The Middle East in turmoil, oil prices rising by the minute, shaky, breaky Western economies, indecision and uncertainty at every turn. Time for a vacation. Time for the toughest decision of all; which watch to take on holiday.

As Godbole so rightly observed in E.M. Forster’s marvellous novel ‘A Passage To India’ when questioned why he remained so stoic in the face of a crisis, ‘It makes no difference whether I worry or whether I don’t, the result will be the same.’ And this is never more sanguine than in the current climate. World leaders don’t have the first clue what should be done, so why should you? You’re much better off worrying about the things you can control, and what could be more important than the watch you will take on your holiday.

Of course like all things this depends on many factors, including budget, type of holiday, the things you’ll be doing, the people you want to impress, but there you go getting bogged down in worries again.

For the purposes of this exercise we have dispensed with the routine and reliable old Rolex option and focussed on good quality watches which are equally comfortable on land or on water, are robust, good looking, and represent outstanding value for money.

Benarus Remora

The 42mm Benarus Remora is a dive watch with a vintage style stainless steel case that has water resistance of 500 meters so it’s a great choice for diving, swimming, and generally leaping in and out of water throughout the day. The Remora runs on a Miyota 9015 mechanical automatic movement. They retail for around US$610, so it won’t ruin the holiday too much should anything happen to it.

Buler Sea Quest

The Sea Quest is a quartz watch water resistant to 200 metres and has a rotating unidirectional ratchet bezel, and high-performance chronograph. This watch will take all the rough and tumble of jet skiing, para gliding and scuba diving by day and still look great in the evening. Price range is around US$600 to US$700.

Kadloo Ocean Date Pro

Who? Yes, you’ve probably never heard of Kadloo, but they make excellent quality Submariner style divers watches. The Ocean Date Pro is 43mm and comes on a stainless steel bracelet. It runs on an ETA 2824 automatic movement and is water resistant to 300 metres. You can pick up a Kadloo for around US$845.

Limes Endurance 1 Tausend Chronograph

Limes is a German brand dating back to 1924, and the Endurance 1 Tausend Chronograph will go as deep as you dare if you fancy some intense holiday scuba diving sessions. The clue is in the name, it’s water resistant up to 1000 metres. It’s a mechanical automatic watch which runs on the ever faithful ETA 7750 Elabore movement. This 41.2mm watch comes on your choice of a steel bracelet or a rubberised leather strap. The Limes Endurance 1 Tausend Chronograph retails for around US$2300 to US$2500.

Bremont Supermarine

This is definitely moving up in cost, but this excellent British designed Swiss assembled watch would not look out of place in even the most refined 6-star resort. According to Bremont the Supermarine 500 maintains the Bremont aviation DNA by encasing the beautifully finished chronometer tested movement in an anti-magnetic Faraday cage. Also protecting the BE-36AE movement is a patented anti-shock case mount. The Supermarine’s case is 43mm providing water resistance to 500 metres and a sapphire bezel offers extraordinary luminosity in low light conditions. As for price, expect to pay upwards of US$4000 to US$5000.

So there you have it. We’ve solved your chronographic conundrum. Now all you have to do is convince your boss that you need the break.