Time On A Budget VI: A Look at Affordable Watches under $150

As I’ve been doing these reviews over the last few months I’ve had requests/recommendations to take a closer look at Daniel Wellington watches. So I decided to give them and one of their competitors/imitators a closer look as well as looking at a few chronographs that put a little bit of a spin on the traditional design.

You can find a list of all of the gear mentioned in this post here.

You can find the previous installments in this series here.

Click here to keep reading.

Daniel Wellington Watches and the AIBI Ultrathin

($40 to $195)

If you follow any menswear Instagrams you’ve probably seen Daniel Wellington watches. With the big, minimalist white face and colorful NATO strap they can’t help but stand out. With over $200 million in sales the company has made a hell of a splash in the fashion industry. My wife is a fashion photographer and almost every person in the industry that she knows has one. And it makes sense. The watch’s clean and simple design means that with the right band they can be paired with damn near any outfit. Retailing for $195 means that they fall easily into the affordable category. More importantly they are not too affordable that they come across as cheap.



When it comes right down to it Daniel Wellington is pretty much a master class in 21st century marketing. DW watches are, at their core, very inexpensive Chinese-made watches on cheap nylon straps. The namesake of the company, Daniel Wellington, comes across as a tall-tale character character that probably doesn’t exist. The companies founder is a Swede named Filip Tsyander. Instead of advertising they gave away watches to influencers and a few years later they are selling millions of them. Now, don’t get me wrong I am not saying any of this is a bad thing. It’s absolutely brilliant marketing and they don’t try to hide it.

But $195 for a very basic Chinese made watch on a NATO strap comes across as a bit much to me. So I started looking for a less expensive alternative. After wading through quite a few fakes )that were advertised as sterile dials) I came across the Alibi Ultra-Thin. Coming in at $40 it was pretty much exactly what I was looking for.

Now someone could argue that this is the same thing as looking for a cheap Rolex Submariner homage. I would argue that it’s a bit different because Rolex’s are luxury items handmade in Switzerland while I would not be surprised to learn that the AIBI were made side by side in the same factory in Shenzhen. As far as the watches themselves are concerned they are near identical.

The Aibi Ultrathin on a NATO Strap

The only major differences are in the face and hands. The Daniel Wellington has thinner indices which give it a more elegant look but can be a bit harder to see in direct sunlight than the AIBI. The hands on the DW are unique to them as far as I can tell in that they are pencil shaped with a “hilt” near the center whereas the AIBI uses hands that are pretty common to most 1920s and Bauhaus influenced watches. Other than that they are identical right down to their Miyota movements and 30m water resistance.

The biggest difference overall is between a DW NATO strap and a standard one. The NATO strap was first used by the British Ministry of Defense on their watches issued to divers and and other military personal. The longer strap allowed it to be worn over a wetsuit or field equipment and the double strap retained the pin for easy replacement if it should accidentally pop out. They were a military staple and remained popular among a small sub-set of watch enthusiasts until the mid 2000s when brands like J Crew started introducing, colorful preppy models and they started to take off from there. DW NATO straps are pretty straight forward except they replace their dual stainless steel d-rings to retain the excess strap with a nylon loop. I personally think that the stainless steel d-rings make for a cleaner tuck so I personally prefer that. The strap that comes stock on the AIBI is an absolute garbage leather strap that you will want to remove immediately. I replaced them with NATO straps from Ritchie that sell for a few bucks.

The AIBI on a Leather NATO from cheapestnatostraps.com

If you find that the brightly colored NATOs are a bit too on the prep side for you a 1 piece leather strap or a leather NATO can give it a bit more of a rugged look. That is one of the nice things about this design. It’s incredibly versatile.

In the end Daniel Wellington makes a very handsome watch that they have done a fantastic job of marketing. However, if you don’t feel like paying $200 for an uncomplicated quartz movement and don’t care about the name on the dial check out the AIBI.

Fossil Decker Chronograph ($115)

The Decker with Clark’s Mali Boots

Everyone loves the Omega Speedmaster. And how could you not? It’s got a sleek timeless look and it’s been to the moon! However, it’s a bit pricey but there are some good alternatives out there that will get you a similar look (the Casio EFD503 is a fantastic bang for the buck.) However, if you want something that has echoes of the Speedmaster but updates it and takes it in to left field a little bit the Fossil Decker Chrono is a good choice.

The Fossil Decker on a Barbour Chesterfield Jacket (The Camerton can be hard to find but Vedoneire makes a good looking alternative.)

The Decker has the usual features of most sport chronos; a tachymeter bezel, 3 subdials that clock seconds/minutes, and the usual markings that allow you to time something as accurately as possible. Where it changes things just a little bit is in the choice of hands. Rather than going with your standard alpha or sword hands they went with solid white paddle hands. The hands on the this watch remind me of what you would find on a De Stijl watch that you would buy at the MOMA gift shop. This touch of Dutch Modern design lends the Decker a bit of a retro-futuristic look rather than just being a straight-up throwback or homage. These hands also make the Decker’s face very legible which can be a bit of a problem with the crowded face of many chronos.

The Decker is that rare Fossil that is not a 45mm monster. Fossil tends to make watches that are absolutely massive on my wrists and it always looks a bit ridiculous. No matter how much I like the design with Fossil’s I usually end up finding it to be too big. The Decker’s 42mm face fits on my wrist very nicely and looks bold and modern without looking ridiculous.

The other pleasant surprise with this watch was the bracelet. Now, I’m not really a big fan of bracelets. The ones that come on watches under the $200 price point tend to be pretty much crap with a few exceptions. Unlike many of its competitors the Decker has a bracelet that feels very secure on the wrist. My only complaint is that it can be hard to remove the first time if you’re changing the strap. Rather than using spring bars the Decker uses a push-pin system to keep the bracelet in place. If you’ve ever removed links from a watch bracelet this should not really pose a problem since you have the needed tools. That being said I still replaced the stock bracelet with a 22mm leather strap from Hadley Roma.

Not everything on the Decker is great unfortunately. If you actually plan to use this as a racing chronograph the tachymeter is next to useless. The center second hand is connected to the movement rather than being part of the chronograph function. As such the tachymeter bezel is pretty much cosmetic to give it that racing look without actually being useful in racing. Which sucks. I’m never going to use it for that (I’m way too chickenshit) but I like knowing that I can if I want to. The lume is also pretty pathetic. When charged by a flashlight those big paddle hands stand out and are very easy to read. However, the charge dissipates quickly but honestly, this is not uncommon at watches at this price point.

Except for that drawback with the tachymeter the Decker is a nice spin on the classic chronograph and a damn good bang for the buck. It’s solidly built and has a timeless look without being too derivative. If you are looking for a Chronograph that’s a bit bigger and bolder than the Casio EF503-D this is a good place to look.

Seiko SKS415 - $120

It’s funny how common chronographs are in the affordable watch range. Even if the subdials are non-working a lot of watches still cop the look. Maybe it’s the fact that the average person equates more complications with more expensive and therefore nicer? Because they are so ubiquitous I tend to shy away from chronos but lately I’ve been trying to find one that puts a bit of a spin the on the usual formula. One option I found was the Fossil Decker I reviewed above. The other was the Seiko SKS145. I’ve had nothing but good luck with Seiko watches over the years (the SKX009 is my everyday wear) and the SKS415 carries on with that tradition.

What appealed to me about the SKS415 was the orange subdials paired with the matte grey dial. Orange can be a very hard color to pull off and I think the SKS415 succeeds in keeping it subtle but still enough to add a bit of pop. I love the matte grey dial and wish I could find a dive watch that had the same color combinations. The orange on this adds a nice pop rather than being overwhelming. My only real complaint is that the shiny hands are very hard to read in broad daylight especially in comparison to the Fossil Decker’s hands.

The stock bracelet is pretty much garbage as well. Unless you are spending over $500 or so on a watch the first place you will find that they cut costs is the bracelet and Seiko is no exception. I’ve not seen a stock Seiko bracelet on their affordable lines that was worth a damn. I’m not saying they don’t exist I’ve just never seen it. So I put the SKS415 on a Perlon strap. Perlon is a synthetic material that is woven to create watch straps. They add a bit of texture to the strap and lend it a bit of a 70s feel.

As with most Seiko watches the movement is rock solid and you should not have any issues out of it. If you’re looking for something a little different to round out the collection the SKS415 is definitely a solid choice.

Jaragar Monaco 24 Homage ($35)

This watch is what I call a “why the hell not purchase.” It’s dirt cheap for an automatic movement and it steals its looks from a Heuer Monaco 24 which is one of the classic watches of the 1970s. Besides how many watches with automatic movements are you going to find for less than $35?

The brandname on it is Jaragar which I’ve had some luck with before but who the hell knows which factory in China actually made it. It feels and looks very solid and keeps great time. However it’s obviously not a Heuer. In each corner of an actual Monaco 24 there are shock absorbers which allow the watch to survive a 60 foot fall. While there are little orange tabs that look like they are doing the job I would not trust this watch to survive a 5 foot fall much less one from 60 feet. It’s not a chronograph either. The pushers and dials are for day and date similar to the other Jaragar I reviewed.

The bracelet that comes with it is one of the worst I have ever seen but what do you expect for $30. The watch band it in these photos comes from another “so cheap I might as well try it” Panerai homage that I saw while hunting around on Amazon. And be warned that if you pick up this Jaragar and are looking to get a replacement strap it actually uses a 24mm strap rather than the 22mm that is listed in its Amazon specs.

Overall this is a $30 watch and it’s fun. It’s perfect if you want to go as Steve McQueen from Le Mans for Halloween. For me it’s definitely not a watch I would wear to a job interview or on a date. But for less than $30 it’s a fun automatic watch to bang around with on your day off and not worry too much about.

That about sums it up for this go round. You can find a complete list of all of the watches and accessories mentioned here.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions you can hunt me down on as chris@culturaldispatch.com