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Top 5 Mechanical Watches under $300



If you are just entering the wonderful world of mechanical watches, welcome! Finding a first watch is an important decision for every aspiring collector, so here are our top picks for inexpensive/starter time pieces with a price limit of $300.

Seiko 5 SNK805, SNK803, SNK807, and SNK809
1) Seiko 5 - $65-85

This is one of the most popular watches by Seiko. Its an automatic (it winds itself) and is quite reliable. People (including myself) like Seiko for many reasons, one of which being their in house movements. It has quite a casual look to it, making it a great choice for everyday use. The ones shown here are SNK8## models, but really any watch from the Seiko 5 lineup does the trick.

2) Orient Bambino - (Generation 2) - $120-150

Image result for orient bambino gen 2 v1
Version 1
Image result for orient bambino gen 2 v2
Version 2
Version 3
Version 4







Orient is another very reliable brand with some great watches. One of their most well known product lines is the Bambino. It is more of a dress watch, and comes in four different versions, with each version coming in different color schemes. The movement is automatic, has hand-winding, and hacking (the second hand stops moving when setting the time). One other iconic feature is the domed crystal. It extends further than the watch face, giving a very unique look. My personal favorite is version two with the blue hands and roman numerals, but really all of them are great options.


3) Seiko 200 Meter Dive Watch - $180-220

Image result for seiko skx007 and skx009
Seiko SKX007 and SKX009
Moving onto more of a utility watch, we have two of Seiko's most praised dive watches. They come on either a metal jubilee bracelet or a rubber variant. The movement inside does not have hand-winding or hacking capabilities, but does sport a day and date window. It has a screw-down crown at the 4 o'clock and the hour markings all glow after being in light. The hands also have lume (glow). The bezel is unidirectional (it only turns one way) which is good for diving because if someone is using it to track dive time, they can only ever accidentally decrease the amount of time they have left. These two watches have history behind them and even seasoned watch collectors will leave a spot for one of these phenomenal divers.

4) Sea-gull Skeleton (M182sk) - $130 Lowest
Image result for seagull m182sk

Sea-gull is not as well known as the other brands that have been discussed, but they are certainly worth discussing. They manufacture watch movements that are used by other companies. However, they also make some watches of their own using these movements. My favorite example of this being the M18sk. It is a beautiful skeleton watch with hand winding and hacking. The hands and hour markings are a pleasant blue, and it comes on a leather strap. Because it is from China, there is a wide range of sources to purchase it from, with different prices. Long Island Watch sells it for about double the price of other less known sources, but that comes with assurance that it isn't a fake. The most fascinating part of having a skeleton watch is getting to see the balance wheel spinning back and forth each second and seeing the watch mechanics up close for yourself.

5) Orient Sun and Moon Version 3 - $240-270

The Orient Sun and Moon makes up for being the most expensive on this list with its wide range of features. It is an automatic, that has hacking, and hand-winding. It also has a day subdial, a date window, and a sun/moon dial. This makes it easy to know if you have the watch set correctly. It also has a gorgeous detailed dial, roman numerals, and stunningly white hands that provide easy legibility

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