The smartwatch revolution has taken the world by storm led by the Apple Watch, changing our expectations of what a watch should be able to do. With its powerful health and fitness features, its seamless integration with the iPhone, instant notifications and more, once you?ve gotten used to wearing an Apple Watch, it can be difficult to return to a traditional watch.

While it is undoubtedly a great day-to-day watch, when special occasions arise, like a wedding or other dressier outing, what options do you have to dress up your watch if you're sporting an Apple Watch Nike edition, or one of the other less formal looking models?

The Band Swap

The most obvious approach is to take advantage of the ability to swap watch bands out, removing the sporty fluoroelastomer-based bands many models come with and replacing it with an attractive leather band, instantly making the watch look classier.

Swapping watch bands on the Apple Watch is quick and easy.

Apple offers several options directly through their stores, such as the classy-but-pricey Hermes watch band, but many options beyond those offered by the Apple Store are out there.

The Apple Watch Hermes model, sporting one of the available Hermes bands.

Well known brands like Shinola and Coach offer a selection of options that fit the Apple Watch, though they tend to fall on the expensive end of the spectrum as well.

Beyond these brands, the Apple Watch has spawned a sub-industry of band makers offering their own takes on watch bands, ranging from companies like accessory maker Nomad, who offer nice looking leather options at reasonable pricing, to a litany of low cost options available through Amazon (though it?s very difficult to discern the quality of these low priced options; always remember that you usually get what you pay for).

Even with all the options available, depending on the model you have, it?s not always easy to find a matching watch band. Anyone with a rose gold case, and to a lesser extent the Space Grey or Black cases, knows the challenges of trying to match some of the more formal looking bands to these particular cases, as most seem designed with the silver case in mind.

And sometimes, even when you find a great watch band, you may find that it?s difficult to get the most out of it, depending on your watch model. For example, the Hermes watch bands can technically fit other models but one can?t help but want the watch face that complements the band to complete the look; however, those unique watch faces are only available if you buy the Apple Watch Hermes model (buying the watch band separately doesn?t unlock the watch face). Which brings us to watch faces ?

The Watch Face

Maybe you've found the perfect strap to dress up your watch. The next step is to match a watch face to complete classing up the look of your watch.

While this one is usually considerably easier, as the Apple Watch offers a number of options out-of-the-box that provide a subtle and classy look, you may not always be able to use the one you really want. As previously noted, some watch faces are reserved exclusively for certain models. For instance, the Hermes watch faces are only available to the Apple Watch Hermes model, whereas the Apple Watch Nike model contains a series of exclusive, Nike-inspired watch faces.

This watch face is only available to owners of the Apple Watch Hermes model.

If You Can?t Find a Winning Combination ...

If you're discovering that you can?t quite find a winning combination to dress up your Apple Watch in the way you like, perhaps it?s time to invest in a complementary traditional timepiece.

Here are a few tips on what to look for in a traditional timepiece to fill in for your Apple Watch on dressier occasions.

The (Re)-Rise of the Analog Watch

If you've ruled out the Apple Watch for a formal occasion, where to begin in your quest for a complementary analog timepiece? You will find a huge selection of brands and options, but the idea isn?t neccesarily to find the perfect watch, because you?ve already decided that you?ll often be wearing your Apple Watch, but to find a watch that matches the majority of your formal attire. With that goal in mind, we?d suggest that you worry less about the complications, like the chronograph and moon phases, and more about the hardware itself, which we?ll discuss next.

The Movement

Movement refers to what makes your watch run. Your Apple Watch is powered by a rechargeable battery, but traditional analog watches do not work this way.

The lowest priced option on the market are quartz watches. This type of watch keeps precise time and there are plenty of styles to choose from. The major downside with this sort of watch is that it is powered by a disposable battery. Thus, if you are only wearing it for special occasions, there is a good chance that the battery may be dead whenever you actually need to wear it.

If changing batteries sounds unappealing, the other option is the automatic watch. This type of mechanical watch typically dominates the premium market and are usually timepieces you would feel good showing off with your suit or your tuxedo. Automatic watches do not require any batteries and if unworn for long periods of time, require being reset with each wear.

Luxury brands like Rolex offer automatic mechanical watches, but you can also find more affordable options as well selling this type of watch movement.

You may also come across manual mechanical watches that need to be hand-wound. This type of mechanical watch isn?t as common as the other options these days.

Regardless of your pick, you should factor in the pros and cons of the watch movement into your decision making process.

The Style

There are two primary styles to focus on - the dress watch and the dive watch.

A dress watch services your need for a dressier watch alternative to the Apple Watch. Dress watches are about simplicity and sophistication and are often paired with a leather strap.

A dive watch, which are theoretically made for diving as the name suggests, was made famous by the James Bond movies. And let?s be honest - if it?s good enough for 007 himself then surely it?s good enough for your formal functions too!

Both watch styles will satisfy your need for something that works with more formal attire. Which style you choose comes down to your personal preference. You can be confident that whichever one you go with will work for your needs.

The Case

Most watches will be 34-44 millimeters in diameter. By trying on a few, you should quickly be able to get a sense of what is right for your wrist size. Once you?ve found the right size, focus on options exclusively in that size.

When it comes to case colour, the primary options are silver, gold, and chrome. For a dressier look, prefer watch faces that are black, white/ivory or possibly navy.

Finally, keep in mind that the thickness of the case is very important. A watch that is 10mm will be better suited under a shirt cuff versus a thicker watch, which may not fit well under the cuff.

Make sure you are comfortable with the fit of your watch and that it works with your formal clothing.

The Strap

If you choose a dress watch, the strap colour should match what you wear most. If you wear mostly blue, you can opt for brown leather straps. If you wear mostly black and grey, opt to get a black strap. The colour of leather watch strap should ideally match the colour of your shoes.

If you choose a dive watch to wear with your formal attire, you can?t go wrong choosing silver. You can be confident this colour will work with whatever formal attire you are wearing.

Whatever you watch you choose, be sure that it?s timeless enough that you can see yourself wearing it for many years, and rely on it to look great for all of your more formal events.