This Week In The Shop: Rounding Up Five Watches Under $5,000
Your Weekly Shop Brief
Over the weekend, we launched our latest collaborative Limited Edition with Porsche with the Chronograph 1 Limited Edition For Hodinkee. And, while it didn’t make the top five picks this round, I’d like to give a special shoutout to this green dial take on Grand Seiko’s classic time-only dress watch, which deserves an honorable mention and more.
Rounding Up Five Watches Under $5,000
If the title of this week’s column seems a bit vague, it is intentionally so. The under $5,000 mark is a bit of an odd one in the world of contemporary watches – it’s a limit that there’s a lot of room to play around with and get a really quality piece, but working up to the fullest of that number is also territory where it isn’t a negligible amount of change to just drop without a second thought. So unlike my round-ups at the lowest end of the spectrum, the goal here isn’t just to find the best bang for your buck watches, but to find some compelling sense of the middle ground.
Additionally, many brands make sticking solidly to my budget difficult – quite a few picks were disqualified by the tune of $100 or $200, which is a negligible margin in the grand scheme of it all. All this being said, below you’ll find watches united by nothing if not my own tastes and instincts. Each one is well-crafted, stylistically compelling, and could use more airtime.
NOMOS Glashütte Club Sport Neomatik
I believe that I have been quite upfront with you about my NOMOS fanaticism thus far, though I’ve kept my musings largely limited to its dressier designs. Now, I am formally here to show some love to the brand’s sportier options, and with its 37mm sizing and radiant green dial, this take on the Club Sport Neomatik is a great place to start.
Here, we find the brand’s quintessential penchant for Bauhaus-inspired minimalism translated into the realm of sporty watches, complete with a stainless steel bracelet nonetheless. The dial layout is pleasantly simple with its oversized luminous hour markings, seconds subdial at six o’clock, and sword hands. While this piece is elegant enough to wear in more formal dress codes, it really is a hard-working tool watch with water resistance of up to 200 meters. It wouldn’t be a NOMOS without a sophisticated, German-crafted movement within, and this model opts for the in-house manufactured DUW 3001 movement, complete with the NOMOS swing system for steadfast reliability and a power reserve of 43 hours.
BVLGARI Aluminium Chronograph
BVLGARI first launched its aluminum-clad collection of sports watches in 1998, and this all-black model carries that line into the 21st century in style and utility. When the subject of contemporary BVLGARI watchmaking is brought up, the brand’s award-winning Octo line or its iconic jewelry watches might come first to mind, but I have a soft spot for the brand’s line of lightweight aluminum pieces. Most likely, it’s the ’90s nostalgia of it all.
The round aluminum case is a versatile 41mm, and is cool and light on the wrist, making it a great option for warmer weather. The titanium caseback has been treated with DLC to enhance its resilience, and on the rubber bezel, you’ll find the mark of the engraved double BVLGARI logo. This piece is water resistant up to 100 meters, is paired with an articulated rubber strap for added comfort, and is equipped with the automatic B381 movement with 42 hours of power. While I am admittedly most drawn to playful color palettes when it comes to watches, something about the blacked-out iteration of this model makes it feel chic in an edgy, almost industrial way that I find interesting. However, for something a bit less severe, the panda dial variant of this model is equally good-looking.
Vulcain Cricket Classique
Full of chirping mid-century charm, this black-dialed take on Vulcain’s original mechanical alarm watch is fully prepared to delight 21st-century watch wearers with its combination of heritage style with contemporary 39mm sizing.
As opposed to its Cricket Tradition sibling, this model boosts the line’s Art Deco flair with its sector dial – also known as the “LBJ” dial for its similarity to the one worn by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Cricket isn’t known as “The Watch Of Presidents” for nothing. However, the real magic of Vulcain’s Cricket lies within, where the hand-wound V-10 mechanical movement is ready to be set and chirp at your command, maintaining the buzzy alarm functionality that set the original model apart. In addition to its mechanical alarm novelty, the V-10 movement is manufactured in-house and features a power reserve of 52 hours.
Oris Aquis Date Caliber 400
Released a few months back at Watches & Wonders 2024, the latest take on Oris’ beloved Aquis Date diver offers subtle yet impactful innovations on its fan-favorite tool watch. For those already familiar with the Aquis line, this will feel incredibly familiar, as the tweaks made to the design are minor but impactful, like the trimmed-down lugs and crown, slightly thinner profile, and redesigned stainless steel bracelet for added comfort.
Measuring 43.5mm in diameter, this piece features the classic simplicity, utility-first design we all know and love from the Aquis. This means legible, lume-filled applied indices and hands, a unidirectional safety bezel for timing dives, a dynamic deep blue dial with a slight gradient around the perimeter, and a color-matched date window that feels at home at the six o’clock position. This piece is powered by the brand’s signature 400 caliber, which is defined by its rugged reliability and 5-day (120-hour) power reserve. And, of course, with 300 meters of water resistance, feel free to swim, snorkel, and dive away.
Bremont S302 Supermarine
This pick might simultaneously be the most underrated and the most multifunctional watch in the bunch. Offering the best of both a reliable diver and a travel-ready GMT, this take on the brand’s newly revitalized S302 offers more comfort and style than ever before.
Legible and utility-forward, the S302 Supermarine is something of a no-nonsense workhorse. Crafted in stainless steel, it’s 39.5mm sizing is as versatile as the piece is action and adventure-ready, while its mixing of blue and green with subtle pops of orange (like on the arrow-tipped GMT hand for instance) is an exercise in functional style. Water resistant up to 300 meters, not only is this piece up to the standards of ISO 3159, but the automatic BE-932AV caliber within is also stamped with Chronometer-Certified approval, and has a power reserve of 50 hours. For a more in-depth look at this piece, be sure to give this Hands-On by Mark Kauzlarich a read (or re-read).
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