The best sports watches at every price and the five things that define them

is the Rolex day just the Ultimate Sports watch or is it the aquatera and what about the integrated Sports options is the cier Santos a contender is it even necessary to pay that much money for a really good sports watch sports and integrated watches are likely the most popular category of watches out there they are probably more popular than desk divers so people want to know that they're getting a good watch I've got some clear options for you plus a guide to what you should consider looking for when choosing a great sports watch for those

of you that know me this is probably not going to come as a surprise I've been working on a Model A framework of sorts to better explain how I evaluate a watch something that could Aid people in understanding where I'm coming from so that they can make up their own minds the model is still a work in progress but basically to me a good watch comes down to the following criteria design creativity originality I mean that's technically three words but it's essentially an evaluation of a mix of aesthetic appeal which is subjective how original it

is and the creative effort that seems to have gone into the watch as a whole second it's manufacturing of the body this is down to how well from a manufacturing perspective everything is put together it's the tolerances the Polish the materials the click of a bezel if it's a diver all those kind of things third is the manufacturing of the movement this again is the core functionality of the movement how solid is it how precise is it all that kind of stuff fourth you've got craft craft is for me the piece where manufacturing starts to

transition from Pure machined proficiency to some variant of handedness this now the line between manufacturing and craft is a hazy one Rolex polishes parts of the cases manually and they also hand set dials they do a lot of things by hand but for me that does not necessarily make the watches handmade very few if any watches are fully handmade but at some point you go from things that are manufacturing and fully manufactured to manufacturing with a person's hand involved versus handmade as the last category which is almost a teas work craft for me is that

end of the scale this is the spot where you mainly dependent on the person doing the work but also where it can make a difference who that person was that did it that to me is craft and more often than not it costs big time and often it's even marketed as a standalone quality of the watch the last thing is identity essentially branding I do include this as an evaluation Factor as you go up in price identity has a cost associated with it and not all people feel that cost is Justified because it doesn't in

any objective way make the watch better but the fact is a lot of the emotional resonance with the product a buyer has is connected to the brand identity those are the factors design manufacturing of the body manufacturing of the movement craft identity which brings me to a good sub $500 sportswatch my general rule of thumb when it comes to sub $500 is that manufacturing of the body is going to be pretty decent if there's one place where the distance from a high-end mass-produced watch to a cheap mass produced watch is the smallest it's going to

to be on the manufacturing a well polished case here is not going to look a whole lot different than a well polished case on Omega there will be differences class can be really good but tolerances are often a little bit too tight or a little bit too loose they're never going to fail but they don't quite hit that sweet spot of tight but still unbelievably easy to open which is something you definitely know from a Rolex bracelet clasps might also be a little bit long because they need more space for you know an excellently functioning

but engineering wise basic easy adjust mechanism finishing is going to be good but not complex the movement is going to be extremely basic it's going to have medium to low power Reserve it's going to have limited guarantees on accuracy it's going to have limits on the robustness in terms of antimagnetic shock absorption things like that identity In fairness is not non-existent and for the lovers of this price point there can be an emotional response but marketing and brand building is not something these brands have spent a lot of money on because they don't have that

money craft is going to be more or less nonex consistent you can't get a $500 watch with a dial is hand GE or shade or movement is hand engraved what you can get is design there's a risk of a lot of watches at this price point being derivative but the good watches are watches where someone has tried to come up with their own version of a type of watch here are three options that embody these characteristics from a brand I don't talk a lot about but I do have some experience with notice the movement is

an entry-level SEO NH movement with I don't know plus 10 - 10 seconds of accuracy it's got 41 hours of power Reserve this watch has that decent but not Stell manufacturing I was talking about it's 12 1 12 mm thick it's got a decent lug to Lug of 47 mm and it's overall 38 mm in diameter you've got yourself a stepped Sunray dial with a lot of loom this is more of a brushed Affair when it comes to finishing but it's well put together the Steep dial for me is what sets it apart from a

sea of generic dials in this space if you want something with a bit more creativity The Brew metric has a lot going for it there's a mecha quartz movement inside the bracelet for the price is phenomenal the clasp is what I would call Pa for the course just like the notice the movement is basic the manufacturing is pretty decent identity is a Little Bit Stronger simply because of the design language and it's creatively a watch that sets itself a whole lot more apart we've got a mall not far from my house it's got a supermarket

it's got a bakery it's got a fitness center dollar store it's got a McDonald's and it's got an iPhone repair shop it also has a jewelry store and in the 10 years I've lived here I've never gone inside except the other day I did because they had the citizen zenin inside you've got a mechanical movement which isn't exactly a selling point at this price but it's still a decent movement for the price the dials are goodlooking the watch wears well and yes the bracelet is exactly what you would expect with push pins and all but

this watch is a hit for a reason what happens above $500 movements take a step up they're still primarily just good movements but they're typically regulated better they're often that bit better in terms of robustness and at the higher end a manufacturer might throw in a display case back and a custom rotor Seiko will make a model every now again where a little bit of the case has received the zaratsu treatment so you get a move along this scale of pure manufacturing to something towards but not quite craft pure craft is still very rare in

this space but manufacturing that has a craft-like component does rear its head every now and again as for the body of the watch it might not always be readily apparent what gets better but there are some nuanced improvements that you start to see it's a decent easy adjust mechanism it's more common to see screwed links instead of push pins crowns might both be smaller or they might be engraved identity takes a step up as well potentially but a lot of the brands here are mainly competing on value over emotion the selling point is often leaning

heavily into this Value Story from a creativity perspective you're not necessarily getting much more but typically you'll see Brands invest in certain areas from a manufacturing perspective that give the watch more of a refined look of the good options SEO page SP 465 and similar models the bracelets from Seiko at this price point continue to be among the worst out there there's no ifs ands or butts about it they subpar on the manufacturing piece of those bracelets but the dials typically stand out and that's both a plus in terms of manufacturing and in terms of

creativity the Farah xmore is also a watch that I think embodies the characteristics of a good sub $1,500 watch it's got your classic celita s SW movement I think it's a 221 in this case the pointer date is infinitely more interesting and aesthetically pleasing than most 3:00 window dates out there you get a really decent easy adjust mechanism the dial is textured and combined with the case it leans more towards a field watch kind of vibe over sports watch but it will do both you're still not getting mountains of power Reserve or Stell finishing but

overall it's a really decent option this is a fan favorite and a lot of you have mentioned this watch in the comments it's the TSO gentleman it's a good example of what TSO do well it's not a great movement but a really well speec movement with 80 o of power reserve and aus2 to plus 8C accuracy this particular variant has the silicone hairspring so it has better than average antimagnetic properties as well the case is simple and elegant it has a few things aesthetically in common with a non-f flued date chest write down to the

polished Center links on the bracelet the polished bezel and a simple Sunray dial with baton hands it's got wedged markers and several dial options including those ever popular Sunray options by the way if you've made it this far and you feel like the video warrants it give it a like and if you're new to the channel click that subscribe button it really helps out the channel thanks a t it is possible between 1,500 to $5,000 to get a watch that from a manufacturing perspective is 98 to 99% of the best you can get out there

the finishing and tolerances on a ptic naess or a Rolex will be better than a Tudor but it's really really a question of devil is in the details above this point diminishing returns really start to kick in on that base manufacturing but the slider does start to move whether it's saratu polishing or hands setting of dials there's more manual work involved with these watches without it turning into Pure Play Craft but it's not just pure Machining either it's not that any watches have zero hands touching it but it's just more my point is the machines

available a to these brands in this price range are basically the same machines as those in use at much more expensive Brands when it comes to the movement this is more or less also the case for under $5,000 you will get a fully meta certified movement now if you watch my channel you know how I feel about the importance of metas but here I'm just pointing out that from a pure specification perspective there's pretty much nothing above this price point that manufacturing wise on the movement gets better accuracy antim magnetism shock resistance power Reserve all

of it above $1,500 whether it's Dean or cost or metas a lot of Manufacturers are going to be promising High degrees of accuracy and excellent specs I would go so far as to say that if they're not promising it that really a bit of a detractor then we've got craft design identity creativity craft does start to rear its head here it's not common by any stretch on the Imagine but it is here it's a year when hand Geet the dial on the perception fears hand gr the case of the brunswik and ordain do in enameling

of dials entirely by hand other brands hand polish certain elements of a case the thing is this adds a lot of cost that you need to be mindful of because it can make comparing watches at a similar price point really really difficult a hand turned guet dial adds significant cost overall to a watch hand polishing a case takes a case that might on its own cost 40 or $50 or $60 to produce up to a whole lot more just because the hand finishing if it's a complex case with multiple facets and angles makes it really

really expensive that small Nuance really adds cost you'll pay more for these kind of details and it's entirely Justified from a production cost perspective now whether you personally feel that way is a different story when it comes to creativity there is a lot of design in the space but because this is often the mass Market space I feel there is a tendency for more products to kind of look like each other considering the size of this Market the tendency to converge in the middle is a little bit greater identity also in the space begins to

add cost whether it's nomos or longen or chudo or entry-level tags you're starting to pay for the identity building now to a much greater extent than you were before the Pinnacle of manufacturing in this point is likely Cheo for me in more and more models you get the meta certification you get a stellar level of finishing for the price you get one of the best five link bracelets and clasps in the business you get an overall Nic looking watch which albe it creatively or design-wise is incredibly middle of the road slightly lower down you've got

the long jeene spirit it's not metas now it's cque you still get a really good bracelet the clasp is not quite on Tudor's level but from a manufacturing perspective you have a really good watch slightly less complex stle but still great for what you lose in terms of manufacturing quality you gain in terms of lower price neither of these watches have anything I would call craft which brings me to watch I've already mentioned which is the perception from aten this is a good reflection of how good a Chinese watch can be design is what sets

it apart the finishing from a manufacturing perspective is bar a few tiny details on par with a Tudor specifically the clasp is good but just not quite as good in my opinion the movement is also a compromise at plusus 10 seconds and only around 40 hours of power Reserve you're getting a little bit less than the Swiss Brands but craft is what you're getting in Spades because that hand turn guet is setting you back only $3,000 so it's your choice Tuda with pretty much body and movement manufacturing nailed to 98% of perfection with a very

middleof the road design and a bit of a premium for the name then longine with some compromises here and there at a lower price but also middle of the road or you go for something out of left field where you lose those movement specs you get close but not on par with chudo or long genen in terms of manufacturing but you get that little bit of craft and a little bit of design which make it for a vastly more compelling choice if if those things are important to you above $5,000 you are more or less

not going to see much more than marginal gains in terms of that base manufacturing quality of the body of the watch the same goes for the movement Rolex has their superlative chronometer Omega has metas it's important to point out though that although you're not getting a lot more here it does not imply that all brands are equally good Zenith still has subpar bracelets Omega clasps sometimes do not have the Cutting Edge quick adjust mechanisms on all models gr SEO have indicated that their bracelets will get a lift eventually but it hasn't happened yet from a

manufacturing perspective I think three brands consistently stand out it's Rolex it's Omega and if you exclude the bracelets it's gr SEO gr SEO I even go so far are the best when ignoring the bracelets they've got a Precision in their polish they've got a sharpness of plots of markers and hands which is rare if ever surpassed by comparably priced Swiss Brands you might not like the aesthetic but manufacturing wise on the Core Body Grand Seiko are the best you can get out there hopefully it goes without saying that the price of identity in this price

range is high Rolex is the winner or loser depending on how you look at it the difference in quality between a aquatera and a date just or Oyster Perpetual is not huge it's there but the Rolexes are more or less consistently much more expensive and that's because the identity of Rolex for a majority of people maybe not you it's just stronger then there's craft craft is still not common here these are brands that have primarily been good at the manufacturing and identity piece Rolex doesn't hand turn guet anything at this price point to my knowledge

neither does Omega but there are a couple of exceptions JRA within us reverso at $88,900 you I've been rough on jlc for their pricing but this watch is a relatively speaking interesting proposition the leather safiano strap is the best in the business and there's a suppleness and a quality to this like you just can't imagine the movement is shaped to a case now those of you that remember the cubitus that was not a movement that was shaped to the case parts of the movement are hand finished which you'll of course never see because there's no

display case back but they did it the case itself is more complex to put together than you would think and without getting into the weeds of How It's put together there are multiple elements that require more than simple CNC Machining and machine polishing there's a craft in this watch that you're paying for we can have a long discussion about whether or not the reverse is really a sports watch but it's a good example of how complicated the discussion about quality and pricing can get if the reverse isn't sporty enough here and the craft piece isn't

quite compelling enough I do believe the three best options are the aquatera the Oyster Perpetual or the dayjust and a white birch gr Seco at $6,000 or so doar the aquatera has the best movement in the business between 6 and 10K for the datejust it's got the best bracelet it's got the most iconic bezel although that might be over 10K for that model and overall I would call it you know the on average winner and the biggest premium for identity just below 10K you get the SLG 05 it's got an excellent movement but not typically

rated robustness wise on the level of the two Swiss models it's got a subpar bracelet but it's got a bar none dial and case craft that is the best of the three grand seikos are subtle in their design language but the dials are phenomenal and almost craft like in their execution and the manufacturing of those watches are just that bit sharper and cleaner compared to the Swiss options that's my opinion at least a curious thing happens as you go from $10,000 and up and move towards 25 or more when it comes to movements that actually

in some ways get worse than the lower-end manufactured models power Reserve potentially declines you've got something like vron overseas that comes in at around $25,000 and it has 10 hours less than a ro exate justest it's also less accurate the Geneva seal which the overseas as far as I remember has has a lot of different criteria but relatively few of them are about hardcore specs like magnetism and accuracy the accuracy is or and I'll confirm that in a box somewhere is a maximum deviation of something like 1 minute in a 7-Day period That's significantly less

accurate than cque or metas the Geneva seal however has a whole lot more criteria that pertain to craft finishing of all sorts of things including thickness of bridges and hand beveling and Geneva striping they even prescribe I think how a sink for a jewel has to be recessed and at what angle and probably also which tool has to be used these are all much more craft and Aesthetics focused criteria than the more objective criteria that apply to mass-produced movements and cases the other thing that happens is that sports watches tend to be more of the

integrated bracelet variety so you've got your naus and your Roy Oak and your cubitus and your stream liner and your overseas and your adicus they're just more common to be integrated if you were in any doubt here in the space you're paying for identity a cubitus costs $40,000 a steel overseas costs around $25,000 now is there an objective reason for there to be such a massive price difference no not even close I've handled enough overseas and naess models to know that there's not a $155,000 manufacturing or craft difference in those two watches if you feel

there's a difference let me know in the comments for me I don't have the eye for that level of differentiation at least not $115,000 worth maybe pic are a bit better but you'll likely still have a hard time convincing me that it's worth 15,000 more excluding the identity component what you paying for other than identity and to be transparent the markup for identity here is huge you're usually paying for craft from a manufacturing perspective you're not getting a whole lot more an example of this which I've used before for and I really like is the

L adicus the adicus has the exact same quick adjustment bracelet system that you'll find on a glasswood CQ and an IWC pilot Mark 20 the subcontractor is a company called broli that deliver identical products to Langan anzona IWC and gluta you'll also find jira pero models that have a bracelet that is made at the exact same Factory that makes cases for forx the tolerances might not be identical but it's the same Factory you are getting a movement that will have hand polished and beveled Bridges every sink is polished and hand drilled on many models a

dial would often but not always be hand turned KET there's a massive level of intricacy to both cases dials bracelets and movements that take time and effort and it's often manual effort it's not all handmade for sure very rarely if ever is that the case a lot is still Manufacturing in the sense that a machine is doing some of the work but even there you're likely to see elements that are more difficult or timec consuming to do so yes a piece of the bracelet may be machined as it were but the bracelet complexity on something

like a Royal Oak is just higher than that that goes into an oyster bracelet it's not orders of magnitude more complex but it is more complex and generally you can say that brands at this point usually aren't or shouldn't be considering whether additional complexity eats into their margins if it looks good and differenti appreciates their product they should do it an overseas bracelet is likely that bit more complex manufacturing wise than an oyster or an Omega bracelet plus it's more likely that elements of it are going to have some level of hand finishing applied to

it for me where brands in the you know 5,000 10,000 space have a tendency to converge on similar designs at this level they diverge the higher up you go the more it's expected for a brand to have a really distinctive signature design the distance in similarity from an aquatera to an Oyster Perpetual to me at least is much smaller than the distance in similarity from a nautilus to a Royal Oak despite the literal fact that the latter two were designed by the same guy I've got three options that embody three different levels of product in

the space at the let's call it entry high level I have the Bulgari octo fisimo a watch that I owned for 5 years until I sold it this year actually I didn't wear it enough anymore but at $13,500 you are getting a lot of watch for the money you're not getting as much craft as some of the high end offerings the movement is beautiful but more rugged or simply put together compared to the rest but it is thin which manufacturing wise is pretty impressive the thing that sets this watch apart is the thinness and the

exceptional wearing experience this thing just wraps haraj wrist the links are super narrow so you can get a perfect fit and you only do it once though and you need a pro to do it this is not a screw link do-it-yourself kind of solution moving up to around $25,000 I think you get some of the best you know in inverted commas value you can get up there this watch doesn't hold its value in the way that ptic or AP typically do this watch might even drop in price eventually but it's possible to get and it's

the overseas right beside it if you could get it at retail is the roll they are Classics for a reason for me AP typically has the edge when it comes to dials but both are iconic finally Pani tond PF microt it'll set you back about $25,000 depending on the model of all the watches I've suggested this is the one that has the simplest of designs and that's the key strength of this watch at this level the brands have this need to make something that is quickly identifiable for this or that watch you know it's the

Alpine Eagle it's the Streamliner it's the notless you know it immediately and I suppose you do too with a Pani but for me you know because it's one of the plainest simplest and most importantly most subtle of high-end watches this is your highend black dial aquatera until you get close the dial the bezel the hands the bracelet everything just has an understated premiumness that just really speaks to me manufacturing wise craft wise very little separates these Brands I'm not skilled enough to look at a dial at this level and see if one hand turn dial

is better executed than some other hand turn dial but these three watches all speak to me as really good options so a listed some options of different watches at different price points and explained my reasoning the goal isn't really to get you to choose any of these watches or even like them you like what you like and that's the way it should be but all of these watches function as reference points for me as to what I feel you can reasonably expect at a given price point every now and again I'll swap out those reference

points with new reference points but they are useful because they are examples of watches I use to compare other watches too so I've got that longing Conquest the back of my mind when I'm holding a nous club sport what's better what's worse what am I getting what am I not and I use my model because I over complicate things sometimes but it's a useful model for me manufacturing design craft identity it might be useful to you now it's time for me to learn from you what are the things you look for as a good evaluation

criteria for a watch your version of manufacturing craft Identity Design what do you weigh share in the comments like subscribe cheers