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Skeleton watches mostly became popular from the 1970s onwards. This is due to the fact that the mechanical brands had to find new ways to innovate and market their watches. The industry had been shaken to the core by cheaper quartz watches made in Japan. Skeleton watches are one way that battery-powered watches cannot compete with mechanical ones. Since nobody thinks that an electrical movement looks attractive, no matter how much you dress it up.

Even though skeleton watches became popular in the ’70s. The first skeleton watch was actually made long before then in 1760. Master watchmaker Andre-Charles Cheron was showing off watch movements in order to sell them to wealthy Parisian socialites. However, compared to modern-day the practice did not really catch on. Skeleton watches came and went all throughout the next 200 years until they gained popularity once more.

Since then, almost every brand has given skeleton watchmaking a try. Most notably Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille have several stunning variations of openwork movements. More recently, the trend has found its way into fashion watches which create skeleton watches for a budget price.

Are Skeleton Watches Expensive?

Skeleton watches have a massive variation in price depending on the brand. You can easily find a cheap Chinese brand selling on Amazon for under $50. At the same time, you are easily able to find a high-end luxury Swiss brand selling on Chrono24 for over $50000.

Overall, skeleton watches have a very similar price point to any other watch. The better brand, movement, and materials, the more money you will pay.

Skeleton watches can either be very expensive or very cheap, depending on exactly what it is you want. If you’re expecting a great quality watch, then you should be ready to pay more money. If you’re looking for the cheapest skeleton watch money can buy, it won’t be expensive at all.

Why Do Skeleton Watches Cost More Than Regular Watches?

The reason why skeleton watches generally cost more than a plain mechanical watch is due to the extra work and craftsmanship involved. If you were to put two watches with the exact same movement side by side, it would take extra work to design the skeleton model.

If you were to look behind the dial of a standard automatic watch, it would not look as nice as a skeleton. Most skeletons are engraved or at least have some level of aesthetic detail to make them look appealing. Excess metal has been chiseled away, leaving only thin and detailed bridges.

When compared with quartz watches, you’re always going to pay more for a skeleton. This is because skeleton watches are (obviously) not quartz. If you were to make a skeleton watch based on a quartz movement you would just see some minor circuitry and a battery – not very impressive at all.

More labor and design means that you’ll mostly be paying a bit more money.

Are Skeleton Watches Tacky Or Cool?

Skeleton watches are the marmite of the watch world. Some people love them, whilst others hate them.

This is mostly due to the appearance of the watch – alongside what is being shown with the openwork look of the watch in general.

If you know anything about watch movements then you will not be impressed by looking at a cheap Chinese movement. In fact, you would probably prefer it to be hidden by the dial. There is nothing particularly impressive, nor complicated about most of the budget movements shown in skeleton watches.

As you progress into luxury brands such as Breguet. Some of the complications and engineering of the watch movements become more intriguing. At this point, anyone who knows anything about watches will at least be impressed by what they’re seeing. However, some people simply don’t like the appearance of skeleton watches, so would never wear one regardless of how good they look.

Overall skeleton watches are certainly not tacky, but whether you think they’re cool or not is personal preference.

Are Skeleton Watches Good Quality?

Once again, this depends on which brand you’re buying from. In the modern-day, there are many, many brands that have tried their hand producing skeleton watches. In fact, the internet is flooded with cheap Chinese-made skeleton watches that are not good quality at all.

With that being said, there are a lot of high-end luxury brands that make skeleton watches such as Audemars Piguet & Vacheron Constantin. There is no doubt then, that these two brands make extremely high-quality and luxurious skeleton watches.

Somewhere in the middle of this are fashion brands. Names such as Fossil, Tissot, Invicta & Seiko have all made skeleton watches. These models are as good as their brands and in general, you’ll get exactly what you pay for. Seiko for example makes great quality watches for fairly cheap prices. It would be a good assumption to think that their skeleton watch models also meet this standard.

List Of The 9 Best Skeleton Watches By Budget

Under $200

Stuhrling

Sturhling is one of the best value-for-money budget watch brands on the market. Although the brand makes its watches in China, it imports the key components (such as the movement) from Japan. The automatic miyota makes sure that your watch is both accurate and reliable.

This particular model is available in 4 colors if you’re not too fond of the black image shown. Lastly, the watch also features an exhibition case back, so the movement is visible from both sides of the glass.

Check The Price Of Stuhrling Watches On Amazon

Fossil

Fossil is a brand name that you will see appear a lot when discussing fashion watches. This is because they manufacture their own watches, as well as many other brand names you are familiar with.

Automatic Fossil watches are really quite a bit better than their standard quartz models. For a start, depending on the model, a lot of mechanical movements made by the brand use their Swiss STP movement. Whilst this is not a fantastic piece of horology, it is surprisingly accurate and reliable.

Fossil is one of the best brands for a skeleton watch under $200. Yes, there are cheaper brands available, but there is not much better value for money than this.

Check The Price Of Fossil Watches On Amazon

Invicta

Invicta is a brand that is despised by some and adored by others. Generally known for their oversized watches, their mechanical range is a little bit different. At only 42mm, (which is already 2mm larger than a standard man’s watch) this is one of the smallest watches Invicta makes.

It has a mechanical Chinese movement inside, which isn’t great. But really for the cost of this watch, it really is somewhat of a bargain. It must be noted that unlike the other watches on this list, the movement is hand-wound and not automatic.

Check The Price Of Invicta Watches On Amazon

Kenneth Cole

Kenneth Cole is a well-known fashion brand. Whilst it isn’t best known for designer watches, KC has been making timepieces since 1996. This skeleton watch is one of their best models as it contains a Japanese Miyota movement. Once again, this movement isn’t going to win any awards, but the value for money is really very good. At under $100 a miyota automatic inside a branded watch is really quite a steal.

Check The Price Of Kenneth Cole Watches On Amazon

Over $200

Maserati

Maserati are quite a controversial watch brand. Whilst their cars cost anywhere from $75000 upwards, their watches sell for considerably cheaper.

With that being said, their skeleton watches aren’t terrible value but are probably best suited to fans of the car brand. Inside you will find a typical miyota movement, which is nothing special at all given the price. It’s certainly not a bad watch, although you can find much better skeleton watches for a smaller price. Fossil and Bulova both offer cheaper alternatives with superior movements.

Check The Price Of Maserati Watches On Amazon

Bulova

Bulova watches are a classic Swiss brand. Although for their skeleton watches it should be noted that they do use Miyota automatic movements. This is likely because ETA movements would be too expensive for them and would cause a massive price increase. As it stands, Bulova skeleton watches are well under $500 which is pretty good value for such an established name.

The gold dial is quite striking, however if you’re not a fan of gold. Bulova offers a huge range of skeleton watches including silver, black, rose gold, and many other combinations.

Check The Price Of Bulova Watches On Amazon

Oris

The Oris Artelier is one of the brands best selling models and you can see why. It offers a rather simplistic design and is a classic everyday watch. The skeleton version of the Artelier is slightly more garish and more of a nighttime watch than its close-dialed alternative.

The movement is excellent. Oris use in house movements for most of their watches and this is no exception. The Oris 917 is based on a Sellita SW300, so you know you are getting both accuracy and reliability for the money spent.

Check The Price Of Oris Watches On Amazon

Tag Heuer

The Tag Heuer skeleton Carrera is one of the most expensive Tag Heuer watches you can buy. It is designed to look just like the sport it was meant for – formula 1. The dial has a distinct engine-like feel and energy about it.

If you’re after an oversized luxury skeleton watch, the Carrera really is a great choice. With a case size of 45mm, the chronograph pushers and large crown make the watch appear even larger than it is on the wrist. Of course, Tag Heuer doesn’t make the best quality watches money can buy. But they are a legitimate Swiss-made luxury brand and only produce excellent timepieces.

Check The Price Of Tag Heuer Carrera Watches On Amazon

Rado

Rado is a watch brand that does not get a whole lot of attention in the USA. Perhaps this is justified by the over-saturation of the entry-level luxury watch market.

However, the Rado skeleton does bring something new to the table. Its dial is quite unique as it does not go full skeleton, but is around 80% uncovered. When manufacturing their watches, Rado uses high-end ceramics. This makes the watch suitable for those who are hypoallergenic, or simply people who don’t like the weight of stainless steel. Of course, there is the fact that ceramic is a LOT harder to scratch and damage when compared to steel too.

Check The Price Of Rado Watches On Amazon