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