While Christmas, anniversaries and university graduations have often been optimal times to give a watch, we’d like to suggest the haze of mid-May. The evenings are getting longer, which means that, post quitting time, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact hour. The evenings are getting warmer too, and the sun can make us so lazy that digging into a bag to check the time on our phones can seem unnecessarily difficult.

A chronograph will always exemplify timeless style – unless it has a novelty Spongebob Squarepants strap. However, one can’t deny the retro allure of a digital watch, especially if it’s a classic Casio (in gold, left). Otherwise,

Irish-made Push watches (right) donate 10 per cent of profits to the Irish Cancer Society; Issey Miyake’s Vue (bottom) sleekly tells analogue time in a digital way; and the award- winning Qlocktwo (top) might be pricey, but it’s a standout in a sea of identical faces.