Want a Luxury Watch Without Spending Luxury Money?

Dreaming of a Rolex but only have enough in your bank account for a faux-lex?

We’ve got you covered.

The three watches in this article all share styling cues with some of the most iconic luxury watches, but they don’t come with quite as hefty of a price tag.

Whether you love old money style or new money flair, there will almost definitely be a watch for your tastes on this list.

Price: $325

Overview: Seiko’s long-standing place as a leading maker of affordable timepieces gives the brand a reputation as a go-to for reliable models that resemble some of the world’s finest timepieces. The 5 Sports is no exception.

Remarkably similar to the Rolex Submariner in design, this Seiko looks like an elegant timepiece that could easily trade for much more than its $325 retail price if it bore a different logo. However, because the 5 Sports is manufactured by Seiko, you can acquire it for about $9,000 less than the Submariner.

Powered by an automatic movement with ~41 hours of power reserve and encased in silver-toned stainless steel that resists water up to 100 meters deep, the 5 Sports delivers all the utility of a capable dive watch. Functionality hardly compromises elegance here, however. The simple black dial with LumiBrite hands and markings – paired with a unidirectional rotating bezel – makes this timepiece a beautiful complement to a suit or professional attire.

Price: $595

Overview: Silver and green tones always pair beautifully on a watch, and the Citizen Promaster Dive Automatic only proves it. A forest green dial with a matching rotating bezel contrasts against the 44mm stainless steel case and bracelet. The bezel is composed of aluminum and features a serrated design inspired by the pufferfish.

Eagle-eyed Rolex lovers might have noticed that this watch resembles the Rolex ‘Hulk’ Submariner – one of the brand’s most iconic pieces that enjoyed a ten-year run before its discontinuation in 2020. Since Rolex stopped producing the Hulk, values for secondhand ones have been all over the place, but few of them trade for less than $10,000 at the time of this writing

Suddenly, a $595 price tag doesn’t look as threatening on the Promaster as it might once have.

This eye-catching piece is as uncompromising on utility as it is on style. Citizen designed the piece to be ISO compliant with a screw-down crown and 200-meter water resistance. The Promaster features a three-hand automatic movement, and Citizen is so confident in its construction that the piece comes with a limited five-year warranty upon purchase.

Price: $945

Overview: Strikingly different from more quintessentially designed watches on this list, the Hamilton Boulton Mechanical captures mid-century flair without losing modern style. Despite details that hearken back to the watch’s launch in 1940, this rectangular piece has been refreshed to appeal to twenty-first-century buyers while maintaining its classic charm.

For those interested in a luxury watch, this Hamilton resembles a Cartier Tank while trading for less than a third of the Tank’s price. That fact hardly makes the $945 price tag inexpensive. Getting a true luxury watch for less than $1,000 is also nearly impossible.

Considering that, the Hamilton is a worthy candidate for this list. It features a hand-wound mechanical H-50 movement with an extended power reserve of about 80 hours. At the time of its original release, this watch almost certainly captured the retro-futurism pulse that was sweeping the nation in that era. A simple white dial that features black Roman numerals sits within a 34mm x 38mm stainless steel case that attaches to the wrist with a stitched leather band. Narrow blue hands fit neatly inside the confines of the square case, providing a striking contrast against the watch’s otherwise monochromatic color scheme.

No matter how you wear this elegant modern timepiece, you’ll have no difficulty making it the highlight of your look.

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