Three On ThreeThe Best Summer Watch (Video)

The greatest trick the watch gods ever pulled was convincing the world that Summer, the season of fun in the sun, is the worst time of year to wear your favorite watches. To many, the summer is more of a season of sweat-stained Cordovan straps, swollen wrists necessitating micro-adjust clasps, and wristshots resembling a floating tube of flesh without the context of a shirt sleeve. These are harsh realities as temperatures rise, but — hear ye, hear ye — it's not the only way.

Watch enthusiasm need not require a luxurious sweater, monogrammed cuff, or cozy cup of steaming coffee! Enter stage left, three ideal summer watch options — chosen by and argued for by Malaika, TanTan, and Rich. There was a subtly implied price ceiling here: James refused to let anyone pick the F.P. Journe Élégantes and Richard Mille RM67-01s of the world. As such, our MSRPs range from $80 to $1,850, each offering respectable summer fun on a relatively modest budget.

They're three distinct picks from three distinctly different editors: a nostalgic yet never-out-of-style Swatch, a new take on heritage and collaborations from Omega x Swatch, and a rethought, well-timed classic from TAG Heuer. They're three watches that show how Swiss brands approach the idea of summer fun, appealing to fond memories more so than technical specs.

We spent a delightful afternoon in a sun-drenched New York City apartment making our respective cases, throwing subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at one another, and coming to at least a couple of consensus points. And while the answer to our initial prompt may be simply impossible, we walked away with at least a modicum of respect for each other's choices. Enjoy the video, which you can view here, and feel free to tell us in the comments who you, dear Hodinkee reader, may choose to side with. Or better yet, why we're all wrong and James should have let us pick more expensive watches!

The Clearly Gent is a near 1:1 reissue of the GK100 "Jelly Fish," the first clear Swatch from 1983 and arguably the purest expression of what the brand was always meant to be: democratic, disruptive, and collectible. That original model was one of the debut 12 Swatches, designed with only 51 parts, priced to undercut Japanese quartz, and styled with the radical optimism of early '80s industrial design. 

Collectors know how hard it is to find a Jelly Fish today that hasn't yellowed, cracked, or stopped running. That makes the Clearly Gent — near-identical in case, dial, and spirit — the best way to wear a piece of history without having to trawl the internet for an original model in mint condition. The quartz movement isn't mechanical, but it is original, visible, and utterly of its era. The transparency is almost like a relic from a time when showing your tech was part of the appeal. It's retro-tech in the best sense, not "vintage-inspired," but a time capsule of a design philosophy that felt truly modern when it launched. And an openwork quartz movement is kind of punk in its own quirky way.

Swatch has always operated at the intersection of pop culture, art, and product design — from Memphis-inspired maximalism to collaborations with Alfred Hofkunst and Vivienne Westwood. And the Clearly Gent feels just as relevant today. Worn solo, it's a nod to design history. Worn in multiples (as seen in early Swatch ads), or layered into your vacation jewelry rotation, it becomes a carefree extension of your personal style, a reminder that watches can be fun, weird, and smart all at once. 

If this is a summer watch contest, then I'm looking for something I can freely toss to the bottom of my beach bag, right alongside the sand, the sunscreen, and the remnants of those I-only-smoke-when-I'm-on-holiday-in-Europe cigarettes. I want something weightless. Something I won't cry over if it gets scratched or sun-faded. Something that costs $75, wears like a design artifact, and quietly outclasses half of the usual poolside suspects.

Unafraid of the commentariat, I'm here to tell you: the best summer watch released in decades is the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch. As I write this in July of 2025, I find myself in a watch world that, I believe, is ready for this take. Three years removed from the initial madness, with lines wrapped around city blocks at Swatch stores around the world, can we take a step back and appreciate the MoonSwatch for what it is?

The overall response to the MoonSwatch is strikingly similar to when Tim Cook uttered the words, "We have one more thing…" on September 9th, 2014, announcing the first Apple Watch. Watch enthusiasts tuned in and quickly decided that this new, interesting product could be frankly awful. Likewise, the Speedmaster Professional is one of the most recognizable wristwatch designs ever. It is one of a few historically "perfect" sport chronographs. How dare that be distilled to a "plastic" quartz watch? Well, on one hand, the MoonSwatch is not for enthusiasts — it's for the watch neophyte. The Apple Watch taught millions of people, many of whom eventually turned off all those annoying notifications, the utility of a wristwatch. The MoonSwatch is teaching millions (and counting) the joy of a watch without a screen altogether.

On the other hand, and I can say this as a proud, card-carrying watch enthusiast and 1969 Speedmaster Professional owner, if you free your mind and jump off that high horse, the MoonSwatch is also for you. We can't genuinely say this is a bad piece of watch design without putting down the Speedy. Sure, the materials are cheaper and the movement is quartz, but for $270, it's one of the best ways to show you know and care about watches. The MoonSwatch invites a conversation, if I see you wearing one in public I may assume you have a few more "serious" watches at home. Let's just level with each other and admit that we enjoy that conversation. It's not the sole reason we wear watches, but meeting others who share your interests is, at the very least, a nice side effect!

So why is a MoonSwatch the ultimate summer watch? It's not serious. By my count, 31 different MoonSwatches in various colors, ranging from bright to neutral, have been released. For those hot, humid days when the risk to your Rolex, Cartier, or Rexhep Rexhepi, etc. is slightly higher than usual, grab a MoonSwatch in a color you like and wear it with pride until you grow tired of it — or it stops working. In that case, get it fixed and pass it to someone you know, maybe a nephew, your daughter, or your friend who "doesn't get the whole watch thing" — introduce someone you care about to something you love.

Sometimes you come across a watch that absolutely screams summer. The Tag Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph is very much one of those cases. The revival of the brand's most creative project of the 80s was launched at Watches and Wonders this year, and it couldn't have come at a better time, right as LVMH swooped in last October for a ten-year partnership with Formula 1. Naturally, when TAG Heuer revealed this year's track clocks, with a very recognizable bezel design, we all knew that something was on its way.

Summer is a time when temperatures are hot, and short sleeves are in season. It's a time of comfy and casual. So the Formula 1, in a cornucopia of contrasting combinations of bright colors in nine models released, is just perfect for it. It is a supremely comfortable watch — upscaled from the original's 35mm to a more contemporary 38mm, it still wears compactly on the wrist, with its hooded lugs giving a nice transition to the strap or bracelet. But if you're like me, and the standard summer outfit is a black t-shirt and shorts, the Formula 1 just works so well as a bold little piece of nostalgia-infused design to add a splash of fun on the wrist. There are a lot of details to take in, and my favorite of which is the TAG Heuer shield logo molded into the supremely comfortable rubber strap.

One of my biggest arguments for the TAG Heuer Formula 1 as a perfect summer watch is thanks to its "Solargraph" designation – the inclusion of a solar-powered quartz movement, the biggest change from the original Formula 1 design. I mean, what better use case for a solar-powered watch than the season when you spend the most time outside in the bright sun? And with the Solargraph TH50-00 caliber holding a power reserve of 10 months with no light exposure, that means that it'll safely carry over until the next summer, if that's the only time you'll wear it. Do I see myself wearing this with a suit? Definitely not. But paired with anything casual, it's a home run.

Look, bringing a $1,850 watch to the table against two sub-$400 swatches is like bringing a Super Soaker to a foam sword fight, if we're talking about specs. As I mentioned in my hands-on with the Formula 1 back from Watches & Wonders, calling the Formula 1 a plastic watch, in the same sense as a Moonswatch, is a misnomer. Regardless of whether a specific colorway has a colorful "bio-based" exterior, all of the new Formula 1 watches have inner steel cases, and some of them also come on steel bracelets. If you're the kind of collector who perceives the inherent build quality out of the sheer raw material composition, this hopefully settles that debate. While these watches are certainly casual in look, they feel extremely solid in the hand.

Choosing the best summer watch is very different than making an argument for the best dive watch – it is inherently a topic much less about technical prowess and much more about expression. And I'm putting my money where my mouth is and have just bought one in green — though mine is far less, as Rich called this one "Christmas" — and I'm more excited than ever to give it a spin in the hot and humid city this summer.

Watch the full video here.