A budding “watch guy” most likely starts off their collection with an assortment of quartz tickers (and let’s be clear, there’s nothing wrong with that). But as your interest in watches grows, it’s only natural for you to want something on your wrist you can brag about, which inevitably pushes you towards automatic watches. Inside the case of an automatic watch is a weighted rotor that spins as you move your arm, a few little flicks of your wrist throughout the day keeps the internal mechanisms running long enough to keep that minute hand tick-tick-ticking across the dial.
But automatic watches also have a reputation for being finicky or costly. And while that can be true, the beauty of watches is the wide price scale in which the industry operates. From stunners for less than $250 to ones you’d have to mortgage your house (and maybe your parents’ house) to buy, here are the top automatic watches on the market today for any budget.
The Best Automatic Watches Under $250 While not impossible to find a great watch at the $250-mark, you are going to be limited. Given the many internal pieces and complicated mechanisms needed to build an automatic watch, many brands have to charge a bit more for a quality automatic. Even so, brands like Orient and Seiko lead the way on well-made (and well-designed) options.
The Best Automatic Watches Under $500 At $500, the doorway starts to open up a bit more – but only a creak. The usual suspects like Timex and Casio, are populating this price point, Bulova and Sternglas are great alternatives who will give you a little more street cred among collectors. The Best Automatic Watches Under $1,000 A thousand bucks is a perfectly reasonable budget to have when you want to upgrade your watch game without completely breaking the bank.
Here, I’d recommend looking at smaller, or more indie brands to find some interesting designs not seen by more household names. The Best Automatic Watches for Absolute Ballers Needless to say, if money isn’t an issue, the sky’s the limit. Not all watches are created equal and buying just for the name recognition alone doesn’t always make for the best watch for the money.
Instead, look for a price point that’s commensurate with the movement, design, and materials used, and you’ll never regret the decision to spend the big bucks. How We Test and Review Products Style is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed.
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