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Everyone knows Rolex makes quality luxury watches that are lusted after and Omega has a timepiece that once went to the moon on an astronaut. But for those new to the watch-collecting scene, or guys who want to branch out from their tried-and-true brands, it’s difficult to suss out what watch—from tough digitals to handsome mechanicals—is right for your wrist.
Hence our evolving Watch Guide, which spans a wide range of brands. Practically every activity and occasion can be enhanced with the help of a trusty watch. Let us give you the guidance and direction required to buy your next favorite watch.
Best Watches for Men in 2024 at a Glance
- Best Breitling Watch: Navitimer
- Best Bulova Watch: Oceanographer “Devil Diver”
- Best Casio Watch: Pro Trek PRW6900YB-3
- Best Citizen Watch: Zenshin Three Hand
- Best G-Shock Watch: Diffuse Nebula MTGB3000DN1A
- Best Movado Watch: Alta Se Automatic Chronograph
- Best Omega Watch: Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional
- Best Seiko Watch: Prospex Sea 1965 Diver
- Best TAG Heuer Watch: Carrera Chronograph
- Best Timex Watch: Expedition Titanium Automatic
- Best Watch Under $100: G-SHOCK GA700F-1A
- Best Watch Under $200: Bertucci A-3PS Solar Field
- Best Watch Under $500: Seiko “Turtle” SRPE93
- Best Watch Under $1,000: Hamilton Murph
- Best Adventure Watch: Garmin Fenix 8
- Best Dive Watch: Rolex Submariner
- Best Field Watch: Rolex Explorer
- Best Smartwatch: Apple Watch Series 10, Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
Best Breitling Watches of 2024
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A perennial favorite among pilots and aviation fans, Breitling is one of the most notable players in the luxury watch industry. Breitling Navitimer is our pick for the best overall; it’s the first watch to incorporate a logarithmic slide rule on the dial. Today, Breitling makes watches for use in the air, on land, and under the sea.
Best Bulova Watches of 2024
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Bulova continues to make superb contemporary watches and vintage-inspired pieces worthy of admiration for their quality and relative affordability. We especially love Oceanographer “Devil Diver,” a fun and funky cushion-case dive watch the brand recently revived from its archives.
Best Casio Watches of 2024
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Casio basically launched the digital watch world when it introduced the first digital wristwatch back in 1974. Since then, it’s gone on to create a myriad of timepieces in both digital and analogue forms. For the best overall, we give the nod to the tough and adventure-oriented Pro Trek PRW6900YB-3.
Best Citizen Watches of 2024
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We gathered up the best Citizen watches, from entry-level timepieces that cost a few hundred bucks to stunners that cost a few thousand. Our top pick, Zenshin Three Hand, is not only a solid value, but will certainly catch some eyes around town.
Best G-SHOCK Watches of 2024
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G-SHOCK timepieces continue to garner a reputation for withstanding even the most rugged situations and destinations—from the bottom of the sea to the middle of the desert and beyond. For the best around, we give the nod to Diffuse Nebula MTGB3000DN1A.
Best Movado Watches of 2024
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While Movado watches skew toward the more affordable and entry-level buyer, the brand has more than a few fans out there. Movado Alta Se Automatic Chronograph is the watch of the moment.
Best Omega Watches of 2024
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Omega Speedmaster was the first watch worn on the moon, which is why, not coincidentally, the modern version, Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional, is our best pick overall.
Best Seiko Watches of 2024
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From high-tech divers to classy dress watches to sporty everyday options, Seiko timepieces are known for being affordable, dependable, sturdy, and well-crafted. Our top pick, Seiko Prospex Sea 1965 Diver, embodies that ethos as it’s a recreation of the famous 1965 diver.
Best TAG Heuer Watches of 2024
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TAG Heuer has been making watches since 1860 and has arguably never been more popular than it is today. Our favorite overall from the LVMH-owned clock crafter is Carrera Chronograph. It’s tough to find a more beautiful piece.
Best Timex Watches of 2024
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Timex has been making clocks since 1854, and since entering the market has looked to make timepieces accessible to the masses, rather than just the top one percent. Expedition Titanium Automatic, with its eco-friendly leather strap, is our best overall pick. It embodies the brand’s modern ethos, delivering durability and quality alongside modern considerations and affordability.
Best Watches Under $100 of 2024
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Finding a watch for less than $100 that isn’t junk by year’s end is challenging. The truth is, everyone wants a good deal, but few are willing to do the work to find it. Our favorite is G-SHOCK GA700F-1A. It’s got everything you could want from a well-priced timepiece.
Best Watches Under $200 of 2024
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Whether you’re just starting out your collection or looking for something inexpensive to add to your existing rotation, buying some of the best affordable watches means you get to own a rolodex of timepieces that vary from sporty to classic. If we’re giving a recommendation, the best watch under $200 is Bertucci A-3PS Solar Field. It has bold numerals and broad hands, along with a heavy-duty construction that will last for years.
Best Watches Under $500 of 2024
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For those of us who don’t have the opportunity to throw down tens of thousands of dollars on a Rolex or the latest Richard Mille, there are still quality watches available for under $500, like Seiko “Turtle” SRPE93. It takes all the practicality of a dive watch and puts it into a fashionable (yet affordable) package.
Best Watches Under $1,000 of 2024
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You can finally find watches under $1,000 that you’ll own for a lifetime—timepieces that are their own pinnacles of watch collecting. The one we suggest most is Hamilton Murph Field Watch, which is based off the watch worn by Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar. It’s a Swiss-made timepiece from a legacy American brand. It’s hard to imagine a better daily watch at this price point.
Best Dive Watches of 2024
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For watch lovers, dive watches are an alluring way to tell the time. Their simple designs look cool and are instantly legible. Plus, divers are mechanically over-engineered to take a beating, so you can knock them around a fair bit without much worry, which is exactly why Rolex Submariner reigns supreme among dive watches.
Best Field Watches of 2024
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The wristwatch was an essential piece of frontline gear by WWII and makers around the world were creating simple, functional field watches specifically for military use—a tradition that continues today. Rolex Explorer is our best overall pick. It’s one of the most rugged and capable timepieces ever made.
Best Smartwatches of 2024
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While smartwatches can’t do everything your phone does, they’re close, bringing in loads of health, fitness, and safety features that make them a great complement to your phone. Apple Watch Series 10 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic are the best of the bunch, depending on which smartphone ecosystem you live in.
Best Sport Watches of 2024
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Our favorite sport, or adventure, watches are rugged and pack easy-to-use features that enhance your time outdoors instead of forcing you to focus on tech when you’re heading outside to unplug. For those reasons, Garmin Fenix 8 is our top pick.
How to Buy a Great Watch
The first thing to know about watches is that anyone can get into them no matter the budget. It’s easy to get intimidated by videos of people handling watches with white gloves and using technical language to talk about them. But the higher up you go, seeking advice from respected collectors, the simpler their advice gets: Buy what you love.
Now, if what you love is a vintage Paul Newman Daytona, then following this advice is easier said than done. So, a better goal may be buying what you love within your budget. There are cool and interesting watches at every level, and there will always be one you want but can’t have, so enjoy the watch of right now.
If we had to pick a best overall watch to point you toward, it would be the classic, stylish, and high-quality Omega Speedmaster Professional. It’s an investment piece you could leave to your kids. For those on a smaller budget, but also enamored with watches that went to the moon, we whole-heartedly endorse our runner-up, Bulova Lunar Pilot. The finish and details on this watch make it able to hang with virtually any luxury Swiss sports watch out there (well, in every way but price).
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Watch Styles
Once you’re immune to watch world pretentiousness and are ready to embrace the coolest watch in your budget, it’s time to decide what kind of watch you’re into. Do you want the utilitarian look of a dive watch, the military aesthetic of a field watch, a racing chronograph with subdials, a pilot watch, a dress watch, or something totally different? Explore the different genres and have fun with the search.
In an era when our phones can automatically adjust to any time zone in the world with perfect accuracy, and grant us access to the knowledge of mankind, you don’t really need a watch to do anything other than tell you the time and to feel good on your wrist. That said, know that buying fashion watches is best avoided. This category refers to any watches branded with a fashion label instead of a watch brand, and with the notable exception of Hermès watches, fashion watches are the equivalent of costume jewelry.
How to Pick a Watch Size
Once you’ve decided on the style of watch you’re looking for, determine what sizes will look best on your wrist—36mm was once a standard men’s watch size but would now be considered the smallest that most men would wear. A 45mm watch, meanwhile, will dwarf a smaller wrist and look awkward. For most men’s wrists, 38mm to 42mm is usually the sweet spot.
Go try on watches at a store, or if that’s not possible, many watch websites now have virtual try-ons so you can take a picture of your wrist with your phone, then see the watch on your arm on your computer. This is not ideal, though, because the thickness of a watch is a big part of how big it feels, but at least you can see the width and the lug-to-lug distance—i.e., the distance from the lugs that hold the strap above 12 o’clock to the lugs that hold it below 6 o’clock.
Lug-to-lug is an important dimension because if a watch is narrow but has a long lug-to-lug distance, it can feel larger than you’d expect based on the width alone. Similarly, if a watch is neither wide nor long on lug-to-lug but is extremely thick, it can feel bigger than expected.
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Watch Movements
You’ll hear a lot about movements. The movement, or caliber (often spelled calibre), is the system of gears and springs that run the hands and complications of a watch. They can be automatic or self-winding, where a weight inside the watch winds a spring that powers the movement. Or manual-winding, where the wearer winds the spring every day, or every few days, to keep it going. They can be quartz movements, where a battery powers the gears and you change it every few years, or solar quartz, where it gets its power from sunlight and never needs winding or a battery change. If pure functionality were the goal, then even the finest watches would probably be solar quartz, but pure functionality takes a back seat to tradition in watch collecting.
Broadly speaking, the best watch movements are made in Switzerland and Japan. As mentioned above, mechanical watches are more coveted by collectors than quartz watches. But often this preference is overblown by people just getting into watches and wanting to appear savvy by affecting a disdain for anything that isn’t mechanical. Even serious watch collectors respect quartz when it’s the right movement in the right watch. Here’s what else to look for:
Manufacture Caliber or In-House Movement
These are movements made by the watch companies themselves. These are generally found on higher-end watches like Rolex and Omega, but more affordable in-house movements can be found with a handful of brands, such as Oris, Seiko, and Yema.
Third-party movements made by Sellita from Switzerland or Miyota from Japan are very common, and typically less expensive while still being respected and reliable. A primary benefit of an in-house movement is the freedom of a custom fit. Whereas, if you’re a watchmaker using a third-party movement, certain specs of your watch case have to match to specs of the movement or else it won’t fit.
Master Chronometer
This is a certification of the accuracy of a watch. Phonetically, this is easy to confuse with the word “chronograph”—a type of watch usually designed for racing that has subdials that act as a stopwatch for measuring minutes, seconds, and fractions of seconds while the main watch hands continue to function as normal.
Some chronograph watches are certified master chronometers, but any watch can be a master chronometer if it passes the certification. That said, this certification is primarily a sales tool for luxury watch companies, because a far less expensive watch with a radio-connected solar quartz movement would still put any master chronometer automatic to shame.
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Why Get Into Watch Collecting?
Watches can be a good investment, but passion should be the driving force behind your choice of watch, not social status or potential ROI. Watches are the closest thing to jewelry most men will wear on a daily basis other than their wedding rings, so why not make a meal of it?
Watch history is human history because time has always been the most valuable asset we have. Through watches you can learn about wars, sporting triumphs, trips to the moon and to the depths of the ocean. Just don’t get caught up in obsessing over specs to sound smart or to find a way to justify a large purchase—and always remember that the most important thing is to buy what you love, within the budget that you can afford. Focus on the value that you give a watch through the way it makes you feel, and the journeys and experiences you have while wearing it. In the eyes of the beholder, a Timex passed down from a father can be worth more than a Rolex in the window of a boutique.
Why You Should Trust Us
This year’s Watch Awards is our rundown of the best watches to wear across a variety of occasions. Our team of watch-loving editors and writers—including Stinson Carter, Nicholas McClelland, Christopher Friedmann, and Justin Park—leveraged decades of experience—gleaning insights from horologists and wear-testing everything from rugged GPS tools to luxe timepieces—to give superlative picks among various brands and categories.
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