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10 Great Analog Watches For All Tastes

Available in both mechanical and quartz form, the analog-dialed watch provides the most classic horological experience.

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By Zen Love

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Analog watches represent the classic and traditional side of timepieces. While digital watches can be great, they’ll almost never have the dignity and simple elegance of hands indicating numbers around a dial. Every watch or clock that doesn’t have a digital display is analog, no matter what kind of technology powers it, quartz or mechanical. Whether it’s a dive watch, chronograph, dress watch or any other that you’re after, there are great options. Each of the watches below offers analog timekeeping and strong value, and is well worth checking out.

Analog Quartz Watch: In resurrecting models from a time when quartz and digital watches proliferated, Timex is proudly helping make quartz cool again. The value of the Q Timex series is its uncommonly strong price-to-style ratio. With analog dials, bi-color bezels and a killer retro bracelet available, all you need is to choose from the multiple variations.

Diameter: 38mm
Movement: Quartz
Water Resistance: 50m

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Analog Dress Watch: If you’ve never experienced the charm of a thin, handwound watch, rejoice — you’re young and have your whole life ahead of you. Also, however, if you’re on a budget, you should buy one of these. The Timex Marlin Hand-Wound is a precise recreation of a dress watch from the 1960s, complete with a 34mm case, a simple dial with a funky, midcentury typeface, and a leather strap. 

Diameter: 34mm
Movement: Hand-wound
Water Resistance: 30m

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Analog Field Watch: The entry point for Seiko’s celebrated automatic watches, this field watch joins the Seiko 5 Sports collection offering characteristically impressive bang for buck. Available in several dial variations and strap combinations, it offers the Japanese brand’s own in-house automatic movement, impressive build quality and proven design. What more can you possibly want from a field watch?

Diameter: 38mm
Movement: Seiko 4R36 automatic
Water Resistance: 100m

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Analog Smartwatch: Swedish brand Kronaby has been producing its fitness-tracker-in-a-traditional-watch-package concept since around 2015, and it’s got the design part nailed: several of its models, including the Sekel, are beautiful. The smart functions have been improving and include an app that helps users screen smartphone notifications, control music or a phone camera, and even find their misplaced phone. 

Diameter: 43mm
Movement: Kronaby connected movement BT001
Water Resistance: 100m

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Analog Dive Watch: An affordable watch stalwart if there ever were one, this is one of the few ISO-rated dive watches you’ll find around this price and one of the first watches many will recommend if you want a mechanical watch, period. There’s not much to it other than the essentials — a simple but reliable movement, a proper bezel, a clear and legible dial and a case good for 200 meters — but that’s what makes it so damn endearing. 

Movement: Seiko 7S26 Automatic
Diameter: 42mm
Water Resistance: 200m

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Analog Casual Watch: A lot of brands are doing their own versions of “sports-chic” integrated-bracelet watches, but Tissot was able to make the PRX about more than that with its somehow suddenly hip ’80s angle. This is a lot of watch for the price, and the automatic version is going to more or less check all the boxes for a lot of mechanical watch fans — but with a quartz movement it’s even more affordable ($375). 

Diameter: 40mm
Movement: Powermatic 80 automatic or quartz
Water Resistance: 100m

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Analog Pilot’s Watch: Stowa makes a great example of the classic Flieger style pilot watch of WWII fame. The Verus 40, however, is something a little different: that utilitarian military design has been ever so slightly tweaked to offer a more modern and refined product. The result still feels very much like a pilot’s watch, but makes a lot more sense for daily wear. It also helps that the watch offers all this for well under $1,000.

Diameter: 40mm
Movement: Sellita SW200-1
Water Resistance: 50m

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Analog GMT Watch: Baltic’s Aquascaphe checks so many boxes that it may be amongst the best recent GMTs, period. You get a perfectly sized 39mm case that’s only 12mm thick, three handsome bezel color options, an automatic Swiss movement, a dive-ready water resistance rating of 100m, and either a super comfortable beads-of-rice bracelet or a Tropic-style rubber strap. If you’re on a budget, just pick one of these up and move on.

Diameter: 39mm
Movement: Soprod C125 automatic
Water Resistance: 100m

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Analog Racing-Inspired Watch. Autodromo is an American brand based in New York City that specializes in retro motorsport-inspired watches. The Intereuropa takes cues from 1950s car gauges and is powered by a manually wound Swiss movement that helps keep it nice and thin. It’s got charm and panache, with a refined feel and great wearing experience on the wrist. Different colorways will let you match it to your classic race car, or the one you aspire to have. 

Diameter: 39mm
Movement: ETA 7001 manual
Water Resistance: 50m

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Analog Chronograph Watch: With its classic vintage looks, reverse-panda dial, 39mm size and solid specs, the French brand Yema’s Speedgraf presents an compelling package. Further, it features an interesting movement from Seiko that isn’t all that common even in watches from the Japanese brand itself. On top of it all, little touches like applied indices and a box-style domed sapphire crystal lend it a refined feel.

Diameter: 39mm
Movement: Seiko NE86 automatic
Water Resistance: 100m

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