10 Best Watches Under $100
One Benjamin Goes Further Than You Think
(10)Kenneth Cole New York 12-6 Barrel Watch
Kenneth Cole knows fashion and it’s easy to tell why. The clean, sleek tonneau-shaped case is reminiscent of some expensive high-end brands. This is the one you strap on when you want to look and feel like a million bucks.
Cost: $85 @ Kenneth Cole New York
Nixon The Atom
In the Atom, Nixon has hit the market with a truly no-nonsense watch. A simple digital display and canvas strap give it a retro feel. When you’re done rocking this, pass it on to your 5 year old nephew, and he’ll fit right in with the cool kids and their Casios.
Cost: $80 @ Nixon
Pulsar Chronograph
The Pulsar Chronograph features everything you expect in a, well, chronograph. It’s got a stainless steel case with matching bracelet. This is a great looking and multifunctional piece. When you’re bored at work, click a few pushers and watch the hands march around the subdials. Good times.
Cost: $81 @ Joma Shop
Skagen Silver and Charcoal
Skagen is the one you want if you’re looking for a super slim watch that fits easily under your shirt cuffs. Chances are, you won’t even notice it’s there. Here, a lightweight steel case and mesh bracelet make for a comfortable daily-wearer.
Cost: $100 @ Skagen
Swatch Carbonoir
You simply can’t talk about inexpensive watches without mentioning Swatch. However, we’re not just talking about the cheap plastic watches they’re known for. This one has stainless steel case, leather strap, and a carbon fiber dial pattern.
Cost: $100 @ Swatch
Know of a better watch for this list? Let us know in the comments below, we want to hear from you.
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Great suggestions Brian. I will add on the Skagen that as someone who owns one, I get a lot of compliments on it. It’s funny because people see it as a far more expensive watch than it really is.
Excellent finds! Of all the men’s blogs I subscribe to, my favorite has to be Gear Patrol. You guys don’t sound like a press release.
Just one suggestion: For a list like this, I would keep the whole post on one page. It’s annoying for users to click on another page just to see the rest of the article. I think many users suspect it’s just a tactic to increase page views. Even on my slower internet connection, the load time, in my opinion, is more than acceptable.
Thanks for the awesome articles!
Thanks JC, that’s the whole premise behind GP. Not just another site that rehashes the same story 10 ways to Sunday. The policy here is to write about gear/services that we personally review, or own. Sharing the collaborative knowledge of one man to another.
As for the “second page” we do on some articles - If you’ve noticed, some of our articles are heavy and have tons of pictures. As a matter of fact, our site isn’t exactly a screamer when it comes to load times (which we’re working on improving). To offset that a bit, we try to split the long features into two pages, when necessary. We’re not really concerned with page views here anyway.
Keep spreading the word for us. We rely on enthusiasts like you to help men, who would otherwise have no idea about us, discover Gear Patrol.
Excellent list guys! Thanks! I like the sound of them all. A few watches I’d add too: a Swiss Army Renegade (sometimes, on sale, slips in under 100), something by Hamilton (like a quartz Khaki for around 100), and Vagarys look cool too (they’re Citizens).
Bought a good, solid Armitron watch from a second-hand store for $5.00. I have a $600 watch I bought in London in 2002. I wear the $5 watch much more often. The value is not in the price, my friends.
Couldn’t agree more.
For those of you with an extra $30 and looking for something more rugged, check out this Casio G-Shock in Gear Patrol orange.
G-Shock Rescue… Love at first sight.
great article and suggestions but would have been nice if you also made comments about what outfits would look good with each watch. some people are just clueless when it comes to fashion…
I would hesitate to recommend the Invicta. I’ve had them in the past and there have been real issues with build quality. There are well documented stories (go ahead and google invicta and see what comes up) of horrible customer service problems. Not to mention that they don’t have any original designs, just stuff they ripped off from other big name companies. All in all, skip the invicta brand.
in regards to invicta, i’ve got one. you just have to keep in mind that they are cheap watches. it’s an auto but if it breaks i probably won’t deal with getting it repaired. they seem to be a ‘luck of the draw’ watch. some people get a good one, a couple people get bad ones and have to deal with notoriously bad customer service. i wear my invicta once ever few months or so. i have several others that i would much rather wear.
as far as pairing a watch with your clothes, i think that would make an interesting GP article, as well. there are several rules to follow.. save the big chunky chronos for the weekends (says the guy wearing his hamiltion tachymiler to the office. but hey, i work IT in a manufacturing plant - no one follows ‘the rules’ lol). as for pairing with a suit; keep the watch basic, simple, classic.
Great article, but no mention of the Seiko 5? Bulletproof automatics in a huge array of styles for relatively cheap.
Nice call Jot. Seiko does make some diesel autos for anyone interested here’s a link to some at amazon that look cool http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=seiko%205%20military&tag=retrothing-20&index=watches&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
I agree. Seiko make some nice ones. There's a few cool Citizens too- military style on canvas for around the 100 skins mark. And I've heard the same horror stories about Invicta. Oh and I almost forgot, what about Jacques Le Mans?
What about a good digital watch / sports watch for the weekend and workouts? any Suggestions?
These two Fossiles are going under/around $100 @ Amazone. I would think its a deal!
http://www.amazon.com/Fossil-fs4157-Chronograph-B...
http://www.amazon.com/Fossil-Ladies-Twist-Black-W...
Very nice collection. All are attractive and stylish looking watches at affordable price.
Get the brand watches at discount price at http://www.discountwatchstore.com
I love my Swiss Army Watch, not a normal one though. They make a Excursion line with a black face and black leather band.
http://www.amazon.com/Swiss-Army-Excursion-Leathe...
It is nice and heavy, very rugged but looks great with a dress shirt.
I have Invicta pro-diver w/ a Sellita sw200 movement that I’m very happy with. It’s just a little about this list’s price target, but just wanted to say there’s some happy invicta stories too (I’ve heard to bad stories too). I think the earlier version of my watch was powered by ETA 2824-2, but I missed it and Invicta changed over to Sellita, but I’m happy w/ it, especially at the price.
I’m not sure what the sporadic issues are w/ the $100 Invicta ProDiver are. I think their driven by a very reliable and proven miyota automatic movement.
I gotta agree w/ someone’s comment about the skagen. It’s also my most comfortable watch. the stainless steel mesh band doesn’t pull wrist hair and with the super slim case I hardly feel it on my wrist. It’s super cheap and people often think it’s much pricier that it is.
To the GP editors: I’d like to request a future article on the best value (cheapest) watches powered by ETA (ETA,Unitas,Valjoux), Sellita mechanical movements. No quartz, only mechanical, and only swiss movements, and under $500. Watch can be assembled out of swizterland.
A companion article might be best value mechanical automatics using miyota, seiko or orient movements for under $300.
It’d be interesting.
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The Invicta Pro Diver also got a good review on http://www.bestcovery.com/best-watch-under-100
But I
The Invicta Pro Diver also got a good review on http://www.bestcovery.com/best-watch-under-100
But I