View the Seiko Sportura SNJ005 photo gallery.

With its impressive world time functions, the SNJ005 is the Sportura for the world traveler. It stands out among its three brothers because it is the only Sportura that is digital as well as analog. It manages to retain its family resemblance, however, thanks to the inverted LCD (white on black rather than black on white) which blends in almost perfectly with the rest of the face and gives it the same jet-black dial as the other Sporturas. And like the rest of the line, the SNJ005 is all stainless steel with a sapphire crystal, screwdown caseback, and double locking clasp.

Features of the Seiko SNJ005 include:

• World time. Quickly and easily check the time and date in 28 different cities.
• Time transfer function. (See below for an explanation.)
• World time alarm. (More on this feature below.)
• Automatic calendar (up to the year 2050).
• Stopwatch with a resolution of 1/1,000th of a second (no, that's not a typo!). The maximum time is 100 hours.
• Water-resistant to 100 meters, or about 330 feet.

I was in New York for a conference last week, and I ran into a girl wearing a big, dorky (in a cool way), very intriguing watch which turned out to be a Seiko AirPro. I'd never seen one before, and when she told me she'd bought it in Japan, my first thought was that it was a GSM mobile phone watch that had somehow slipped passed my Japanese wrist technology radar. But instead of being a speaker or a microphone, the big contraption below the face is actually a pump which can be used to inflate a small chamber under the case to make the watch fit snuggly against your wrist, kind of like the old Nike and Reebok basketball shoes. I'm not exactly sure why it's useful (the girl wearing it was a designer, and I think she was more attracted to its unique looks than its functionality), but I suppose if you were running, or playing tennis, or otherwise engaged in the type of activity that would send your watch bouncing up and down your arm, it might be nice to cinch it down by pumping a little air into it.

I can't explain why, but for some reason, I liked the watch enough to do a bit of research. I don't know if Seiko is still making the AirPro, but I do know for a fact you won't find one at your local authorized Seiko retailer. I found references to the Seiko AirPro as early at August of 1999, so we're definitely talking vintage technology here. I even found references to a version which actually spoke the time which I'm sure wouldn't get old for your co-workers and cube-mates at all.

I've been waiting for this watch. I'm a big fan of the Casio Pro Trek line, especially since they went solar, and even more so now that they've gone atomic. That's right: an atomic solar Casio Pro Trek. That makes for quite a list of features:

• Atomic timekeeping. That means this watch is automatically calibrated through radio waves transmitted by an atomic clock.
• Solar powered. Solar cells around the face keep the watch's battery charged, and a sophisticated power-saving function will keep the watch going for up to 20 months with no light. (It seems every time I write an article about a solar Casio, that number gets higher.)
• Thermometer. The temperature range is from -10° to 60° Celsius.
• Compass. Direction is indicated by a second LCD that hovers above the main one. Very cool effect. The Casio Pro Trek supports magnetic declination correction for true north as opposed to just magnetic north. (See my review of the Tissot T-Touch for more information on magnetic declination.)
• Barometer. Atmospheric pressure can be measured in the range of 260 to 1100 hPa (hectoPascals). Barometric trends over the last 30 hours can be displayed as a graph.
• Altimeter. The altimeters on Casio Pro Treks are barometric altimeters which means they work, but you have to know how to use them. See my review of the Tissot T-Touch for more information.
• World time. Keep track of a second time zone (30 cities supported).
• Stopwatch with a resolution of 1/100th of a second.
• Auto-repeating countdown timer. After time and date, the most useful function a digital watch can have.
• 5 daily alarms, and an hourly time signal.
• Battery power indicator.
• Signal strength indicator (for the atomic function).
• Electroluminescent backlight.
• Available with a resin case and strap, or in all titanium.

I've always liked the look of the Tissot Seastar diver, and I like this new model even more with the addition of a chronograph. There's not a lot of information available on the new Tissot Seastar Chronograph, but here's what I've been able to dig up so far:

• Stainless steel case and bracelet.
• Water-resistant to 200 meters, or about 650 feet (with pushers screwed down).
• Sapphire crystal.
• 3-subdial chronograph.
• Screwdown caseback and pushers.
• Quartz movement with 38-month battery.
• Date.
• Available in silver (pictured), blue, or black dials.

The Seastar's sapphire crystal is domed which apparently magnifies the tiny numbers on the subdials. No word on pricing, but it shouldn't go for more than a few hundred. You can find more information on the Tissot Seastar Chronograph product page, or by checking out the user manual.

Casio accomplishes another first with the Oceanus. There's nothing new about combining atomic time calibration with solar power, but I don't think I've ever seen a solar-powered atomic chronograph. The Oceanus is a very functional and sophisticated watch in a rugged but attractive package. Features include:

• Solar powered.
• Atomic time calibration.
• Chronograph with a resolution of 1/20th of a second.
• Stopwatch with a resolution of 1/100th of a second.
• 5 daily alarms.
• Dual time (monitor the time in a second time zone).
• LED "auto light". (The LEDs can be configured to illuminate automatically when the watch is tilted toward your face.)
• Titanium or stainless steel case.
• Choice of titanium or stainless steel bracelet, or genuine leather strap.
• Sapphire crystal.
• Tachymeter.
• Automatic calendar.
• Water resistant to 100 meters, or about 330 feet.