I went on a bit of an affordable watch buying spree and picked up several watches in the Sub-$1000 category. Three of these watches clocked in under $500, and it gave me the inspiration for an article because I realized that there is definately a niche that these affordable watches fill. I have had my share of bargain mechanicals liks Trias in the past, and was disappointed. This new breed of watch is quite different from the last, however. I’ll be releasing video reviews for some of these watches as well in the future. The prices I am going by are the available online prices for these watches new, not the MSRP or the used prices. I’ll start from lowest to highest priced.

1. Alpha Radiomir Automatic – $65US
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The first watch is an Alpha Radiomir with a Japanese Miyota movement, probably the best movement that Alpha uses, as most of their other watches use fairly unreliable Chinese movements with questionable accuracy. Their cases on the other hand are very well made, and a steal given the ridiculously low prices. This is the perfect mechanical watch if your budget is below $100.

2. Ticino Stealth Military Pilot Watch – $199US
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The Ticino is a nice budget watch with a cool Pilot look without the price tag associated with it like most 47mm pilots like the Steinhart/Debaufre Nav B-Uhr, or even more so the IWC Big Pilot. The Ticino is also available in this cool stealthy black case with a completely sterile dial. Very nice touch. The watch is completely Chinese made, but good value, especially if this is all you can afford. Manual winding Unitas clone movement in this one.

3. Pyrolume Mechanical Pilot – $400US
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Pyrolume is an interesting brand out of the US here, hand assembled in a one-man shop. The watches are mostly constructed out of Chinese-made parts, except for the dials which are CNC machined in-house by the watchmaker. The mechanical movements are either Chinese Unitas Clones or Japanese Miyota automatics mostly, very similar to the $65 Alpha Watch. The watches have very unique and memorable dials of the watchmaker’s own designs, and are the primary reason for buying these watches. The accuracy on mine is not very good. For a primarily Chinese-made product, it is pricey, but his dials are one-of-a-kind. Currently available only through eBay.

4. Swiss Army Ambassador Day-Date – $450US
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Victorinox Swiss Army is probably one of the most underrated brands of watches I have ever seen. Their watches are a bit more mass-market, and likely brushed aside by WIS, but the value is undeniable. Retail price on this Ambassador is around $750, but it can usually be picked up online for around $400-475US new. This is a completely swiss made watch, with a decorated rotor, sapphire crystals front and back! And not to mention the dial is quite stunning. Pricing is very much inline with Hamilton watches. Victorinox makes a very good watch for the money.

5. Wilson Watch Works Unitas Navigator – $460US
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Wilson watch works is one of my favourite places to pick up a $500 watch. His watches are probably the priciest of the bunch, but justifiably so. The cases are sourced from Germany, as are the dials, sapphire crystals, Double AR coating on the front. Movement is Swiss made Unitas, and timed and regulated. Compared with watches at several hundred more. At this price competition is stiff, but the Wilson Stands out especially if you like the pilot style watch. Currently available only through eBay.

Overall, all these watches offer something unique for the pricepoint, and will appeal to different people. The key thing is to remember that there are lots of great choices out there for any budget, and to have fun when you are collecting!