The best cheap watches with serious grail appeal

Whether you’re in search of the perfect first watch, want an analogue alternative to your smartwatch or a hype-y addition to your existing collection, the horological world has you catered for. Although it’s easy to succumb to the notion that a men’s watch should be expensive, that’s got a lot more to do with marketing fluff than anything else. From G-Shock to Swatch and Tissot, some of the most celebrated timepieces of recent years have been available for well under £500, and that includes both mechanical and quartz watches.

So what cheap watches should you be looking for? Honestly, the most important thing is to avoid those rogue brands that seemingly spend more on Instagram marketing than they do design. Since we’ve taken care of all that with our edit below, we’d worry less about lineage or movements and more about good old fashioned aesthetics. Brightly coloured dive watches, cheeky chronographs and slick takes on the stainless steel bracelet trend are all catered for below. So take a look and find what suits you.