The Best Watches on Amazon

The automatic that has taught more people what a mechanical watch is than any other. The 4R36 hacks and hand-winds — neither was standard at this price until Seiko made it so — and it runs 41 hours with 100 m of water resistance behind a screw-down crown. The 22 mm lugs open onto the largest strap aftermarket in watchmaking, which is why one of these rarely stays stock for long.

The F-91W with its one real flaw fixed, for the same money: an electro-luminescent panel that lights the whole display instead of an LED that lights one corner. Same module, same ±30 seconds a month, same seven-year battery, same 21 grams. At this price accuracy stops being a compromise and becomes the reason to buy.

200 m of water resistance, a screw-lock crown, a screw-lock back and an anti-reverse bezel, for $60. Nothing else near this price publishes that specification, and Casio's own sheet backs every figure — we traced it, down to the SR626SW cell and the 2784 module. At ±20 seconds a month it also keeps better time than every automatic on this page.

44.7 mm from lug tip to lug tip — the shortest span of any automatic in our database, and the reason this is the one we hand to anyone with a wrist under 17 cm. The 4R36 hacks and hand-winds, there is 100 m of water resistance behind a screwed-down exhibition caseback, and Seiko publishes 4,800 A/m of magnetic resistance, which almost nobody at this price does.

The G-Shock you can wear with a jacket. At 11.8 mm it is by far the slimmest case in the line and 51 g is light enough to sleep in, while Carbon Core Guard keeps the 200 m and the shock resistance the name exists for. ±15 seconds a month is the tightest figure on this page.

$120 for a field watch that never needs a battery. Eco-Drive runs on any light, so there is no service interval and nothing to replace, and at 37 mm across with a 43 mm span it is the smallest watch on this page — the one that fits where the others overhang. 100 m of published water resistance.

The only watch on this page with an actual dive certification: ISO 6425 to 200 m, not a 200 m number on a case back. Eco-Drive means no battery changes and no winding, and ±15 seconds a month is an order of magnitude tighter than any automatic diver at the price. At 122 g on polyurethane it is unusually light for the category.

Anti-reflective sapphire at $495, in a bracket where most automatics still fit mineral glass. 39 mm with 20 mm lugs is the most conventional proportion here — any strap fits — and the light blue sunburst dial is a colour this category almost never offers. Exhibition caseback, 42-hour reserve.

$39.95 for 100 m, 31 time zones, four simultaneous Multi Time displays, five alarms, a countdown timer and a full auto-calendar to 2099, on a battery Casio rates at ten years. It is the cheapest watch in our database with a depth rating its maker will actually publish, and nothing else here does time zones at all.