Rolex. The word alone elicits strong opinions from everyone who hears it. The average Joe thinks it’s the best watch out there, wealth enthusiasts drool, and watch enthusiasts go to civil war amongst themselves. There is a lot that goes into Rolex, and the Rolex Submariner is perhaps the marque watch of the brand, but I honestly have mixed opinions on Rolex and their place in the watchmaking industry.
If you’ve been around the watch collecting game for a bit, you’ve probably stumbled on the significant military history tied into the very existence of wristwatches. The deeper you dig, the more you find that the essential need for a wristwatch sprung up some time during World War I and the emergence of this period’s archetypal trench warfare—long before the wristwatch was even mainstream.
With $500 to spend on a new watch, you have many options. But among those, which are the best watches under $500? Here are our top choices.
What I believe is: watches act as signifiers of something that we dream of participating in. If I may let my BFA flag fly a little, what I believe is signified by wearing a GMT watch is that sense of travel…
In the watch world, Japan can be looked at as a microcosm of the entire industry. They contain affordable watches, micro brand watches, small independents, luxury, and some of the largest watch groups in the world. For other regions around the globe, you’ll have to shop across several different brand names, in many different countries, and in a variety of price segments to build a watch collection that includes affordable, microbrands, and luxury pieces. Japan makes that much easier, because you don’t have to leave the country’s borders.
The $2000 price point gets you into entry level luxury territory. With a stack of cash this size you have access to complications like automatic chronographs, GMTs, varied material choices like titanium and enamel, and nearly any style of watch you could imagine. Check out our top picks for the best watches under $2000!
While tritium watches are slightly more expensive than their Super-LumiNova counterparts and may lack that initial intense glow, they have some serious advantages. Rather than fading within hours, the glass tubes glow for up to 25 years! Despite its benefits, tritium remains the illumination underdog. This list of the best tritium watches celebrates the few brands currently using this exciting technology.
Field Watches may be one of the most ambiguous segments of the watch world, often with blurred lines between what constitutes a field watch and what doesn’t. If you were to create a Venn diagram of all the watch categories, field watches would be in the center with the most in common with all watch types.
Watch enthusiasts are a passionate and sometimes picky bunch. We have boxes filled with mass market watches, but sometimes we want something a little more niche than what the bigger brands are producing. Thanks to the rapidly expanding market of microbrands offering direct-to-consumer timepieces, finding a unique watch has never been easier.
