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Watches with big date windows are not too common. Whilst it isn’t too difficult to find one that suits your own personal style, there are fewer choices than with regular watches.
This style began to gain popularity in the 1990s with A Lange & Sohne introducing the outsized date model. Prior to this, many watchmakers had kept the same size movements and date rings, despite the average dial size of mens watches increasing from 30mm to 40mm over a 60 year period. Thankfully since the invention of the outsized date, there are many other brands that have created their own affordable big date watch. You no longer have to spend $25000 on a luxury watch and can instead find something for $250.
There are many ways to construct watches with a big date display. This can simply be by having an oversized date ring and date window, having a double date window (which are usually located at the 12 or 6 o’clock positions) or simply by having a cyclops over a traditional date window. There are no hard and fast rules of how this should be presented, it is left to the discretion of each watch brand.
Table of Contents
The 10 Best Big Date Watches
Mondaine – EVO 2
Making use of a 40mm case size, ensures that the watch is suitable for both men and women alike. The perfectly gender neutral dial layout is a classic feature of the brand which has been licensed from the Swiss railways federation.
The key takeaway from this design is clearly the rounded red seconds hand which cannot be replicated by any other watchmaker due to copyright laws. It should also be noted that Mondaine has chosen to use a double date window at the 3 o’clock position which is somewhat unusual. Typically brands will opt to place these windows at the 12 o’clock mark.
Spinnaker – Hull
Spinnaker is a Hong Kong based watch company that produces a lot more quality timepieces than the rest of the region. Rather than being yet another cheap fashion brand, Spinnaker actually put a lot of time and effort into their designs, as well as production quality.
Although it is only a quartz model, the design of the Hull is both original and eye catching. The use of a circular dial set onto a rounded square case is something that is not used often enough in watchmaking. This combined with the large double date window at the 12 o’clock position makes the Hull a truly unique watch and well worth the money spent.
Fossil
Some of the most affordable big date watches are made by fashion brand Fossil. These watches with a cyclops date window allow you to view the dial very easily. Whilst this technology may not technically be “big date” – it still accomplishes exactly the same thing.
As this is a mass produced and simple quartz watch from a large brand, it has over 15 different color schemes, not simply gold and green as pictured.
The main selling point with this watch is that it is one of the cheapest big date watches you can get. Of course, there are submariner homage watches from Chinese brands, but these watches are not made to the same quality as Fossil.
Zeppelin
Zeppelin are renowned for making a mixture of both vintage watches with a modern twist. This particular model is a dual time zone watch that can be set using the small pusher below the main dial. At the opposite end of the window is a nicely placed double date window which is easy to read despite being the same color as the dial.
In terms of value for money, the Zepplin is pretty average. It’s not overpriced, neither is it a bargain. However, there really isn’t another brand that makes this style of watch.
Mido – Baroncelli
The Mido Baroncelli is one of the few big date automatic watches which are actually affordable to the regular watch collector. Although quite a bit more expensive than quartz models, this is to be expected. Mido builds their own movements around base ETA stock so can certainly be expected to charge more.
This particular model is a rose gold and stainless steel two tone watch, yet is very subtle and suitable for wear as a dress timepiece. The added bonus is the caliber 80 movement, which as named, boasts an 80 hour power reserve.
Seiko (Chronograph)
A simple yet effective design from the legendary Japanese watchmaker Seiko. Not too much needs to be said about this brand, they are the king of both quartz and entry level mechanical watches. Seiko has produced high quality watches for very affordable prices for decades.
This watch is another smart stainless steel model which makes use of a chronograph complication as well as a double date window. This is quite a minimalist dress watch and doesn’t feature any numbering around the dial, only small hour indicators.
Junkers – Iron Annie
Using the exact same movement as the Zeppelin watch above (Ronda 6203.B), the Junkers Iron Annie is another dual time watch with a large date window. This model is a lot more simplistic and only uses two colors which are black and white. If anything, this is quite a positive because the dial is a lot more well laid out and extremely easy to read due to this.
Both the Zeppelin and the Junkers dual time models are priced around the same range ($200-$250) which means there isn’t too much to separate them other than personal style.
Victorinox – Chrono Classic
The Swiss-made brand Victorinox are better known for making Swiss-army knives than watches. But even with that said, the chrono classic is a solid watch that uses a superior movement to most Japanese quartz watches.
Having a two-tone steel and gold plated bezel is almost a throwback to the 1980s, but it is also quite obvious that this watch is more modern than that. Obviously, the most unique and eyecatching feature is the date wheels which show all of the numbers, not just the ones highlighted in the middle of the dial.
Alpina – Startimer
Alpina use a very simple pilot layout for the dial on the Startimer. The deep blue color of the main face contrasts extremely well with the white subdial. Thankfully, Alpina have constructed this watch with a black date wheel, this makes reading the date very easy against the white background.
Having a 44mm case size with a bezel-less dial makes the watch very easy to read in any lighting. The only drawback with this Alpina model is the price. There is not too much difference between this and many of the automatic watches the brand produces, which is a little bit silly.
Certina – DS Podium
One of the most accurate quartz watches you can buy. The Certina DS podium is a chronograph watch that uses the brand’s proprietary precidrive movement. The only other quartz movement this can really be compared with is the precisionist which is made by Bulova. Despite not being too much more expensive than a regular quartz watch, precidrive models are around 8-10x more accurate over a period of 1 year.
The date window is only a little larger than average on this watch, but is very easily visible. By using a white window on a black dial, Certina makes sure visibility is extremely clear.
