Wait, what? Did you see the amount of SEO-optimized superlatives in this dude’s title? I get what you’re saying. It’s a little bold of me to declare that these 10 timepieces are the most significant, groundbreaking, game-changing complicated sports watches of the modern age — like Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the church door of Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517, thus setting off the Protestant Reformation kind of bold. And I also get it… I mean, why listen to me? I’m a curmudgeonly, middle aged professional watch nerd constantly mumbling about the halcyon era of ’90s Queensbridge hip-hop, in an era when there are so many other shiny new sources of information with a new watch Tik Tok, Insta-shizzle, new-world horological evangelist being born every millisecond, dropping earth-shattering watch truth-bombs such as “small watches are cool,” “men can wear jewelry watches,” and my personal favorite, “dude, Cartier is dope, how do you not know?” Thanks for that. I would have never known.

But let me explain decidedly my old-school criteria for selecting these watches, which has less to do with tapping into my Gen Z emotional matrix by getting in touch with my feelings, and more with actual research, fact finding and contacting the technical directors and heads of product that made these timepieces. OK, look at it this way… Throughout history, watches have been divided into two categories, with the first category being the functional tool sports watches and the second, the high watchmaking masterpieces. To me, the following eight watches have most successfully bridged the gap between these two categories, so much so as to define an all-new third category unto themselves — the complicated sports watch.

Each and every one of these watches has done so by bringing real functional innovation to their chosen genre, whether that be diving or regatta racing. And perhaps most importantly, they have done so in a way that is brilliantly imaginative, yet easy and totally intuitive to use, and executed in a way that looks absolutely stunning. Since one key criterion for me is functional innovation, I’ve omitted watches that simply feature the frivolous though admittedly cool addition of a complication, such as the Roger Dubuis Easy Diver Tourbillon, the Lemania 2310 Chronograph or even the Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk Tourbillon. Also, when it comes to innovation, I’ve focused primarily on the movement of the watch and how it creates an all-new complication to add a higher level of function of performance, rather than innovations in case technology which would otherwise have me focus primarily on deep dive watches featuring elements like Rolex’s Ring Lock technology that stops its impressive Deepsea from collapsing under the water pressure at 3,900 meters below sea level.

Lastly, what do I mean by the modern era? To me, this means post-Quartz Crisis and, in particular, the 2000s and up when the integration of computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing (CADCAM) and other technologies rapidly allowed manufactures to up their innovation game. So, sorry, there are no vintage watches on this list. If you want to read about vintage, check our Revolution’s list of the 88 most important sports watches of all time.

OK, so without further ado, here then is my list for the 10 greatest complicated sports watches of all time, and the way in which they have elevated the sports watch game to unprecedented levels of performance.

Omega Speedmaster Chrono Chime

With all due respect to anyone that has combined a striking function with a chronograph, there is no better, more functionally innovative and more impressive watch in this category than the Omega Speedmaster Chrono Chime. Why? Because its striking function plays out the elapsed time, which is exactly the most important information on a chronograph. I’ve always looked at chronographs as stopwatches that also have to show you civil time. However, their true raison d’être is to measure the elapsed time of an event.

Why do I love the Chrono Chime so much, and why do I think it is very possibly the most overlooked and greatest achievement in the history of the chronograph? Because it has added the haute horlogerie dimension of a striking function to the watch, but in a way that is genuinely meaningful. Is there a true functional improvement to a chronograph by being able to play its elapsed time on a set of hammers and gong? Well, for me, and probably the people that can afford a near half-million-dollar horological masterpiece like this, yes. Because we are all old as hell and as such our eyesight doesn’t allow us to read the elapsed time on the 15-minute counter and the seconds hand without reaching into our pocket for our old-man glasses. Alternatively, if you are young and can afford this watch, it’s probably because you invented some new form of crypto and as such are similarly myopic from staring at a screen since you were young. But with just one push of the button on the left side of the case, you have the minutes struck for you on a low tone, the tens of the seconds with the high and low tone, and the remaining seconds on the high tone. Is this an unnecessary, frivolous and insanely expensive addition to a chronograph? No more so than the reason behind the creation of the striking function in the world’s first minute repeaters — so that French noblemen wouldn’t have to light candles to read their watches in the dark.

Why else do I love the Chrono Chime? Well, to begin with it, it comes in a Speedmaster case, specifically a modern version of the iconic CK2998. Now to me, when it comes to the chronograph complication, the Speedmaster is arguably the single most legendary timepiece ever created in this category, because it was the watch that passed every one of NASA’s torture tests, qualifying it to be the official timepiece of the Mercury and Apollo astronauts. This status gains even more credibility when you realize that it was a Speedmaster that saved the lives of the crew of Apollo 13, allowing them to time the rocket bursts to angle their spacecraft for safe re-entry after all electronic equipment on board had failed. So to me if you are going to create a high complication chronograph with an elapsed time chiming function, then there is no more fitting watch in the world than the Speedmaster.

Next, the movement of this watch, a six-year collaboration between Omega and Blancpain, is configured in the following way. It is a five-hertz watch with a Co-Axial escapement and thus can divide time to 1/10th of a second. This is the very first Co-Axial movement that vibrates at this elevated speed. Also, we’ve got a split seconds, monopusher chronograph movement featuring a vertical clutch. The vertical clutch means the chronograph function can be left on indefinitely with no underlying drop in amplitude, and I’m inclined to believe this clutch system has its roots in the Frédéric Piguet caliber 1181, hence the collaboration between Omega and Blancpain. Now here comes the truly mind-blowing part of what Omega had to accomplish. In a normal minute repeater, a set of feelers takes the information from a series of stepped snail cams attached to the hour wheel. What is impressive is that you have a similar system here, but one that takes information from a series of cams connected to the chronograph minute counter and seconds wheel. Says Greg Kissling, Omega’s in-house technical genius and one of the key individuals behind the Chrono Chime, “It’s the same kind of architecture as a traditional minute repeater, but completely new with a cam for the minute, a cam for the tens of the seconds, and one for the seconds. The real challenge was the introduction of the tens and seconds, which can only be read off the chronograph mobile wheel! Imagine the delicate balance and the inertia management.” Respect, Greg!

OK, on a side note, it makes me incredibly happy to see brands like Omega fearlessly lifting the performance of the chronograph in both a wonderfully haute horlogerie way as with the Chrono Chime, and with more basic technology such as the Spirate, which offers ultra fine rate adjustments. Omega’s relentless pursuit of elevating performance is inspiring and essential to the Swiss watch industry — a testament to the incredible leadership of its CEO Raynald Aeschlimann. Back to the Chrono Chime, all that technical brilliance comes housed in a 45mm Sedna Gold case. The dial and the bezel of the watch feature aventurine that has been crushed and transformed into grand feu enamel. The subdial counters and even the bridges of the movement are also made from Sedna Gold.

This is how the watch functions. The monopusher for the start-stop-reset functions is integrated into the crown of the watch. The rattrapante or split seconds function is operated using the pusher at two o’clock. This split seconds function is independent of the chiming function, meaning you can stop it anytime you like. You can even leave it stopped indefinitely because Omega has integrated an isolator into the split seconds function to eliminate rattrapante drag. But if you activate the chiming function, the watch will play the current elapsed time on the main chronograph hand, not the interval time displayed by the split seconds hand, which makes sense. Finally, simply because I haven’t seen anyone else explain this, the chronograph must be stopped in order for you to activate the chiming function. Nonetheless, to me the Omega Chrono Chime is the best example of elevating the rattrapante chronograph to an even higher realm by enhancing its functionality. As a final amusing aside, the Omega Chrono Chime comes delivered in a crate so large that it resembles the monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. My friend @kodoholic’s watch arrived and he had to find himself a forklift in order to transport it into his study.

Richard Mille RM 027

To me, the Richard Mille RM 027 tourbillon created for Rafael Nadal is the single most important game-changing sports watch of the modern era. Why? Because it is really the very first mechanical watch, let alone a tourbillon, worn on the wrist of one of the world’s most elite athletes in the incendiary heat of battle. This is why I always say watch history will be divided between the time before Richard Mille and the time after. Because until Nadal donned the RM 027, it would be considered absurd to strap a half-million-dollar, extraordinarily refined tourbillon to the single hardest hitting tennis player in the world, with a two-handed backhand that resembled an enraged lumberjack felling a tree, and think it would survive the shock. But for Mille, this would be the ultimate proof positive that everything his brand was based on — lightness, ergonomics, material innovation and extreme shock resistance — was undeniably real. Not only would the watch survive, but it would also become a good luck talisman for the notoriously superstitious Nadal, who would go on to win three out of four Grand Slam tournaments in the first year of his partnership with Mille and, as a consequence, he’s never played another game of tennis without a Richard Mille watch on his wrist.

The backstory to this is, of course, just as good. For some time, Mille had wanted to irrevocably demonstrate to the world the unparalleled performance of his watches. They had been worn by Formula 1 pilots like Felipe Massa, whose watch even shrugged off a brutal crash. But he wanted someone who could wear the watch visibly on the world stage. Nadal was suggested to Mille by his friend and client King Juan Carlos of Spain. Mille made an overture but Nadal was hesitant. A watch would be too bulky, heavy and cumbersome, and it could throw off his game if he was self-conscious of it. Mille had to prove that his watch could be so light and effortless to wear that Nadal would forget it was there. The result was the creation of an absolute game-changing timepiece, the world’s lightest mechanical watch, featuring a carbon fiber case and an extreme skeletonized movement crafted from aluminum-lithium. Mille recalls, “Even then, Rafa broke several prototypes until we found the right technical solution.”

When Nadal walked onto center court at Flushing Meadows in 2010, the American tennis legend turned sports commentator John McEnroe famously opined, “I can’t believe he’s playing tennis with a half-million-dollar watch on his wrist.” Well, the fact is that this moment gave birth to the modern era of elite athletes, from tennis players to Olympians, wearing Richard Milles and other watches in the pursuit of sporting greatness. It also showed for the first time that the most complicated Swiss timepieces can be suited for the most intense rigors of competition. The RM 027 has been extrapolated over five versions, but the original watch is still my favorite and, incidentally, trades significantly over its original retail price (take that, John McEnroe). The subsequent versions are the RM 27-01, which uses tiny suspension cables to isolate the movement from shocks, the Quartz TPT RM 27-02 and RM 27-03, which both use bridges integrated into the carbon caseband of the watch for incredible rigidity and anti-shock, and the insane RM 27-04, which replaces the traditional solid movement bridges with a suspension cable lattice system reminiscent of the strings in a tennis racket. The RM 027 has also given birth to the “Baby Nadal” or RM 035, a cult watch all its own.

Rolex Yacht-Master II

OK, the stunning Rolex Yacht-Master II is one of the most beloved sports watch around and worn by the likes of celebrities like Mark Wahlberg, Drake, David Beckham and Ireland’s mixed martial arts exponent and president hopeful Conor McGregor. But I’ve always found it amusing that many of the owners of this watch don’t fully understand the technical masterpiece on their wrist, the incredible innovation of a programmable countdown function, and the underlying genius of the movement inside their chalice of horological grandeur. And, with typical Rolex élan, the way in which this function is integrated is totally intuitive, making it even more impressive. But let’s face it, the above demographic is probably as likely to wander into the rarefied milieu of a yacht club as I am. Wahlberg is too blue collar, Becks has too many tattoos and the only boats McGregor likes are made by Lamborghini. Drake is probably the only one who would get in. But I digress.

Introduced in 2007, the Rolex Yacht-Master II was created to address one major problem in the elite world of regatta racing, and that was races had different durations of countdowns. While many had five-minute countdowns, some races featured countdowns that were longer or shorter. To overcome this, Rolex created a watch with a programmable countdown function. It works like this. By turning the Ring Command bezel all the way counterclockwise until it clicks, and then depressing the reset pusher, you can now unscrew your watch and set the countdown hand to wherever you like from 10 to 1 minute. What is very cool about this countdown hand is that it is a retrograde hand, meaning that when it hits zero, it will jump back to 10 minutes. The Yacht-Master II is, as far as I know, the only Rolex in history that has ever featured a retrograde hand. Once you have your countdown time set, you turn the bezel clockwise until it clicks, and you are good to go. Underlying this countdown function is the Rolex caliber 4161, a chronograph movement based on the caliber 4130 found in the Rolex Daytona. What is amazing is that while the 4130 has a mere 201 parts, this movement has 360 parts, with 159 parts dedicated to this programmable countdown function. By starting the chronograph with the pusher at top right, the central chrono hand begins to turn. With each passing minute, the regatta countdown jumps to the next minute. For added visibility, the minute markers are not just present on the dial, but also adorn the ceramic bezel insert. If, for whatever reason, you need to restart the countdown, just hit the reset pusher because, yes, the Yacht-Master II is a flyback chronograph. At 44mm, the Yacht-Master II is a bold watch, but it is the brilliance of its caliber and the real functional innovation it represents that makes this one of the greatest complicated sports watches of all time.

F.P. Journe Centigraphe Sport Aluminium

We can’t talk about 1/100th of a second chronographs without discussing, of course, the Centigraphe. This is legendary watchmaker François-Paul Journe’s take on a 1/100th of a second chronograph. The issues with a real 50Hz oscillator are both wear and tear on something that vibrates so fast, and also power consumption. Journe has decided to address these in the following way. He explains, “The idea of a 1/100th of a second chronograph driven by a 50Hz oscillator has its limitations, both in terms of friction and power reserve. Instead, I created a chronograph hand that rotates around the dial once a second and can be decoupled in any position when the hand is stopped.” What makes the Centigraphe a 1/100th of a second chronograph is the ability for the hand to decouple and therefore adopt infinite positions. In theory, François-Paul could have made this a 1/1,000th of a second chronograph if he could have printed hash marks to the right resolution, but it is clear 1/100th of a second offers the perfect balance between resolution and visibility. The dial is configured with the foudroyante or 1/100th display at top left. Top right is a counter that makes a revolution every 20 seconds and at the bottom is an elapsed 10-minute counter. Also, the name Centigraphe is really cool. Underlying all these is one of the most innovative chronograph calibers around, where the chronograph train is not powered by the seconds wheel (which would make no sense as this is a 3Hz watch) but directly from the barrel — a truly radical re-envisioning of a chronograph’s architecture. Finally, instead of chronograph buttons, Journe’s watch uses a rocker system which actually makes starting and stopping these functions faster and more intuitive.

While the Centigraphe comes in different versions, as this is an article about the greatest complicated sports watches ever made, I will put forth that the best version, in my opinion, is the watch executed in aluminum for its incredible light weight.

De Bethune DB28 GS Grande Bleu

When I think of De Bethune, it brings to mind watchmaking poetry. An inchoate deeply personal horological language brought to light by the watchmaking genius that is Denis Flageollet. The DB28 created in 2010 was the sort of greatest hits list of all his innovations, which includes a triple pare-chute anti-shock system (with one shock absorber for the balance and two more on either side of the balance bridge), an in-house balance wheel and terminal curve for the hairspring, mirror polished grade five titanium case, and mobile lugs. The model became a huge hit for De Bethune and its defining flagship model. But it was to everyone’s surprise in 2019 when De Bethune dropped, of all things, a dive watch version of the DB28 named the Grand Sport (GS) Grand Bleu. This slightly more muscular version at 44mm in diameter and 12.8mm in thickness featured 100 meters of water resistance and a very nicely integrated rotating bezel. But the real “holy shit” moment happened when you depressed the pusher at six o’clock and the entire watch exploded in illumination thanks to a brilliant LED lighting system born out of the collaboration between James Thompson of Black Badger, a Sweden-based specialist in luminescence materials, and Flageollet. Integrated inside the watch was a fully mechanical lighting system driven by the barrel. Four tiny lights are placed at the cardinal points of the rehaut. These are powered by a dedicated train that takes power from the mainspring. The result is a timepiece that brings a wonderful level of visual pyrotechnics to a traditional dive watch, while adding real functional innovation.

Louis Vuitton Tambour Twin Chronograph Match Racing

So the amazing thing about the Tambour Spin Time Regatta created in 2012 is that it transformed this countdown into functional art, where tiny three-dimensional cubes would turn from blue to red to show the elapsing countdown. More incredible was that with a push of a button, you could switch between normal chronograph and regatta mode with a window at 12 o’clock telling you which you were in. Now, if you’re impressed by the Tambour Spin Time Regatta, prepare to have your mind blown. Because a full decade before Max Büsser came out with his award-winning Sequential Evo double chronograph, Louis Vuitton had created what is to my mind one of the most groundbreaking chronographs of all time. This watch was created to time two boats racing with each other and show the difference between their elapsed times. The Tambour Twin Chronograph works in the following way. Start the chronograph and the two subdials at the bottom of the stunning grand feu enamel blue dial will begin to advance. Both are configured with co-axial 60-second and 60-minute indicators. Press the pusher again and the hands on the dial to the left freeze, while the hands on the dial to the right continue to advance. But the dial at 12 o’clock will simultaneously explode into action showing the difference between these two timings. Press it again and we stop both the subdials on the right and at 12. One more time and everything resets to zero. The movement of this watch is an architectural masterpiece comprising three separate clutch systems operated by a single three-level column wheel. My suggestion is that if this watch resonates with you, try to buy one, as I consider it one of the great undervalued masterpieces of the modern era.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms X Fathoms

I haven’t seen it yet. But I would still love to witness someone rock up to dinner wearing the extraordinary 56mm in diameter, full titanium Blancpain Fifty Fathoms X Fathoms, the single greatest achievement in mechanical dive watches of all time. Yes, I know it’s a bold statement, so let me back it up. This dive watch features the following. It has a depth gauge which uses Liquidmetal deformation in the form of a pressure sensitive membrane rather than a Bourdon tube (like the IWC Deep One) so water doesn’t need to enter all the way inside the watch. It has not one but two depth indicators. One from 0 to 90 meters for general reading and a more precise one from 0 to 15 meters to allow you to perform your decompression stops more accurately. But wait, because it also has a five-minute countdown timer to allow you to perfectly measure the duration of those stops. It has a deepest depth indicator and the button to reset this is covered by a badass titanium trigger guard. It has five days of power reserve, uses a silicon hairspring and escapement, so it is impervious to magnetism and also features a sapphire crystal fully luminous bezel. All indications are treated in different colored LumiNova to enhance visibility underwater. The hands and bezel glow green, the 90-meter depth indicator and five-minute decompression indicator glow orange, and the 15-meter depth indicator glows blue.

I recall attending the launch for this in Dubai Mall where Blancpain CEO actually descended to the depths amongst sharks in the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo to demonstrate the functions of the watch. I will go on record here to say that when it comes to innovative dive watches, no brand does it better than Blancpain and that is because Hayek is incredibly passionate about diving and ocean conservation. The Fifty Fathoms Mil-Spec watch he introduced last year is a wonderful demonstration of his love of Blancpain’s military heritage. But the X Fathoms is the ultimate expression of a truly passionate diver’s love for the ocean. While there have been many watches with depth gauges, from the likes of IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Panerai, the X Fathoms is the most complete and passionate of them all.

MB&F Legacy Machine Sequential Evo

One of the most astounding chronographs in recent years is the MB&F Legacy Machine Sequential EVO. It brings something new to the table while addressing the fundamental shortcomings of a vertical clutch system. The watch is equipped with two mainsprings, two gear trains and two chronograph mechanisms where the fourth wheels of each gear train are integrated in the vertical clutch assembly, allowing them to drive the chronograph seconds hand directly.

Vertical clutch chronographs with a direct drive are rarer than we might realize, especially in modern movements where the slimness is a priority. When an auxiliary train is needed to drive the chronograph seconds, it reintroduces the very problem that a vertical clutch system was designed to eradicate in the first place, which is backlash and the potential for seconds hand stutter. The Sequential EVO essentially realizes the true merits of a vertical clutch system and goes even further by installing two jewel bearings on the shaft of the fourth wheel. This serves to eliminate friction, preventing amplitude loss when the chronograph is not in use and the fourth wheel shaft is left rotating on its own against the shaft of the vertical clutch.

But the most innovative aspect of the watch is the Twinverter system that can invert the modes of each chronograph, notably, allowing it to function as a lap timer. While both chronographs can be started and stopped independently using their respective pushers on either side of the case, the Twinverter pusher at nine o’clock, through a system of levers, advances the column wheel a notch forward, effectively switching their present states. This means that if one chronograph is running while the other is not, the Twinverter will halt the active one and activate the idle one, enabling the measurement of individual lap times without interruption. Taken all together, the Sequential EVO is a notably complete modern chronograph, and one that is producible and looks out of this world. – Cheryl Chia

Zenith Defy Extreme Double Tourbillon & TAG Heuer MikroTourbillonS

I’ve grouped these two watches together because they share the same basic movement architecture. Back in 2012, TAG Heuer unveiled the MikroTourbillonS. This was a follow-up to the Mikrograph which was released the year before as its first production 1/100th of a second chronograph wristwatch. The key to this watch was the use of two different balance wheels, one beating at 4Hz for the time indications and one beating at 50Hz dedicated to the chronograph function. The watch was inspired by the 1/100th of a second stopwatches. The visual spectacle of a hand rocketing around a dial adopting 100 separate positions each second was staggering to behold. The MikroTourbillonS turned up the heat on this already amazing achievement by introducing a similar 1/100th of a second chronograph, but this time on a layout that features both the balance wheels on the front of the watch. At bottom left was the 50Hz chronograph balance that was arrested until the chrono was activated. But look closer and you’ll see that this balance sits inside a flying tourbillon that rotates every five seconds. At top left was a traditional one-minute tourbillon with a balance that beat at 4Hz. Is this watch totally excessive? Yes. Was there any performance advantage to having the 50Hz balance inside a five-second tourbillon? Well, it looked cool as hell which was enough for me. But that is its brilliance. The idea of pushing traditional complications to create the most compelling visual spectacle in a mechanical watch was bombastically embodied by this incredible achievement, while from a functional perspective, the actual 1/100th of a second chronograph function was truly awesome. Then for strategic reasons, the impressive MikroTourbillonS and, in fact, all the Mikro watches at TAG Heuer were shelved as new management took over.

Cut to 2022 and the creation of the Zenith Defy Extreme Double Tourbillon. Now, purely from a story-telling perspective, Zenith, which was the master of the integrated chronograph, was the perfect brand to relaunch this movement, albeit with one major difference. In the Zenith Double Tourbillon, the base movement runs at 5Hz. So the tourbillon for time telling is a 5Hz one-minute unit, while the 1/100th of a second chronograph features a 50Hz balance in a five-second tourbillon. I love the idea that everything here is a factor of five, bringing a wonderful sense of synergy to this timepiece. Accordingly, power reserve on this automatic watch is 50 hours. I applaud former Zenith CEO Julien Tornare and head of product Romain Marietta for incorporating the model in a smart and meaningful way into the very cool Defy family and, honestly, I love the fact that if a consumer wanted to go out and buy a 1/100th of a second chronograph with a 50Hz oscillator, they can walk into any Zenith boutique and leave with one of the most impressive technical masterpieces ever created in the modern era. Now this is the great part. Because Zenith is a value brand, it even priced the titanium version of this amazing watch with its two tourbillons at CHF 69,000, which to me is a ridiculous value for such a game-changing performance machine. What is very entertaining is that Julien Tornare is now the CEO of TAG Heuer and it will be very interesting to see if he brings a renewed vision of high performance engineering back to TAG.