Top 5 Budget Watches for New Collectors Under £1,000 [UPDATED 2025]

So, you've dipped your toes into the world of watches with a solid budget-friendly pick, and now you're ready for the next step. Maybe your first watch sparked a deeper appreciation for mechanical movements, or perhaps you've realised that a well-made timepiece does more than just tell the time—it tells a story. With a budget of £500 to £1,000, you're entering a space where craftsmanship takes a noticeable leap forward, materials improve, and brand heritage starts to play a bigger role.

This is the sweet spot where you’ll find Swiss-made automatic watches, upgraded finishing, and more distinctive designs that stand apart from entry-level pieces. But with so many options, where should you start? That’s where we come in. In this guide, we’ll walk you through some of the best watches in this price range, ensuring your next purchase is one that not only enhances your collection but also keeps that passion for horology ticking.

Let's get into our best watches for new collectors on a budget of £500-1,000.

It isn’t that I don’t like the other models from NG. I do. I love them. Especially the F77. The thing is, the prices quickly zip past our 1K budget, so I’m being forced to behave myself.

The Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Spider is one of the best, most timeless and versatile watches this much money can buy, and it is a great gateway drug to one of the more exciting and accessible brands in the industry.

A controversial pick, perhaps, but everyone is free to make their own mind up about Laco’s continued use of the FL 23883 engraving, which was applied to all watches that passed the criteria laid out by the German Air Force during the Second World War. Some see it as an unforgivable celebration of Nazi Germany, while others see it as a historical reference that itself contains no inherent evil.

I’ve put Laco on this list because a) I’m in the latter camp (and also like Hugo Boss suits and BMW cars) and b) because Laco makes an insanely high-quality product for very little money. These are stylistically faithful Pilot’s watches that cannot be topped in terms of legibility. My preference is for the Prototype B dials (the busier ones with the five-minute markers around the outside), but purists may lean towards the cleaner “A” dials.

While I’d definitely advocate going for something classic like the Leipzig model, Laco’s adventure/sport watches such as the Squad Amazonas are incredible products. They are nigh on indestructible, comfortable, and very easy to read in poor light conditions due to the generous use of lume and neon accents that absolutely blaze in overcast weather.

BeauBleu is one of the most exciting young brands on the market, having burst onto the scene in 2017 with a simple but creative twist on the presentation of time. It would be higher if it were not for the fact that the brand’s recent model, the Seconde Francais, falls outside of our maximum budget for this task. And that is a shame because it is the finest piece the brand has ever produced, in my opinion.

That said, the entry-level Vitruve model retails for under a grand and is about as well finished a product as you could hope to find for the money. It’s a tight, tidy package and backing a brand like this that’s clearly going places as it exits the gate is always a great feeling.

It must be tough being the most talked about brand in the world of watchmaking, but Studio Underd0g founder Richard Benc (rhymes with fence) must have developed a taste for it, as he simply keeps rolling.

Hit after hit, unexpected collab after unexpected collab, reams upon reams of positive press… What more can we say? Owning a Studio Underd0g watch now feels almost mandatory for watch lovers. Still, even if that were the case, I can’t imagine many people complaining. The Series 01 remains the brand’s most recognisable platform, but the Series 02 is about to get a boost (see below), and the Series 03 seems to have been well integrated into the catalogue.

I think this is the first time in my career that a brand has featured twice on the same list, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to give a very special upcoming watch release some pop…

On Saturday, March the 8^th 2025, Bristol-based Fears and Brighton-born Studio Underd0g will release a collaboration that sees a classic Fears Brunswick cushion-shaped case paired with the Studio Underd0g dial technology on display in the Series 02 collection.

A solid luminous disc decorated with vertical green–paler green fade is topped by a layer of sapphire upon which Western Arabic numerals in a traditional Fears font have been pad printed. As such, the numerals appear to float above the Gimlet inspired green dial (the Gimlet is a gin and lime cocktail frequently imbibed by brand founders Nicholas and Richard during their very serious and certainly not at all fun business meetings).

This watch will be limited to 200 pieces and available only to attendees of the British Watchmakers' Day held in London’s Lindley Hall. If you want one, you need to be there, because I guarantee these will sell out.

How do I know? Well, because despite this being as much a Fears as it is a Studio Underd0g, it’s on this list, which has an upper budget of… You guessed it: £1,000.

That’s right. This heavenly watch is less than half the price of a standard Fears Brunswick and only marginally more expensive than a standard Studio Underd0g Series 02.

Don’t even try to make it make sense. This watch is a gift to the industry. If you’ve been considering getting into the hobby for a while, now’s the time to take the plunge.