If you’re on a tight budget and are looking for a fancy-looking dress watch that won’t start falling apart shortly after purchase, then look no further than this guide! In it, I’ve compiled a list of five best men’s dress watches under $100 that you can buy in 2023. All of them are made by VERY reputable brands and they’ll, if properly cared for, last for a long time!
Read: Best Women’s Dress Watches Under $100 (and Slightly Over) You Can Buy in 2023
#1 – Introduction
Before we carry on, keep in mind that …:
(1) … this article originally included 20 (or so) under $100 watches of all types (dress, sports, digital, travel and divers). In order to prevent your head from exploding due to information overload (as seen in the Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), I’ve decided to break that article into 5 smaller ones. Each of them is focused on only one type of watch.
As evident in the title, this article only covers men’s dress watches under $100.
(2) … the watches listed in this article were, as of time of this writing, priced under $100. That’ll certainly change during the coming years, as the Euro and the US Dollar (and the currencies that are pegged to them) are gradually losing their value due to inflation caused by COVID-19 (and, in case of the latter, its reserve status). For example, the Casio MTP-V006D-7BUDF (seen in the picture below) will certainly cost more in 2025 than it does today.
(3) … I won’t get into too much depth about the specifications of each watch listed.
(4) … I’m not affiliated with ANY of the brands whose watches are listed in this article.
With that being said, let’s continue, shall we 🙂 ?
Read: The Best Rolex Submariner Homage Watches to Buy RIGHT NOW
Victorinox 241823 Alliance (My Recommendation)
Many Swiss watch brands, such as Rolex and Patek Philippe, are renowned for their excellent craftsmanship, but they often come with hefty price tags, making them unavailable to most. Fortunately for us, there are several Swiss watchmakers that offer quality timepieces for very cheap prices.
One of them is Victorinox.
Founded by Karl Elsener in 1884 in Ibach, Switzerland, Victorinox (then known as Messerfabrik Karl Elsener (“Karl Elsener’s Knife Factory”)) originally produced folding pocketknives for the Swiss army. At first, the company incurred severe financial losses because the army preferred to buy pocketknives from various German companies (which were mostly based in Solingen, a town known for its metal products) due to them being cheaper. In order for his company to survive, Elsener had to find a way how. So, he went to his workshop where, for countless nights, he tinkered…tinkered…and tinkered some more until he invented an improved version of the folded pocketknife, with various tools (corkscrew, smaller knife, plyers, plasma torpedoes and so on) attached on both sides of the handle using a special spring mechanism. He patented his invention in 1897 under the name of Schweizer Offiziers- und Sportmesser (“Swiss officer’s and sports knife”). Despite it not being adopted by the Swiss army at the time, that tool (known as the Swiss Army Knife) was a huge commercial success, which allowed his company to recover financially. In 1921, the company was renamed to Victorinox, a name they still use today.
As time went on, Victorinox began to produce other items besides Swiss Army knives – luggage, cutlery, travel gear and watches like the Victorinox Swiss Army 241823 Alliance which can be seen in the picture below.
If you’re looking for under $100 dress watch that would be ideal for business meetings or for more formal events (especially black tie), then the Victorinox Swiss Army 241823 Alliance is one of the best ones available. Why? Because this watch, like many of its more expensive counterparts, features a solid 40mm wide stainless-steel case with a fixed bezel (making it ideal for all but the smallest wrists), luminescent hands, a genuine black leather strap with a buckle clasp, a date complication and, believe it or not, a sapphire crystal! It’s powered by a Ronda 715 quartz movement.
Unfortunately, the Victorinox Swiss Army Alliance 241823 has a 3 ATM water resistance – the lowest water resistance contemporary watches feature. This means that you should keep this puppy away from the water as much as possible. In other words, don’t wear it outside of office and/or special events!
As of time of this writing, the Victorinox Swiss Army Alliance 241823 is no longer available on Victorinox‘s official website. Still, there’re plenty of them available on Amazon and eBay, where you can buy a brand new one for around $85.
Read: The Best Men’s Dive Watches Under $100 you Can Buy in 2023
Wenger City Classic (My Recommendation as Well)
In case you’re looking for a Swiss-made alternative to the Victorinox 241823 Alliance, then the Wenger City Classic is something worth considering.
Wenger’s history is, for lack of a better word, much less turbulent compared to Victorinox’s (which acquired it in 2005 and partially absorbed). Founded in 1893 in Courtételle as Paul Boechat & Cie, it first produced knives for the Swiss Army. After Theodore Wenger took over the company in 1897 (and renamed it to Wenger et Cie and later on, Wenger), they widened their product range to include Swiss Army knives, cutlery, travel gear and from 1988, watches like the City Classic.
As seen in the picture above, the Wenger City Classic is of simple design and features a solid 43mm wide stainless-steel case (making it unsuitable for small wrists), a fixed bezel, luminescent hands, a genuine black leather strap with a buckle clasp, a date complication and a mineral glass. It runs on Ronda 715 quartz movement.
The main drawback of the Wenger City Classic is its low (3 ATM) water resistance, making it unsuitable for wear outside of office and/or special events.
In case you prefer colors other than black or a metal strap, there are 9 variants of the Wenger City Classic to choose from. In the picture below, you can see a variant with a metal bracelet and a blue face.
The price of Wenger City Classic is, depending on the variant, between $100 and $150. The reason why I listed this model here is that some variants (like the one with the black leather strap and white face) cost, as of time of this writing, around $80 on Amazon and eBay (and sometimes even less).
Read: Where are Seiko Watches Made?
Casio MTP-V006D-7BUDF (Very Affordable)
Casio was founded in 1946 in Tokyo by Tadao Kashio as Kashio Seisakujo, their first product being a yubiwa pipe – a finger ring that would hold a cigarette, which allowed its wearer to smoke a cigarette down to its nub while also leaving the wearer’s hands free. This gadget was a success which enabled his company to start production of electro-mechanical calculators, musical instruments and various electronics such as cameras, laptops and watches like the MTP-V006D-7BUDF.
As seen in the picture above, the Casio MTP-V006D-7BUDF features a solid 38mm wide and 9.4 mm thick stainless-steel case (making suitable for most wrists), a fixed bezel, luminescent hands, black Roman numerals, a 18mm thick stainless-steel band with fold over deployment clasp, a day and date complication and a mineral glass. It runs on in-house quartz movement.
The main drawback of the Casio MTP-V006D-7BUDF is, as you might’ve guessed, its low (3 ATM) water resistance. I’m pretty sure that you figured out by now what that means 🙂 .
In case you prefer variants of this watch that feature a black leather strap, there’re two models available – the MTP-V006L-7B (with a white dial) and the MTP-V006L-1B (with a black dial, seen in the picture below).
The price of of the Casio MTP-V006D-7BUDF is, as of time of this writing, around $35 on Amazon and eBay. In case you prefer the variants with leather straps, the white-dialed version one costs roughly the same on both Amazon and eBay (I haven’t seen the black faced one).
Read: All About Seiko Astron GPS Solar Watches (and Hands-on Review)
Orient RF-QD0007B (Ideal Gift)
The next watch comes from the Orient Watch Company, founded in 1901 by Shogoro Yoshida as the Yoshida Watch Shop in Tokyo. Initially, it only sold imported pocket watches and wristwatches and later on, its own. Due to the Japanese economic devastation following World War II, it went out of business but was soon re-established as the Tama Keiki Company, which changed its name to Orient Watch Company, a name still used today.
Despite being, as of time of this writing, Japan’s biggest producer of mechanical watches, Orient manufacturers a lot of models that run on quartz movements, such as the RF-QD0007B.
As seen in the picture above, the Orient RF-QD0007B features a solid 39mm wide and 7 mm thick bronze-plated stainless-steel case (making suitable for all but the smallest wrists), a fixed bezel, a date complication, a genuine brown leather strap with a buckle clasp, mineral glass and a white dial color with black hands, dial and second markers. It runs on Orient Cal.VL321.
The main drawback of the Orient RF-QD0007B is its low (3 ATM) water resistance. Office – YES! Dates – YES! Showers – NO! Swimming – HELL NO!
In case you prefer a variant of this watch that features a gold-plated case, dial and hands, then the Orient RF-QD0003G (seen in the picture below) is something worth considering. There are other variants of different colors (and with steel bracelets) but they’re no longer available.
The price of the Orient RF-QD0007B and RF-QD0003G is, as of time of this writing, around $35 on Amazon and eBay.
Read. THE ULTIMATE Guide to Pulsar Watches (and Pulsar in General) IN HISTORY
Lorus RH993NX9 (Most Detailed)
The last men’s dress watch under $100 that’s listed in this article comes from Lorus, a brand of Seiko Watch Corporation founded in 1982 whose specialty are affordable watches like the Lorus RH993NX9.
As seen in the picture below, the Lorus RH993NX9 features a solid 44 mm wide and 10 mm thick stainless-steel case (ideal for bigger wrists), a fixed bezel, a date complication at the 3 o’clock position, a mineral glass, a dark blue dial and stainless-steel band. I presume it runs on some entry-level Seiko quartz movement but I don’t know which one.
In comparison to all the other men’s dress watches under $100 that’re listed here, the Lorus RH993NX9 has the biggest water resistance of them – 10 ATM. That means that this puppy can handle a splash of champagne (if, G.d forbid, your date goes wrong), swimming and snorkeling no problemo!
The Lorus RH993NX9 is, as of time of this writing, quite hard to find brand new under $100. The only place where I’ve seen it is eBay, where it costs around $70. Grab yours before they’re gone!
#2 – Some Final Words
No matter which timepiece listed in this article you chose to buy, each of them is going to have some pros and cons.
Some models are too big, others too small.
Some models are too formal, others too casual.
However… all of them have one thing in common – quality. If properly cared for, each of them is going to last for quite a long time (and may even outlive you)!
Thank you for reading. If you’ve liked this article and want to see more like them, make sure you bookmark this blog and to follow me on Instagram!
Until next time.
Your man,
-Leon
Pingback: THE ULTIMATE Guide to Pulsar Watches (and Pulsar in General) IN HISTORY – Findnolimits
Pingback: How to Identify a GENUINE Emporio Armani Watch – Findnolimits
Pingback: The Best Men’s Dive Watches Under $100 you Can Buy in 2023