When trekking through the urban jungle, where the cell phone serves as multitasking majordomo, the watch may be a vestigial, if attention-getting, organ. But out in the wild, where reception grows cold, if a glance at the wrist can't tell you the time, it can be cause for alarm. To stave off this predicament, Suunto, the Finnish "wristop computer" manufacturer, taught their Core Steel Steel a few tricks no mobile has yet mastered.

The altimeter tracks elevation up to 30,000 feet—starting from sea level or at any point in your ascent. Meanwhile, a barometer with a weather trend indicator to chart pressure and temperature readings allows you to plan your day on the slopes accordingly. And, should you have been too busy, say, climbing a mountain, the storm alert will determine whether you should be pitching a tent or calling for rescue. But, like an inspired infomercial, Suunto—which got its start with World War II–era military compasses and moonlights in heavy-duty survey equipment for loggers and miners—kept on sweetening the deal. Come quitting time, a compass, either locked on a direction or using an old school rotating bezel, will lead you straight back to base camp. Throw in a sunrise/sunset timekeeper and not even the latest Doppler radar could have prepared you better.

Despite these warning bells and whistles, the Core is wrapped in a smart, impossibly slim high-grade stainless steel case and broad glare-resistant crystal, monochrome face. As Mikko Ahlström, lead designer of the series, puts it, "There's an interesting conflict and contrast between how it looks and what it does." Ahlström spent a year and a half refining the watch as his beta testers, the "hard-core adrenaline men," put it through its many paces. An avid kite-surfer, he got into the extreme act too, vetting its performance in the waves; that altimeter doubles as a depth gauge. Now, after these tireless in-house trials, Ahlström boasts that even the emphatic name, Steel Steel, "leaves no question unanswered."

digg this | add to del.icio.us | add to reddit | add to newsvine

[To discuss this article—or to comment on anything in the magazine or on mensvogue.com—visit the Men's Vogue Forum.]