Best Budget Friendly Watch for Beginner Collectors

For major brands, Timex, Casio, Orient are probably good places to start. Seiko and Citizen for a tier above, and then Tissot and Hamilton. Happy hunting!

Thank you for the brand recommendations 😃

For traditional brands i would add Certina and Junghans

You can also check out some trending microbrands like baltic or brew. Also not a bad way to start imo

Alright thanks for the suggestions 😁

You can’t go  with casio’s

cause they provide best VFM

and they are god tier

seiko 5

casio (most collect g shock) 

swatch

Bulova maybe? Lots og affordable and interesting micro brands out there to 😁

Oh, and Vostok! But who want's to wall around with a russian watch these days 😢

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, really appreciate it ❤️

Alright so I’d say: I don’t know what your budget is but I would advise to spend around 200$ to Check if you’re that much into it. 

For dress watches

orient - bambino 

seiko - a lot of stuff 

For Divers 

Vostok 

orient 

seiko 5 

for Chronos 

anything Seagull if you want mechanical 

mechaquartz - Dan henry has a lot to offer 

Quartz - junghans Form C chronoscope is a really solid dressy option

Seiko, Timex, Citizen. For microbrands - Vaer, Boldr, Phoibos. 

Try Seiko 5 for a start.

Thanks for the tips 👍

I agree with the above suggestions, anything from Casio or the Seiko 5 collection is guaranteed to be a solid choice.

I have a G-shock that I like and wear way more than I thought I would and I want to add a 5KX to my collection at some point but I can't decide on which colour-way😂

Depends, what is affordable to you?

Yes, and it would be great if the watch had a 24 hour movement in the case. They put a 24 hour dial on a watch with a 12 hour movement. 🤣 The indices and numbers are useless for actually telling time.

Seiko 5, Orient, Vostok

Tons of options under $200 USD

Yes, the 24h watch is rather embarrassing. Beside tool watches, Ochstin has a few fancy looking dress watches. Recently, I ordered this one from them.

Hasn't arrived yet, but £27 for an automatic watch, leather strap, sapphire crystal, applied indices, framed date? If it really looks like that in the flesh I'm a happy bunny.

They say he only wears pin-pallet watches when it’s a full moon.  

rolex sub.......🤣🤣🤣🤣😅😅😅

I do agree that there is value in most of their models, like the field watch I have next to the 24 hour dial. I also like this pilot's watch and will probably get one soon.

However, this pointer date hand is also deeply flawed. I saw this one on Half Past Blog's YouTube channel.

I would have to say orient. They have in house movements and there price point is awsome. They have a watch for every type of taste.

Assembling a watch is another great option. You can get a case, dial, hands, and NH movement for about the same price as a Seiko 5.

Timex, but don't be like me and become so enamored with the brand, you buy 60 of them in 18 months.  lol.  They do make a great budget friendly watch and heir heritage is hard to beat.  They are bringing a lot of their mechanical and automatics back, and they take a licking and keep on ticking.  

I reckon Hamilton is one of the best collectors entries, great history, awesome movement, great build quality and very affordable for what you get. 

Tissot is often overlooked, the LeLocle is such a stunning watch, or even the PRX is quite special:

At the end of the day, you have to start your collection with something you really like, you have to look at the time and feel happy and satisfied and then sometime just look a the time to look at the watch, be it a  Swatch or a Patek Phillipe it has to give you fuzzy feelings.

That pilot's watch I actually own, in black though. It's pretty much a design clone to one of those Hamilton Khaki ones, which I didn't know when I bought it. The date window on that pilot's watch has not been done well - window too small, font too small, too far back. The band on that watch was too long, and with no second keeper the end stuck out like the little pinky of Dr Evil; but that is easily enough replaced.

Yeah, Ochstin watches all seem to have their little issues. Adjusting the time and date on the field watch is tricky as there are no definite clicks when pulling the crown out, so it is a guessing game for the quick set date function. I will still probably get one of the pilot's watches; it's not like they are expensive. 😀

I have a question about the case; does it feel like 316L or something lighter to you? These cases feel like brass to me; sort of like a Timex Weekender case. 😕

Not sure I have enough experience for those finer distinctions. It does say "stainless steel" on the back of the watch, may be not be 316L, but it does not feel like brass to me. The listing I bought it from has acquired >100 user reviews by now - none of them mentions the case.

Casio has been named but didnt hear a mention of the infamous DURO.  A lot of watch for $40.  

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/casio-duro-dive-watch-mdv106-1a

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Casio-Men-s-Black-Dive-Style-Sport-Watch-MDV106-1AV/21672924

Sooner or later you will buy a Casio. They have so much variety. Seiko 5's are reasonably priced.

Not all Chinese watches are junk. Read up and buy carefully.  Don't expect any watch to increase in value.