The best men's watches under £500 in the UK (2026)

Five hundred pounds is enough to buy a watch you'll still wear in twenty years. It's the price where Swiss brands like Tissot and Hamilton, and Japan's Seiko and Citizen, offer their best value: sapphire crystals, proper water resistance and movements made to be serviced.

We've picked ten men's watches under £500, each the best at something. They're all sold new by Goldsmiths, a UK authorised retailer. Prices are Goldsmiths' own on the date shown, and they update when we re-check them.

How we chose

Every watch had to cost £500 or less at a UK authorised retailer, carry a manufacturer's guarantee and have at least 50 metres of water resistance. We then picked the best watch for each job: everyday, automatic, diving, dressing up, travel and so on. We didn't include anything we'd hesitate to recommend to a friend.

Best overall: Tissot PRX

Best overallTissot PRX T1374101104100 · 40mm · Quartz · 100 m water resistant £335Price at Goldsmiths, 28 October 2026 Full specsSee it at Goldsmiths

The PRX is the watch we'd recommend to most people with £500 to spend. It's a reissue of a 1978 Tissot design, with a slim steel case that flows into an integrated bracelet. Tissot's own page lists a sapphire crystal, a thickness of just 10.4mm and 100-metre water resistance. It runs on a Swiss quartz movement, so it's accurate and only needs a new battery every few years.

Browse all 361 Tissot watches£245 to £1,875 at Goldsmiths→

Good to know: the bracelet is built into the shape of the case, so an ordinary strap won't fit it.

Best automatic: Seiko 5 Sports SKX

Best automaticSeiko 5 Sports SKX SRPE53K1 · 40mm · Automatic · 100 m water resistant £280Price at Goldsmiths, 28 October 2026 Full specsSee it at Goldsmiths

Seiko 5 Sports 20 watches at Goldsmiths, £260 to £430. Shop the 5 Sports

If you want a mechanical watch, start here. The Seiko 5 Sports uses Seiko's 4R36 automatic movement, which winds itself as you wear it and shows the day and the date. According to Seiko it has about 41 hours of power reserve, 10 bar (100 metres) of water resistance and a see-through case back. The diver-style bezel and blue dial make it a do-anything watch.

Good to know: the crystal is Hardlex, Seiko's toughened mineral glass, which is less scratch-resistant than sapphire. And like any automatic, it gains or loses some time each day: Seiko rates this movement at between 35 seconds slow and 45 seconds fast a day, so expect to reset it now and then. For more choice, see our guide to the best automatic watches under £500.

Best dive watch: Citizen Promaster Diver

Best dive watchCitizen Promaster Diver BN0266-07E · 41mm · Solar (Eco-Drive) · 200 m water resistant £319Price at Goldsmiths, 28 October 2026 Full specsSee it at Goldsmiths

This is a serious dive watch for a sensible price. Citizen's page lists it as ISO 6425-compliant (the international standard for diving watches), water resistant to 20 bar (200 metres), with a one-way rotating bezel and a sapphire crystal. It's an Eco-Drive watch, charged by any light, and Citizen quotes a power reserve of 365 days on a full charge. It comes on a polyurethane strap, which is ideal for swimming.

If you'd prefer a steel bracelet and an even higher rating, Tissot's Seastar 1000 (£425) is a Swiss quartz diver rated to 300 metres, with a sapphire crystal (Tissot's figures). More options are in our guide to the best dive watches under £1,000.

Best dress watch: Seiko Presage Cocktail Time

Best dress watchSeiko Presage Cocktail Time SRPB41J1 · 40.5mm · Automatic · 50 m water resistant £370Price at Goldsmiths, 28 October 2026 Full specsSee it at Goldsmiths

Seiko's Cocktail Time is famous for its dials: textured, glossy and catching the light like the drink it's named after. It's a 40.5mm automatic with the 4R35 movement (about 41 hours of power reserve) under a domed, box-shaped Hardlex crystal, according to Seiko. It looks wonderful with a suit and will make people ask about it.

Good to know: water resistance is 5 bar (50 metres), so it's fine in the rain and when washing your hands, but take it off for swimming.

Best everyday field watch: Hamilton Khaki Field Quartz

Hamilton Khaki Field Quartz H69401930 · 38mm · Quartz · 50 m water resistant £375Price at Goldsmiths, 28 October 2026 Full specsSee it at Goldsmiths

The Khaki Field is a military-style watch, designed to be read at a glance. Hamilton lists a sapphire crystal and a case just 8.3mm thick, so it slides under a cuff, and it comes on a green fabric NATO strap. At 38mm, it suits a wide range of wrists. Water resistance is 50 metres.

Browse all 95 Hamilton watches£375 to £2,265 at Goldsmiths→

Best chronograph: Tissot PR100 Chronograph

Tissot PR100 Chronograph T1504171104100 · 40mm · Quartz · 100 m water resistant £355Price at Goldsmiths, 28 October 2026 Full specsSee it at Goldsmiths

A chronograph is a watch with a built-in stopwatch, and the PR100 is a neat, 40mm one. Tissot's page lists 1/10-second timing up to 30 minutes, a sapphire crystal, the date and 100-metre water resistance. It's a quartz chronograph, so it's slimmer and cheaper than a mechanical one. Our guide to the best chronograph watches under £1,000 compares it with seven others.

Best for travel: Seiko 5 Sports SKX GMT

Seiko 5 Sports SKX GMT Blueberry SSK003K1 · 42.5mm · Automatic · 100 m water resistant £430Price at Goldsmiths, 28 October 2026 Full specsSee it at Goldsmiths

A GMT watch shows a second time zone with an extra hand that goes round once every 24 hours. Seiko's 4R34 movement makes this an affordable way into automatic GMT watches. Seiko lists about 41 hours of power reserve and 10 bar of water resistance. The blue and purple "Blueberry" bezel is a fun twist on a classic look. Our best GMT watches guide has more.

Good to know: at 42.5mm across and 13.6mm thick (Seiko's figures), it's one of the larger watches here.

Best watch that never needs a battery: Citizen Zenshin Super Titanium

Citizen Zenshin Super Titanium AW0130-85X · 39mm · Solar (Eco-Drive) · 100 m water resistant £399Price at Goldsmiths, 28 October 2026 Full specsSee it at Goldsmiths

Two clever things set the Zenshin apart. It's made from Citizen's Super Titanium, which Citizen says is five times harder and 40% lighter than stainless steel. And it's powered by light, so there's no battery to change. Add a green dial, the day and date, and 100-metre water resistance, and you have one of the most practical watches under £500.

Toughest: Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000 GMW-B5000D-1CER · 49 × 43mm · Solar · 200 m water resistant £499Price at Goldsmiths, 28 October 2026 Full specsSee it at Goldsmiths

This is the original square G-Shock, made in full steel. Goldsmiths describes how Casio fitted resin buffers between the steel bezel and case to keep G-Shock's shock resistance, and a screw-lock case back to seal it. It's solar powered, water resistant to 200 metres, and, according to Goldsmiths, made at the Yamagata Casio factory where the first G-Shock was built. It's the most expensive watch here, and the only one that's a digital.

Browse all 81 Casio watches£34.90 to £919 at Goldsmiths→

More good watches under £500

• Seiko Prospex "Turtle" (£390): a big, cushion-shaped automatic dive watch, rated to 200 metres, with a one-way bezel. At 45mm, it suits larger wrists.
• Citizen Promaster Air Navihawk (£399): a solar pilot's chronograph with a slide-rule bezel and sapphire crystal, rated to 200 metres (Goldsmiths' description).
• Seiko 5 Sports Flieger (£280): a pilot-style automatic on a nylon strap with a day and date display.

Side by side

What to look for in a watch under £500

The crystal

The glass over the dial matters more than most people think. Sapphire is extremely scratch-resistant, so the watch still looks new after years. Mineral glass (Seiko calls its version Hardlex) is less likely to shatter but picks up scratches more easily.

The movement

Quartz is the most accurate and needs a battery every few years. Solar (Citizen's Eco-Drive, for example) is quartz charged by light. Automatic is mechanical and winds itself as you wear it. Our movement guide explains each in plain English.

Water resistance

Ratings are based on pressure tests, not real diving depths. As a rough guide, 50 metres is fine for rain and handwashing, 100 metres for swimming, and 200 metres or more for snorkelling and diving. If you want to dive, choose a watch that is ISO-rated, like the Citizen Promaster Diver.

The size

Diameter isn't the whole story. Check the thickness too, since thinner watches slide under a shirt cuff more easily. All the watches here list their case size, and we've added the thickness where the brand publishes it.

Where to next

Like a brand here? Our best Tissot watches and best Seiko watches explain every collection. If you can stretch a little, see best men's watches under £1,000.