The Best Men's Watches Under $500, According to Watch People

Read on for the 16 best watches under $500 as suggested by our experts, which range from military, racing, and naval-inspired pieces to a remake of a 1960s dress watch and a Timex that takes its cues from a 1950s Rolex Hodinkee COO Eneuri Acosta calls it a "Robust great entry into mechanical watches," and William Massena, a known collector and the managing director of TimeZone, says the Hamilton Khaki Field is "One of the most affordable Swiss-made watches in the world." Inspired by "The watches Hamilton made for the U.S military in the 1960s," according to dealer Eric Wind of Wind Vintage, this is still fitted with a manual-wind movement, so you'll never have to replace a battery.

Hamilton Powell, the CEO of online watch dealer Crown & Caliber, tells us the watch "Checks so many of the boxes collectors look for: a great vintage feel and a reissue design that's faithful to its predecessor." Both Powell and Acosta also praise the watch's distinctive, "Extremely durable" nylon NATO strap - which, yes, refers to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, specifically to the straps the British Ministry of Defence began using on soldiers' watches in 1973, which secure on the wrist in two places Matteo Violet-Vianello, a sales expert at vintage-watch-resale platform a Collected Man, tells us that Seiko diver's watches have amassed a serious following in the last few years "On account of their robustness, workhorse movement, and classic, sporty aesthetic." He adds that, "Unlike many modern manufacturers that have jumped onto the tool-watch trend in the last few years, Seiko has a true heritage of diver's watches that goes all the way back to 1965, when they introduced a model resistant to 150 meters." While this spike in popularity means that many of Seiko's dive watches have crept up in price, Acosta says the SRPB53 "Delivers with a classic colorway and a comfortable rubber strap that is ready for the water" For a relatively affordable watch from a less-well-known brand, Wind suggests this Dan Henry chronograph, telling us that its dial is "So beautifully crafted it could be on a watch that costs $100,000" Inspired by steel chronographs from the 1930s, he says the watch is "Incredibly sophisticated and eye-catching" Chronograph watches typically feature faces with additional, smaller subdials that, like a stopwatch, can track elapsed time by seconds, minutes, and hours, depending on the manufacturer's preferences.

More than one of those timepieces come from Swatch's Sistem51 series, which Wind describes as "An interesting and notable endeavor to create robotic-made, sealed, mechanical watches by a company known for making battery-powered watches." Wind's favorite Sistem51 watch is the Knight, which is encased in durable steel If Snoopy's not your style, Timex's standard reissued Marlin watch comes recommended by Violet-Vianello, who calls it a "Well-thought-out homage to the 1960s - an idolized period of watch design - by an American manufacturer that has put its name on watches for almost 80 years." He adds that "With its sunburst dial, retro numerals, and manually wound caliber, this model incorporates much of the satisfaction of owning a vintage piece - with none of the hassle." James Stacey, another Hodinkee editor, recommended this watch to us years ago. . Source