Forget, for a moment, that your phone can dance between time zones before you’ve even popped your chronometer’s crown. Forget the horrors of airport security manhandling your expensive cogs and gears. Because when you strap on a watch that’s designed to travel, you’re embracing the idea your journey could end somewhere your phone won’t. And that’s a complication worth investing in. The bounds of horology have always crumbled beneath the adventurer’s boot. Whether beneath the waves or towards the stars, they’ve demanded watches ready for rigour and, each time, Switzerland’s finest provide. Which is why, even if it’s only an overnighter to Frankfurt, slipping on a timepiece that could go to the ends of the earth at least entertains the romance of something more.

Citizen Promaster Navihawk GPS

Your smartphone outperforms your watch in most facets of timekeeping. At least, it does when you’ve got a signal. And battery. But Citizen’s Promaster beats your iPhone on a diet of sunshine. Satellites guide its hands, revealing the time in any of 40 time zones – or 27 global cities – in just three seconds. It’s powered by daylight and boasts a 1/20 chronograph for timing flights, a perpetual calendar so you arrive on the right day, and it’s waterproof to 100atm, should you need to swim the final leg of your journey. So you’re covered for around-the-world travel, and end-of-the-world survival. Available from John Lewis, priced £995 on a bracelet.

Tudor Heritage Advisor

Tudor is a brand with exploration heritage. It joined the British North Greenland Expedition on its 1953 Arctic mission and, last year, hooked up with James Bowthorpe on his 650-mile, midwinter trek down the Hudson River. So you know it builds its watches hardy. The Heritage Advisor is a modern spin on a 1957 original, Tudor’s first to incorporate an alarm function. That complication returns, to help keep you on your travel schedule. But this year’s version also features Tudor’s excellent new in-house movement – so you know it won’t stop ticking if you do veer from your itinerary. Available from Chronext, priced £3,550.