While poking around the bowels of Amazon, we noticed something slightly surprising — sprinkled among the site’s many, many men’s watches from brands you’ve never heard of were plenty of actually great timepieces, from known makers like Braun, Nixon, Timex, Skagen, and Daniel Wellington. The best part? Lots of them cost under $150. It’s true that people are less inclined to wear watches these days, but a lot of these watches are so fun — and affordable — that we think you might be convinced to go analog again (okay, there are a few digital watches here too, but you know what we mean).
The military-style Timex Weekender is a classic at a great price. We like the rugged look of the olive nylon band and off-white dial, but there are plenty of other options, including one with Snoopy in a space suit.
This old-school Casio G-Shock is simple and durable, with plenty of throwback style. Plus, it’s much more low-profile than your typical G-Shock.
With its black, genuine leather strap and silver dial, Timex’s Metropolitan watch makes for a sophisticated and surprisingly affordable timepiece.
A self-winding automatic watch at less than $70 is basically unheard of, and the brushed-steel casing and blue canvas band give this a refined-but-casual look.
While it’s not exactly built for diving deep underwater, this watch looks just as nice as any fancy diving watch we’ve seen.
You can’t go wrong with with this elegant, stripped-down Fossil watch. The numberless black dial with white markings is sophisticated and still easy to read.
Black mesh metal and large gold numbers give this big Airplane Cockpit Energy.
Another military-style watch, from the brand Citizen. The black dial and prominent markings give it the look of an expensive diver’s watch, while the olive canvas band makes it a little more understated.
We love the simultaneously understated and bold ’70s vibe of this gold Nixon.
Regular readers will know we are big fans of a classic Dieter Rams Braun number, and this watch is no exception. The mesh metal band, white dial, and probably-Helvetica hour markers are all part of its iconic look.
We’ve been seeing these minimalist Daniel Wellington watches everywhere (and not just on those subways that are plastered with the brand’s ads featuring Hailey Bieber and Odell Beckham Jr.). They’re popular for a reason: These sleek watches look like they could easily be ten times the price.
This one came to us via our Resident Cool Guy Chris Black, who says it’s “the perfect choice if you want something new and crushingly simple. A truly ‘less-is-more’ piece of wristwear, it says I am smart and successful, but don’t need a piece of high-end wristwear to prove it.”
For some reason, we’re really into vintage-looking digital watches right now, so here’s another from Adidas that feels almost “retro-future,” like something you’d see in Blade Runner.
The brown leather band, deep-blue dial, and multiple stopwatch dials give this a sporty — but still classic — look.
Because you’re wondering: The second hand is yellow, the minute hand white, and the hour hand gray. Wear this watch and tell people you’re an architect or something. They’ll believe you.
Lacoste isn’t just for preps. Done in black with a textured rubber band, this watch is very stealth (with the exception of the green alligator logo, of course).
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