10 Best Affordable Watch Brands For Men
(This page features affiliate links, for more information on them click here.)
These days, there are hundreds of watch brands for men out there, especially in the budget space. Unfortunately, not all are made equal. Many heavily-marketed brands, like Daniel Wellington and MVMT, charge you over the odds for low quality, mass produced Chinese watches. I’ve tried such brands in the past and have been massively disappointed.
You can do much better, even for less than £300. So, I’ve compiled a short list of 10 of the best watch brands for men, to give you some ideas of where to start your watch collection. Each of these brands produce watches that won’t break the bank, but will provide solid performance for their price tag; keeping you on time for many years to come.
Junkers
German brand Junkers makes this list for one simple reason. They make the most attractive Bauhaus watches under £300. This brand was founded on the back of the Junkers aviation company, whom manufactured second world war aircraft. Nowadays, the watches bearing the Junkers name are still constructed in Germany, by renowned brand Point Tec.
These watches have a similar minimalist aesthetic to those offered by more premium brand Junghans, but at a substantially lower price point. The ‘100 Year Bauhaus’ series in particular houses some of the most aesthetically pleasing dress watches that money can buy for under £200. The super slim hour markers and elegantly designed cases make these a fantastic choice for a variety of outfits.
Junkers watches are made to high standards and typically come with a 2-year warranty; many of their pieces come in multiple sizes too, making it all the more pleasing. Many of their Bauhaus watches are really slim too, making them a good choice for skinny wrists. In fact, I’ll be reviewing one of their pieces very shortly on this blog.
Seiko
World famous brand Seiko offer some of the best value for money watches, especially in the sub-£300 price category. This Japanese brand was founded all the way back in 1881 and stocks a massive selection of watches varying in price from £10’s to £10,000’s.
Many people looking for a low-cost watch seem to think of Seiko as a brand out of their reach. However, I’d recommend taking a look at their ‘Seiko 5’ line, which contains a huge range of watches featuring automatic movements and full stainless-steel construction, for a low price. These are built to a surprisingly high standard, given the modest price tag and I’ve recommended them to friends and family before; all of whom have been pleased with their watches.
You can buy Seiko watches from a bunch of mainstream retailers, including many high street stores. Unfortunately, many are almost always terribly priced. I’d certainly head online to purchase this particular brand, to avoid unnecessary mark-ups; your wallet will thank you.
Casio
Arguably the best cheap watch brand out there; Japanese brand Casio is a favourite of men around the world. They have a reputation for creating near-indestructible watches for less than the cost of a bowl of chips.
Their digital watches, such as the famous F91W and A158 are popular everyday wearers, providing accurate time-telling in a small package. The A158 is one of my go-to daily wearers and looks surprisingly good for a digital watch. You can afford to replace the whole watch, should anything bad happen to them; an advantage not shared by many watch brands out there.
They also have the rugged G-Shock range, for those in search of maximum durability, though do have a surprising selection of classier watches to choose from. Many think of Casio as a kids brand, however watches like the Casio Sapphire dress watch are elegant and mature, whilst retaining strong specifications.
If you’re looking to spend less than £50 on a watch, Casio is the best place to start.
Timex
Another solid watch brand that won’t let you down is Timex. This American brand have been around for over a century and specialise in stylish, functional watches for under £200. These watches fell out of favour in the early 2000’s, but have seen a resurgence in recent years, with their lovely reissue watches.
Timex used to advertise their watches with the slogan ‘they take a licking and keep on ticking’ and while their production has predominantly moved overseas, their quality control is still strong versus other low-cost brands I’ve tried before – especially in the fashion space. I’m yet to ever have a Timex fail me (at the time of writing, at least).
Many of their recent pieces have been retro-inspired and they’ve also begun introducing watches with built-in NFC functionality, for contactless payments. How exactly they work, I’m unsure (given they’re not smart watches), however, it’s interesting seeing this brand pushing the boundaries and experimenting with new concepts.
Orient
The Orient brand, part of the Seiko Epson group, also provide some of the very best value watches money can buy. Since the 1950’s, this brand has pumped out a series of unique looking watches, with affordable in-house mechanical movements, with quality rivalling other watches at double the price point.
Their Bambino dress watch line is probably their most popular in the sub-£300 price range, due to the classic designs and good build quality. I reviewed their minimalist Bambino V3 model and was very impressed, even naming it ‘the benchmark for affordable watches’. Many see Japanese brands like Orient and Seiko as a better-priced alternative to Swiss brands – whose high mark-ups have drawn disapproval recently.
As with Seiko, my only criticism is that some of their designs feel a bit antiquated. I understand they try and make timeless looking watches, but a better cycle of fresh releases could help this brand to stay relevant moving forward.
Parnis
For those of you looking to get expensive looking designs for less, then Parnis may be the brand to opt for. This company is dedicated to ripping off famous watch designs and reimagining them in an affordable package. They have Rolex, Patek Philippe and Omega lookalikes, just to name a few.
This brand certainly doesn’t have the prestige or history as other brands on this list; though they have been going since the 90’s and generally have a good reputation when it comes to quality control.
Most of their watches contain surprisingly good specifications, including sapphire glass and mechanical movements for a really low price. There’s nothing original about them, though they may be a viable alternative, for those who can’t afford to spend thousands on a wristwatch; especially compared to some of the cheaper homage watches and poor-quality replicas out there. At least with Parnis, you know the watch will last quite well and returns through Aliexpress are smooth. Much better than wearing a completely fake watch in my book.
Tissot
Arguably the best low-cost Swiss watchmakers, Tissot have a varied range of classy stainless-steel watches, starting from around the £150 mark. This brand has been trusted in the industry for well over a century and survived the quartz crisis, which saw the demise of many rival Swiss brands.
Considered by many as a true ‘affordable luxury’ brand, hitting above their weight, Tissot watches have quality-construction and exemplary finishing across the board. Nevertheless, they are towards the higher end of the price spectrum for this list.
As with Seiko, this is another brand that is often overpriced in high street jewellers. Your best bet is to buy this brand online, or risk massively overpaying for the watch you want.
Swatch
Often marked as the original fashion watch brand, ‘The Swatch Group’ has now expanded into one of the largest wristwatch conglomerates in the world; owning brands like Omega, Hamilton, Rado and Blancpain to name a few. Admittedly, the regular Swatch branded watches are not comparable to the aforementioned sub-brands when it comes to quality; however, they are very aggressively priced.
You can get a Swiss-made watch, with a Swiss movement and a unique design for well under £150, often under £100. I first came into contact with Swatch watches in a boutique in Manchester a few years back. Initially, I wasn’t impressed, due to the poor selections of designs in that store. Nevertheless, I’ve since discovered their gigantic range of watches online; many of which look much better than those I previously encountered.
A large portion of the Swatch models are made predominantly of plastic. Personally, I’d recommend spending a bit more for their stainless-steel watches instead, as they feel much better and are far more durable.
Citizen
Citizen watches are some of the most relished in the affordable watch space, for good reason. These are innovative, creatively designed Japanese watches that offer great performance. Arguably the most interesting feature of many Citizen watches under £300 is the eco-drive technology. I love this because it uses the power of the sun to power the quartz movement within. Almost like having photosynthesis built into your watch – neat eh?
While many Citizen designs are too ‘busy’ for my taste, not including them on this list would be criminal. They are renowned for having strong build quality and often come with long warranties, to further highlight their commitment to workmanship.
The 5th
A late and surprise addition to this list is ‘The 5th’. In the intro, I mentioned how I deliberately omitted fashion brands like Daniel Wellington and MVMT from this list; which may lead you to question the place of The 5th in this article.
It’s true, this brand used to create equally uninspired, cookie-cutter, bad quality fashion watches. So, what’s changed?
Well, they recently made a shift to Swiss production and are all the better for it. I reviewed some of their new range last year and was blown away by the quality. In fact, they converted me from an active hater to a fan in the space of a week. The automatic watch in particular looks fantastic and is a great effort for an inexperienced micro brand. You can read my review of these watches here.