Yahoo Finance The Best Affordable Watch Brands On Earth (According To Esquire Editors)
You want the best. And heck, you deserve the best. But there's a lot of choice out there, and sometimes the best is hard to find. Fortunately, we know where to find it. Every week, the Esquire editors reveal their favourite brands, from under-the-radar steals to luxury loves, so you can invest in the best clothes, watches and accessories that money can buy.
This week, the watches that go big without breaking the bank.
Swatch
Catherine Hayward, Fashion Director
"My big sister used to wear her Swatch watch around her ankle. It was the Eighties, you understand. Self expression was rife. To the untrained eye, it may have looked like an early electronic tagging device but this, my friends, was watch wearing, not as status symbol, but as fashion accessory – catnip to a new generation of early teenage adopters who came of age in an era of post-punk new romanticism and hair scrunchies.
"The watch in question was bright, white and plastic with a colourful face. Looked lovely with the neon green friendship bracelets tied around her ankle. And, boy, did I want one. But, equally, I didn’t want to be accused by a bossy older sister that I was ‘stealing her look’. So this summer, after a 35 year wait – that’s long enough, isn’t it? – I’m buying the Bio Lemon version – a neon yellow, slim-line, silicone strapped man’s watch from their bestseller list, so I’ll be in good company. The sales pitch says it’ll make my wrist ‘go crazy’. Hope that works for ankles, too."
Timex
Charlie Teasdale, Style Director
"Of all the watch brands in all the world, I find myself most intrigued by Timex. That’s not to say there aren’t astonishingly cool things coming out of the storied horological valleys of Switzerland, but in terms of watches I really, really want (and can actually afford), Timex is killing it.
"I have collected many over the past few years – and have my eye on the new Pac-Man T80 – but my favourite is probably the MK1 36mm, which is pleasingly simple, reliably tough and stylishly small."
Seiko
Finlay Renwick
"It seems too good to be true, really: an automatic watch made by a brand with proper horological pedigree and a reputation for superlative build quality, in a clean military design, with a Nato strap and 40mm face (a great size of face) for £230? Yet that’s exactly what the Seiko 5 delivers. Part of a push to appeal to a younger consumer who is likely just dipping a toe (wrist?) into the automatic watch world, I recently hit ‘buy’ on a 5 with a charcoal grey face and strap, my first ever automatic after years of ‘beater’ quartz watches (I still love you Timex).
"What struck me first is, for the price, how well made the 5 feels, with a clear caseback that shows off the movement; the heavy duty nylon of the strap and the brushed stainless steel case. Part of Seiko’s mastery is that they are able to sell tons of different watches across every price point. Many brands would worry about a £200 automatic diminishing the value of their other, pricier offerings, but for Seiko it has the opposite effect. I’ve got my eye on the blue version next."
Accurist
Murray Clark, Digital Style Editor
"I once thought that Accurist existed solely within the telephone of 1998. They sponsored the Actual Time, after all, and that man who sounded very Wheel Of Fortune would boom the o'clock down to the absolute second. But Accurist is real, and on this side of the century, they make watches that are as precise in their timekeeping as the flashy gatekeeper that's forever shackled to the plastic Alcatraz of a landline.
Better yet, Accurist watches have that vintage feel to them: some are a bit Seventies, a bit flashy, but not too much so. Again, quite gameshow hosty, but when contestants were actually allowed to win. That means an era of square dials, gold tone watches and, of course, timekeeping skills that are impossibly accurate."
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