Nowadays more people are not only eating more healthily they are taking up sporting activities as a way of keeping fit. As a means of keeping your health in check a wise investment would be a heart monitor watch.

This portable monitor can be worn around the wrist as a convenient means to keep an eye on your heart and pulse rate. This timepiece allows you to maximise your work out at your own pace.

Seiko watches have specially designed a monitor which is strapless and is attached to the chest. A portable transmitter sends the results to a wrist watch. Crucial measurements can then be checked and analysed by the doctor if necessary.
 

Breil watches are undeniably Italian. These classic timepieces are stylish and modern and renowned for being chunky and quirky.

One of the most popular gents’ watches is the Briel Mediterrano range of sophisticated wristwatches. With a nautical look Mediterraneo wristwatches are designed using sapeli wood, carbon and steel materials. Theses distinctive watches are available in a range of bright and muted hues.

One of the most popular Breil ladies watches is also the Medditerano range. Offering a leather and stainless steel straps, luminous hands and quartz chronograph this sort after watch is elegant and stylish.

If you take your sports seriously a sports watch is an invaluable means of keeping track of your performance. From cycling, hiking, skiing and diving there is a watch available to suit any sporting activity.

The features on a sports watch are quite precise, offering options such as, heart monitors, memory, speed, pace and a timer. Some advanced sports watches offer the navigational feature of GPS, allowing you to plot courses and navigate you position.

Seiko watches offer an excellent range of dive watches to suit all the needs of a diver. Seiko Automatic Dive watches, Seiko Gents Kinetic Diver and Seiko Scuba watches are popular choices offering an array of special features.
 

Some watch wearers who are left handed prefer to wear their watch on their right wrist. Many watch makers over the years have produced special left handed watched making it easy for the selected few to tell the time.

Only about 10-15% of the country is left handed. There are now many left handed products available to cater for this niche market. Watches and clocks over the years have always been a challenge for lefties. Many companies from Tag Heuer to Breil watches have introduced watches with controls on the right and in some cases a backwards face as some left-handers find it easier to read the time that way. The first left handed watch was introduced by Omega as early as 1902-12 for both men and women.

There are many famous sportsmen who have had special sports watches made for them. In particular Tag Heuer produced a very light 55g watch for Tiger Woods with a winding crown on the right. Most watch makers also produce special diver’s watches for lefthanders. Perhaps the most famous watch lover in the world is leftie  President Obama who proudly displays his array of watches on his right wrist.

Gold watches have a timeless appeal. The entire major watch manufacturers have a line of gold or gold plated watches. From Seiko watches through to Rolex, beautiful gold timepieces still remain the ultimate status symbol.

With the current increase in the price of gold, gold watches have risen in value by 15% since the beginning of the year. Not only are they seen as fashion accessories but as having valuable investment potential. A recent auction at Christies saw a gold Patek Phillipe watch reach a record price of £3.8 million.

Gold watches are having a revival at present with watches such as Rolex Submarines and Daytona’s becoming very fashionable. As Jean Christophe Babin of Tag Heuer points out that “ It is not that white metal watches have lost their popularity, but just that the full yellow gold bracelet has gained respect and social acceptance”.

The earliest time keeping device that can be accounted for is the use of the sun and moon to work out seasons, dates and time. Stone circles, such as Stonehenge, predicted time by using equinoxes and solstices as a guide.

The Egyptians used shadow clocks to predict times, the most common being sundials. The Chinese favoured the use of water clocks and candle clocks to keep track of time. As technology has advanced over the years mechanical clocks were designed and developed eventually moving from being a specialised craft to mass produced.

Demand for portable timekeeping brought about the development of pocket and wristwatches. Nowadays watches are big business, being worn not just for timekeeping but also as a status symbol. Manufacturers such as Breil Watches and Seiko constantly update their technology to create contemporary designs and up to the minute timepieces.

Medical watches are important pieces of equipment for individuals who need to take medication at certain intervals. They can be a lifesaver for many.

Easy to follow medical watches are popular among the elderly and children alike as they are simple to understand. For the hard of hearing watches that vibrate make it easy for patients to be alerted. Medical watches are also important for they can store vital information such as the wearer’s medical condition, blood group and emergency contact numbers.

Watches play an important role in everyday life. Not only do they inform the wearer the time of day but the watch that you where is also seen as a reflection of your personality. With so many watches on the market from Breil through to Seiko Watches the choices are numerous.

Since the invention of watches and clocks, telling the time in the dark has always been a challenge. Historically mechanical clocks made a chime on the hour and the on the half hour but clocks of this kind were out of reach for the poor.

Sundials were popular during the day and at night special candles depicted the time as they slowly burned. As time went on luminosity of the dials was developed to enable the watch dial to glow in the dark. Initially radium was used but it was deemed to be unsafe as it is radioactive so it was replaced with titanium. Eventually the use of a small bulb was used to lighten up the dial in the dark.

Watches have become indispensable in today’s modern world. Knowing the time, day or night has somehow become essential. Many watches from Seiko through to Breil Watches have illuminated dials in their watch collections allowing the wearer to always be aware of the time.