Topic
Rotating bezels, screw-down crowns and honest water resistance ratings, from $300 automatics to serious tool watches.
14 stories
Sapphire, 200m of water resistance and an in-house automatic for $375. The Kamasu covers the essentials of a dive watch at a price most rivals cannot match, and its compromises are easy to name.
Sapphire, 200m of water resistance and an in-house automatic for $375. The Kamasu covers the essentials of a dive watch at a price most rivals cannot match, and its compromises are easy to name.
The Hamilton brings a Swiss movement with 80 hours of reserve and a smaller case. The Orient brings twice the depth rating and a longer warranty, and costs $600 less.
One is a 200m diver with sapphire and a screw-down crown for $375. The other is a 100m sports watch with a display back and a famous family tree for $450.
Both are 200m automatics with sapphire crystals and screw-down crowns. The Citizen brings an ISO claim and a longer warranty. The Orient is smaller, tighter on accuracy and $250 cheaper.
Five hundred dollars buys a proper self-winding watch, but rarely a perfect one. These seven get closest, and each comes with one honest compromise.
Every number on a spec sheet was put there by someone who wants to sell you the watch. Here is what each one actually tells you, and what the missing ones say.
Both are 40mm automatics with sapphire crystals and 120-click bezels. The Orient goes to 200m with a screw-down crown for $155 less. The Citizen answers with a display back, better documented finishing and five years of warranty.
The Seiko brings a 70-hour movement and a diver’s rating for air diving. The Orient matches its accuracy rating in a far smaller case, and costs $530 less.
A thousand dollars is where 80-hour reserves, sapphire and 300m divers stop being rare. These are the seven we would spend our own money on, and why.
The Orient has the sapphire crystal, the smaller case and the tighter accuracy rating, and it costs $175 less. The Seiko is the one rated for diving.
Both are 200m automatics with sapphire crystals and screw-down crowns. Only the Seiko is a diver’s watch rated for air diving, and only the Orient is still sold by its maker in the US.
The Mako has sapphire, 200m and a screw-down crown for $375. The Seiko has a 38mm case, a display back and a $350 price. For most buyers, the case size will decide it.
The Orient is smaller, thinner and cheaper, with sapphire and 200m. The Seiko is larger, shows the day as well as the date and puts its movement on display.
One is a 200m diver with a screw-down crown for $290. The other is a 100m sports watch with a display back for $350. Neither has sapphire, which is where the Kamasu comes in.
No stories match that filter yet.
