The SevenFriday P-Series proves that point perfectly, as its unique dial and large, lugless case design dress up a no-frills Japanese mechanical movement like we have hardly seen before. To say that it has spiced up the low-to-mid range segment of watches would be an understatement: SevenFriday brought to a much wider audience design elements and aesthetics previously exclusive to high-end, luxury watches.

What SevenFriday has achieved within just a couple of years was to create a virtually brand new market for more unusual, “designer” watches priced around or below $1,000. With a Miyota 9015 automatic movement inside, the Tempest Viking Diver is priced between $740 and $870, depending on the case and dial color combination. Its case, bezel, and crystal look and feel as solid as just about any dive watch manufactured today, while their design proves that no components are off-the-shelf, but rather crafted to meet the requirements and taste of the brand’s founder. The Tempest Viking Diver features 2000 meters of (excessive) water resistance, thanks to a heavy-duty package that is complete with unique design elements. Tempest is one of those modern indie watch brands who merge the vision, ideas, and taste of their founder with exceptional build quality. Price for this complete package of unique design and wearability goes from $1,430 to $1,960 with a carbon case. The special lug structure and case back design, paired with excellent strap materials, renders the Dietrich wearing experience almost like no other. Despite its blacked-out design it offers exceptional legibility, made visually more interesting by a few splashes of red here and there – including the underside of the crystal. The Airboss proves why Victorinox Swiss Army is one of a handful of military-themed watch manufacturers: the Victorinox Airboss ticks most all boxes when it comes to judging a modern field watch – including legibility, build quality and modern, dare we say, trendy aesthetics – with a price tag of $995.ĭietrich’s Organic Time watches not only look highly unusual in their dial and case design – a respectable achievement for a brand’s first offering – but they are some of the most comfortable watches ever created, something one can only really tell when going hands-on with one of their creations. The Victorinox Airboss Black line encompasses three models, with the three-hander Mechanical Black Edition being the most affordable version, followed by two chronograph iterations. Victorinox Airboss Mechanical Black Edition With a price tag of just $150, and a selection of five new designs for 2015, the Swatch Sistem51 easily can – and perhaps should – be a part of any watch collection.ģ. Comprising 51 parts and completely assembled by robots, the Sistem51 brings the mechanical timepiece into the third millennium in a way no other ever has. Solid cases, reliable, workhorse automatic movements, and excellent lume are just some of the key features that make these pieces really stand out. With suggested retail prices of around $450-$550, these watches would already be a remarkable value proposition, but since they are often available at discounted prices, any one of these truly is a lot of watch for the money.Īlthough over two years have passed since its debut at Baselworld 2013, the Swatch Sistem51 still very much means a new dimension for mechanical watches – and for that, it must be held in high esteem by every watch enthusiast.

Neither the Monster, with its unquestionably unique looks, the Sumo, with its standard modern dive watch style, nor the SKX007 with its fantastic legibility could have been omitted from this list – so we put all three in here. With extremely competitive prices, solid build quality, and a manufacturer like few others on this planet, one or more of these have more than likely made it to the “must-have” lists of beginner – and seasoned! – watch enthusiasts alike. In some sense, they all represent some of the best in the segment. That is quite the trifecta: three world renowned dive watches. Seiko Monster, Seiko Sumo and Seiko SKX007 Fortunately, the aBlogtoWatch team has compiled this list of 10 affordable watches that get a nod from snobs so that you can mingle with the elite timepiece collectors of the world and not feel as though your choice of watch is being immediately dismissed.ġ. Everyone would love to enjoy deep pockets when it comes to purchasing watches, but the reality is that finding a good watch that is also a really good value takes some work.

Affordable automatic watches