This article contains affiliate links. That means I get paid a commission if you click them and purchase something.

It is of my opinion that every man should own a nice watch.

A lot of people will say things like “well if you need to look at the time you can just look at your phone” to rationalize that owning a watch is useless.

While that may be the case, the amount of times I’ve been out and about and have had somebody ask me the time is innumerable.

While it is true you could just grab your phone and find out the time that way, it’s cumbersome and takes longer.

I can open packages with my keys, that doesn’t mean I should own a boxcutter.

A watch still has a functional purpose so don’t believe the naysayers.

With that out of the way, the main reason I think every man should own a watch is because of how attractive it makes you.

As a man having a nice watch makes you look more mature, refined, punctual, and put together.

While a cheap Casio or Timex works well enough for the function of telling the time, they make you look pretty juvenile.

There’s a reason I wear my watch in every single one of my videos.

There’s a reason people wear watches to interviews.

There’s a reason people wear watches when meeting with clients.

I HIGHLY implore you to own at least one nice watch.

All of the watches listed in this article are at reasonable price points and most of them are from brands that even watch snobs won’t give you a hard time about.

Speaking of brands: I see a lot of men getting MVMT, Daniel Wellington and Vincero watches.

These brands are shit.

Basically, you are paying $150~$200 for what is, essentially, a $15 watch. The markup is ridiculous and (in my opinion) they look like trash.

A lot of these watches will have some commonalities. For example, most of them have metal bands, Speedmaster-style lugs, and black or blue dials.

I highly recommend going with a metal band for your first watch because matching your leather bands to your shoes and other accessories becomes a HUGE pain in the ass.

Metal bands are just way more versatile. Swapping your bands out to wear your watch with different pairs of shoes or owning different pairs of watches for different shoes is just, like I said, a huge pain in the ass.

Speedmaster-style lugs (lugs are those things that connect the watch to the band) I find typically look the best. To me (and a lot of other people) they just look more refined (and luxurious) than most other lug styles.

I also highly recommend a black or blue dial (the dial is the watch face) for your first watch. They typically not only stand out the most but look the best. There’s a reason they’re some of the most popular dial colors. Blue is slightly more versatile than black but, generally speaking, they’re both great options. Green dials are another option worth considering (and also extremely versatile), as well as burgundy/red dials if you desire something a little louder.

I find that lighter dials on budget-oriented watches just don’t look as nice. They work well with nicer watches, especially cream dials and off-white dials, but on budget watches, they just tend to be lacking.

Every one of these watches except for one has an automatic movement instead of quartz movement.

Basically, a quartz movement keeps time better. Automatic watches usually lose a few seconds every day and need to be put on a winder if you don’t want to have to adjust the time every time you leave them off for more than a day.

I don’t see a problem with owning a quartz watch (especially a solar one), the thing is the best-valued watches typically tend to be automatic watches.

Quite a few automatic watches also have open case backs that let you look at the piece of engineering beauty that is the watch movement.

These are the watches I would highly recommend for those interested in their first real watch:

Invicta 89O2CB

Some watch snobs might give you a bit of crap for wearing Invicta but to the layperson (and the less pretentious people who like watches) it’s a nice, attractive watch. This watch is a Rolex submariner homage. In the world of watches, a homage is basically a clone (but not counterfeit.)

For the price (typically $80) it’s a nice value. It has a Japanese automatic movement and doesn’t look cheap. It is water-resistant to 200 meters so you can take it swimming, shower with it on, etc. You can pretty much do anything but scuba dive with this guy on your wrist.

Seiko SNKL43/SNKL45

This is the watch that I own.

Seiko is a juggernaut when it comes to value watches (especially the Seiko 5 line of watches.) If watches went to high school the Seiko 5 would’ve been voted “most likely to be recommended as someone’s first watch.”

The Seiko SNKL is, to me, the most attractive of the Seiko 5 watches.

It is very similar to Seiko’s SARB watch, which is also considered by many to be one of the most attractive Seiko watches.

In the right lighting the dial of this watch has a beautiful sunburst effect. It also has an open case back so you can see the movement in action.

Out of all of the money I’ve ever spent on my style this is probably one of my most favorite purchases.

This watch is only water-resistant to 30 meters so you’re going to want to be careful with it around water.

If you want the blue dial you’ll want a SNKL43, if you want the black dial you’ll want the SNKL45.

Bulova American Clipper

A lot of watches I chose for this article are pretty popular watches. This one is an exception.

The reason I decided to add this watch in was because it makes an excellent direct alternative to minimalist watches like MVMT (and brands like it.)

It has extremely slim indices to mark the hours and very slim simple hands.

For minimalist watches, I find lugs similar to the ones this one uses are a bit better than Speedmaster style lugs.

This watch also has an open case back.

I’d highly recommend this for any of you super metropolitan types that are oh so in love with minimalism.

Just like the Seiko SNKL, this guy is only water-resistant to 30 meters so you’re going to want to be careful with it around water.

Orient Kamasu

Orient is another powerhouse in the world of value watches.

This is a really nice diver watch for the money and it even has a sapphire crystal (which is more scratch-resistant than the mineral crystal on the watches listed prior.)

It’s water-resistant to 200 meters so just like the Invicta you can pretty much do anything but scuba dive with this guy on.

It has a Japanese automatic movement with a closed case back.

If you like the dive watch style but don’t like how similar the Invicta watch looks to a Rolex or desire something with better craftsmanship this is a really good option.

 

G-Shock GA-2101-1A1

This is the watch for the guy who’s not ready to move on to something a little more sophisticated.

I had second thoughts about including this watch because of how, like I said, Casios can look kind of juvenile. However, I feel that this watch, while not being as refined and mature as the other watches on this list, is still a really beautiful watch that is a great option for someone looking to own a watch.

Its nickname is the Casioak because its bezel is similar to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak’s. It is hands down the best-looking G-Shock available right now, and probably the only one capable of fetching compliments.

There are few things to keep in mind before purchasing this guy.

First of all the digital windows can be a little hard to read and can be covered by the analog hands.

Second of all, there’s no digital date window.

If you can get past those two things this is a really great, durable, watch that is in high demand. It boasts a 200-meter water resistance like the two divers on this list so you don’t really have to worry about anything water-related affecting it (besides scuba diving.)

Movado Modern 47

Just like the G-Shock I had reservations about putting this guy on the list.

Some watch snobs dislike Movado even more than they dislike Invicta because they feel like Movado rests on the laurels of its Museum watch design without innovating and that it’s not a great value.

And it isn’t an amazing value in terms of craftsmanship, that’s true. But it is a great value when it comes to design.

There’s a reason they rested on their laurels with this watch design. It’s really good. It was even the first dial to be accepted by the Museum of Modern Art.

So many of my past clients like this watch I felt like I had to include it.

It is also pretty much the ultimate minimalist watch. I mean look at it, it doesn’t even HAVE minute or hour markets.

This is also the only watch I’m including in this list that has a leather band. This is because the version with the metal band I find not only looks worse but costs nearly twice the price.

It has a sapphire crystal and is water-resistant to 30 meters.

Who cares what watch snobs have to think. The objective is for you to look good, not for you to be validated by nerds who spend WAY too much on horology.

Thank you for reading!