If you’re looking to scrimp and save during these uncertain times, setting aside a few thousand dollars for one of the best luxury watches in the world is likely out of the question.
Lucky for you, there are affordable brands out there that rival luxury brands when it comes to capturing the hearts of watch enthusiasts around the world. You can find fashion watches, vintage watches with unique looks, digital watches, smartwatches, or even stately dress watch options for a couple hundred dollars or less!
We’ve done our homework on affordable watch brands so you don’t have to, separating the best from the rest for our definitive list of the 11 Best Affordable Watch Brands For 2021.
Let’s get started and find you a nice watch worth bragging about.
The 11 Best Affordable Watch Brands For 2021
11) Rotary
Best Rotary Watch For Your Buck: Rotary Men’s Analog Display Quartz Watch
- Classic Gents Watch With Silver Roman Dial On A Calf Leather Strap
- Durable mineral crystal protects watch from scratches
- Quartz Movement
- Case Diameter: 38mm
- Water resistant to 50m (165ft: in general, suitable for short periods of recreational swimming, but not diving or snorkeling
While Rotary is often lumped with Swiss brands since it was founded in Switzerland back in the mid 19th Century, it’s actually a worldwide brand that has been delivering quality goods for over a century or so to the wider sphere. In fact, Rotary watches are the official watch of the British Army. If you want a luxurious timepiece in the same price range as some of the cheaper department store usuals, Rotary has something for you.
10) Apple
Best Apple Watch For Your Buck: Apple Watch Series 6
- GPS model lets you take calls and reply to texts from your wrist
- Measure your blood oxygen with an all-new sensor and app
- Check your heart rhythm with the ECG app
- The Always-On Retina display is 2.5x brighter outdoors when your wrist is down
- S6 SiP is up to 20% faster than Series 5
The Apple Watch has revolutionized the very concept of the smartwatch. An American brand that has made billions on the cutting edge of informational technology, Apple makes a classic timepiece that’s anything but tired or usual. And if you don’t feel like spending a few hundred dollars on the newest series of Apple Watch, you find earlier models at a low price in your favorite online marketplaces.
9) Skagen
Best Skagen Watch For Your Buck: Skagen Signatur Three-Hand 40mm Minimalist Watch
- From the coastlines of Skagen to the architecture of Copenhagen and a celebrated fashion scene, Denmark embodies a special kind of energy: modern, minimalist, and playful. In the moment— with an appreciation for nature and the wild world around us.
- The Skagen Signatur aesthetic is simple, and works with every style. Slip on one of our men's watches while you're getting ready for any occasion and you'll see your refined style take on a whole new level of sophistication.
- Featuring a Round 40mm stainless steel case, with a white dial. mineral crystal, Quartz movement, Three-Hand analog display
- Brown 20mm leather band with a Single Prong Strap Buckle closure
- Water resistant up to 50m: Wearable while swimming in shallow water
Nobody does minimalism quite like the folks over at Skagen. While other watches play with the idea of minimalist aesthetics, Skagen truly puts their all into the “less is more” approach to watchmaking. Clean leather straps and simple watch dials are the trademark of their design schemes, with a regular quartz movement or Japanese quartz movement ensuring you get where you need to go on time. It’s not too much, but it’s sure as heck not too little. Skagen takes Scandanavian style and updates it for today’s modern world.
8) Invicta
Best Invicta Watch For Your Buck: Invicta Men’s Pro Diver Stainless Steel Watch
- Stainless steel case 40mm diameter x 14.1mm thick; Exhibition case back; Black dial; Luminous hands.Band Length: 205mm
- NH35A Japanese Automatic movement, 24 jewel; Assembled in Malaysia; Watch weight 155 grams
- Includes gift box, instructions and 3 year limited manufacturer warranty; Invicta Customer Service can be reached at 1-800-327-7682 for questions (re: Additional links, band replacement, band adjustment, warranty questions, etc.)
While Invicta is well-known for making budget dive watches with fantastic automatic movements, there’s more than meets the eye here. Founded in Switzerland in the 19th Century, Invicta now makes its home in Hollywood, Florida. And while their Swiss heritage shines through in several of their watch models, they’ve strayed from their bread and butter to create automatic movement, mechanical movement, and Swiss movement watches for a variety of different outfits, uses and styles.
7) Nixon
Best Nixon Watch For Your Buck: Nixon Time Teller Watch
- TIME TELLER, ALL BLACK. The 37mm Time Teller has a sleek 3-hand movement, applied indices and custom-molded hands. Built with custom 5-link stainless steel jewelry style bracelet and sliding buckle
- ORIGINAL NIXON DESIGN. An all-time best-seller with an unpretentious versatile appearance, this all black women’s watch is water resistant up to 100m and protects against everything from rain to surf. Snap down the top piece of your buckle to secure in place
- SIMPLIFY TIME. Clean lines cut through cloudy philosophy, while its simple, high concept design keeps things precise. The Time Teller is a simple Nixon watch that stands the test of time. The dial includes applied indices, and custom molded hands
- FUELED BY ADVENTURES. We deliver products that meet your needs in various high-stress work and play environments, whether it’s across the globe or down the street. Pull out the crown to set the time
- FOR A LIFE WELL LIVED. Through our dedicated teams’ perspectives, we contribute to a single unified expression: team-designed, custom-built accessories
Perhaps indebted to the irreverence of Swatch watches, Nixon does a few things differently than the venerable Swatch group. For one, Nixon appeals to a younger generation that increasingly leaves watches in the dust in favor of their smartphones. They do so with clean lines, bright colors, and watch designs with an undeniable, offbeat urban sensibility. A staple of skate shops and boutiques around the world, Nixon watches provide a style boost at a price point most young adults can afford.
6) Orient
Best Orient Watch For Your Buck: Orient Men’s Japanese Automatic Watch
- Orient Cal. F6922 Automatic, Hand-winding, Hacking Movement
- Case Diameter: 41.5mm without crown.Case Thickness:13mm. Power Reserve: Approximately 40 hours
- Water Resistant 200m (660ft): in General, Suitable for Professional Marine Activity and Serious Surface Water Sports, but not Diving
- To change the date, rotate the crown counter clockwise.
- To change the day, rotate the crown clockwise. If you pull the crown once more, the time can be set by turning the crown clockwise and counter clockwise.
A Japanese brand known for creating budget mechanical watches with timeless styles, Orient is one of the most trusted low-cost brands in the watch industry. They make some amazing water-resistant dive watches with classic stainless steel constructions. And the dedication they put into every hand-wound and self-winding movement is truly admirable. An Orient watch is perfect for adventures, offices, and everywhere in between.
5) Swatch
Best Swatch Watch For Your Buck: Swatch BIG BOLD Swiss Quartz Silicone Strap
- Collection: BIG BOLD STANDARD
- Watch Size: 47 mm round case with push/pull crown
- Water Resistance: Up to 100 feet
- Free battery exchange at Swatch retail locations
- 2 Year International Warranty
Looking to make a statement? You can do it with the right Swiss-made watch from Swatch. Usually, Swiss watches will set you back hundreds if not thousands of dollars when you’re looking for top-quality offerings. Swatch watches buck this trend by offering colorful, wild, wacky, and thoroughly practical timepieces that rarely go for more than a couple hundred dollars Stateside. They make an affordable watch that looks and feels like spending a million bucks the fun way.
4) Timex
Best Timex Watch For Your Buck: Timex Unisex Weekender Watch
- Adjustable olive green 20 millimeter nylon slip-thru strap fits up to 8-inch wrist circumference. The case finish is polished
- Cream dial with full Arabic numerals; 24-hour military time
- Silver-tone 38 millimeter brass case with mineral glass crystal
- Indiglo light-up watch dial
- Water resistant to 30 meters (100 feet): In general, withstands splashes or brief immersion in water, but not suitable for swimming or bathing
As the granddaddy of wristwatches, Timex has consistently offered a variety of great timepieces that watch collectors can’t get enough of. From their humble beginnings in the mid 19th Century as the Waterbury Clock Company to now, Timex has prided itself at offering unbeatable value at a low price. They offers digital watches, sports watches, dress watches, and plenty of other beautiful watch models to fill in the gaps — all of which are affordable and built to last.
3) Seiko
Best Seiko Watch For Your Buck: Seiko Stainless Steel Solar Watch with Brown Leather Strap
- Round dress watch featuring two-tone case and dark blue dial with baton hour markers
- 39 mm stainless steel case with Hardlex dial window
- Japanese quartz movement with analog display
- Croco-embossed leather band with buckle closure
- Water resistant to 100 m (330 ft): In general, suitable for swimming and snorkeling, but not scuba diving
One of the most beloved and talked-about budget watch brands of this or any era, Seiko is more than just a Japanese watch brand. It’s a worldwide powerhouse that makes some great solar-powered, automatic movement watches infused with the accuracy of peak quartz technology. Seiko never release a watch into the market that doesn’t go through extensive testing and tinkering. That’s just what they do. They put in maximum effort to ensure exceptional quality without making you pay top dollar for their work.
2) Citizen
Best Citizen Watch For Your Buck: Citizen Men’s Promaster Eco-Drive Dive Watch
- Iconic Promaster watches with advanced functions designed to venture to the deepest depths.
- 3 Hand, Date
- Silver-Tone Stainless Steel
- Luminous Hands and Markers and Anti-Reflective Mineral Crystal
- 200 Meters Water Resistant and 5 Year Limited Warranty, ISO Compliant
A Japanese watch company with its finger on the pulse of horological innovation, Citizen can never be accused of being copycats. They brought atomic watches to the world before anyone saw them as a viable option. They created the breakthrough Citizen Eco-Drive technology which maximizes the littlest bit of natural or artificial light to power your watch for days at a time. They’ve also created a catalog of gorgeous timepieces that don’t sacrifice eye appeal for pure functionality.
1) Casio
Best Casio Watch For Your Buck: Casio G-Shock Digital Men’s Watch
- Shock-resistant construction protects against impact and vibration
- A solar cell provides power for operation
- Displays the current time in major cities and specific areas around the world
- Each time you stop the alarm, it sounds again after a few minutes
Casio G-Shock watches stand alone as our favorite budget timepieces right now. That’s because they blend next-level durability, water resistance, shock resistance, and tons of modern watch features to make your day easier. Casio also makes plenty of retro, low-cost digital watches that hearken back to our best memories growing up. A Japanese watch brand that looks back while still looking forward, Casio is the world’s premiere budget watch brand. Millions of satisfied customers can’t be wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Seiko make affordable watches?
Seiko makes a bevy of good quality watches with a variety of different movements for those shopping on a budget. A Japanese brand that has changed the watch world for the better, Seiko has something for any watch collection. From affordable mechanical watches with reliable mechanical movements to stylish watches with precise quartz movements, Seiko has a surprising amount of watch styles for less than $200 a pop. If you want a cheap watch from a popular watch brand that puts other brands to shame, Seiko watches proffer classic designs in your price range.
What is the best watch for the money?
There are countless expensive watches out there that simply can’t touch the Casio G-Shock Digital Men’s Watch in terms of durability, exception nal quality, and overall utility. With a water-resistant and shock-absorbent casing, modern watch features like a countdown timer and multiple alarms, and a price tag that’s agree with your wallet, this is one of our favorite affordable timepieces ever released. It’s a great watch for hikers, bikers, or anyone that has an active lifestyle. For very little money, you can secure the timepiece that has been the talk of the watch industry for a while now.
Closing Thoughts
Each of the eleven brands on our countdown above create classic watches that consistently put the watch market on notice. If you’re looking for your first watch or want to build on existing watch collections, you’ll find your favorite new timepiece through one of these companies at an affordable price point that’ll feel too good to be true.