3 Of The Best Affordable Timepieces You Can Buy

Getting a watch is one of the things that young adults look forward to. A watch that’s substantial and memorable is like a rite of passage for most people. Getting one, no matter the movement and price, even the origin, is a momentous occasion in anyone’s life. If you are strapped for cash but want a more than decent starter watch, here are several of your options:

Casio Edifice Solar

Casio is the king of solar-powered movements. The G-Shock is probably one of, if not the toughest watch on the planet right now, save for some truly remarkable diver’s watches that cost a kidney and a half. But what most people miss out from the brand is it’s other solar-powered, dressier collection. The Casio Edifice Solar is not only a tough watch, but it’s also one for the boardrooms.

The Edifice Solar is easily one of the most powerful watches from the brand, with a solar chronograph complication under the hood, a carbon fiber dial, and 100-meter water resistance. That’s the stuff of thousand-dollar Swiss watches, and while the Edifice line is not a dirt-cheap watch, it’s still something that’s approachable in terms of pricing. Depending on your preference, you can get any dial color from this collection, but the black and silver combo is always a shoo-in.

Orient Bambino 2nd Gen Version III

The Bambino is one of the best affordable automatic watches on the planet. Like the Casio brand, it’s also a product of Japan, from the Epson company. Leaning on the dressy aesthetic, the Orient Bambino can be an everyday watch for office types, with power and style that’s reminiscent of its Swiss counterparts. It doesn’t hurt that you won’t spend a whole paycheck to get it!

At 40.5mm, this is the watch you don’t need a special occasion to get out of the box for. The automatic movement is manual-winding, and in its second generation, it has a hacking capability. It’s not a Flieger watch per se, but the styling of the dial with the Roman numerals for hours and Arabic for minutes lends itself to a unique perspective in keeping time. 

It has a domed mineral for glass, not quite top of the line sapphire crystal, but is enough to look like one. And for the uninitiated and untrained eye, it won’t matter in the greater scheme of things. The movement has a hefty 40-hour power reserve, well within the standard–and a water-resistance is at 30 meters.

Citizen Eco-Drive Promaster Nighthawk

Another Japanese brand that has slowly gained traction on Western markets, the Citizen Eco-Drive Promaster Nighthawk, probably is the most good-looking among the watches listed here. Citizen has an enormous following in its native Japan and neighboring countries, and it’s one of the major supporters of sports events in its home country. The legendary Eco-Drive movement is unique to the brand, a combination of solar and kinetic movements technology that powers the timepiece.

The Promaster Nighthawk is sort of a flagship for the Eco-Drive environment. It has all the bells and whistles that one can expect from a top-notch timepiece: a perpetual calendar, automatic timezone adjustments, and an anti-shock feature that rivals the best of G-Shocks. The dial is in black with luminous hands and markers, stainless steel for the case at 42mm, and anti-reflective mineral crystal. 

Under the hood, the in-house caliber B877 powers the watch, with a dual time zone complication as well as a date at the 3 o’clock position. Its 200-meter water-resistance is as good as any scuba-diving watch, but it’s not quite the ISO-certified diver’s watch minimum of 300m. All in all, this is a great watch to wear on the wrist!

Takeaway

There you go: three of the best affordable watches you can buy right now. You can purchase these watches at your nearest watch stores, or you can scour the Internet for deals!