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If you were to look at Instagram watch pages, you may think that you’re one of the poorest men in the world. Of course, some people do have large incomes and can afford luxury watches, but most cannot. If you not fortunate enough to be one of these people, you will have a budget that is a fraction of a luxury watch. When in a budget situation, you have one of two choices. Either buy a fake watch (certainly not recommended for a variety of reasons) or stick to your budget and get a cheap watch that looks more expensive than it is.
In this article, we will examine the best watches you can get for under $200. Whilst these watches won’t cost you a boatload of money, they certainly look a lot more expensive than their price tag. This should offer some proof that you don’t always have to spend money to wear something that looks like it costs more than it does.
Table of Contents
Best Watches That Looks More Expensive Than They Cost (Under $200)
Fossil Nate Chronograph
Fossils are not usually a brand that you would associate with expensive watches. This is because they are a company that mass produces watches for the fashion market and uses Japanese quartz movements.
There is nothing wrong with this and as you can see by the watch pictured above, you can really get some nice designs for well under budget. Almost every Fossil watch you can find is priced well under $200 and sometimes under $100. If you look through the various models available, there will always be a model or two which looks to be worth a lot more than you paid for it.
Seiko
When thinking of the Seiko brand, if you are not familiar with specific models, it is very difficult to know how much someone spent. At the high end, you have the Grand Seiko series, which can cost $20k as it is a legitimate luxury Japanese watch. Towards the lower end of the brand, you have the Seiko 5 automatic series, which are very solid watches, albeit costing $100.
Not only this, but you have a lot of models in between, such as the Presage and Astron series, which are also relatively expensive watch models. However, Seiko does produce a variety of sports watches that look more valuable than they are. The model pictured above looks a lot like a Tag Heuer F1, although is much less.
Orient Bambino
Orient is not a particularly well-known brand outside of the watch-enthusiast community. Neither do they produce particularly hot fashionable watches. Instead, Orient sticks to their tried and tested methods of making very high-quality automatic watches for very low prices.
In general, you aren’t going to turn many heads with an Orient. It certainly isn’t a flashy and loud watch that will draw in the attention of other people. It does however look like it costs a lot more than $150. Nobody is going to mistake an Orient Bambino for a $5000 watch, but it certainly looks more like a watch that should cost something similar to a Raymond Weil or Tissot model.
Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss is a fashionable watch brand that produces a huge variety of different designs. Their watches are not the best quality in the world but are pretty solid, comparable with brands such as Tommy Hilfiger or Armani.
This pilot’s watch is one of the more pricey-looking watches, despite not really being any more expensive than any other of the brand’s models. In general, if you look through the large catalogs in companies such as Hugo Boss, you will always be able to find something that costs less than you thought it would. Of course, this goes both ways too, as there are sometimes models which don’t look too great, yet are quite expensive.
Invicta Bolt
Invicta are quite an infamous brand within the watch community. They are a company which is well known for producing giant, oversized watches which are extremely loud. The bolt is no different, measuring 51mm for its case size, as well as being 19mm thick.
Available in a variety of colors and styles, the bolt will have something to suit everyone, provided that you are OK with the oversized nature of the case and dial. Of course, Invicta watches aren’t suitable for everyone and you generally need large wrists to pull off a larger watch. With that being said, people would generally expect this to be a $500-$1000 watch, when in fact it is well under $200.
Michael Kors Lexington
If you are to look purely at the case of the Michael Kors Lexington, you could be fooled into thinking that it was a Rolex datejust. This is because the bezel is fluted, as well as having the jubilee style bracelet. Not only this, but the gold color is quite indistinguishable from real gold, unless you were to wear the watch on your wrist and notice the weight difference.
Michael Kors is a brand that is best purchased online. This is because the authorized dealers of the brand are usually located in expensive shopping malls. To cover this rent, they must charge higher prices than online when they are selling each watch.
Maserati Successo
If you’re lucky enough to own a Maserati car, you will know that they are a great car. In 2021, the list price for a Maserati is anywhere from $80000 upwards. If this is way outside of your budget, there is no need to worry since Maserati watches are considerably cheaper.
Unlike other car-themed watches such as Lamborghini watches or Tag Heuer F1 models, Maserati watches are well under $200. Despite being considerably cheaper than their rival brand Lamborghini, they are no worse quality and cost 2-3 times less. There is no doubt if you wear a gold Maserati watch, people will have no idea it cost you less than $200.
Diesel Mega Chief
Known for producing giant watches with various complications. Diesel is a brand that is very consistent in the style of its watches. Typically you will find multiple subdials inside a case that is around 45-50mm big. In addition to this, most Diesel watches also have chronograph pushers which makes the watch appear a lot bigger when worn on the wrist.
Much like many other fashion brands on this list. Diesel watches are best purchased online. In fact, they sell at a considerable discount to retails stores. Diesel jeans and sunglasses are generally a lot more expensive than their watches, so people’s expectation of watch price will be higher.
Emporio Armani
Yet another fashion brand with a huge catalog of watch models. Armani watches vary quite a lot in both style and price, there is not too much consistency in terms of brand image. Once again, due to the sheer volume of watch models Armani produces, you will always be able to find something that looks quite expensive if you are willing to look.
The above model has a classic dial design with a domed crystal glass. This kind of watch looks vintage and could be mistaken for a more expensive model very easily.
Bulova Day-Date
Bulova is a solid Swiss brand that has recently switched a lot of its production over to China, preferring to use Japanese movements. However, a lot of people do not know this and still consider Bulova to be a very good brand (which many of its models are). This day-date watch is a nice alternative to the classic Rolex day-date.
In fairness to Bulova, they have not tried to copy Rolex at all and have simply put their own spin on a classic design. After all, Bulova has made some of the most original watches in history such as the spaceview. It is unlikely that you find many other Bulova watches for under $200 and even less likely that anyone will know how much this model costs.
Casio Edifice
The Edifice range is the home of Casio sports models. As you can see, Edifice watches are vastly different from the typical digital Casio watches you will know well. In terms of value for money, the Edifice range is really good value for money and they can be picked up for well under $200.
Visually, Edifice watches are fairly similar to Tag Heuer F1 watches. Given that they are both motor racing style watches, this makes a lot of sense, although you will pay 10x – 15x the price for a Tag Heuer watch. Whilst the Edifice does not look like a $10k watch, it could at least pass for being 4-5x the price that you paid for it.
Guess
Guess is not a brand that is well known for making anything other than fashion watches. In all honesty, Guess watches are very well designed and have kept up with modern standards very well. You’re unlikely to fool anyone into thinking that your watch is worth thousands of dollars. But you would definitely be surprised at the number of good-looking models you can pick up for $100 or even less.
If you look hard enough through the Guess watch catalog, you will definitely find something which looks a lot more expensive than the price you pay. Typically, if you buy a Guess watch online from a website such as Amazon, you can save a lot of money compared to buying it in a brick-and-mortar store. This is an instant saving and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Rotary Aquaspeed
The Rotary Aquaspeed is included as a watch that looks more expensive than it is, due to its similarity with the Breitling Navitimer. Of course, this watch is not a direct copy since it has a dial in the 10 o’clock position which can be used to rotate the outer dial.
Both watches are nautical-themed, racing style watches and are visually similar. If you were to look from a distance, you may not know which is which, particularly if one was partially covered by a sleeve. The Aquaspeed is well under the $200 budget and even without the Navitimer comparison, it is a solid watch in its own right and looks like it would cost well over $500 at the very least.
Reef Tiger
Reef Tiger are a Chinese brand with a questionable history. With that being said, the brand does not make a single watch that looks anywhere near as cheap as it sells for. Most notably, Reef Tiger produces a $1000 flying tourbillon watch, which is well over budget for the purpose of this article but is of incredible value.
Many of their skeleton watches are both original and oversized costing just under the $200 budget. These watches are very loud and garish, but fairly inexpensive. In addition to this, almost all of the Reef Tiger series are automatic watches. Overall, these are pretty much the most inexpensive watches you can find which are close to brands such as Hublot or Richard Mille.
Cadisen
The Cadisen brand is quite obviously trying its best to make this watch look like an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Everything from the dimension of the case, the screwed-down bezel, bracelet shape, and the dial texture scream out Audemars Piguet.
However, this watch is clearly not an AP as it costs around $100. Of course, you are getting a Chinese automatic movement rather than a fine Swiss timepiece, but even still, for this price that is great value for money. It should go without saying that this watch looks like it costs a lot more money than its list price.
