What is an affordable watch?

It's all subjective. Is it affordable as a watch or affordable as a luxury watch?

Right now for me, a $30 Casio is affordable. Last year, a $350 price was affordable.

But, forced to pick a one-size-fits-all criteria, I would pick C, under 1000 euros/dollars/Swiss francs.

Said 1000 euro as it is about $1000 USD and being in the US that is what I consider affordable.

Obviously it differs person to person, and how you prioritise spending. For me an artwork is affordable at £5k. A watch is affordable at less than €500.

It's always going to be a relative thing, but most reviewers consider up to the $1K price level "affordable".

You also have to bear in mind that affordable could mean different things to different people. For some "affordable" is something they can spend money on without thinking, and for others it might mean something they can save for over a reasonable timeframe.

I consider something in the $1-2K range affordable, with a bit of saving.

It was probably in line with what the Youtuber thought would be affordable for his viewer.

I think they mean relative to the mainstream brands that price their watches around 5 - 10K

Hmm, for me it was always the case that affordable equals cheap. But maybe I should let that go. Maybe cheap means without thinking and affordable means with a little saving. I'm switching my vote.

I’d say under $500 is affordable. It’s not cheap by any means, but I’d say brands like Orient, Seiko, and Citizen stay well below that mark and remain very affordable.

Age old question that has infinite answers,all of which are correct.

That is one of the best takes on affordability I've read in a while. What can I afford today? Not in the past or potentially the future. I am going B, $500, though. Lately, I got Casios and microbrands on the brain so it fits.

Affordable is subjective. To me “affordable” is an amount I can spend with the watch sight unseen and won’t be too bothered if the watch ends up being a dud. I think that number for me is around $500.

Not a simple answer:

A $100 I could purchase without considering the financial burden

A $500 watch would be a carefully considered purchase. I'd have to want it; not bought on a whim

A $1000 watch is a saved-for purchase.

A $5000 watch is a multi-month/year saving project.

Affordable has meaning to the buyer only. I have a $2.00 Chinese analog quartz that is as accurate as any Quartz watch out there. Does that count?

Commenting not to add any new takes or anything but just to marvel at how @English_archer seemingly rummaged around in my mind and dragged that list onto the surface. So, ditto, I guess

Everyone's affordable is different.

Over the years my personal definition has slippery-sloped its way upwards, from < $250 to about well, Christopher Ward prices exactly. When I use it with other enthusiasts, I tend to be saying, "$500 or less." When describing my hobby to normal people, I assume even $300 would probably seem outrageous, and I'll often dance around prices altogether: "Well, I'm not shopping for any Rolexes, ha ha!" for instance.

I answered as an average guy, not a watch collector, and I think the average person would think up to $100 is affordable.

Yep, this rings true for my view of things as well . . . of course, these categories will shift for others. I think anything other than option A always takes a great deal of consideration and research. Some collectors collect indiscriminately . . . that's fine and one way. But I like to curate my collection and think about what is the place of a particular watch. Some of the watches that I would like to be in my collection will take a few years to achieve . . . and I know there are some that will never happen . . . b/c even if I COULD afford those watches it simply wouldn't be prudent or responsible nor fit my life. I can admire some things without having them.

But like the last commenter . . . NONE of us are normal or average. Just the fact that we wear watches and are in a forum like this obliterates how others might view our spending habits no matter how frugal and conservative. A friend the other day asked me about my watches and I maybe made the mistake of droning on about Grand Seiko and then how Swatch helped save the Swiss industry and then flipped my Nomos over, so he could see the back . . . all was fine and well until he asked about how much watches were . . . and then there was a sudden shift in his face like I was a complete moron.

I'm new at this. I bought a €200 watch, then a €300 watch and last week I took a deep breath and spent €900 on a third. On that one I had an almost physical sensation of approaching a barrier beyond which there'd be a serious drop-off in the expenditure vs enjoyment stakes. I was quite relieved, to tell you the truth. Back to the land of sub-500 for me.

everything over 1k should be considered a luxury, since you don't need watches anyway.

everything from 500 to 1000 should be considered premium, since you don't need watches anyway.)

You got the gist.) But this is my subjective opinion anyways)

For my budget around that $100 mark is where my budget is at currently. But still having so much fun at this level.

Affordable is based on individual ability. What’s affordable to me may not be to someone else, and vice versa. Furthermore, what I deem as affordable now, was a nonstarter when I first got into the hobby.

One person's affordable is another person's grail; it's relative.

The Apple Watch is the standard wrist wear time telling device, and it does SOOOO much more. Anything that is cheaper than an Apple Watch is affordable as it replaces the ubiquitous tool with something less expensive. If you spend more than the price of an Apple Watch, you have moved into luxury territory as you are buying it with the belief that it has a specialness beyond the utility.

I doubt you just wanted a simple look into our wallets and come up with some kind of poll; only to come up with an average amount spent on a watch. So how about some perspective…When I turned 16 years old and got my license I bought my first vehicle. A 1986 Toyota pickup truck. It had over 120K miles, no air conditioner, roll up windows, and only an AM/FM radio. It was glorious! It was mine. There is no question if I bought what I could afford, that’s obvious. Did it satisfy me? Absolutely! I bought it and I ran the heck out of it. I remember washing it and waxing it over the small dents, and even touching up small paint chips where rust had started to develop around the fenders. I was proud to drive that truck.

Now I have watches worth more than the car I drive today, but I love wearing pieces from my Hamilton Khaki collection. In fact, one of my favorite watches to wear is the white dial Hamilton khaki I got off of Amazon for $400 I think. It’s simple, a tool, robust for what it is, and is as satisfying as driving that 1986 Toyota truck.

Its all relative, but for me if I were to try to objectively say what an affordable watch is, it’s between $100-$300; and once you get to the $500-$1,000 is where affordable becomes more relative and subjective. That’s just my take though

Actually, I hate the term affordable watch. Because it is so individual. And also because it's polarising and might be used derogatory.

Affordable for me depends on when I would wear a watch. Something wear for work in a factory would be around the £50 mark, but something special to wear 'for best' would be neaerer the £,1000 mark.

Everything is affordable if you have funds for it... i find myself eyeing casios as often as patek, but rarely pull the trigger unless i really want one. On the other hand, its also a matter of demand and supply so patience is also key

Depends on who you ask. My most expensive piece could be someone else’s daily beater. Personally I think a good starting point is $500-$1000, it’ll get you a good watch and decent quality. 5k is the sweet spot in regards of quality for money. Anything over 10k is paying for brand and the status that is attached to it.