The Best Summer Watches: Jorg’s Picks From Traska, Aquastar, Nomos, Zenith, And Rolex (Again)

Every year, I get excited to pick my favorite summer watches. It allows me to choose ones that are a bit more colorful and wild than the watches I would normally consider for a list of favorites. The idea is simple: the Fratello editors pick their favorite summer watch in five price brackets, ranging from under €1,000 to no budget. My list has become a mix of new and older models. As it turns out, though, selecting them was harder than in previous years.

I found it more difficult due to a combination of factors. First, last year’s summer watches were a glorious list of favorites, some of which also made my year-end list. But in a broader context, there haven’t been many summer releases that impressed me much this year. That’s why you will find a mixed bag of things that make up my favorite summer watches for 2026.

As I write this, I am in Istria, Croatia, enjoying a couple of weeks of a nice work vacation. The Mediterranean summer has already started here with long, warm days. I love being here because the scenery is stunning, the food is delicious, and the overall vibe is very relaxed. Working here is a joy because if I take just one look outside, I know what is waiting for me once I’m done.

One of the watches I brought on this trip is the new Unimatic Modello Uno UT1-IPP, which launched last Friday as part of the brand’s new Swimming Pool series. It offers the worry-free fun that you would want from a summer watch, which is why I wanted to mention it quickly. I’ll explain more about it in tomorrow’s review, but for now, let’s move on to my list of summer favorites.

Under €1,000: Traska Venturer GMT

My first pick is the newly updated Traska Venturer, which I reviewed last week. The latest generation of this stylish GMT received some wonderful updates, showing that the young Floridian brand is continually improving its products. With the latest updates, Traska also shows it is exploring the options to create its recognizable design style. I think that founder Jon Mack and his team have done a wonderful job making this a reality.

We had the green- and black-dial Traska Venturer models in the office for review, but from the available color lineup, I would pick the Steel Blue version shown in the first picture. It is a wonderful dial color that adds a bit more variety and fits the summer colors perfectly. The watch has a 38.5mm stainless steel case with a 46.1mm lug-to-lug and 12.1mm total thickness. The case was redesigned for this new version, with some beautifully refined details.

The updates make the Venturer even better

Traska combined the case with an updated dial design and an internal GMT bezel that matches the blue shade. The new design features a round date window at 6 o’clock, and the hour markers are nicely integrated into the minute track. Also, the 24-hour GMT hand has a yellow tip to contrast nicely with the dial.

Finishing the look is the new three-row bracelet, which is a brilliant improvement over the previous one. It now features rounded edges and polished bevels for a more premium look. On top of that, both the case and bracelet receive a scratch-resistant treatment, helping provide a worry-free wearing experience during the summer.

Inside the case, the Miyota 9075 offers the practicality of a flyer-style GMT. It allows you to move the local hour hand in one-hour increments, making this a perfect affordable travel watch for the summer at €843.95. I have gone on record multiple times that Traska makes the best affordable watches available.

They are unbeatable in terms of quality and specs. The value for money you get is simply incredible. What makes the Venturer GMT a great summer watch is the combination of colors and great comfort. The Venturer is my favorite affordable travel GMT, and that’s why I took my previous-generation white-dial version with me to Croatia.

Under €2,500: Aquastar Deepstar II

My second pick has been a favorite for some time. Ever since we did two limited editions with Aquastar, I fell in love with the pink-dial and blue-dial versions of the Deepstar II. I adore the somewhat quirky retro look of the Deepstar II paired with the light-colored dials. I know I will spend a lot of time with the pink-dial prototype once I get back home. That watch always impresses me as fun and easy to wear every time I put it on my wrist.

First, I’ll quickly recap the specs. The Deepstar II has a 36.75mm case with a 13mm profile, including the heavily domed sapphire crystal, and a nice 46mm lug-to-lug, giving it plenty of wrist presence. The unusual dial layout features central hour and minute hands along with a large sub-seconds register at 9 o’clock. Oversized hour markers at 3, 6, and 12 o’clock, luminous dots, and a black minute track complete the composition.

A watch that looks really good on a bracelet and a series of straps

Inside the case, you will find the Sellita SW290-1. This automatic caliber operates at 28,800 vph and offers a 38-hour power reserve. It is part of Sellita’s popular SW200 series, which powers many affordable watches from smaller brands. Currently, the Deepstar II is available with black, dark blue, gray, silver, dark green, and white dials for US$2,280 (approximately €1,995, including VAT) on either a stainless steel bracelet or a NATO strap.

While I mostly wear the watch on the brilliant beads-of-rice bracelet, during the summer, it is also fun to wear on a seatbelt NATO. We offered the blue-dial LE with both the bracelet and the NATO strap, and the latter is a great option for the summer. It immediately changes the presence, making it a great, fun retro diver. Switch to the bracelet, and you will have a stylish watch for evening dinners at well under €2,500. It makes it the perfect stylish summer watch.

Under €5,000: Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer

My next pick is one of two that were also on my list last year. Though hardly original, it says something about how much I love these two watches. The first is the Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer. The model range debuted during Watches and Wonders 2025, and we saw a string of additional releases throughout the year that proved how good the Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer is. I quickly found two favorites that I would gladly wear as my favorite summer watches.

The first is the light blue Glacier version, one of the six limited editions presented in Geneva. It proved to be the most popular of the six and sold out really quickly. Seeing that watch again, it’s easy to understand why. The second is the purple dial 30-piece limited edition for Mansour Jewelers, presented during Dubai Watch Week. The two versions perfectly showcase the Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer’s great versatility and what made it such a hit with fans last year, including yours truly.

The dials are an absolute joy to see

The watches have a 40mm stainless steel case with a 9.9mm profile and a 48mm lug-to-lug. As a result, they are a joy to wear. The case features dials that brilliantly use color to stand out while also serving a function, from the outer ring displaying city codes for the 24 time zones to the large center part, which is either matte light blue or sunburst purple, depending on which LE you pick.

Add the large hour numerals and the slightly recessed sub-dials at 3 o’clock and 6 o’clock, and you see the brilliance of this design. The perfect example is the clever offsets from UTC in the time zones, which are integrated into the minute track. In terms of functionality, the central hour and minute hand display the local time, while the sub-dial at 3 o’clock displays the home time on a 24-hour scale with a day/night indication in two colors. The Glacier LE even features two color splits in the sub-dial. Lastly, the sub-dial at 6 o’clock displays the running seconds.

Hunting down the sold-out limited editions

The magic of this Worldtimer model lies in the pusher at 2 o’clock, which advances the city ring. It makes a magical click that will spark an urge to play with it again and again. Luckily, if you’ve set it to the right time zone and click it once, you get another 23 clicks before the ring returns to the right time zone. Making this magic happen is the Nomos DUW 3202, which was fully designed, developed, manufactured, and assembled at the brand’s manufacturing plant in Glashütte, Germany. The 37-jewel automatic caliber operates at 21,600 vph and offers a 42-hour power reserve.

By now, I would have to chase the two limited editions and see whether they still fit the budget. Given their popularity, I have seen price tags exceeding €5k. But that won’t keep me from picking this brilliant Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer as my third pick for the perfect summer travel watch.

Under (or just) €10,000: Zenith Chronomaster Revival A384 Tropical

My next pick is the recently released Tropical version of the Zenith Chronomaster Revival A384. I’m a huge Zenith fan, so it’s no surprise that I would pick one of the brand’s releases for this list. But it’s far more than just fandom that got me there. The A384 series combines great history with stunning looks and unmatched wearability. Especially in summer, the watch is super easy to wear thanks to the Guy Frères-style ladder bracelet. While I have gone on record expressing my doubts about the open-link design and the build quality, especially given the €10,000 price tag, it is also the magic sauce that makes this such a great summer daily wearer.

Every time I wear a Chronomaster Revival model, I am blown away by how well this seemingly dated bracelet wears. I have stated in the past that it has a ’70s flair to it that makes it super comfortable. It’s a bit jangly, especially the clasp, and the design is full of retro character. But it also opens the bracelet, so it is nice and airy in the summer heat. Combined with the A384’s blocky 37 × 47 × 12.6mm exterior, it helps make this one my favorite watches out there.

The Zenith Chronomaster Revival A384 Tropical is my perfect summer watch

The new Tropical model is another creative dial variant that mimics the classic El Primero A384s from the late 1960s and ’70s, which now often feature discolored sub-dials. But those watches are also expensive because they are rare. On top of that, they are often beaten up, and the bracelets are in pretty bad condition. That’s why this A384 Tropical is such a great addition to the already impressive Chronomaster Revival lineup. Add the Zenith El Primero 400 caliber, which is watchmaking royalty, and you have my perfect summer watch.

Now, of course, this is much more than just a summer watch. Its stylish looks are perfect all year round. But as I already mentioned, the much-debated bracelet is the magic potion that makes it a proper summer watch I would love to wear on trips to southern Europe.

The sky’s the limit: Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 126518LN-0014

My last pick is the second one that also graced last year’s list. But it’s an easy pick because I haven’t seen anything better this year from Rolex or most other high-end brands. I absolutely adore this Rolex Daytona as the perfect colorful summer watch. It has it all. A combination of a yellow gold case with a black ceramic bezel, paired with a rubber bracelet for great summer comfort and a turquoise lacquer dial that pops. A little over a year after its release, it hasn’t lost any of its impact.

Of course, I could go over the details and specs of this Daytona again, but that is not what this pick is all about. It’s all about this watch’s extravagant presence. As I explained last year, once I put this Daytona on my wrist, I was surprised by how refined and detailed it was compared to the press images. Looking at the black sub-dials, the refinement of the hour markers, and the text on the dial, the composition becomes much more layered and balanced than my initial impression suggested. But once I saw it up close, I was immediately sold.

Why not pick a watch twice if you love it?

Another admission was that I would never have picked a Rolex on a black Oysterflex bracelet before I had this Daytona on my wrist. For the summer, it adds great comfort and tones down the look nicely. Sometimes you try a watch, and all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place automatically.

That was exactly what happened with this turquoise-dial Daytona. More than a year later, it was the first watch that came to mind as a great pick for this list. Why shouldn’t I feature it again if the emotions are that strong? That’s why this €43,200 Daytona is my fifth and final pick once more.

What are your favorite summer watches for 2026? And more importantly, what are your plans for the season? Share with us in the comments below.