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Everyone knows that luxury watches are extremely expensive. They can easily cost just as much as a car, and sometimes even more than a house. If you have a family and a standard 9-5 job, there is little chance you can afford to pay 5 figures for a watch, and even if you could, it would be irresponsible. Thankfully, there are many watches which look very similar to genuine luxury timepieces. These are not fake copies, they are merely each brands own take on a classic design.
The design of luxury watches is iconic. Many of the styles have not changed much at all during the past few decades. This helps create the image of a luxury brand and makes each watch style instantly recognizable. A few examples of this are the Rolex submariner, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Omega Seamaster.
If you would like us to find an alternative to a luxury watch you do not see on this list, please let us know in the comments and we will try our best to find it.
To see complete articles for specific styles, please check the following posts:
Best Budget Alternatives To The Rolex GMT Master
Cheaper Alternatives To The Omega Speedmaster
Inexpensive Alternatives To The Rolex Datejust
Table of Contents
Why Are Luxury Watches So Expensive?
This is mostly because of two very specific reasons, quality of production and advertising.
Almost every luxury watch is made in Switzerland using very high quality movements, case materials and expensive expert labor. When you add up all of these costs, it is far higher than making a simple quartz watch in China which can be made 99% by machines and low quality materials.
Secondly, luxury brands spend far more money on advertisements. These can be seen on TV, in high end magazines and the best sporting events. All of these commercial expenses cost a lot of money and are not cheap. This money must be made back somewhere and the only real way to do this is by selling watches for a higher price. Wealthy people are happy to pay much higher prices for watches which are made to a higher standard than anything which is mass produced.
Why Are Affordable Alternative Homage Watches So Much Better Than Fakes?
Firstly, buying a fake watch is very disengenuous and strange. If you truly want to impress people you should make a success of yourself, rather than trying to take shortcuts and pretend to buy things you cannot afford.
Not only this, but you never know just how poor quality a fake watch is going to be. As the brand is always 100% unknown, there is literally no way of knowing who made this watch or what movement is being used. In most cases, when a fake watch breaks, it cannot be fixed since there are no replacement parts. As fake watches are made to simply look like originals, they often cut corners on costs. This includes sub-standard movements, as well as case materials. Over time, these shortcuts catch up with the watch and it will eventually stop working.
Homage watches on the other hand are always made by reputable brands. You will find that companies such as Seiko and Timex have watch models which are closely matched with higher end brands. There is a high degree of trustability and reputation behind these companies – for good reason. They have been manufacturing watches for many years and built up their customer satisfaction through making solid watches.
The Best Cheap Alternatives To Luxury Watches
A Lange & Sohne 1815 – Hamilton Navy Pioneer
Two very respectable automatic watches from two prestigous brands, however, the A Lange und Sohne watch is considerably more expensive than the Hamilton. The main differences between the two are the text used around the dial, as well as the slightly different lug shape from the Hamilton. However, you can clearly see that the themes of both watches are extremely similar.
Both watches use quality mechanical movements, but obviously the Lange & Sohne is far more sophisticated and built to a much higher specification. With that being said, the difference in price is over $20k.
A Lange & Sohne 1851 price – Approximately $22 000
Hamilton Navy Pioneer price – Approximately $1000
Check Price Of Hamilton Navy Pioneer On Amazon
Rolex Batman GMT – Davosa Batman GMT
As you can see, these two GMT batman style watches are almost identical. The main differences between the Rolex and Davosa are the crown (which is significantly larger on the Davosa), as well as the cyclops on the date window, which is somewhat larger on the Rolex.
The batman variation of the Rolex GMT master is hugely popular with the grey market price becoming significantly larger than the list price. This is where the benefit of a watch like the Davosa GMT comes to light. The movement of this watch is not built to the standard of a Rolex, but is still a very respectable Swiss automatic. Whether the Rolex brand name warrants a $17k price differential is a question potential buyers will have to ask themselves.
Rolex Batman GMT Price – Approximately $19000
Davosa Batman GMT Price – Approximately $1700
Check The Price Of Davosa GMT Watches On Amazon
Breguet Classique 5157 – Frederique Constant FC-303MC3P6
Both of these watches are Swiss automatics that use a very simple dial layout with roman numerals as hour indicators. It is also worth noting that both models use “Breguet hands” which were pioneered by Breguet, although in this case the FC watch uses black rather than blue.
The difference in price is considerable to say the least, with the Frederique Constant being over 10 times cheaper. Frederique Constant is well regarded as an entry-level luxury watch brand, which should give some insight in to just how quickly prices can escalate in the luxury watch world.
Breguet Classique 5157 Price – Approximately $14000
Frederique Constant Price – Approximately $1100
Check The Price Of Frederique Constant Watches On Amazon
Breitling Navitimer – Rotary Aquaspeed
Whilst the dials of these two watches may appear quite similar, there is a lot of difference in terms of quality. The Rotary aquaspeed is a quartz based marine chronograph with a Japanese movement. The Breitling navitimer on the other hand is a Swiss-made automatic watch which is finished to a very high standard.
Clearly the difference in prices is huge, with the navitimer costing more than 38x the price of the aquaspeed. Other than the considerable difference in specification, there is not too much different aesthetically other than the aquaspeed having the option to rotate the outer dial by the crown at the 10 o’clock position. This is an ideal homage watch if you cannot afford to spend $5000-6000 on a Breitling navitimer.
Breitling Navitimer Price – Approximately $5800
Rotary Aquaspeed Price – Approximately $150
Check The Price Of Rotary Aquaspeed Watches On Amazon
Cartier Tank – Seiko SUP880
The Cartier tank is a classic timepiece and although is a quartz-based watch, its case is made of 18k gold, justifying the price somewhat. The alternative to this is the Seiko SUP880 which has a very similar dial, case and even crown. As observed, both watches use a plain black and white dial with roman numerals as hour indicators. Both watchmakers also opt for a cabochan crown, of which the Cartier is far more pronounced and noticeable.
Perhaps the key difference between the two is that the Seiko is a solar powered watch, which if anything, is far more practical. This means that you will not have to replace the battery and can rely on light sources to keep your watch ticking.
Cartier Tank Price – Approximately $6000
Seiko SUP880 Price – Approximately $140
Check The Price Of Seiko SUP880 On Amazon
Hamilton Khaki Field – Timex Expedition
Compared to other watches on this list, there is not a huge price differential between the Hamilton khaki and the Timex expedition. This is because although Hamilton is a well respected brand that uses Swiss automatic movements, it is still not quite a luxury watchmaker.
On the other hand, Timex is a real budget brand, well known for their rugged watches at very low prices. Shown in the image above, the two case shapes are almost identical, as are the dials. Both brands opt for both a 12 hour dial, with 24 hours displayed in smaller print around the inside of the dial. If you are looking for a budget version of a Hamilton khaki field watch, the Timex expedition should be your #1 choice.
Hamilton Khaki Field Price – Approximately $400
Timex Expedition Price – Approximately $45
Check The Price Of Timex Expedition Watches On Amazon
Hublot Big Bang – TW Steel CEO Tech
Certainly not indistinguishable from one another, the TW Steel CEO tech is still the closest thing you will find to something that looks like a Hublot big bang. The big bang is a steel sports watch with a silicon strap, ceramic bezel and automatic movement. The CEO tech on the other hand is also a stainless steel sports watch, but does not have a ceramic bezel and functions by using a Japanese quartz movement.
Both models also have a chronograph complication and use a racing style textured dial. Obviously the difference in price is huge, but this is of course expected. For reference, the CEO tech is actually 4mm larger than the Hublot, who are already well known for their oversized watches.
Hublot Big Bang Price – Approximately $9500
TW Steel CEO Tech Price – Approximately $300
Check The Price Of TW Steel Watches On Amazon
IWC Pilot Mark XVIII – Laco Pilot Watch
In all honesty there are a huge variety of pilot watches that all look very similar to one another, largely due to the classic dial layout. These two dials are similar in that they both use a black and white color scheme along with fairly indistinguishable sets of hands.
The difference between these watches is both the price and the quality of construction. Whilst IWC are not quite in the top tier of luxury brands, they are still very near the peak. Laco on the other hand are a fairly obscure, but well made brand with no real followers outside of the watch community.
IWC Pilot Mark XVIII Price – Approximately $4500
Laco Pilot Watch Price – Approximately $400
Check The Price Of Laco Watches On Amazon
Meistersinger No.01 – Luch Single Handed Watch
The main selling point of the Luch watch is that there is really nothing else quite like the Meistersinger #01. This is an extremely unusual watch with a limited number of buyers. Not everyone wants to buy a watch that only has one hand. In addition to this, for those that do want to buy a single handed watch, they may not want to spend over $1000.
This is where Luch comes in. Made in Belarus, Luch are a legitimate USSR watch brand that existed long before the fall of the iron curtain. Their movements are not the most accurate in the world, and their watches are certainly not luxury. They are however very reliable and excellent value for money.
Meistersinger No.01 Price – Approximately $1100
Luch Single Handed Watch Price – Approximately $60
Check The Price Of Luch Watches On Amazon
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch – Bulova Moonwatch
When the USA first set foot on the moon, both of these watches were in their own space race to see who could get there first. You can tell by the price of both watches that it was the Omega that got there first.
Whilst there wasn’t too much separating these two brands at the time, in modern day there is quite a gulf in quality. Omega have stuck to their roots and use very high quality Swiss movements, where as Bulova have reverted to Miyota quartz. The difference in quality is more than made up for in price, as you can find the Bulova moonwatch, which has an almost identical dial for around 10 times cheaper than the speedmaster.
Omega Speedmaster Price – Approximately $6000
Bulova Moonwatch Price – Approximately $600
Check The Price Of Bulova Moonwatch On Amazon
Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 – Casio Edifice
At first glance, it may be difficult to tell the difference between a Carrera and an Edifice. As a general rule, Casio edifice watches always look more expensive than they actually are.
The Tag Heuer Carrera is the brands flagship, stainless steel sports watch which is powered by a Swiss automatic movement. As for the Casio edifice, it uses a solar movement, which is equally, if not more convenient than a mechanical one and also more accurate. Obviously once again, the key difference between the two watches is the price, with the edifice costing 25x less than the carrera.
Tag Heuer Carrera Price – Approximately $4500
Casio Edifice Price – Approximately $170
