If you’re on a tight budget and are looking for a fancy-looking dress watch that won’t start falling apart a couple of months after purchase, then look no further than this guide! In it, I’ve compiled a list of five best women’s dress watches under $100 that you can buy in 2023. All of them are made by reputable brands and they’ll, if properly cared for, last for a long time!
Read: The Best Women’s Dress Watches Under $100 You Can Buy in 2023
#1 – Introduction
Before we carry on, keep in mind that …:
(1) … this article only covers women’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 multiple reasons. For example, the Fossil-Riley-ES3202 (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 Women’s Dress Watches Under $100 You Can Buy in 2023
Wenger Urban Classic (Editor’s Choice)
Founded in 1893 as Paul Boechat & Cie. in Courtételle, Switzerland, Wenger is, alongside Victorinox (which acquired it in 2005), one of the original makers of the Swiss Army Knife.
At first, Wenger produced exclusively knives and Swiss Army Knives and the business did well. In order to expand it further, in 1897 the owner, Paul Boechat, brought in Theodore Wenger, the man after whom the company is named. During his time in the company, Wenger widened its product range to include not only knives and Swiss Army knives but also cutlery, travel gear and from 1988, watches like the Wenger Urban Classic.
As you can see in the picture above, the Wenger Urban Classic is of simple design and looks much more expensive than it actually is (when people see “Swiss made”, they’ll assume that you’ve paid hundreds of dollars for it), making it ideal for formal events or a night out.
Set in a 35mm wide and 7.8 mm thick gold-tone stainless-steel case, the Wenger Urban Classic features a white dial with second marks, stick indices, luminescent hands, 17 mm wide stainless-steel mesh bracelet with a sliding buckle clasp (a version with a leather strap is also available) and a sapphire coated mineral crystal. It runs on Swiss made quartz (I presume it‘s Ronda 715) and is 1.8 oz (51 g) heavy.
The Wenger Urban Classic has a 100m (10 ATM) water resistance, making it suitable for swimming and snorkeling, but not diving.
In case you prefer silver-toned watches, the Wenger Urban Classic of that color is also available. It comes in two versions – with a black leather strap (seen in the picture above) and with a stainless-steel mesh bracelet.
The price of Wenger Urban Classic is dependent on the variant. As of time of this writing, the gold-tone variants with a brown leather strap and a stainless-steel mesh bracelet cost around $40, whereas the silver-toned variant with a black leather strap costs around $80 on Amazon (the one with the stainless-steel mesh bracelet isn’t available). All four variants are also available on Wenger’s official site for around $150.
Fossil Riley ES3202 (Most Elegant)
Founded in 1984 as Overseas Products International by Tom Kartsotis in Dallas, Fossil at first specialized in selling moderately priced fashion watches (which were the rage back then) to various department stores and boutiques in Dallas. The business went well, enabling the Overseas Products International (which was renamed Fossil after his father’s nickname – he must’ve been very proud 🙂 ) to begin making watches (which come in iconic and collectable tin box packages with vintage inspired graphics) and accessories under their own brand in both China and later on, Switzerland. Also, it’s important to note that Fossil makes licensed accessories (including watches, of course) for brands such as Adidas, Armani Exchange, Burberry, Chaps, Diesel, DKNY, Emporio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade New York, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Puma, and Tory Burch.
Released in 2012 and still in production today, the Fossil Riley (in particular its gold-plated version, the ES3202, seen in the picture below) is, owing to its elegance, one of the most popular watches on Amazon right now. It’s a smart, glamorous and can be worn for elegant events as well as everyday 9-5 workload. If you’re looking for a gift to your significant other, then I suggest buying this watch!
Set in a 38 mm wide and 12 mm thick gold-tone stainless-steel case with a non-rotating bezel, the Fossil Riley ES3202 features luminescent gold-tone hands, a gold-tone dial with second marks, crystal markers, an 8.5 in long and 18 mm wide gold-tone stainless steel band with a folding clasp and a mineral glass. It’s 4.09 oz (114 g) heavy and runs on Chinese made quartz movement with multifunction display that’ll take some time to get used to (I had a Fossil watch with a similar movement so…). The instructions can be found on this link.
The Fossil Riley ES3202 has a 100m (10 ATM) water resistance, making it suitable for swimming and snorkeling, but not diving.
In case you prefer some other color, the Fossil Riley comes in four other color variants – silver, black glitz (seen in the picture above – it looks AWESOME when combined with a black leather or fur jacket), rose gold and two-tone silver/gold. As of time of this writing, they all cost around $60 on Amazon.
On Fossil’s official site, the Fossil Riley costs $160. However, they offer one FREE option that’s not available on Amazon – engraving. If you want your Fossil watch to be a memento of some special event (graduation, wedding and so on) or if you want to it to be a TRULY special gift to someone you love…then I suggest buying yours there. In the picture above, you can see how an engravement on a Fossil looks like.
Read: Where are Seiko Watches Made?
Fossil Modern Courier (Coolest Looking)
In case “blinged up” chronograph watches aren’t your thing (which is perfectly fine), there’re plenty of others Fossil watches priced under $100 to choose from, the Fossil Modern Courier being one of them.
Set in a 35.6 mm wide and 11 mm thick rose gold-tone stainless-steel case with a non-rotating bezel, the Fossil Modern Courier features luminescent hands, a dial with Roman numerals and second marks, a 15.8 mm wide stainless-steel band with a push button fold over clasp with safety and a mineral glass. It runs on a Chinese made quartz chronograph movement that’s easy to get used to (here are the instructions) and is 3.6 oz heavy.
Compared to its Riley counterpart, the Fossil Modern Courier has a smaller (5 ATM) water resistance, making it suitable for short periods of recreational swimming, but not diving or snorkeling.
As of time of this writing, the rose-gold variant of the Fossil Modern Courier costs $76 on Amazon. If that color isn’t to your liking, worry not – the Fossil Modern Courier comes in multiple other variants featuring crystals on the bezel (like on the Riley), leather straps and, of course, of different colors (like the two-tone silver/gold variant in the picture above). All of them are, as of time of this writing, only available at Fossil’s official site where they cost $120 on average (with free engraving).
Read: SHOULD YOU buy Clothes from HIGH END brands?
Skagen Signatur Lille / Skagen Signatur
Skagen is a Danish lifestyle brand that was founded in 1989 by Henrik and Charlotte Jorst, known for its sleek and minimalist design philosophy inspired by the coastal town of Skagen in Denmark. The Skagen Signatur Lille (seen in the picture below) and the Skagen Signatur are two timepieces that that embody that philosophy.
Set in a 30 mm wide and 6 mm thick stainless-steel case with a non-rotating bezel, the Skagen Signatur Lille features stick indices, a mineral crystal and a 14mm wide stainless steel-mesh strap with a fold-over clasp with safety. It runs on Japanese made quartz movement.
In case you prefer a bigger size, there’s also a model called Signatur that’s set in a 38 mm wide and 7 mm thick stainless-steel case which features an 18 millimeters wide stainless steel-mesh strap with a sliding closure. Like its smaller cousin, it runs on Japanese made quartz movement and is approximately 1.7 oz (50 g) heavy.
The Skagen Signatur and Skagen Signatur Lille have a very low (3 ATM) water resistance, making them unsuitable for swimming and bathing.
The Skagen Signatur Lille, as of time of this writing, comes in multiple colors (gold, silver and silver gold) and also has a variant that features a black dial (with a rose gold steel-mesh strap). All of them cost between $60 and $90 on Amazon and between $125 and $145 on Skagen’s official site. Its bigger cousin, the Skagen Signatur comes in gold and silver color (with white dials) and also has a variant that features a charcoal dial and leather strap. All of them cost between $60 and $85 on Amazon and between $115 and $130 on Skagen’s official site.
If you buy your Skagen watch from their official website, it’ll come with free engraving. However, keep in mind that, compared to its Fossil counterparts, there’s much less room on the back.
Michael Kors Pyper (Most Interesting Designs)
The Michael Kors brand was established in 1981 by a prominent figure in the fashion industry whose name is, as you might’ve guessed, Michael Kors. His company is one of the biggest fashion companies right now and owns multiple fashion brands, the most prominent of them being Versace and Jimmy Choo.
Despite Michael Kors changing its brand name to Capri Holdings in 2018 after it significantly expanded its portfolio, it still makes products under its old brand name, including watches like the Pyper.
The Michael Kors Pyper is set in a 38 mm wide and 7 mm thick stainless-steel case with a non-rotating bezel and features a dial with stick indices, crystal markers, second marks, scratch-resistant mineral crystal glass and an 18 mm wide band. It runs on a quartz movement and is 2.8 oz heavy.
The water resistance of the Michael Kors Pyper is 5 ATM, making it suitable for short periods of recreational swimming, but not diving or snorkeling.
As of time of this writing, on Amazon there’s a huge variety of Michael Kors Pyper watches of different colors and strap materials (most of them seem to be discontinued versions) that cost between $70 (like the one in the picture above featuring a blue leather strap) and $135. On Michael Kors’ official site there are five gold-toned variants that feature leather straps (black, pink, brown, black with embossed MK logo and gray with embossed MK logo that’s seen in the image below) and one that features a stainless-steel two-tone silver/gold strap and crystals on the bezel available that cost between $139 and $180 as of time of this writing.
Michael Kors is a very popular designer brand, and it comes as no surprise that his products (including watches) are faked HEAVILY. As soon as the watch arrives, have an expert or authorized distributor (AD) check to see if it’s genuine!
Read: THE ULTIMATE Guide to Pulsar Watches (and Pulsar in General) IN HISTORY
#2 – Some Final Words
So there you have it, the best women’s dress watches under (and slightly over) $100 you can buy. No matter which one 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 – a relatively good 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
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