Which watch brand currently represents the best value?

For me in price point order

Orient. Does the job that seiko used to do. I own several including a Ray 2 , Mako 2 and Kamasu. Well made, good specs and in-house movements.

Gekota. British microbrand very affordable with great specs. I have the Pioneer 3. Underappreciated in general even on watchcrunch I believe.

Christopher Ward obviously. I don't own one yet bit I will do. Generally held in high regard for amazing quality at the price point.

Tudor. I recently bought a Pelagos. It was expensive compared to all my other purchases and yet I still feel it offers tremendous value for money. Move over Rolex. Tudor is doing for Rolex like Orient is doing for Seiko.

There are lots of others but these are strong contenders?

Orient, CW, Oris, Longines, Tissot, Tudor.

Sadly Omega is pricing themselves out of this category, and I fear some others may as well.

For me personally without question, Tudor.

From my own experience, Hamilton has my choice of best value for money. From $300 to the $1000 mark there's so much there. But it's all subjective as well, I also get so much value out of my gshock or my Citizen promaster with eco- drive. It's about what makes you and your wallet happy.

Good answers so far. I’ll add Tissot, Hamilton and some Zodiac models with the Sellita movements.

I forgot Hamilton in my input! I have the khaki field mechanical. I'm after a khaki king. I totally agree you get great quality for your money sub £1k.

Always a good subject. I own a Rolex OP, a Tudor BB36, a Ball Fireman Nightbreaker, a Seiko Alpinist, three Christopher Ward watches, and a fair collection of micro brands. If you are looking for value for money micro brands tend to win hands down, especially if you include Christopher Ward in that category. Their spec and finishing is outstanding, and up their with brands such as Tudor and Longines etc. However, you can spend even less and get fantastic timepieces. Nodus are superb, as is my Second Hour Mandela, Atticus Meteora, Peran Nera Rogue, Zelos Horizons, Relio Solstice, echo/neutra Averau, and Mitch Mason Chronicle. None of these watches will break the bank, and the fit, finish and overall quality on them is outstanding.

Thanks thekris. I have a hard time putting Oris in this discussion. Nothing against the brand, lots to like there and they do it well but even entry level models with off-the-shelf movements no longer feel competitively priced and their in-house models seem aggressively high given some question marks over their reliability. Were you thinking of any Oris models specifically?

Good shout on Zodiac - any recommendations?

One that I don’t think has been mentioned yet is Glycine. They can often be found for ridiculously low prices (under $500), and yet have amazing specs for the money. In particular, Costco is currently running a sale on a model of Combat Sub for under $240. Who else makes a high beat Swiss automatic with 200M WR and a sapphire crystal in a case under 11mm thick at that price? No one.

Thanks for that. You raise an interesting point with Seiko. I don't really consider them good value given the preponderance of the 6R movements with so-so performance. Anyone feel Seiko should be considered a value prop against the competition mentioned here?

up to $1500 its Farer and it isn't close.then $1500--3k id go longines... a little higher id say omega (5k seamaster is nuts) and after that (6-8k) I would go grand seiko or cartier... higher than that... maybe iwc assuming you cant get a rolex for stock price.

Tudor is overrated IMO and sold my bb58 without missing it... as many have.

I’m only personally familiar with why BCPD bronze which I own. I think that watch is a great value as it’s (to me) more interesting that the bronze divers I generally see and the price is ok. Part of my inclusion of Oris is that their watches can usually be purchased at a discount online. At those prices, I think there’s good value.

As an example, you can get the BCPD Bronze for $700 less than list on Chrono24.

I have 3 Super Sea Wolf models. 2 with the STP movements and they’re sadly a little shaky - and one Pro Diver with a SW-200 which is great value based on specs. I love the brand’s free-spirited designs and colors. It’s worth some downtime for STP repairs.

Anything not housing an STP movement. Fossil did a lousy job of cloning the 2824-2. I’ve heard many reports of issues with the 1-11.