Who says you have to spend a bunch of money on a watch? … Watch snobs do, that’s who. Okay, fine there’s that crowd, but don’t listen to them. You can enjoy wearing a good looking timepiece on your wrist without paying an arm and a leg.
Just stick with classic styles, keep the flash to a minimum, and your inexpensive time piece won’t look as cheap as the price tag. Feel free to leave your favorite under $100 watch in the comments at the end of the post.
Techne Merlin + Strap Bundle – $80 | Merlin Multi + Strap Bundle – $100
An interesting special from the watch brand Techne. Ships from Switzerland, and their website is a little hard to navigate, but it looks like you can now pick up they’re awfully good looking Merlin or Merlin Multi Function for $100 or under… as long as you choose the strap bundle option. Sure. 38mm in diameter, so, small. Seiko Quartz.
Seiko Solar Black Case Watch – $93.43
Lots of mean for under $100. Impressive specs as well. Solar powered, so no swapping of batteries needed. 41mm so not huge, but not tiny either. 100m water resistance. Hard not to like that subtle geometric texture on the (stationary) bezel. A “murdered out” solar powered Seiko weekend workhorse.
Casio Edifice Stainless Chrono – $79.65
The choice… of reader Ben R. Or, at least one of his choices. As Threads user Margotron put it: “The Poor man’s (very poor)” Omega Speedmaster. Big discussion with lots of pics over here.
form•function•form Button Stud Timex Sport – $94.00
A bit bigger and bolder than the FFF Button Stud Weekender. Four different watch dial/color options, and a TON of different leathers to choose from. The FFF guys just got a bunch of new leather stock in, and the array of shades is a bit mind numbing. You could loose a good chunk of time to mixing and matching combos. Also shown at the top of the page. Review here.
Seiko SNN241 Brown on Brown Chrono – $90.54
One of the best looking brown on brown watches out there. Crystal is Seiko’s own Hardlex, water resistance is 100m, and the diameter is a perfect for plenty 43mm across.
Citizen Eco-Drive Canvas Strap – $87.00
The 37mm kid brother to the 40mm chrono version
The Automatic Seiko SNK Stainless Series – $60 – $70ish
Small in size at 38mm, but comes in enough colors and has been customized by many fellas with different straps (leather, nylon, etc…) Round case but the way the links meet up, it starts to drift into that Oyster territory.
The Automatic Seiko SNK Canvas Strap Series – $50 – $70ish
Can’t leave these out. The Field-Style with a different dial. Same small size as the Stainless, with the crown located at the same 4 o’clock position. Well loved for a reason.
Fossil Decker Chronograph – $69.00 – $100.00
The base dial is the same, but the case + band come in plenty of different options: rubber
Timex “Antiqued” Case 42mm in Black/Silver or Brown/Gold – $45.90 ($70)
A new model that just got marked down as part of the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. 42mm case is a good size for medium to larger sized fellas. Does show up in both the Men’s and Women’s section (so, it’s a unisex model). Just a 30 mm water resistance, but the price is right. Nice design with the interior 24-hr ring as well. Shades of the Shinola Runwell.
What else? Do you swear by the Timex Slip-Thru that helped reignite the cheap-watch fanbase a few years back? What about the Invicta automatic diver
Solid list, Joe. My personal favorite (and my go-to watch everyday) has gotta be the Skagen 331XLS. Affordable, great looking, and extremely thing http://www.amazon.com/Skagen-331XLSL1-Steel-Leather-Multi-Function/dp/B0012ON4Q0/ref=sr_1_3?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1374662677&sr=1-3&keywords=skagen+958xlsl
Great list, Joe. My personal favorite (and my go-to watch) is the Skagen 331XLS1. Affordable, great looking, and extremely thin http://www.amazon.com/Skagen-331XLSL1-Steel-Leather-Multi-Function/dp/B0012ON4Q0/ref=sr_1_3?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1374662677&sr=1-3&keywords=skagen+958xlsl
Big fan of the Invicta 8926 w/ the coin edge bezel.
I picked up the Casio Ediface based on the helpful recommendations of BenR and others in the aforementioned thread, and I’m very happy with it. Great looking watch.
You can sometimes find the Orient Mako on Amazon for under $100. I would personally take that over most of the ones listed here. Not that these are bad, but that Orient is just a step above IMO. Also, it’s an automatic (for those who don’t want to wear quartz).
Invicta 8926
The Invicta 8926 with the coin edge bezel (skip the scalloped bezel – if you see an image of it looking good, it’s probably been manipulated. Oh, and it’s REALLY hard to turn) is probably the clear winner for “value” under $100, particularly as the newest version features a hacking and handwinding seiko movement at a price point way below what seiko offers it at, in a dive watch. That said, it’s aggressively derivative, departs from the Rolex submariner it copies in ways that (I at least) find totally unappealing – it’s bigger, it has “INVICTA” etched onto the side of the case, and it uses faintly green rather than white luminous paint, which for me messes with the black-white-brushed-steel look of the real submariner.
The “FFF” Timex sure looks nice, but why put on a 24 hour bezel? It is completely unusable on that watch. “Function” must not have factored into that one…
Vostok.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.Xvostok&_nkw=vostok&_sacat=0&_from=R40
“Murdered out”? Really?
Lastly, I have the Seiko SNK & while I do like it, I can hear the weight moving when I move my wrist. You would not think this an issue, but it becomes an annoyance & my Vostok auto is completely silent (unless held to my ear) at a similar price point. Similarly, I rarely wear my cheap Timex because of the loud tick.
I have the Invicta 9110A, which is basically the 8926 with a rubber dive band. I replaced the dive band with a navy NATO strap. Love the simple looks and see-through case back.
My biggest complaint is the inaccuracy. Wearing it every day, I’m gaining 2+ minutes a day. By the end of the work week, I’m 10+ minutes ahead and have to reset the time. I’ve never owned a Rolex or other high end automatic watch, but I assume this is out of the ordinary.
Great list, once again, Joe! A number of new ones ( to me at least).
A few “cheapies” in my current rotation are the Invicta 8926A w/scalloped bezel (even though many of my fellow Dapperdites in the threads despise it – it’s cool, we have agreed to disagree… I *think*), the “*Driver*-esque” Skagen 985XLSL, the super-clean Bulova 96B104, a Seiko SSB015 dress-chrono, and a Rotary Chronospeed; each less than $100.
The Skagen, the Bulova and the Rotary are ones which I saw here at Dappered first, Joe, so a continued thanks for all the great cost-conscious tips!
I’ve never understood why the FFF timex is so expensive. You can get the Timex for under $30 on a sale. The stud straps look real good, but not $60 good…
@Adam – 30 seconds off per day is about as inaccurate as you should expect from even the cheapest sortof-reliable movements (and your Invicta has, I think, a relatively reliable miyota movement). 2 minutes off per day is weird – usually when someone posts to a watch forum about that kind of inaccuracy, people suggest that the movement may have become magnetized. The solution in any case is probably to take it to a watchmaker for repair, although in all seriousness, you can probably replace it for the price of an hour of a good watchmaker’s time…
Ahhh. Thanks for this.
That Citizen ecodrive canvass strap watch is great – it has a great minimalist military look. It’s the watch I wear 99 percent of the time, and I get complements on it all the time. Be prepared to swap out the strap for a NATO strap – the canvas strap that it comes with is kind of stiff and uncomfortable, and not that attractive. It keeps impeccable time and the battery never needs replacing.
That fossil decker was my first ever watch in the style game. Ah memories.
Not a fane of the Invicta on the side of the case- it seems to be a love or hate preference.
I love my (modified) black face Casio but the blue face is an excellent, and closer, version of the poor man Omega Speedmaster. The blue faced Omega and blue faced Casio both have a white on black dial.
Parnis Marina Militarie is an excellent choice for a great looking watch that’s minimalist, different, affordable and classy. It’s big at 44-47mm and has a chinese movement but can be had for less than a $100. Some are put off that it looks too much like a Panerai but it is its own thing just like the Invicta/Rolex submariner. Downside is there are alot of Parnis out there and only a few reliable places to order. I ordered mine from the one listed below (due to recommendations from other forums) but there are a three or four others out there that are highly recommended. They all appear to be solid companies that stand behind their product. Once you log in to the one listed below, the prices drop. I (and other forums) suggest staying away from the Ebay places for this type of watch.
http://www.dajiwatch.com
Love the Seiko and Citizens on the list. All great. This is my current fave – Bulova minimal dress watch but looks pricey. Non watch snobs(most people) think Bulova is a real luxury brand – it’s a bit over a hundred now but the price fluctuates on Amazon all the time and I’ve seen it as low as $80 – I scored mine for $90.
http://www.amazon.com/Bulova-96B104-Strap-Silver-Watch/dp/B002IDTUHG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374681247&sr=8-1&keywords=bulova
I don’t love it, but I also don’t really notice it when I’m wearing it.
Great suggestion. I like the Parnis PVD (http://www.dajiwatch.com/productshow1296.html).
It’s a fabulous simplistic, sleek dress watch. I have one too and I love it! I’ve often thought about snagging the white/cream face – rose gold/SS – brown strap one too (if I have those details correct). I include it in my < $100 list, as I know it was that low when I got mine from JCP. I *did* use a coupon, and I think there was already a % off on jewelry at the time, so it ended up in the mid-$90s ($96 is ringing a bell).
Personally, I prefer the scalloped-edge, but I also think the coin-edge looks great too. IMO, the SE just gives it a tiny touch of variance from the *clone* (vs homage) tag it wears. That’s supposedly more of an Omega bezel with the scalloped thing, right? Dunno.
I do agree that it can be a little tricky to rotate the bezel, especially if you have a little sunscreen leftover on your fingers. Doh!
Anyway, below is a pic of mine, which has not been “manipulated.”
And the pic submitted earlier by Adam, of his 9110A, look pretty sweet to my eyes.
All personal opinion, of course. To each his own.
I really like the look of that Seiko brown-on-brown chrono. If only I needed another dark-faced watch.
Obviously, my scalloped-edge-invictas-are-bad views are totally subjective (especially the aesthetic parts). And I agree that your watch looks much like mine / your image isn’t what I’d call misleading.
Does your bezel turn well, even when slightly wet? My scalloped Invicta bezels never have.
If you want to go automatic, the Orient Ray is a great option, and you can get one for under $120 pretty easily. It’s a sub knock-off, and looks especially good in navy. The lume is killer and the applied indices are a nice touch.
It usually seems to turn easy enough for me, unless like I said, I recently applied sunscreen or something. Every once in a while it can be tough to get started. I’m sure the coin edge would be MUCH easier for the bezel rotating functionality as a whole.
That being said, I don’t actually *dive* or anything, but I often wear the 8926 while swimming in our pool. I’ve had mixed results with the bezel rotation ease, whilst dorking around, setting some exercise time limits for laps, etc. Nothing major, but I could see if I really *needed* the functionality, like in a deep dive or something, it could be a concern.
Again, I like them both very much. The CE is to me a much more classic iconic look, but sometimes I go for the “jussssst a little different” take. Each. Own. All. Good.
I was about to comment about my surprise that this (https://dappered.com/2011/07/the-high-class-low-cost-watch/) wasn’t on the list, but apparently it’s sold out on Amazon now. Not sure about elsewhere. Anyway, I quite like mine. The face is a bit scratched up, so I kinda wish there was a sapphire crystal option, but I don’t think you’ll find many sub $100 watches with sapphire, so I guess it is what it is.
That’s a really great looking watch for the sub-$100 range! I think I may pick one up myself. Could you possibly link the relevant threads (if you saved them)?
That link just brings up a page full of what appear to be Chinese characters…
Invictas look better.
I feel like the Orient Capital should get a mention in here! Can be had for $99 brand new.
As someone that
hatesdoesn’t like date boxes on my watches, those two from Techne look great.How on earth does one actually order from the Techne website?!
I got my Skagen 958 for under $100 on Ebay and it’s never ceased to be my favorite watch. On the pretty darn cheap casual end, I am really enjoying the Timex Expedition I just picked up and swapped onto a olive canvas strap. I know it’s not an exciting pick, but it was $40 and I can put all kinds of straps on it and it looks great. Hoping to get a FFF watch band to add to that rotation.
Here’s a pic of that Timex I just mentioned below as “Guest”.
I’m wearing the canvas Seiko today. Great watch with two caveats. The lume is pretty weak, but that is par for the course on cheap watches. The other mild gripe is the minute numbers. You don’t really need them and they are bigger than the hour numbers. It just confuses me on occasion. I guess that is probably not something I should say out loud
And where are these prices coming from?
I will happily shill for the Casio EF503D/EF503SG. It’s simultaneously one of the best specced and most stylistically versatile watches you can find for ~$75, and comes in at least 6 color variations. All steel, screw-down caseback, solid bracelet and end-links, 100m water resistance, Japanese quartz chronograph movement, “just right” 41.5mm case size. Those who prefer the smooth sweep of an automatic second hand should also be happy that the timekeeping second hand is in the 6 o’clock subdial, so the characteristic quartz tick is much less pronounced.
He says murder, he says?
http://youtu.be/ClGNm89GZBE
I bought a Chinese automatic watch for $17.50 shipped, and I am amazed at how good it looks. Here’s the picture an the eBay listing. The band is of entirely indifferent quality, but the movement seems robust and it’s definitely a looker. It’s my first automatic watch and I have to say, I love wearing something REAL on my wrist. No circuits, no electricity, powered by the kinetic energy of my body or manual winding. That’s old school. And when old school costs $17.50, I say go for it! Be warned the watch is quite thick, although it does not look clunky on my slim wrist, perhaps because the face is so elegant. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mens-Wrist-Watch-Self-winding-AUTO-Automatic-Mechanical-Date-Day-Chrono-Leather/390631302353?rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D163%26meid%3D85536798442640278%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D1088%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D350841200403%26
It’s a Timex Weekender and can be had for about $30 from Amazon. They come with a nylon strap which is neither ZULU nor NATO.
Selling watch straps is a pretty profitable endeavour if you can sell enough of them. Especially something as simple as the FFF strap that requires no stitching. A square foot of Horween leather does not cost that much and is easily covered by selling two or three of those straps, accounting for the hardware. Honestly, anyone can make their own, if they have use for the rest of the leather and can be bothered putting in the time and effort.
The parenthesis seems to have attached itself to the link in Chris’ post.
http://www.dajiwatch.com/productshow1296.html
I was thinking about getting one of these last year but was scared off by quality control concerns! That plus I was afraid it would be too big for my wrist. It reminds me of some of the Longines watches of old though! Looks fantastic!
Love my blue Ray!
That one keeps jumping in and out of my amazon cart
on sites like dealextreme you can get all kinds of really cheap stuff straight from China, Ive thought about getting some cheap lookalikes
I love the price but not the dial – if only they came with something like the canvas Citizen with the hours emphasized
I dont think it goes below $100 but I think the Ray looks better
anyone know what happened to the Skagen blue dial that Joe featured last year? that thing was a beauty
I absolutely had those concerns, and there are some horror stories. I can only add my testimony that the watch is not enormous although it does grab the attention, and the movement seems completely solid.
Looks nice. I personally go with the 958XLSL.
http://www.amazon.com/Skagen-958XLSL-Steel-Matte-Silver/dp/B004RD4DWC
Do you have the 985XLSL (matte silver/grey face, brown strap)? Or another variation? I have the silver/brown one and really like it. Nothing *flashy*, but that’s kinda the point with it, IMO. Great watch!
I actually own that one too! I can’t remember where I purchased it but I got it for just over $100 at the time.
I lucked out and got it on Amazon for around $70.
Any idea where to get Horween leather by the square foot? I’ve seen people selling scraps on ebay, etc, but the colors are limited.
FFF doesn’t make the actual watch, just the bands to go with them. The case is a Timex.
Nope. The weekender is another product; the aptly named “button-stud weekender.” This is the “button-stud sport” (‘sport’ being what Timex calls it on their site; it’s an Ameritus elsewhere, though I have no idea where that name came from).
Let me know where you can get that timex for under 30. I’d like to pick up a few.
ok so its in the $40s. and the little brother weekender is around $30. Still not seeing where the $50 is in the stud strap. I like it, don’t get me wrong, but I could probably make 5-10 in different colors that would come close to the look of the FFF version for the same price. Y’all have to be making a killing on those! Kudos for being business savvy shawn
Okay guys. Let’s not get into it too badly here.
Thing is CHoov, it’s always “I could do that” until you actually do it. And then when you do it? It’s a lot harder than you think it is. I don’t make watch straps, but as someone who’s in business for himself, there’s a lot of hidden cost that goes into making something. And that hidden cost is usually time, energy, effort, etc. So, try not to think it’s so easy until you do it. Especially on a large scale.
It’s slightly disrespectful to tell someone who’s doing something that what they’re doing is easy, when you’re not doing it. I know you don’t mean it to sound that way, but… y’know what I’m saying?
As a huge Life Aquatic w/Steve Zissou fan, I have wanted a Vostok for a while. I just can’t seem to get past the quality issues I keep hearing about. Doesn’t really keep time that well, questionable water proofness and overall iffy finishing.
Where are you hearing about them? I read on WUS for a long time before purchasing & the negative comments were far outweighed by positive. I don’t time mine but I set it against an atomic clock & check it once or twice a week if I wear it frequently & it’s never more than a minute off. Never had it in the ocean but haven’t had any water ingress from swimming pools. Regarding the finishing…mine arrived with a black speck inside the crystal. I thought the crystal was damaged & through communication with the seller (Zenitar, highly recommended), he recommended taking it to a watch shop to wipe out the crystal. I ended up doing it myself (1st time opening a case to do anything other than battery replacement) & it was merely a fleck of some kind that wiped right out. So, if you take it for a quirky, Russian bargain, it’s hard to be disappointed. Or perhaps I was lucky…
If you have wanted a Vostok for a while, you have probably already read this, but in case not;
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f54/vostok-amphibia-analysis-design-methodology-491757.html
Here is mine. I swap that band out with the stock bracelet as the mood suits me. Quite happy with it, but the acrylic domed crystal does get marred easily. So far toothpaste & a cotton ball has removed any marks.
[IMG]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f148/metatron79/Watches/IMG_0084.jpg[/IMG]
I have the Timex Weekender in black for my day to day and a classic Swiss Army watch I received as a present for fancier events. I’m thinking of upgrading to a Seiko kinetic watch sometime in the near future.
I’m wearing the Citizen Eco-Drive right now. Great watch.
Fossils are a great value when it comes to style for the price.
Thats an awesome looking watch. I am currently watch hunting and I think i found the one i want now, afforadable also, thanks!
Komandirskie by Vostok. Screw down crown, thick innovative crystal that never leaks, anti-magnetic, many styles, and great movements that were taken from the Swiss years ago.
I don’t know where you’re hearing that BS, but they’re wrong. The test of time proves it. I have many and not one has gone bad, over decades.
This is a great list, I like a lot of the watches due to the fabric or
leather straps. For some odd reason I have never really cared for all
metal watches. One of my favorite watches that I have ever owned has
been an Armitron watch with a two-tone face and leather croc strap you
can view it at:
http://www.armitron.com/Department/mens-leather-strap-watches#page=1.