If you’re scouting for the best watches under $1,000, we’d bet it’s for one of two reasons: you’re looking for a gift and you’ve got a (very generous) budget, or you yourself have been bitten by the watch bug. If it’s the latter, our condolences—we love watches, unequivocally and enthusiastically. But trying to manage a burgeoning watch obsession without destroying your credit score requires a steely sense of willpower.
That’s the bad news. The good news: if you’re walking around with anywhere between $100 and $1,000 American dollars to spend on a timepiece, you’ve got lots of great options.
Right now, the field of competition for the best watches under $1,000 is more crowded than ever. You can find winners across every type of category—divers, field watches, steel sportwatches, and beyond—made by everything from legendary Swiss watchmakers to underrated Japanese icons to upstart microbrands. You can nerd out over automatic movements and flyer GMT complications, or get a dress watch with Art Deco elegance. You can get a watch that will make connoisseurs who use the word “horology” in polite conversation nod in respect,
But most importantly, you can find something you’ll love—and that you’ll want to wear for a long time.
Below are our votes for the 12 best watches under $1,000, plus 24 more options—two in each category. You’ll see a few of the same brands multiple times, because in this budget, we’d rather go with the companies we trust.
Your Favorite Celeb’s Favorite Affordable Watch
Watches have the ability to help us rub elbows—or wrists, anyway—with the people who’ve worn them previously. It’s why we call certain versions of Rolex’s Daytona the “Paul Newman” or a specific iteration of the Submariner the “James Bond.” Purchasing watches like these typically requires good standing with the various Swiss auction houses and an even better standing with your bank. The G-Shock DW6900 is a unicorn, though: a watch once worn by the likes of John Mayer, Justin Bieber, and Kanye West that you can own for less than $60 bucks right this very moment. G-Shocks are best known for their virtually indestructible rubber construction, which made them a staple on jobsites the world over. Eventually, however, the boxy digital timepieces caught on with skaters, who helped muscle the line up the cultural ladder.
Timex
Q 1982 Ana-Digi Reissue
Back in 1982, Spielberg gave us E.T., Michael Jackson delivered “Thriller,” and Timex dropped the original version of this super-slim, do-it-all watch. Tucked up above the handsome analog face is a digital readout to track a second time zone, set an alarm, or go stopwatch mode. Or, sure, make checking the time even easier.
Seiko
Prospex SNJ025 “Arnie”
On the opposite end of the swole spectrum is this 47.9mm behemoth nicknamed for The Terminator himself. (The TL;DR: the SNJ025 is a bulked up re-issue of a watch Arnold wore in Commando and Predator.) Water-resistant down to 200 meters, solar-powered, and packed with all sorts of digital functions, it’s as capable as it is massive. The Arnie is also endangered—Seiko discontinued the model recently, but you can still nab one.
The Perfect Starter Watch
If someone were to build an Affordable Watch Hall of Fame, the Seiko SKX007 would be the very first piece enshrined. While it’s no longer in production, the no-fuss dive watch helped introduce a generation of collectors to hardy mechanical watches. Which is why in the summer of 2022, the watch’s legions of fanboys thought they were seeing ghosts (of the sexy, Patrick Swayze variety) when Seiko released a new model drawing from the beloved SKX’s design: the Seiko 5 Sports GMT (SSK001). Seiko, already famous for pressure-cooking value into its mechanical pieces, developed a brand new movement for the updated GMT—a name for a watch that can track two time zones—series that barely affected thickness. If the SKX007 was the perfect first diver, the SSK001 captures that same feeling for the GMT.
