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!
Tritium is hands-down the best option for those who need good lume on their watch. Here are the top tritium watches we’ve reviewed!
Here are the best field watches that our team has ever reviewed – spanning designs, budgets, and countries or origin.
Generally when we’re talking about a microbrand watch we’re talking about a timepiece crafted by a smaller, independent brand in much smaller quantities compared to more global companies. This often means that you can get a timepiece that features a unique design or one that offers high quality features for a reasonable price or (if you’re lucky) both.
You’ll find chronographs in countless watch boxes all over the world right next to their dive and dress watch brethren. With the modern dive watch being largely unchanged from its release in 1953, the same can’t be said about the chronograph. Quartz and mechanical chronograph technology has come a very far way over the past several decades.
