The 12 Best Men’s Watches You Can Buy Under $10,000

A watch does not have to cost you thousands of your hard-earned dollars in order to be handsome, reliable, and worth wrapping around your wrist. That being said, there is often a direct correlation between the overall quality and craftsmanship of wearable timepieces and their price. Simply put: a more expensive watch is — more often than not — a more exceptional piece of machinery than its lower-priced counterparts, pretty much across the board.

While there are some ultra-luxe wristwatches that are priced in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, there are also plenty of truly exceptional timepieces for a fraction of the scratch. For less than ten grand, it’s possible to get your hands on some of the most beautiful, reliable, long-lasting, durable, and eye-catching watches presently available for purchase. These are functional tools and style accessories of the highest caliber and mark an investment worth making for those who can afford the entry price. These are the best men’s watches you can get for under $10,000.

What to Look for in a sub-$10,000 watch

Use: First and foremost, a watch of any price should fulfill a specified purpose, whether it’s to wear for dressy occasions or sporty outings, or simply to add to your collection, you should know what you’re looking for and why.

Brand Reputation: This goes without saying. Any old brand can put out a timepiece, but if a company is asking you to pay anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000, you should probably have heard of them before. Likewise, if you’re spending that much on a watch, it’s likely that you’re already well-versed in the watch world.

Movement: In this price range, you’ll find a lot of materials you can find in sub-$5,000 or -$2,000 timepieces, with some exceptions, but the movements inside of the cases will be a little more precise and impressive. You’ll see perpetual calendars, world timers, and the like. You’ll also mostly see in-house movements from the brands themselves.

Grand Seiko 44GS Heritage

Best Dress Watch: When most people think of luxury timepieces, it’s the Swiss that come to mind. However, on the other side of the planet in Japan, Seiko’s high-end brand — Grand Seiko — has been quietly and steadily releasing some truly magnificent ultra-luxe watches of their own. And while just about everything they make is spectacular, we’re especially fond of the 44GS you see before you. What helps this particular timepiece stand out is that it’s constantly given new iterations, each with a dial that’s inspired by some aspect of the history of the brand, the history of Japan, or the nature of its surrounding milieu (the one above was inspired by the insides of katana swords). It also runs on a super precise automatic movement and features Zaratsu polishing, which creates “distinctive clean edges and distortion-free mirror surfaces” for an extremely refined overall appearance. If you thought Japan couldn’t produce high-end luxury timepieces that are also remarkably functional, think again.

NOMOS Zurich World Time Watch

Best World Timer: Headquartered in Glashütte, the birthplace of the German watchmaking tradition, NOMOS has been a staple of the high-end timepiece industry since its founding in 1990. And the brand’s renowned and highly respected reputation can be credited largely to its exceptional combination of top-tier craftsmanship and unmistakable minimalist styling. Their aptly named Zurich World Time watch is certainly no exception. This absolutely stunning world timer watch — which features a whopping 24 timezones represented around its striking dial — masterfully balances usefulness and cleanliness. It also boasts an in-house automatic self-winding movement, simple push-button functionality, an anti-reflective domed sapphire crystal, a Horween leather strap, and a spectacular stainless steel case. Every serious watch collector should own at least one NOMOS offering and you can’t go wrong with this option.

Cartier Santos de Cartier watch

Best Historical Piece: If you’ve ever wondered what the first mass-produced men’s wristwatch ever was, look no further than the Cartier Santos. Of course, the version that debuted in 1911 looked a little different than the one you see above, you can glean a major part of that history by just glancing at this modern take on the model. Originally designed to be a “pilot” watch, meant to simply be a more reliable time-telling option in the air than a pocket watch, the Santos has gotten some new editions in recent vintage, such as this sportier steel case option with screws around the bezel and some steel blue hands. The Roman numerals remain, however, and the movement has been updated (since 1911 at least, when it was outsourced to Jaeger) to an in-house automatic from Cartier.

Tudor Black Bay Chrono S&G Watch

Best Chrono Diver: The sister brand to Rolex, Tudor doesn’t have the fame or name recognition of its bigger sibling brand, but that’s absolutely not at all a reflection of Tudor’s overall quality and craftsmanship — of which it has both in spades. A perfect example of the brand’s superb timepiece design and manufacturing can be found in the brand’s legendary Black Bay series of dive watches. We’re particularly fond of this Chrono S&G edition — with its silver, gold, and black case detailing and matching band; an in-house-developed automatic movement; rotating dive timer bezel; chronograph sub-dials; and more. Better still, if you happen to appreciate this watch but you want something just a touch different, it is also offered with a black fabric strap or a bund-style leather strap. If you want a watch that says you know a thing or two about timekeeping and you’re not just a slave to big-name pop-culture brands, don’t pass this one up.

Zenith Defy Skyline

Best Royal Oak Alternative: Here in the United States, most people recognize Zenith as a now-defunct electronics brand that peaked and plummeted before the turn of the century. However, long before consumer electronics were even a thing, a watchmaking brand by the same name was started in Neuchâtel, Switzerland way back in 1865. For a long time, it was impossible to get these watches in the United States (without some tricky importing, that is) because of the existence of the electronics brand. Now, however, these stunning Swiss watches are widely available — including their stunningly beautiful Defy Skyline that you see here. Powered by the brand’s near-mythic El Primero automatic movement, this is one of the most striking and memorable dress watches around, with an octagonal bezel that can serve as a nice substitute for the much more expensive Royal Oak from Audemars Piguet. And while it certainly costs more than many are willing to spend on a watch, that investment comes with a lifetime of returns in style and reliability.

TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Watch

Best Racing-Inspired Watch: Few watchmaking brands are quite as synonymous with the world of motorsport racing as TAG Heuer. We are talking about the brand that crafted one of Steve McQueen’s favorite chronographs of all time, the Monaco. And while that watch is quite exceptional, they do offer some higher-end options, like the Carrera Chronograph you see here. Though this watch has the same spirit as the rest of the Carrera lineup, it’s elevated in a number of interesting ways. For starters, the skeletonized dial allows the wearer to showcase the in-house HEUER02 automatic movement within, and the whole thing is protected by a striking steel and ceramic case with a matching tachymeter bezel and a sapphire crystal. Furthermore, it boasts a titanium and sapphire exhibition caseback for an even better peek at the exceptional inner workings. For those who can appreciate a bit of sinister styling in their race-ready timepieces, this one is hard to beat.

Panerai Luminor Marina

Best Vintage-Style Diver: Few divers are as iconic as the Luminor, and few Italian watchmakers are as renowned as Panerai. Around since the mid-19th century, Panerai first made dive watches during World War II when the Italian navy tasked it with creating timepieces its frogmen could read underwater. In the ’90s, the Luminor was eventually marketed to civilians and has since seen loads of iterations. This Marina model sports a small seconds dial to complement its minimalism. Pair that with its oversized uniquely-shaped case, shielded crown, minimalist dial elements, big bold markings, and more and you’ve got yourself one of the most recognizable high-end timepieces around.

Rolex Submariner

Best Dive Watch: Rolex — headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland — actually has a fairly extensive collection of really superb high-end watches, many of which you can get your hands on for less than $10,000. However, if we’re being forced to pick just one, there’s a high likelihood that we’re going to always reach for the Submariner you see here. Not only is this one of the Swiss watchmaking brand’s most iconic and recognizable models, but this particular version also benefits from a striking black-and-gray Cerachrome rotating bezel with full graduation, 300m of water resistance, a house-made self-winding automatic movement, an Oystersteel case with a matching bracelet, and an easy-to-read dial with a date window. There are a lot of really exceptional Rolex watches out there, but this one is particularly special.

Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43

Best Aviation Watch: Breitling’s Navitimer has been a darling of the watch world since it debuted in 1954, and a favorite of pilots and astronauts alike – even chosen by NASA’s Scott Carpenter to help him perform in-flight calculations with a slide rule bezel and custom 24-hour dial. It’s not just the functionality of the Navitimer but the pilot chronograph’s spectacular style, which provides a heavy dose of form while reminding you of its undeniable function. Of course, that’s only one of the many things that makes this watch so desirable and, thusly, a great addition to any collection. That includes things like a reliable 47-jewel in-house automatic chronograph movement, the aforementioned rotating bi-directional slide rule bezel, a glare-proof sapphire crystal, and a stainless steel case with a black leather strap.

Frederique Constant HIGHLIFE PERPETUAL CALENDAR MANUFACTURE

Best Perpetual Calendar: Known for its technical horology and impressive movements, Frederique Constant is one of luxury watchmaking’s most renowned brands for a reason, despite only being around since 1988. You can find one of the Swiss brand’s more affordable offerings in this Highlife Perpetual Calendar, a watch that tells you the date, including the month and year, accounting for leap years, and also the phases of the Moon right on the dial. Powered by an in-house movement viewed through the exposition caseback, the timepiece features a 41mm stainless steel case and a dial that’s not nearly as busy as it could have been.

IWC Portugieser Watch

Best Overall: Another really superb and somewhat under-the-radar Swiss timekeeping brand, IWC has been crafting exceptional mechanical marvels since as far back as 1868. Of everything they’ve come to offer since that time, however, the Portugieser series of watches might just be their most important and impactful. It also serves to illustrate one of the things that IWC does best: understatement. They don’t rely on flash or gimmicks, instead letting their movements and subtlety speak for themselves. This can be seen in the slenderness of this Portugieser’s 60-second bezel, which serves to make this 41mm watch look like it has a dial that’s much larger than it actually is. It’s a clever design element that speaks to the brand’s detail-oriented approach. Of course, that’s just one of the many things that makes this timepiece standout — alongside its house-made automatic movement, exhibition caseback, alligator leather strap, and so much more.

Jaeger-Lecoultre Reverso Tribute

Most Unique: If you’re willing to spend $10,000 on a timepiece, a few extra hundred shouldn’t be an issue, which is why we’ve included this option. The Jaeger-Lecoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds watch you see before you might actually be the most unique watch on our list, but maybe not for the reasons that are immediately apparent. You see, while it’s iconic rectangular case certainly sets it apart, this dress watch has a pair of hidden features that elevate it even further above the competition. You see, as the name suggests, this watch was actually made to rotate while you are wearing it. Originally, this design feature was meant to help protect the watch face in potentially dangerous situations. However, this particular dressed-up edition forgoes the solid steel caseback in favor of a second alternative black dial. What that means is that this manually-wound watch is more like two stylish watches built into one and you can choose which face you want on display depending on your mood, outfit, or otherwise. This is a dress watch with some impressive hidden talents.

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