Editors’ Picks Our Favorite Watches For Under (A Few Way, Way Under) $1,000

When I first got into the sub-$1,000 space, I had the great pleasure of cutting my teeth on both the usual options (Seiko Monster, SKX007, etc.), the relatively new micro-brand scene, and small brands like Ocean7, Benarus, Halios, and many more. Over the past decade or so, the micro-brand scene has reached a more comfortable level of maturity and there are so many great options to consider. If you’re in the market for a nicely made, reliable, and well-spec’d dive watch today, the competition is fierce but make sure that the Scurfa Treasure Seeker is on your list. 

For around $500 (£368, before VAT), the Treasure Seeker is 41mm wide, good to 300 meters of water resistance, has a Miyota 9015 movement with a date at three, a sapphire crystal, a luminous ceramic bezel insert, and a solid steel bracelet with a push-button fold-over clasp with micro-adjust (and an included rubber strap). Furthermore, lug to lug is 49mm, thickness is just 12.6mm, the lugs are 20mm wide, and the Treasure Seeker comes in your choice of some six colors. With modern styling that blends elements from watches like the Omega Seamaster and previous generations of the IWC Aquatimer, the Treasure Seeker looks great without operating like a clone or homage, and the Scurfa brand was born as a passion project for a UK-based commercial diver with an obvious love for useful and nicely-designed dive watches. You can’t ask for a lot more for your money, and for the budget, you could almost buy two. – James Stacey 

Scurfa Treasure Seeker, $495