Case Size: 39mm, Thickness: 12mm, Lug to Lug: 48mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Water Resistance: 200m, Movement: Auto Tudor MT5402, Power Reserve: 70 Hours, Crystal: Sapphire
Tudor’s Black Bay 58 was an instant hit when it was first released in 2018. Of Tudor’s dozens of Black Bay variants, the Black Bay 58 is the first to feature a smaller 39mm case, a size that makes the BB58 more suitable for watch lovers with smaller wrists, including myself. With the gold-plated dial and hands and the red triangle on the bezel at 12 o’clock, the rich vintage feel on the Black Bay 58 immediately checked many boxes for collectors, and even required waiting lists at many dealers. For an impressively reasonable price of $3,700, you get a COSC-certified in-house movement, exceptional build quality, and a watch that looks like a killer. With Rolex’s sister brand, Tudor, you can definitely make the most of your cash.
Case Size: 42mm, Thickness: 14.3mm, Lug to Lug: 50mm, Lug Width: 22mm, Water Resistance: 500m, Movement: Auto Tudor MT5612, Power Reserve: 70 Hours, Crystal: Sapphire .
One of the most overlooked watches in the Tudor collection is its technologically advanced Pelagos diver’s watch. The Pelagos retails at a similar price to Omega’s Seamaster Diver 300M, with more interesting tech and a more modern feel. Overall, the look of the Pelagos can easily be described as a clean diver’s watch design. However, Pelagos is cleverly equipped with 500-meter water resistance, an in-house movement with a 70-hour power reserve, an automatic helium escape valve at nine o’clock, an incredible titanium bracelet and Tudor’s own sliding lock mechanism, There’s also a matte ceramic bezel, all priced under $5,000, which is a serious value proposition. The Tudor Pelagos is a serious dive watch that will satisfy the needs of professional divers and enthusiasts alike.
Breitling Superocean Heritage 57
Case Size: 42mm, Thickness: 10mm, Lug to Lug: 46mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Water Resistance: 100m, Movement: Breitling B10 based on Auto ETA 2892, Power Reserve: 42 hours, Crystal: Sapphire.
Breitling’s SuperOcean Heritage ’57 watch quickly became popular among collectors, thanks in part to clever digital marketing by Breitling CEO Georges Kern. As the name suggests, the SuperOcean Heritage ’57 is inspired by the Breitling diver’s watch in 1957, when diver’s watches were born as a category. While we can say that the Heritage ’57 isn’t a true diver’s watch (Breitling doesn’t really market these as diver’s watches), the ’57 wears its SuperOcean name adequately, with 100m water resistance, a concave rotating bezel, a clear Easy-to-read, illuminated dial and earpiece, and highly wear-resistant 10mm thickness. While the larger 44mm SuperOcean is more of a true tool diver, we gave the Breitling Superocean Heritage ’57 a pass for its value proposition, good design, and restrained, comfortable size specification.
Case Dimensions: 42mm, Thickness: 9.8mm, Lug to Lug: 50mm, Lug Width: 24mm, Water Resistance: 300m, Movement: BR CAL.302 based on Auto Sellita SW300-1, Power Storage: Hours, Crystal: Sapphire.
Bell & Ross is one of the younger luxury brands in the watch market, initially strongly influenced by Sinn Watches founder Helmut Sinn. In 1997, B&R released the Hydromax, an oil-filled dive watch that survived 11,000 meters in the open ocean. Most recently, in 2017, B&R introduced a diver’s watch BR03-92 with its signature square meter case. The design challenges of making a square case, ISO certified diver make it an interesting and impressive watch in its own right, as a round case is inherently more water resistant. Bell & Ross’ BR03-92 features an all-matte black ceramic case and unidirectional diving bezel, while the case itself is square and larger on the wrist.
Case Size: 42mm, Thickness: 12.1mm, Lug to Lug: 48mm, Lug Width: 21mm, Water Resistance: 200m, Movement: Auto ETA C07.611, Power Reserve: 80 Hours, Crystal :sapphire.
The traditional re-release of Captain Cook Auto from Rado is a major throwback, giving us a taste of the scale’s retro design. I recently made a video on Rado Captain Cook and was impressed with the design and value of the watches in the sizes offered. The 42mm variant offers a more contemporary feel by omitting the antique bronze luminous on the dial and hands, as we’ve seen in the more retro-looking 37mm Captain Cook. And, of course, the 42mm version offers more wrist presence. Equipped with a vintage-style leather strap or a high-quality rice bead bracelet, the Rado Captain Cook is a relatively affordable vintage-style diver.
Case Size: 52.4mm, Thickness: 17.2mm, Lug to Lug: 53.5mm, Lug Width: 22mm, Water Resistance: 1000m, Movement: Seiko Auto 8L35, Power Reserve: 50 Hours, Crystal: Sapphire .
Although not suitable for weak wrists over 52.4mm in diameter, the Seiko SLA041 faithfully reproduces the first Seiko “Tuna” watch, model 6159-7010, which was designed from a letter that a commercial saturation diver could not find at Seiko. ‘s directory to find anything that meets their career needs. By 1975, after no less than seven years of engineering and twenty patents for new technologies, Seiko proudly introduced their Tuna Tank Submersible. The modernized SLA041 is a faithful re-edition of the Seiko 8L35, essentially an unfinished Grand Seiko movement, but still featuring the iconic titanium inner case and ceramic shield that made the tuna the icon it is today.
Omega De Ville Prestige Coaxial
Case Size: 39.5mm, Thickness: 10mm, Lug to Lug: 44mm, Lug Width: 19mm, Water Resistance: 30m, Movement: Omega 2500 Coaxial, Power Reserve: 48 Hours, Crystal: sapphire.
Omega’s oft-overlooked De Ville Prestige is the most affordable watch in Omega’s more stylish collection. The De Ville Prestige is affordable because of its coaxial, chronometer-grade movement and timeless design. With sports watches so often dominating the watch world, many people naturally overlook De Ville in favor of Omega’s Seamaster or Speedmaster collections, not to mention that navigating the dense, unnecessarily complicated De Ville offering is a bit of a challenge. For those looking for a true vintage design and fine watchmaking in the form of a Co-Axial 2500 movement, the De Ville Prestige is the answer.
Longines Master Collection L2.909.4.92.0
Case size: 40mm, Thickness: 11.4mm, Lug to Lug: 46.6mm, Lug width: 21mm, Water resistance: 30m, Movement: Longines L889 based on automatic ETA, Power reserve: 64 hours , Crystal: Sapphire.
Longines is another heritage brand with an extensive collection that can be a bit overly complicated at times. In the Master Collection alone, there are dozens of variations in sizes and colors. However, the research is worthwhile, as Longines continues to produce some beautiful dress watches at reasonable prices. Especially the Longines L2.909.4.92.0, which is one of the best designed and most expensive dress watches on the market today. Featuring a warm blue sunburst dial that complements the moon phase complication at 6 o’clock, the Master L2.909.4.92.0 is a worthy choice for us and you.
Case Dimensions: 37mm, Thickness: 11.6mm, Lug to Lug: 44.3mm, Lug Width: 19mm, Water Resistance: 30m, Movement: Hand-wound Seiko Caliber 9S64, Power Reserve: 72 hours , Crystal: Sapphire.
Grand Seiko has been making waves in the luxury watch world lately, with some enthusiasts saying their watches are superior to the more expensive watches from the Swiss brand, while others say they are overpriced. Whichever side you’re on, we can all agree that Grand Seiko takes a completely in-house approach to making some beautiful watches. Case in point: the hand-wound SBGW23 mentioned here benefits from the strengths of Grand Seiko, especially their famous Zaratsu finishing combined with a reliable manufacturing movement focused on the highest precision. With its attractive, beautiful ivory dial, the SBGW231 is a testament to the quality and craftsmanship of Japanese high-end watchmaking today.
Maurice Lacroix’s Retrograde Moon Phase
Case Size: 43mm, Thickness: 15mm, Lug to Lug: 51mm, Lug Width: 21mm, Water Resistance: 100m, Movement: Automatic ML292, Power Reserve: 36 Hours, Crystal: Sapphire .
Maurice Lacroix is an oft-overlooked watch brand owned by Asian conglomerate DKSH, which also includes Bovet. More recently, Maurice Lacroix has been creating some extraordinary watches with their own movements, one of which is a masterpiece Retrograde Moon with the ML292. The watch features interesting day and date complications at 10 and 2 o’clock, taking up more than half the space of the dial, and a moon phase with a running seconds hand at 6 o’clock. The Masterpiece Moonphase Retrograde is a statement watch that sits a bit on the wrist thanks in part to the more complicated movement. Amazingly, this piece is also water resistant to 100 meters, making it perfect for a complicated dress watch.
Case Size: 40.5mm, Thickness: 9.4mm, Lug to Lug: 48mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Water Resistance: 50m, Movement: Automatic Internal DUW 6101, Power Reserve: 42 Hours, Crystal: Sapphire .
Keeping it “Made in Germany” for now, the Nomos Orion Neomatik 41 Date is another standout dress watch with a minimalist design scheme. Featuring the iconic Nomos look, blued steel hands, added date complication and automatic in-house movement, the Orion Neomatik 41 Date makes a strong argument for an everyday dress watch. Despite having an automatic movement inside, the Orion Neomatik 41 Date is only 9.4mm thick, which is very thin for a 41mm case, making it an easy watch to wear under a shirt cuff.
Nomos Metro Date Power Reserve
Case Size: 37mm, Thickness: 7.7mm, Lug to Lug: 43mm, Lug Width: 18mm, Water Resistance: 30m, Movement: Internal Manual Winding DUW 4401, Power Reserve: 42 hours, Crystal: Sapphire.
If you haven’t been on trend, Germany is producing some really great dress watch designs. Designed by Mark Braun, the Metro Date Power Reserve by Nomos features a well thought-out dial layout to maximize functionality while maintaining the clean, minimal look that is a hallmark of Bauhaus design. The large date function of the Metro Date Power Reserve is cleverly placed at six o’clock, and there is a subtle but functional power reserve indicator near the center of the dial that is very legible. With a diameter of 37mm, it fits almost any wrist. While this is supposed to be an everyday watch, its water resistance puts this watch squarely in the dress watch category, with only one splash rating compared to the aforementioned Orion Neomatik 41 Date, which has a 50-meter water resistance. perfect replica watches