The Watchlist: up to £1000

From one of the watch kingdom's venerable names comes this serious chronograph with the bonus of two-time-zone functionality.

£950; certina.com

A stonkingly impressive chrono from the on-form American brand. Remarkable 1/1000th of a second accuracy and water-safe to 300m.

£649; bulova.com

Separate hour, minute and second hands recall the watches of WW2 bomber pilots, who needed the highest level of timing accuracy.

£995; christopherward.co.uk

This brand has moved from funky novelty watches to serious stuff, like this Forties-look, Swiss-made chrono in a stainless steel case.

£795; fossil.com

For those dressy moments, a handsome, bi-metal automatic with day and date function, from the preferred brand of most characters in Mad Men. Ultra-classy.

£750; hamiltonwatch.com

Marking 160 years in the business, Tissot - the official timekeeper of MotoGP - has a stunner here: automatic Swiss movement plus killer black-and-yellow looks.

£915; tissot.ch

Like the dial says, it's accurate to 1/100th of a second. Also has a champagne face, rugged bracelet and ‘big date' display via two visible rotating wheels. Posh and sporty.

£730; victorinox.com

Zodiac says this chronograph is race inspired, with its stainless steel and titanium case, carbon-fibre dial and pushers perforated to look like throttle pedals.

£725; zodiacwatches.com