Automatic watches are a favorite in the watch community. They have a smooth, sweeping movement and are generally self-sufficient. Unlike quartz watches, automatic watches don’t need to be recharged.
The one downside to automatic watches is that they can be expensive. Some of the best automatic watches can go for upwards of $1,000. For those who want an automatic watch but don’t have $1,000 on them, we’ve compiled a list of the best automatic watches under $500.
This is a pretty long post, so if you want to get to the juicy stuff, you can use our table of contents below to check out each different watch.
Table of Contents
Best Automatic Watches Under 500
What is an Automatic Watch?
An automatic watch is a mechanical watch which utilizes kinetic energy and the motion of the wearer’s wrist to power the watch’s movement. An oscillating weight pivots around a spindle. The watch wearer’s movement helps wind the mainspring which is the main power reserve.
This makes manual winding unnecessary, which is why automatic watches are also referenced to as self-winding watches.
Where Should You Buy an Automatic Watch?
You can buy automatic watches from any watch manufacturer that sells watches on their website. For instance, Seiko and Citizen both offer watches on their websites so you can buy from them directly.
For more prestigious and luxury brands, you’ll usually need to find a certified watch dealer or jewelry store. Some luxury brands like Omega and Tag Heuer do offer watches via their website, but the selection offered by a watch dealer is usually much more.
You can also find automatic watches on watch forums where other watch owners are looking to get rid of their watches for cash. You can find some good deals on watch forums, but chances are, the watch you’re buying won’t be in mint condition.
Finally, you can buy an automatic watch through a grey dealer like Jomashop. They sell legitimate watches at discounted prices because they get most of their watches from authorized dealers looking to offload excess inventory.
So to summarize, if you’re looking to buy an automatic watch, look for the watch manufacturer’s website, a watch dealer, watch forums, or a grey market dealer like Jomashop. Now, let’s take a look at our 10 favorite automatic watches under $500.
If you like Swiss watches, check out our list on the best Swiss watches under $500.
Our Favorite Automatic Watches Under $500
Orient Bambino
What I love about the Bambino is that it’s affordable and has quality. In fact, you won’t think that you’ll think you’re spending more than $100 on the watch. You can choose different dial color combinations, from solid black to white and gold.
The watch utilizes Japanese automatic movement and is water resistant up to 30 meters. The power reserve is approximately 40 hours and the watch movement swings up to 21,600 vibrations per hour.
Overall, the Orient Bambino can serve as a great budget dress watch. You can wear it to the office, to the lake, or to whatever else you have in mind.
Seiko 5 SNK809
Seiko has made a number of quality watches throughout their time. so many in fact, that you can find a Seiko watch for almost any occasion. The Seiko 5 is like the Orient Bambino. It’s affordable and has a high-quality design. What’s different about the Seiko 5 is that the SNK809 is more of a field watch than a dress watch.
The watch is 37mm long in diameter, making it a perfect fit for both small and large wrists. The Seiko 5 SNK809 uses a nylon strap so that the watch can be used on land, air, and water. To keep the Seiko 5 SNK809 as durable as possible, the watch uses stainless steel casing and Hardlex crystal, Seiko’s trademark glass which happens to be stronger than mineral crystal.
The Seiko 5 SNK809 also comes with automatic 21-jewel movement and lume that allows it to glow in the dark. This watch is perfect for adventurers who want a beater watch and travel enthusiasts who aren’t afraid to get their hands a little dirty.
Seiko SKX007
Another great watch made by this Japanese watch brand is the Seiko SKX007. The SKX007 is arguably Seiko’s most famous dive watch. The watch has a standard dive watch design but at the same time, the watch also sports minimal color-combinations and a high-grade build.
The Seiko SKX007 uses a 21-jewels caliber 7s36 movement. The watch is held together by a stainless steel case and Hardlex crystal. The dial has luminous hands and markers, a unidirectional bezel, day-date display, and red text indicating water-resistance up to 200 meters.
While this watch is definitely meant for the water, the SKX007 can be sported on land as well. The stainless steel casing and Hardlex crystal give it the durability of the Seiko 5 SNK809 and more.
If you talk to any watch enthusiast, they’ll know about the SKX007. While it’s not optimal for formal occasions, it certainly is a great piece for physical activities.
Seiko Alpinist
The Seiko Alpinist received quite a bit of hype over the past few years, largely due to the fact that Seiko discontinued its production. This watch has arguably the most unique design out of the ten watches on this list.
Equipped with its green dial and light silver dial, the Seiko Alpinist utilizes a unique color combination. But don’t be fooled by its interesting design. The Alpinist has all the high quality features of a traditional watch.
The Seiko Alpinist comes with Japanese-automatic movement, a 50 hour power reserve, inner rotating compass ring, and extremely durable Sapphire crystal.
This makes the Seiko Alpinist perfect for surface water activities and any rigorous land-based projects. What makes the Seiko Alpinist a great watch is that the Alpinist is a top-of-the-line field watch suited for the outdoors, but you can use it for almost any other environment. If you’re bold enough, you could even pull this off as a dress watch.
Vostok Amphibia
Vostok is a new watch brand on our list, but to watch enthusiasts, the Vostok Amphibia is a familiar name thanks to its notoriety as arguably the best diver watch under $100. And while this watch is $100, it has several of the features that you will find on $500+ dive watches.
The Vostok Amphibia is powered by automatic self-winding movement with 32 ruby jewels, has luminous hands and dots, and is water resistant up to the standard dive depth of 200 meters.
What I love most about the Vostok Amphibia is the quirky dial design. On the dial, you’ll find a scuba diver between the 12 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions. This is a feature select only to Vostok Amphibia’s.
Vostok does not have many other features to the dial besides a date calendar, but that’s still great value considering you’re paying less than $100 for the timepiece. At sub-$100, the Vostok Amphibia is great if you need a super affordable, dive watch that can last you years with simple functionality.
Spinnaker Fleuss
To me, the Spinnaker Fleuss is a homage to the vintage dive watches while also using modern, contemporary flair. The Spinnaker Fleuss reminds me most of the Seiko SKX007, mainly because they use the same colors and design.
A nod to the 50s, the Spinnaker Fleuss has a domed acrylic bezel to go with the standard dive watch layout. The dial has a sandy texture with strong lume on the dial and bezel of the watch. If you turn the watch around, you’ll see that there is an open display caseback where you can watch the Spinnaker Fleuss’s Seiko NH35 Automatic movement at work.
Overall, the Spinnaker Fleuss offers a standard, but solid dive watch. You’ll see many watches with a design where the watch has a black and silver color combination. However, the Spinnaker Fleuss is in the top 3 watches for this type of design thanks to the solid steel finish and furnished movement that the Spinnaker Fleuss has.
Hamilton Khaki Field
Alongside the Seiko SKX007 and Seiko 5 SNK809, the Hamilton Khaki Field is an icon for most watch enthusiasts looking for a dependable field watch at about the $500 mark.
The watch has a 38mm diameter, making it ideal for most wrist sizes. The dial has lume on the hands and markers so that you can clearly see the time at night. During the day, the clear contrast between the black dial and the white markers allows for a seamless appearance.
On the technical side, the Hamilton Khaki Field has a whopping 80-hour power reserve, more than we’ve seen from any watch by far. This allows the Khaki Field to keep time for more than 3 days straight without any recharge.
The Hamilton Khaki Field uses ETA 2824-2 automatic movement which allows you to restore the power reserve within one snap.
When it comes to durability, the Hamilton Khaki Field uses a sapphire crystal to protect the window. This is the strongest crystal that you can get. The Khaki Field also has polished stainless steel to protect the casing. The watch is water-resistant up to 100 meters, making it great for snorkeling and swimming but not scuba diving.
Overall, you can see where the value is at with the Hamilton Khaki Field. At approximately $500, Hamilton has designed arguably the strongest field watch you can get at this price point.
They use premium materials for the case, window, and movement and also possess durable water resistance so that the Hamilton Khaki Field can be utilized more than other field watches underwater.
But what I love most about this watch is that with its 80-hour power reserve, you can literally wear this watch for days without it running out of fuel–and that’s assuming you never restore the power reserve. The Hamilton Khaki Field is the literal definition of what a field watch should be.
Hamilton Khaki King
The Khaki King is another field watch made by Hamilton. Fundamentally, the Khaki King and the Khaki Field differ in design and functionality, but overall, these two watches embody Hamilton’s success with watchmaking.
As for the size of the Khaki King, it has a case diameter of 40mm, a little bigger than the Khaki Field, but it can still fit almost any wrist size. The watch has a 38-hour power reserve and uses Swiss ETA Caliber 2834-2 automatic movement to retain an accuracy of +/- 5 seconds a day.
Compared to the Khaki Field, The piece wears well and the design of the dial is a little different. The Khaki Field has a date-calendar at the 3 o’clock position but the Khaki King has a day-calendar at the 12 o’clock position.
Moreover, the Khaki King has more curvature on the case which in my opinion, allows for a more comfortable wear.
The Khaki King is another sturdy watch designed by Hamilton for the outdoors. While it doesn’t have as many features as the Khaki Field, it’s also not as expensive. The Khaki King gives you most of the features that make Hamilton a great watchmaker for a lower, more affordable price.
Seiko SARB035
Now, let’s take a look at a higher-end automatic dress watch. The Seiko SARB035 has a cleaner dial with a beige base and black markers. The watch is 38mm like the Hamilton Khaki Field so it can fit most wrist sizes.
The watch uses synthetic sapphire crystal, so the watch won’t break under heavy circumstances. On the dial, the hands have an alpha style. The middle portion of the hands are filled with LumiBrite to ensure visibility at nighttime.
The stainless steel case is meshed in with the bracelet of the Seiko SARB035 to compose a minimal look that won’t draw the wrong type of attention. However, the clean build will definitely attract watch enthusiasts who know what a good watch looks like.
Quality-wise, this watch uses 23-jewel automatic movement and beats at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour with a power reserve of about 50 hours. If you’re going to be near water with this watch, the Seiko SARB035 can withstand depths of up to 100 meters.
Overall, I’d say this is a standard dress watch when you take a look at the design. However, the qualities and finish of the watch allow for so much more. You can bring this with you to work, to the outdoors, and of course, to the ballroom which is where the Seiko SARB035 thrives.
Orient Mako II
Like Seiko, Orient is Japanese watch craftsmanship in its purest form. For barely over $100, you get Cal.F6922 Automatic movement, a 40 hour power reserve, a 120-click unidirectional bezel, and water resistance up to 200 meters, the same as the Seiko SKX007.
The bezel of the watch seems to have a slight tilt to it and the crystal is made of mineral. The screw-down crown also ensures that water won’t get into the interior. Therefore, you to use it in water as long as you want.
I think that, for barely over $100, you’re getting a deal that’s as good as the Seiko SKX007. Sure, you might not be getting the brand recognition that Seiko has, but the Orient Mako II has just as many features and just as good of a design to match any top dive watch under $500.
Frequently Asked Questions
Due to the complexity of the watch world, not everything about automatic watches is crystal clear. Therefore, it’s my duty to help clarify some of the things that might not be so easily understood.
$500 Automatic Watches vs. $1,000 Automatic Watches
$500 automatic watches are most minimum needs met:
- Stainless Steel Casing
- Mineral Crystal Quality or Above
- Hefty Power Reserve
- Water Resistance
- Lume on the hands and markers
The qualities can vary between the watch types. For example, in a dive watch that is around $500, you want to at least expect a water resistance of up to 200 meters. On a field watch, you might expect sapphire crystal to help withstand blows against the glass.
When you reach that $1000 price point, you can expect all the minimum requirements met but the finish on the casing, crystal, or movement is much better than before. At these prices, you can also expect that there is some unique feature that gives it that $1000+ price point.
You’ll also start to see brands like Tag Heuer, Nomos, and Junghans show up, which have entry-level luxury watches priced at $1,000+ due to their luxury status.
How to Wind Automatic Watches
Watches are wound via the crown. Keep the crown pushed in and and wind the crown clockwise. If the watch has a screw-down crown, then you’ll need the watch to be unscrewed before winding it.
You’ll need to wear your automatic watch often since its movement is powered by kinetic energy. Otherwise, I recommend you invest in a winder.
What is the Difference Between Automatic and Quartz Movement?
Visually-speaking, an automatic watch has a sweeping movement while a quartz watch has a one-second pause between ticks. This is because automatic watches’ movement is based off the kinetic energy of the person wearing it. Quartz watches are based off a battery which ticks in increments.
Quartz watches are also more accurate than automatic watches because for automatic watches, a change in the environment affects the movement.
How Accurate are Automatic Watches?
High-quality automatic watches are usually very accurate. The best automatic watches should lose a maximum of +/- 25 seconds a day. The best of the best will vary in timekeeping by only single-digit seconds.
That being said, if your watch is losing more than +/- 25 seconds a day, I highly recommend that you talk to a watch repairman and see if you can get a service. Losing more than 25 seconds a day usually means something is wrong with the movement itself.
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of great automatic watches out there. I’ve listed ten of my favorite automatic watches. All of them are dependable, strong, and have their own unique flair.
What about you? Do you have a favorite watch in mind? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’ll be down in the comments. Until next time.