Steel In The Game: How Luxury Sports Watches Are Pushing The Envelope

"The 1972 stainless-steel Royal Oak created an entirely new category The luxury sports watch, which is thriving today and stronger than ever before," he says Over the years, numerous competing integrated-bracelet watches have been launched, offering an array of alternatives for those lacking either the patience, funds or inclination to purchase a Nautilus or Royal Oak.

The past 12 months have been especially action packed, with myriad new models introduced in the integrated-bracelet, luxury sports watch category The first serial-production steel watch from Germany's A Lange & Söhne, whose timepieces are generally of a more formal nature, the Odysseus was created to allow Lange aficionados to sport their favourite marque while at play Bringing things full circle, Bulgari's new Octo Finissimo Automatic Satin-polished Steel is the descendant of a watch designed by Gérald Genta and first issued via his eponymous manufacture, which was acquired and absorbed by Bulgari.

Its steel finishes, following the conventions of the most popular watches in the segment, make this "a watch that can attract the devotees of the luxury integrated-bracelet steel sports watch genre." With this fresh Finissimo priced favourably compared to its legacy Genta-designed brethren, competition in the luxury steel sports watch category just got a lot hotter. . Source