5 Best Nice Watches for Men: Your Buyer's Guide (2018)

You can easily find a watch — any watch — just about anywhere. When it comes to nice watches for men, it’s time to slow the hunt down and choose carefully.

First, you’re gonna stake out the brand. Once you’ve got that, it’s time to zero in on the specific target, because each brand has several models in its vertical. We’ve done that work already and narrowed it down to five.

We started with a couple of questions: why this watch? What sets the watch apart from others? In answering those questions we began not with a price range, but, instead, with a focus on a handful of different brands. Brands that have stood the test of time and are known (especially in watch fan circles) as brands that make quality pieces.

From there, the main criterion for inclusion in this list is simple: Quality. The watches are from good brands, they’re well made and they’re worth the money. You might even call some of them some of the best men’s luxury watches you can cop at these price points. (Of course, super high-end luxury watches are a different matter altogether, and well outside the purposes of this list.)

These watches could very well be the first steps into somebody becoming a watch collector. Yes, the world of watch collecting is a big one and is chock full of some verrry expensive time pieces. But it’s our contention that the watches on this list are very much worth keeping, probably worth eventually passing on to family members and, best of all for the here-and-now, they’re affordable. They’re definitely worth the money.

What are the Best Nice Watches for Men?

1. Citizen Men’s Eco-Drive Promaster Navihawk Satellite GPS Watch – $699

Citizen

Pros:	Cons:
Eco-Drive (light powered) Satellite GPS Timekeeping Technology Water Resistant to 660 Feet	Large Case Size at 47mm (may or may not be an issue for you)

Besides being a very high quality Japanese movement piece, this is a watch that you can really geek out on, it’s got so many features. It’s a GPS watch, meaning that it reads satellite signals and maintains perfect time. You can easily synchronize time adjustment to 27 global cities.

It’s also part of Citizen’s “Eco-Drive” series, which is a proprietary method of using light to power photovoltaic cells beneath the dial. In other words, no battery necessary, the watch is powered by light.

It’s a chronograph, it has world time, it’s got a rotating slide rule bezel which actually works and hearkens back to the long tradition of including this type of function in a pilot’s watch (or a dive watch).

It’s offered at a great price right now, at half off. Another Eco-Drive from Citizen, at a lower price point, is another version of the Navihawk, also just about 50 percent off. Citizen is one of the better brands that you cannot go wrong with.

Buy the Citizen Promaster Navihawk here.

2. Seiko Men’s SKX007K Diver’s Automatic Watch – $199.99

Seiko

Pros:	Cons:
Automatic Movement 660 Feet Water Resistance Classic Look	Crown May Be Difficult to Adjust

This is an enormously popular watch from the legendary brand of Seiko, and for good reason. The watch is, first of all, a great looking diver’s watch. Black dial, black bezel, back band, all contrasted by the silver case and white markings.

It’s a Japanese automatic movement watch, which means that you don’t have to wind it and it doesn’t need a battery. The watch is powered automatically by the movement of the wearer’s arm. (If you’ve never had an automatic watch, just be advised that you need to keep this watch moving or it will stop. That’s not a problem, because just a few back-and-forth motions with the piece will get it running again.)

The watch is water resistant to 660 feet, so it is, according to Seiko, suitable for swimming, snorkeling and recreational scuba diving. That said, just because a watch has good water resistance doesn’t mean you have to get it wet. I’m of the school of thought that you need a very good reason to get a watch wet.

The bezel — the outer ring of the case — is coin-edge and it does rotate in one direction, which is traditional with diver’s watches. In a nutshell, you can use the bezel to set the time of your descent, so you know how much time you have on your tank.

The hands and hour indicators are luminous. It’s got a day/date window at 3 o’clock. The crystal is hardlex, which is designed to be very resistant to knocks and scratches. The case size is 42mm.

As for the watch’s popularity, it’s got more than 745 reviews and a 4.2 out of 5-star rating average.

Buy the Seiko Men’s SKX007K here.

3. Casio G-Shock MT-GB1000-1A – $800

Casio

Pros:	Cons:
New G-Shock Bluetooth Connected Use App to Set, Monitor Watch Multi-Featured	High Price Very Large Case Size (may not be an issue for you)

This one is hot off the presses. Casio has just recently released this newest member of its luxury line of MTG watches. We’ve written about other versions in the line — one for $1000 — so this newcomer is well priced (relatively speaking).

Before we get to some of the features, let me remind you about the legendary status of the G-Shock. Casio invented the G-Shock in 1983 (a company engineer dropped a graduation gift watch he intended to give, so he came up with one that wouldn’t break) and has been selling them VERY WELL ever since. Casio recently shipped its 100 millionth G-Shock, in fact.

One of the cool features here is the Bluetooth connectivity you get with this watch. You download the app and then use your smart device as a way to set the watch or to monitor its many functions.

It’s a solar-powered watch so you don’t have to worry about a battery or winding it. It’s got the stopwatch, timer, full auto calendar, daily alarm and more (the “more” including the ability to use the app to select from 300 cities for the watch’s dual-time function).

The watch uses Casio’s multi-band 6 Atomic Timekeeping Technology, which “provides accurate timekeeping virtually anywhere via radio signals from up to six different transmitters worldwide,” according to Casio.

It’s got Casio’s Super Illuminator LED light and a sapphire crystal (which is about the best, most durable kind of crystal there is).

Besides all that: it’s great looking in its 51.92mm case (big!). This will become a family heirloom.

Buy the Casio G-Shock MT-GB1000-1A here.

4. Tissot Men’s Tradition Watch – $182.21

Tissot

Pros:	Cons:
Swiss Quartz Movement Stainless Steel Case Great Price	Weak Water Resistance (99 feet)

Tissot is another Swiss watchmaker that has been producing exceptional watches since the mid-1800s. It is now part of the gigantic The Swatch Group (largest watch producer and distributor in the world) and is considered to offer “mid-range market” products. Tissot has somewhat recently dramatically upped its visibility, with motor sports (and more) sponsorships, as well as heavy t.v. advertising in the U.S. market.

The name “Tissot Tradition” tells you something about this watch: it’s a very classic, traditional look. All analog (of course), it’s a stainless steel 42mm case with a silver dial face. The dial features Roman numeral hour markers and a minute track at the dial perimeter. The date window is at 3 o’clock.

It is Swiss quartz movement, so it’s powered by battery (which has a two year life). The band is alligator-embossed brown leather and the closure is a traditional buckle.

The watch retails for $300 on Amazon and is offered at that price on Tissot’s website. So the price here saves you more than $115.

Buy the Tissot Men’s Tradition Watch here.

5. Victorinox Swiss Army Maverick Watch – $245.44

Victorinox

Pros:	Cons:
Hypoallergenic Stainless Steel Anti-Reflective Sapphire Crystal Big Discount	Weak Water Resistance

Victorinox got its start in 1884 in Switzerland when Karl Elsener developed the iconic Swiss Army knife. (Victorinox is one of two companies that makes the knife.) Fortunately for us, the company got in the watch game in 1989 and they still craft them in Switzerland.

So obviously this is a Swiss made watch. It’s Swiss quartz, so it does use a battery.

As for the watch’s looks, it almost straddles a line between sport watch and dress watch. The blue bezel and the blue dial are great looking, contrasting beautifully with the silver bracelet, hands and time indicators.

The bezel is unidirectional (it can be moved in one direction) but take note that this watch isn’t designed to be used swimming. The water resistance is just 165 feet. Frankly, there isn’t a reason to take a nice, good looking watch like this anywhere near water.

The dial features 24 hour time in an inner ring, and the 60 second indicators are on the very outer ring of the dial. The date window is at 6 o’clock and there is a battery end-of-life indicator.

It’s an extremely popular piece, with more than 160 customer ratings and a 4.5 out of 5-star rating average. As if that’s not enough, this is a great price for this watch, at 50 percent off.

Buy the Victorinox Maverick here.

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