The Best Watches Under $1,000

Xetum

“Tissot is one of the brands that is considered to be the entry-level brand of luxury within the Swatch Group.“

Although you will find plenty of watches on AskMen that have five-digit price tags, how realistic is purchasing any of these for most of us? With this article, we want to show you that you can actually buy serious timepieces for under $1,000. 

We searched for watches with a mechanical movement, either hand-wound or self-winding. Brands are not as important to us here, as there are a lot of interesting watch manufacturers that are fairly unknown but deliver a very interesting timepiece for the cost. 

We only included new watches, no vintage watches. Vintage is a whole other area  that needs more explanation and knowledge about movements, heritage and valuation. We will certainly dedicate an article to affordable vintage watches in the future. 

Xetum Stinson

Price: $995
San Francisco-based watch company Xetum, founded by watch enthusiast Jeff Kuo, manufactures modern automatic wristwatches for a reasonable price and offers you eco-friendly pieces (environmentally friendly production and reuse of materials). Its Stinson watches retail for $995 and can be had with a black, off-white or brown dial (we prefer the brown). Xetum uses  sapphire crystal, a screw-down crown, an ETA 2824-2 Swiss-made movement, and 316L stainless steel for its watchcases. The watchcase has a 40mm diameter. You can either choose between a brown leather strap with cork lining or a stainless steel bracelet. All Xetum watches come with a two-year warranty. Buy it here.

Tissot Heritage Visodate

Price: $459
Tissot is part of the Swatch Group in Switzerland (yes, where it manufactures those colourful plastic watches). However,  the Swatch Group also owns a number of prestigious watch manufacturers like Breguet, Jaquet Droz, Blancpain, Omega,  Longines and more. Tissot is one of the brands that is considered to be the entry-level brand of luxury within the Swatch Group. With the $459 Heritage Visodate, Tissot definitely competes with some watches that are much more expensive. The Heritage Visodate is a watch that resembles the watches from the past, with its clean dial, dauphine hands, applied Tissot logo and arrow-shaped hour markers. That’s probably why Tissot called it the “Heritage.” Inside, a Swiss-made ETA movement caliber 2836-2 ticks away time and features a day-date function as well. This 40mm watch has a sapphire crystal to protect its dial and movement (on the back side). Tissot offers a two-year warranty on this model. Buy it here.

Sinn 556 I

Price: About $900
Sinn Spezialuhren is a German watch manufacturer from Frankfurt that has captured the hearts of many watch enthusiasts world wide. With its highly functional timepieces, clever innovations and honest pricing you are sure to have a watch on your wrist that can stand some serious abuse. For those who have an active life or simply need a watch that can take a beating or two, you might want to consider the Sinn 556 I. With a price tag of almost $900 for the version with a leather strap (a stainless steel bracelet or a silicon strap is optional), it is one of our favourite watches under $1,000. The Sinn 556 I has a 38.5mm case made out of stainless steel, a sapphire crystal on the front and back side of the watch and a screw-down crown to ensure water resistance. The case has a satinised finish and is water resistant up to 20 bar. The movement inside is a Swiss-made ETA 2824-2 caliber. Sinn made sure the movement is antimagnetic and shock resistant according to DIN specifications, which are German (read: high) standards. 
Buy it here.

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