Today's sport watches come in a wide variety of designs and feature technical innovations.
A good sports watch is a must for any sports enthusiast, whether amateur or professional. Today, there is a watch specially designed for practically every type of sport, from hiking to golf. The features of these devices can enhance the sporting experience; aside from telling the time, they can calculate anything from calories burnt to the position of the sun.
The advances in sports watch technology are dramatic. Keen runner Ian Taylor, who ran the London marathon twice and completed an Ironman UK challenge, says: "I have been running and training for more than 10 years now. If I wanted to time myself in the past, I used to get someone to use a stopwatch to time me. Now, not only can my watch do that, but it can also tell me my heart rate."
Spoilt for choice
Runners are spoilt for choice. The designs of various sport watches vary greatly, with some offering features as technical as respiratory rate and heart monitors.
Watch brand Suunto has a large portfolio of watches specially geared for runners. Based around a proprietary heart rate monitor, the Suunto system measures heart rate, the intervals between heartbeats and the fluctuation between these intervals. The data can yield accurate information on the training effect of a workout, and thus guide the athlete to optimal fitness without over or under training.
The Suunto T6 features a heart monitor that helps maximise a workout by giving a detailed analysis of seven different body parameters, including energy consumption, oxygen consumption, training effect and respiratory rate.
The Suunto training manager is an integral part of this watch. It can store and organise training sessions, allowing athletes to analyse their performance and create training plans. The athlete can also view performance over a single workout or a specific period of time. The Timex F001 Ironman Triathlon watch is also specially designed for runners. The device features a heart monitor with a large three-line display that enables the runner to review the workout data with ease.
The watch has a 100-lap memory with recall, lap and split option. Its display has a flipping system for easy reading, and there is also a three-mode countdown timer.
The device's heart monitor has many features. It can be pre-set with five target zones set at the desired heart rate exercise zone; an alarm sounds when the athlete is not in the zone. The watch then calculates the time the runner spent in the zone, and how much time was spent within the selected heart rate target zone. It also has a recovery heart rate timer that measures the speed of heart recovery. Additionally, it can measure the athlete's average heart rate over a period of time.
There are also watches designed for cyclists. The Suunto T3 offers real time information on the aerobic benefit of every workout. During training, it shows the cyclist current heart rate, average heart rate, maximum heart rate and number of calories burnt.
Speed and distance calculations are crucially important and are measured with the optional Suunto bike pod. This add-on turns the watch into a wireless bike computer that calculates current and average speeds. Distance and interval alarms can help make training sessions more productive. The Suunto GPS pod employs the Global Position System to track speed and distance.
The golfer can be a tough sportsman to design a watch for. Golfing enthusiast Stephen Harisson says, "Many golfers don't wear a watch because of the added weight on the wrist and the strap being too loose or tight. The game places demand on the wrist, meaning you have to be choosy about what you wear. It can be really hard to find the right watch, so most of the time I do not wear one at all."
The Tag Heuer Professional Golf Watch was the first of its kind and caters to the demands of the golfer. The device, which famouscan be worn by golfers without fear of it compromising their game.
The clasp and folding buckle of a conventional watch can hurt the wrist when playing golf intensively. The standard placement of the crown at the three o'clock position can also penalise the golfer when the wrist is bent. Tag Heuer integrated the clasp into the watch head and moved the crown across the dial to the nine o'clock position.
The design also features an ultra-flexible rubber strap that prevents sliding and shock to the wrist, and adapts its length to any change in diameter. It is made of ultra light titanium, stainless steel and silicon rubber, and weighs only 55 grams.
For hikers, the Suunto Core Alu Brown is the optimal solution. It is designed to help the hiker make the best decisions during activity; it has an altimeter, barometer, digital thermometer, weather trend indicator and a digital compass.
Distinct modes
The watch even features a storm alarm that tells you if a storm is approaching. The pressure gauge operates in four distinct modes, including an automatic setting that senses the hiker's movement, switching between altimeter and barometer accordingly.
The compass features a rotating bezel for traditional use, or a one-touch function that allows the user to sight, lock and follow a bearing.
Daily functions include dual time, date, alarm, sports chronograph and predicted times for sunrise and sunset.
For something really extravagant, sportsmen turn to Porsche Design watches.
Marina Vidal, brand manager for Porsche Design, Dubai, says: "The most expensive sports watch we sell is the Porsche Design indicator at the recommended retail price of Dh495,000. This is the first chronograph to mechanically enable a digital display of the stopping time in hours and minutes."
Vidal believes that there will be many more advances made in sports watch technology in the near future. "Watch designers will begin to use materials such as rubber, titanium and aluminium, as well as new PVD treatments on the bezel," says Vidal.
