Whether deep-sea diving, yacht-racing or pub-crawling, these stand out from the competition.

You will often hear watches being described as “suitable for any occasion”. To most enthusiasts, this is snake-oil salesmanship, for no such watch actually exists. Nor should it. A gentleman of taste (and means) enjoys the careful ritual of selecting the appropriate wristwear – whether he’s about to go to a business meeting, the gym or the beach. There is much satisfaction to be found in pinpointing the right watch for the right occasion and the right outfit.

However, if you had to pick just one type of watch? A watch that could take you from suited to swimming: the sports watch is the desert island disc of horology. We are not talking here so much of the wrist-mounted computers that will record the modern man’s every waking and sleeping movement; more the classic sports watches from an analogue era inspired by the competitively masculine worlds of motor racing, sailing and deep-sea diving.

Of all the types of timepieces available, the sports watch is surely the most versatile. Messrs Paul Newman and Steve McQueen demonstrated as much by respectively wearing their Rolex Daytona and the TAG Heuer Monaco with a variety of get-ups, from jersey sweats to black tie.

But what of 2015’s line-up? We’ve scouted this year’s watch fairs to hand-pick 11 contenders, whether you’re after modern flair or more established reliability. But, of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to one.

A handsome 1960s Jaguar dashboard-inspired sports watch with an impressive British engine under the hood

One of the most stylish watch stories of last year was the collaboration between Bremont and Jaguar. The two British marques combined to offer a one-off timepiece to each of the buyers of the six “missing” aluminium E-Type Lightweights Jaguar announced it would be building after a 50-year hiatus. That always had a whiff of bigger things to come, and so it has proved. This year Bremont adds a pair of steel-cased Jaguar models to its core collection. The MKI is a three-hand date watch featuring Bremont’s proprietary movement, while the MKII Chronograph, with its elapsed time device and two subdials, feels the more naturally sporty of the two. The dial design is redolent of an E-Type’s dashboard – and very successful it is, too.

£4,950/ $6,550.

The ultimate chronograph movement in a masculine case

Zenith’s latest sports watch is a winning combination of strength and flair – a robust, masculine watch powered by a movement that sends purists into a spin. That movement is the high-frequency El Primero chronograph, still recognised as the world’s most accurate series-produced chronograph more than 40 years on from launch. Beyond its fast-beating heart, the El Primero Sport has a 45mm stainless-steel case with screw-down push-pieces to ensure its water-resistance to 200m, and a brushed and polished bracelet.

£7,800/ $11,600.

A lightweight case and a heavyweight movement from Rolex’s sub-brand

Tudor’s reappearance in the market has been a huge success, with praise heaped on the Heritage Black Bay and Ranger collections from all sides. That duo is followed this year by a new version of the Pelagos diver’s watch, which is good for 500m of water-resistance, has an anti-corrosive, brushed titanium case, and now comes with a sporty blue dial and bezel. Interestingly, the new Pelagos is equipped with Tudor’s first in-house movement, an automatic unit that delivers a none-too-shabby 70-hour power reserve. And what’s more, despite the millions required to develop new movements, the in-house version is only nominally more expensive than the old model, which makes it excellent value. Rolex’s little brother is growing up.

£3,020/ $4,400.

A genuinely iconic design, given a splash of 1970s cool

When talking Swiss sports watches, special mention should always be made of the Royal Oak, which became the first luxury sports watch when it was launched in 1972. Technically, there is no novelty in this latest 41mm version – it still runs on Audemars Piguet’s beautifully finished, hand-assembled automatic movement, and it’s still water-resistant to 50m. But this is the first time that the classic three-hand Royal Oak has been launched as a “two-tone”, with a steel and pink-gold case – a 1970s look that harks back to the days when Mr Burt Reynolds and Sir Roger Moore were box-office draws.

£18,700/ $25,600.

An extremely rare sports watch/ performance-engineering hybrid

IWC’s Ingenieur was introduced with a round case in the 1950s, but was redesigned with a more Teutonic look in the 1970s that’s carried over into today’s line-up. This new Ingenieur is the first watch in the world with a case made of solid boron carbide, an ultra-lightweight, scratch-resistant material that’s also the hardest form of ceramic. Only 25 of these sporty black watches will be made, and they arrive this year to mark the 10th anniversary of IWC’s relationship with AMG, Mercedes’ performance arm, hence the use of AMG’s “solarbeam” yellow in the sporty detailing.

£17,750/ $24,500.

The coolest Omega since its iconic Moonwatch just got cooler

The first Dark Side of the Moon picked up a cult following overnight on launch in 2013. Its black ceramic case, dial and bezel had a sleek, sporty look that gave the classic Speedmaster – a watch that has been part of six lunar missions – a 21st-century lift. This year, five new models join the collection, the highlight of which is the Vintage Black, with its complementary brown markings, vintage-look glow-in-the-dark lume and brown leather strap. It still runs on Omega’s low-friction co-axial movement, which is so good Omega confidently gives it a four-year warranty.

£8,205/ $12,000.

Rollie innovation in a package fit for beach and bar

It wouldn’t be unfair to say that to all but the highly trained eye, most “new” Rolexes look rather like “old” Rolexes. Not so this year’s Yacht-Master, a fresh take on a familiar line that’s packed chock-full of Rolex technology. In addition to the Genevan brand’s exclusive materials (Everose gold, forged in-house; black Cerachrom, Rolex’s own ceramic, used in the bezel) and in-house automatic calibre, this has an Oysterflex bracelet, which delivers the rigid assurance of a metal bracelet with the skin-friendly suppleness of a rubber strap.

£16,650/ $24,950.

Understated retro styling and pre-supersize-me honesty

Who knew Oris had a back catalogue hiding pieces such as this? The Divers Sixty-Five is a faithful reboot of a 1965 model that mixed the design freedom of the decade with the rather more sober demands of a practical tool watch that would work up to 100m underwater. In today’s culture of super-sized and overqualified diver’s watches, Oris’ simple approach is refreshing. In recognising most divers won’t ever sink more than 100m into the blue, it’s also created a watch with genuine crossover appeal.

£1,150/ $1,850.

An avant-garde design with an in-house chronograph calibre

TAG Heuer’s experiments with in-house movements have yielded mixed results – last year it launched CH80 with great fanfare, only to pull it a few months later because it was thought it would cannibalise sales of the brand’s existing automatic chronograph calibre, the 1887. More likely to stay the course is Heuer 01, a chronograph movement that makes its debut inside an all-new, modular Carrera case. TAG Heuer is most famous for its ties with motor sport and its avant-garde designs, a heritage this new watch revives superbly.

£4,000/ $5,250.

Professional specifications in a watch you can wear every day

In most cases, watches capable of diving to depths far beyond the limits of human physiology have the proportions of wrist-mounted sideboards – far too clunky to wear with cufflinks. That stereotype is debunked by Breitling’s redesigned Superocean II 44, which is water-resistant to 1,000m, has an automatic helium escape valve (really only useful to professional divers spending weeks in helium-enriched dive chambers), and yet comes in at just 14.2mm thick. That’s not thin in the grand scheme, but very slender given the watch’s specifications.

£2,720/ $3,650.

This year’s most talked-about release

It would be churlish to list 2015’s headline sports watches without including Apple’s much-hyped Watch. Privately, watch-industry bosses are nervous about the impact it might have, although many believe it could actually introduce a new generation of consumers to wearing a watch and therefore stimulate the market. The Sport edition is the cheapest of the launch collection and comes in a case made of Apple’s lightweight 7000 Series aluminium and on a brightly coloured, durable rubber strap, both aimed squarely at the most energetic users of Apple’s suite of activity-monitoring software. Apple has pitched this as a fashion piece, a “smart” move that will no doubt see it shift millions of units.

From £299/ $349.