Best watches for Christmas 2012

Time. It's the ravager of all things weak and powerful, gargantuan and small. And yet, we like to keep track of it. Here's our hand-picked selection of second-keeping wrist huggers to help keep you on your toes this Christmas.

Nite Hawk

£275 nitewatches.co.uk
Tipping the scales at a featherweight 64g thanks to its carbon fibre polycarbonate casing, the Nite Hawk is ideal for super-secret commandos and ninjas alike. Doubly so, as its GTLS (gaseous tritium light source, don't you know) offers extreme visibility come day or night. Throw in scratch resistant mineral glass and water resistance to 20 ATM and you have yourself a watch that'll last longer in the wild than your fleshy body ever will.

Oakley Elite Full Metal Jacket

£4,550 slanecycles.com
We're pretty sure that if we were caught in a nuclear blast, there would just be a smattering of ashes and this unscathed Oakley watch left. Forged from solid titanium and sapphire crystal glass, this wrist-dominating behemoth's weight will be a constant reminder of the burden of time. The limp-wristed among you can even transport the watch face into a pocket watch case for an extra dash of rugged class.

Nixon The Ride SS Chronograph

£470 watchshop.com
Simple, understated and manly. But enough about us. This Nixon watch's simple design and stainless steel construction should match even the most diverse of wardrobe innards while offering water resistance up to 100m.

Tokyo Flash Kisai Polygon

US$100 tokyoflash.com
They say you can tell a lot about a man from his watch. By that logic, anyone seen wearing this latest offering from Tokyo Flash must really love angles. But we digress. A combination of triangles, hexagons and a central number represent hours and minutes. Check out the times above and see if you can decipher the code.

Police Vintage Orange Stripe Black Dial

£80 hsamuel.co.uk
This brightly coloured Police offering serves up a more rectangular flavoured timepiece with a tiger-pleasing colour scheme. Or if that's a little too bright for you, you can pick up its more conservatively hued black and white brothers for a tenner less. Funk, it seems, has a premium.

Check out our 2012 Christmas Gift Guides

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