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Diesel is an Italian fashion brand that was founded in Molvena, Italy in 1978. If you have seen Diesel watches worn by the general population, you may be surprised to know that wristwatches are not the main selling product of the brand. Much like any other Italian fashion house, Diesel is best known for its clothing, shoes, and sunglasses.
Diesel is best known for its absurdly weird and abnormal advertising campaigns. Strangely enough, the company often features anti-capitalist and anti-establishment commercials. This is made even weirder by the fact that the companies turnover was over 3 billion euros in the year 2016. The company continues to design and sell its products for a profit, yet uses imagery that is the complete opposite of what it is doing. Despite this being confusing, Diesel still successfully designs and sells oversized, original wristwatches.
More recently, in 2019 Diesel USA filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. However, fans of the brand should not be worried as this is only Diesel USA and not the parent company. Therefore it looks to be more than a strategic business decision, rather than the brand being in financial trouble. Diesel wristwatches have followed an over the top and loud pattern for a very long time and this looks set to continue.
Table of Contents
What Movement Do Diesel Watches Use?
Diesel watches are made by Fossil under license from the brand. Fossil are a brand that makes watches for a variety of companies such as Hugo Boss & Tommy Hilfiger, as well as many others.
Typically you will find a (Japanese) Miyota quartz movement inside a Diesel watch. This movement is both accurate and reliable. You will find that this is the industry standard for fashion watches. Miyota movements are not rated as highly as Swiss movements but are superior to Chinese. Overall they can be considered to be decent quality, but nothing special.
Diesel watches are typically assembled in China but contain a Japanese movement.
One last point to note is that due to the complications you will find in a Diesel watch, their movements are slightly more advanced and more expensive to make. In 5 timezone Diesel watches, you will find 5 separate Miyota movements.
Is Diesel A High End Luxury Watch Brand?
Diesel is certainly not a luxury watch brand. They are a popular fashion brand that licenses their name to Fossil. The Italian brand is best known for jeans and fragrances, but has also been making watches since the late 1990s.
Diesel watches are certainly not luxury and are mostly made from stainless steel with Japanese quartz movements. If you compare this to an entry-level luxury brand, even the bottom rungs of luxury will have a Swiss quartz movement with finer materials. These brands are names such as Tag Heuer or Raymond Weil and cost considerably more money.
Are Diesel Watches Good Quality?
Diesel watches are of decent quality for the price and all come with a 2 year warranty. Diesel is a high-end fashion brand, so will never produce defective or poor quality timepieces.
Overall, any fashion watch will last until you are bored of it or simple wear and tear. The miyota movement will likely last you a good 10-15 years, so whilst you will have to change the battery. This is a very minor expensive that comes with all quartz wristwatches. You are bound to scratch your watch from day-to-day wear or simply not like the style anymore before it breaks on you. Mineral glass is used on almost all Diesel watches, so will scratch a lot easier than sapphire crystal.
Diesel is not the best value for their quality compared with some of the Japanese brands. But overall they are pretty decent quality for the money and certainly not a complete ripoff in comparison to other brands such as Vincero or Daniel Wellington.
Are Diesel Watches Worth The Money?
Overall Diesel watches are pretty good value for money. Whilst they cannot be compared with brands that make great in-house movements are dedicated watchmakers. For a fashion brand, Diesel is not particularly overpriced.
Overall, you can pick up a Diesel watch brand new for slightly under $100, and at the high end, the most expensive Diesel watches will set you back around $200-$250. This is not cheap, but Diesel is not an expensive brand.
When compared with its competitors such as Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, TW Steel & Invicta. Diesel watches are somewhere in the middle of this price range. All of these brands use similar movements and have similar quality materials.
If you’re a fan of the brand then Diesel is quite good value. However, if you’re looking for the absolute best value watch for money. You may be better off looking at other brands such as Seiko or Orient.
In short, you will not find any other watch brand that has a style quite like Diesel, so given this fact, they are not too overpriced at all.
The Best Diesel Watches
Mr Daddy 2.0
Available in 18 different color combinations, Mr Daddy 2.0 is the most flamboyant and iconic watch within the Diesel range. The shape and size of the watch is instantly recognizable and you will know that this watch is Diesel without having to read the brand.
For a start, the case size is 57mm, which is absolutely enormous. If you have skinny wrists, then this watch is certainly not for you. The watch contains 4 quartz movements as it has 4 different dials. This allows you to track 4 different timezones if you wish, as well as the main dial having a date window and chronograph function.
Check The Price Of Diesel Mr Daddy 2.0 Watches On Amazon
MS9
The MS9 is a standard Diesel-sized watch, and by that, we mean oversized since it is 47mm. The chronograph version of the MS9 is a great watch for a left-hander since it has the crown and chronograph pushers on the opposite side of a normal layout.
MS9 is available in a variety of colors and features a chronograph and date window. The mesh strap allows for your skin to breathe more easily in hot weather and also makes the watch a bit more lightweight, which is nice as it is a very sizeable piece.
Check The Price Of Diesel MS9 Watches On Amazon
Mega Chief
The Mega Chief is yet another giant 59mm watch. With that being said, it wears a little smaller than the Mr Daddy 2.0 despite actually being 2mm bigger. This is because the dial is far less complicated and it only has 1 crown and 2 chronograph pushers, as opposed to the 4 on the Mr Daddy.
As there is no sharp color contrast on this watch it is also a little more subtle than some of the pieces Diesel makes. Also, it should be mentioned that this watch has 100 meters water-resistant. Whilst it certainly isn’t suitable as a dive watch. It can be used if you are swimming.
Check The Price Of Diesel Mega Chief Watches On Amazon
Overflow
If you’re looking for a watch under $200 that is a cheaper alternative to a Hublot. The Diesel Overflow is a good choice. The watch has a 49mm case size, which is very big, but still quite a bit smaller than some of the other Diesel models which measure well over 55mm.
The dial of the watch features a simple and easy-to-read chronograph and date window. This watch is suitable for anyone who likes Diesel as a brand but doesn’t want something that is too loud and obnoxious.
Check The Price Of Diesel Overflow Watches On Amazon
Armbar
Diesel armbar is a very simple and plain stainless steel date watch. If you are a fan of the Diesel brand but do not like loud watches, or simply have small wrists. This watch is ideal for you.
Not only this but due to the simplicity of the watch and lack of complications, it is very affordable. When on sale you can find this watch priced under $100 – and even when not on sale it is not too much more than this. Overall this is the most affordable Diesel watch you will find on the market.
Check The Price Of Diesel Armbar Watches On Amazon
Boltdown
A truly unique design. The Boltdown Chrono is another watch by Diesel that is both oversize and offers multiple timezones. The circular shape of the dial, whilst being able to fit in three different timezone dials is quite an achievement.
The watch is a large 56mm case size and wears slightly more than the 5 timezone watch Mr Daddy 2.0. Available in 6 different colors, the boltdown has a variation that would be suitable for anyone. Like all other Diesel watches, it runs from a Japanese miyota quartz movement, so will not let you down in terms of accuracy.
Check The Price Of Diesel Boltdown Watches On Amazon
Crusher
The Diesel crusher is a great alternative for people looking for a fashionable version of a digital watch such as Casio. The crusher offers an extremely well-laid-out display which is similarly designed to the Gucci smartwatch.
Although the watch is nowhere near as tough as a G-Shock (what is?). It still offers a good deal of water resistance, so you will be able to go swimming and do other water-based activities whilst wearing it. The crusher is a great deal smaller than other Diesel watches, but still measures 46mm which is pretty much ideal for a digital sports watch.
Check The Price Of Diesel Crusher Watches On Amazon
Uber Chief
The Uber Chief is a 4 timezone watch that features a very unusual dial to tell the time. The inner dial contains the hours, whilst the outer dial contains the minutes. A nice feature about this main timezone is that the crown is protected by some rather large crown guards. Although to be honest, if something hit a Diesel watch, you would not be too worried since they’re so big and heavy, to begin with.
Two of the main differences between this and other Diesel models is that firstly, this model does not have a chronograph feature. Secondly, this model also comes with a leather strap rather than metal. Although you should not be worried as this is a very reinforced and thick leather that can support the weight of the watch with ease.
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Full Guard 2.5
The full guard 2.5 is Diesel’s smartwatch. As with all fashion brands, Diesel does not have their own OS and instead uses google. The first noticeable thing about this watch was the price. At well under $200, this watch is priced significantly cheaper than rival brands such as Michael Kors or Skagen smartwatches.
It functions well and has all of the apps you will be accustomed too such as google pay, voice assistant, heart rate monitor, alarms and GPS. The battery life is not fantastic, but then again most smartwatches are not, especially for this price. Overall it is surprisingly good value for money.
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