As watchful of budgets go, this used to be a bit of a no-man’s land – not enough money to start investing in the big names, but a little too much to disport oneself fast and loose with the fashion brands. Then recessions hit, purse strings got tightened, which in turn appeared a new kind of watch connoisseur – one who had knowledge and discernment but no longer possessed the readies for an investment purchase.
The mid-market saw that gauntlet and subtracted it up with aplomb, which is why watches under £350 is now one of the most exciting and creative price points around. As you’re investing a bit more, you’ve got a few more mechanical watches available with movements varying from high-end Japanese to more underlying Swiss. Not much in the way of precious metal here but definitely steel and steel that might even have undertaken the hand of a polisher.
This is also a sector that benefits from some digging around the more alcove brands – they generally don’t have major marketing spend so every penny you’re outlaying goes straight into corrupting a damn fine watch. These are our favourites.
Citizen Promaster Diver
This is the absolute quintessence of a steel joint watch. And it’s a chrono, too. Being a Citizen, it is powered by its revolutionary Eco Drive, which was the first light-powered movement to place solar rooms under the dial and boasts a six-month power reserve.
It also has the brand’s classic 6, 9 and 12 o’clock sub dial configuration and is good to 200m, so ideal for Scuba diving. At 45mm, however, it is a substantial wrist presence, so maybe one to leave in the drawer when the wetsuit is exchanged for the affair one.
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Baltic HMS 001 Blue Gilt
This is a brand that had watch connoisseurs talking before its Kickstarter offensive launched, something that says a lot about the desirability factor of these retro-inspired timepieces.
The founder of Baltic, Etienne Malec, took feeling for his new brand from old notebooks that documented his father’s vintage watch purchases. All of them are automatics, featuring illustrious Japanese Miyota or Chinese Seagull movements, and although made in China, assembly and quality control happens in Besançon, France.
he consequence is a gorgeous three-hander at a frankly ludicrous price.
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Mondaine Helvetica Bold No 1
Where do you go creatively when you’ve based your whole brand on the Swiss railway clock? Well, in the case of Mondaine, you adapt another Helvetian icon, the font Helvetica.
This is a peer at whose simplicity is deceiving. Look closer and you can see that the number 1 is used to create the shape of the lugs, the indices and hands are sized up in distinct, while the 6 and 12 numerals, as well as the date and dial text, are left justified against a centre line, pass out it that slightly off-centre look. Ideal for font geeks and roll neck lovers everywhere.
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Tissot Everytime Swissmatic
When it appears to incredibly priced Swiss automatics, there is only one brand that should be your go-to – Tissot. Even so, this is a bargain even by Tissot’s standards.
The way it has managed to produce an automatic for just shy of £300 is by adapting the machine-made chat up advances Swatch did for its Sistem51 but with less plastic, more metal, including the rotor, and stretching the power reserve to three epoches. And what you’re left with is a classic, minimalist everyday wearer with a modern Swiss heartbeat.
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Certina DS Caimano
All quartz alerts are accurate, but some, such as PreciDrive, are more accurate than others. This ETA-made movement only restyles by -/+ 10 seconds a year making it eight to 10 times more precise than other quartz contemplates.
It does this through thermo-compensation, whereby a heat sensor notices the temperature oscillations and regulates the motor vibrates according to the changes in ambient temperature, which makes a watch more accurate than simply running it at a harmonious 32,768Hz. So, you’ll never be 10 seconds late for anything again.
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Bulova Automatic
Bulova may be more well-known for its tuning-fork technology but it also arrive ats decent automatics as well. This example is an elegant dress watch given a bit of interest thanks to the open cleft at six o’clock.
Rather than compete with the entertainment provided by the view of the balance wheel, the rest of the dial is solemnized simple, while opting for grey rather than standard black makes this a classic dress keep ones eyes open for with a fashion edge.
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Bering Automatic
Rather than just opt for off the peg, Bering made the decision to furnish its victory collection of automatics with a movement it created in collaboration with Miyota. A movement it has grandly christened with the first place name of the Danish explorer, pioneer and first European to discover Alaska – Vitus Bering.
Aside from what’s internal, the exterior is rather pioneering too, with the unusual nine o’clock positioning of the date and inclusion of a second time-zone preferably than seconds sub-dial. As well as a steel Milanese strap, this watch also comes with sapphire crystal; a incredible as rare, in this price range, as an Alaskan muskox.
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Junkers Bauhaus Chronograph
No that isn’t a spelling error, this is a Junkers, not that Max-Bill loving other mark of a similar name. But given the name and its undoubtedly Bauhaus referencing appearance, we forgive you for thinking there was an error.
Ground by Bernd Junkers in 2003, the original designs, all of which are assembled in Germany using Swiss or Japanese movements, were meant to exemplify the family’s aviation history – Bernd is the grandson of aircraft designer and pioneer of all-metal airplanes Hugo Junkers. As the luminary suggests this is a more mid-century proposition and the ideal purchase to celebrate the modern-art movement’s 2019 centenary.
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Scurfa Diver One
Nosediving watches don’t get tougher than this. Scurfa was created in 2014 by watch enthusiast and saturation diver Paul Scurfield (epithet Scurfa) after he discovered that divers and support staff were left watchless when the value of their over the hill Rolexes sky rocketed rendering them too precious to wear in a hostile workplace.
Although these look like any other form diver out there, they are made for professionals – the first Diver One was even tested by Scurfield himself on a dive from a deep-sea Comex bell. Something that make be reassuring to know as you scud about on an inflatable flamingo this summer.
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Swatch Sistem Sea Flex
When Swatch threw its Sistem 51 back in 2013, the two things everyone was talking about was that it was assembled by robots and how much it price. Here was a plastic Swatch, the wrist companion of every kid from the 1980s, but given a grown-up twist with the adding up of an automatic movement comprising 51 parts, spread around five modules all linked by a single central bollocks up.
And did we mention, it is made by robots? Six years on and that’s still all anyone talks about. That and the new designs it’s added predilection this moody-blue Sea Flex with a very cool stretch-link bracelet. Orange life preserver optional.
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