You wouldn't buy a luxury sports car without considering the options carefully: classic or modern styling? Traditional or contemporary functionality? Though perhaps not as big of an investment, a luxury sports watch requires the same sort of thought.

There are many different factors that play into finding the right match for you. Knowing which one to buy is largely defined by budget and need.

We've broken down all you need to know about the different types of sports watches available in each camp, helping you to decide which luxury sports watch you should buy.

Traditional: Chronograph watches

Along with the main timekeeping display, a chronograph watch can be used as a stopwatch. Some feature an additional second hand that can act as a stopwatch, while other chronograph watches have a number of small faces on the main dial, allowing users to accurately track seconds, milliseconds, and so on.

In a world before smart devices, chronograph watches were the best alternative to a traditional stopwatch for those who wanted portable time tracking functionality. To this day, chronographs are a popular type of sports watch, particularly in the luxury market, as they successfully balance accuracy with style.

The Emporio Armani chronograph showcases sleek functionality with a traditional look. A great entry-level luxury piece, it provides three types of sub-timing balanced with a classic masculine style.

At the higher end of the luxury market is the Tissot PRS 516 chronograph watch. Built with automatic functionality, its mechanical movement offers an extra sense of luxury: it operates without batteries, relying on the movement of your wrist to wind the mainspring.

This Tissot watch features a range of elements that allow wearers to accurately monitor their time and performance. A leather strap makes it slightly more suitable for physical activity, though this watch is still equally about style as actual sporting practice.

Chronograph watches are known for their stopwatch ability, but the central focus is style above anything else. These luxury watches are built to a high standard, insuring incredible accuracy and quality that will last.

Modern: Fitness watches

New smart fitness watches are a world away from traditional luxury sports watches. Created to serve almost in place of a personal trainer, fitness watches are designed to monitor, track and provide feedback on different types of physical activity. The more luxurious the watch, the more activities and specialist feedback they can typically provide.

Suunto is one of the leading fitness watch brands, with a range of smart watches that feature GPS, heart rate monitoring, touch screen capabilities, water resistance, ultra-low and ultra-high temperature resistance, and long battery life.

The brand describes the Suunto Spartan Ultra as "your ultimate training partner" and it showcases the best of Suunto's smart watch capabilities, including GPS with a compass and barometric altitude. This kind of expertise doesn't come cheap, making this fitness watch one of the most exclusive on the luxury watch market.

The range of Casio G-Shock sports watches showcase a traditional watch face surrounded by a whole host of sports-centric functionality. Bulky and masculine in design, these watches are known for their resistant and hardwearing quality, and for being willing to accompany you on any fitness venture.

Casio has clearly taken note of the smart watch market and has begun to introduce technology to the G-Shock range. The Casio G-Shock Premium Mudmaster offers ‘smart access', which allows you to access and switch between the watch's key functions quickly, alongside more traditional features found in the movement and radio control time calibrations.

There's also technology here there's certainly smart, even if it's not a touch screen: ‘tough solar' uses the sun's energy to keep the watch working in all conditions, even when using high-power functions. All of this is finished with gold ion elements across the buttons, buckle, bezel, and so on, adding a true luxury feel.

Buying a luxury sports watch takes a bit of thought and consideration. Once you've decided on the look and functionality that suits your needs, you'll be ready to choose a timepiece that showcases your style.