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Dress watches used to be the order of the day for most people. Because daily life had more formality decades ago and we hadn’t yet fallen down the rabbit hole of remote work, people had to dress for the office, which often included a suit. Those days are long gone, along with the everyday popularity of the dress watch. While there is still demand for dress watches to this day, it’s a much more niche product that’s worn on occasion rather than on a daily basis.
What replaced that classic look was something of a hybrid timepiece. The modern sportswatch usually has a little bit of style, a whole lot of ruggedness, and you can shop for them in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. One of the most popular makers of these ubiquitous timekeepers is Citizen. It’s a Japanese brand with nearly a century of watchmaking heritage, and a catalog of sports watches that makes many a competitor envious.
What is a sports watch?
There are no hard and fast rules as to what constitutes a sports watch, but rather a general set of standards or norms that they tend to follow. For starters, most sports watches have at least 30 meters of water resistance. That’s so you can at least wash the dishes or take a quick dip with the watch, and it will be no worse for wear. What’s more, most traditional sports watches have stainless steel cases. The bracelets can also be stainless steel, although leather, rubber, or canvas are just as acceptable.
Much of a sports watch’s DNA also has to do with the dial. A sports watch should be legible, attractive, and sometimes have an added functionality. This could be a chronograph function, a date function, or even a GMT hand. A GMT watch tracks a second time zone with an extra hand, so you can keep an eye on another part of the world no matter where you are. These added features give the watch a functional advantage over a standard three-hand dress watch, which is part of the reason they’re so popular.
From a style standpoint, most modern sports watches are rugged and robust, but they’re also intended to blend in with almost any type of outfit. They’re usually a few millimeters larger than dress watches in diameter and can have much brighter colors. Sports watches are sometimes easy to spot if they happen to have a rotating bezel for timing dives.
Citizen sports watches
As it has done with every other trend that has come and gone over the last 90 years, Citizen has leaned heavily into the sports watch game. Its dive watches, field watches, and chronographs have been seen on the wrists of regular people and Hollywood celebrities alike. That’s because the company’s experience in adapting and modernizing has made it a perennial favorite. If we had to sum up Citizen in a single word, it would be innovation. That spirit is what allowed the brand to design its proprietary Eco-Drive movement, which graces a good majority of its sports watches to this day.
The following are all Citizen sports watches that share some or all of the above characteristics. We recommend you review them to see if any tickle your fancy. There is a wide array of styles, colors, and special features represented. This could be your best opportunity to start your luxury watch collection off with a bang.
Citizen Eco-Drive Luminous Dial Watch
Citizen Eco-Drive Chandler Green Field Watch
Citizen Tsuyosa Blue Dial Watch
More sports watches
If Citizen doesn’t have a sports watch that piques your interest, then there are lots of other brands that have similar models. Take a look at the options below, and see if there’s anything that looks like your style. Walmart has one of the widest selections of sports watches anywhere on the internet, so there’s sure to be something that suits you.
Seiko 5 Stainless Steel Dive Watch
Bulova Marine Star Chronograph
Seiko 5 Automatic Sport Casual Watch
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