in 1965, it was known merely by the uninspiring code E859, after the brand’s then habit of naming its models based on the three digits of its calibre number. Arguably that conveyed little to potential customers – which is why a US sales agent for the brand took it upon himself to give the alarm diving watch a proper name. What, he must have wondered, would sound potent and powerful? How about taking inspiration from the nuclear-armed, submarine-launched ballistic missile that had been introduced earlier that decade, and which would come to be totemic of the Cold War? Today, of course, we know this model as the Polaris. Watch history is replete with watches given evocative and often fantastic names, among the many no longer extant brands of the 1960s. There was the likes of Favre’s Moon Raider, for example, or Wittnauer’s Futurama. They normalised a trend to use names as a means of imbuing a watch with a certain character: adventurousness perhaps, exoticism, masculinity or, in these instances, a taste of tomorrow’s world. In some cases, the watch name has come to supersede the brand itself.

Watch collectors, in our experience, are acutely preoccupied with the question of what will come next, in terms of their chosen hobby. Maybe it’s a natural side-effect of surrounding yourself with dozens of tiny measuring devices, all designed to tell you how long until the next full moon. Or the next leap year. Or the end of your oxygen supply (that one you really should pay attention to).