The 15 Best Watches for Men of 2023
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From Garmin to Casio, these are the best watches for men.
Fact checked by Rich Scherr
Wearing a watch while traveling is both stylish and functional, but finding the right one will depend on your specific needs and travel plans. A good travel watch should be water-resistant, versatile, durable and ideally have a long battery life because you never know what life will throw at you on the road. Some watches these days even have bonus features like solar-powered batteries and GPS maps visible right there on your wrist, and most allow you to track different time zones so you know if it’s an awkward time to call your family or the office. The most important thing, though, is that the watch is comfortable and you like the look of it, since it’s you who’ll be looking down at it dozens of times a day. We’ve compiled a list of the best watches for men, for everything from classic picks to vintage timepieces.
Best Overall: Garmin Fenix 7
Why We Love It
A plethora of features, top-notch accuracy, and amazing battery life make this smartwatch our top choice.
What to Consider
There’s no microphone on the device so you can’t answer calls without Bluetooth headphones.
In case you haven’t noticed, a watch isn’t just a watch anymore, just like a phone isn’t just a phone. Watches can do so much nowadays and they’re a great accessory for the adventurous traveler. This smartwatch from Garmin shows GPS maps right there on the face, so you won’t need to pull out your phone on the trail or in the city. It can even make cycling maps that advise you how the terrain will be. The Fenix 7 also has a best-in-class battery that can last up to 173 days on battery-saver watch mode and a minimum of 10 hours if you have all the satellite settings on and you’re listening to music. There’s a highly accurate heart rate monitor, sleep tracker, temperature sensor, and Garmin Pay functionality so you can make payments without bringing your phone or credit card to the store. You can keep track of your energy levels with a stamina sensor and know when to sleep with the jet lag advisor. Oh yeah, it also tells time.
The watch itself is very well built, with fiber-reinforced polymer and stainless steel protecting the touchscreen and an easy-to-clean silicone band keeping it on tight.
You can get the Fenix 7 in Solar and Sapphire Solar models if you want even better battery life and a tougher bezel.
Price at time of publish: $800
The Details: 42/47/55 millimeters | Fiber-reinforced polymer and stainless steel, silicone strap | Water resistant up to 330 feet
Best Smartwatch: Apple Watch Ultra
Why We Love It
This watch has a myriad of features for adventurous travelers.
What to Consider
It’s best for iPhone users.
For the avid adventurer, the new Apple Watch will have you ready for anything. Apple has packed endless features into this watch — a 36-hour battery, GPS and Cellular, an emergency siren, a button that works with your gloves on, and it can withstand temperatures above 130 degrees Fahrenheit and below negative 4. Those who want to track their fitness will especially love this one as it offers plenty of stats well beyond your heart rate.
The Apple Watch Ultra comes with three different straps: Alpine Loop (polyester) for hiking, Trail Loop (nylon) for running, and Ocean Band (elastomer) for watersports — but you can get away with just one for any activity.
Price at time of publish: $780
The Details: 49 millimeters | Titanium, and polyester/nylon/elastomer straps | Water resistant up to 165 feet
Best Splurge: Rolex GMT Master II
Why We Love It
This watch is the crème de la crème of travel watches.
What to Consider
It’s a serious splurge.
Rolex’s marquee travel watch has a large fan base among business travelers due to its GMT hand, which allows you to keep track of two different time zones. That makes it perfect for keeping time at home or back in the office. If you travel to different places, it’s easy to jump hour by hour and the striking two-tone bezel is scratch- and UV-resistant. While built to last, a watch like this merits a travel case.
Rolex currently sells five styles of the GMT-Master II with different materials and color schemes. You can find it in Everose gold, oyster, and 18-karat white gold. The model in blue and red is the most well-known and even has a nickname: the Pepsi Rolex.
Price at time of publish: $11,250
The Details: 40 millimeters | Oyster steel | Water resistant up to 330 feet
Related: The 22 Best Travel Tech Essentials of 2023
Best Waterproof: Tissot Seastar 660/1000 Stainless Steel Watch
Why We Love It
This is a classic dive watch with great depth coverage.
What to Consider
There isn’t much in the way of features.
If you’re worried about your watch handling certain depths, the Tissot Seastar 1000 goes down to 30 bar (around 1,000 feet). The watch itself has few bells and whistles, but it’s classic and well-built, with the Swiss company offering a two-year warranty.
You can get it in various styles, including with a blue face and silver bezel, black and gold or white and silver, and with or without a silicon band. GMT versions are also available, though they do cost more.
Price at time of publish: $450
The Details: 36 millimeters | Stainless steel | Water resistant up to 1,000 feet
Best Sport: Garmin Vivoactive 4
Why We Love It
This watch offers plenty of functions for all sports at a decent price.
What to Consider
There are other fitness-focused smartwatches that look fancier and have better screen resolution.
For the traveler who doesn’t want to give up their fitness goals on the road, the Garmin Vivoactive 4 offers more than enough ways to keep you motivated. The smartwatch has more than 20 apps for different sports, including demonstrations of popular workout exercises right there on the watch face. It has GPS, sleep-tracking, Spotify or Amazon Music streaming, and the ability to leave your credit card behind with Garmin Pay. But what really makes it stand out is the relatively low price.
Price at time of publish: $299
The Details: 40 millimeters and 45 millimeters | Stainless steel, silicone strap | Water resistant up to 165 feet
Best Budget: Casio AE-1000W-1AVDF Watch
Why We Love It
This watch holds up well despite its rock-bottom price.
What to Consider
The buttons can easily get accidentally pressed.
Just because you’re on a budget doesn’t mean you can’t have a great travel watch. This waterproof Casio makes it easy — and attractive — to change time zones with a world map on the face. It also has a 10-year battery, five alarms, and an illuminator. The price is so low that if you happen to lose it or it gets stolen, it really wasn’t too big of an investment.
Price at time of publish: $30
The Details: 45 millimeters | Resin (plastic) | Water resistant up to 330 feet
Best Digital: Casio Men's WV58A-1AVCR Waveceptor Digital Watch
Why We Love It
The time shows large and clear.
What to Consider
This isn’t likely a watch you’ll want to take into a business meeting.
Yes, there are a lot of Casios on this list, but the Japanese company really is the go-to when it comes to digital watches. This model is waterproof and gives you all you need on the face without needing to fish around in the buttons. It’s not fancy, and can sometimes get delayed for a few days due to slow syncing with the atomic clock. But it is still a solid watch for the price and allows you to easily switch between 29 different time zones.
Price at time of publish: $43
The Details: 44 millimeters | Stainless steel, resin band | Water resistant up to 165 feet
Best Classic: Timex 38mm Q Timex Reissue Stainless Steel Bracelet Watch
Why We Love It
It has a classic look and you don’t have to take it off for the pool, shower, or diving.
What to Consider
Some say the band isn’t reliable and tugs at their arm hair.
Originally released in 1979, this classic Timex has a slightly smaller face than many of the other men’s watches we reviewed, which is ideal for smaller wrists. The red and blue dial is meant to show off its waterproof chops — you can dive with it up to 165 feet. The battery is simple to change, too.
The 18-millimeter woven stainless steel band looks classic, though some reviewers say it isn’t the most reliable.
Price at time of publish: $189
The Details: 38 millimeters | Stainless steel and aluminum | Water resistant up to 165 feet
Best Vintage: Seiko 5 Sports SRPE80K1 Men's Vintage Automatic Watch
Why We Love It
This is a beautiful, vintage-looking watch for a great price.
What to Consider
It doesn’t offer GMT functionality.
Seiko has been around for more than 140 years and really knows how to build quality watches. If you want a watch with basic functionalities, a Seiko watch like this one is reasonably priced and boasts a chic vintage look. The brown leather strap and gold-toned stainless steel frame are eye-catching and fully scratch-resistant for durability.
Price at time of publish: $220
The Details: 13 millimeters | Stainless steel, leather strap | Water resistant up to 330 feet
Best Everyday: Seiko SSK001K1 5 Sports SKX Sports Style Watch
Why We Love It
This is an excellent GMT watch for under $500.
What to Consider
It won’t be as durable as resin case watches if you do a lot of sports.
If you do want a GMT watch from Japanese watchmaker Seiko, this model certainly foots the bill. GMT watches usually cost much more, but this one manages to keep the price reasonable while maintaining a striking design. The numbers are visible in low light, and different-colored dials can keep track of up to three time zones for the frequent traveler. Divers will love the water resistance, too.
This Seiko is available in black, navy, and orange.
Price at time of publish: $370
The Details: 42.5 millimeters | Stainless steel | Water resistant up to 330 feet
Related: The Best Luxury Watch Labels of 2023
Best for Diving: Omega Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Watch
Why We Love It
This watch is reliably waterproof.
What to Consider
Withstanding record-setting depths will cost you quite a bit.
If you’re looking for a top-quality dive watch (at least in terms of depth), the Omega Planet Ocean Ultra Deep is the champ. In 2019, a concept of this watch was strapped to Victor Vescovo’s DSV Limiting Factor, a submersible vehicle that set a new world record for the deepest dive into the Mariana Trench (35,853 feet). The Ultra Deep watch can’t go quite as deep (it only lasts up to 20,000 feet), but that’s still better than most other watches out there. The watch itself is beautiful, with a blue and black face and 18-karat white gold hands and hour markers.
You can get it with an O-Megasteel bracelet, a rubber strap, or fabric NATO strap.
Price at time of publish: $12,700
The Details: 45.5 millimeters | Titanium and O-Megasteel | Water resistant up to 20,000 feet
Best Versatile: Citizen Men's Eco-Drive Satellite Wave GPS Freedom Watch
Why We Love It
This watch is just beautiful.
What to Consider
The black face means it can be hard to see in low light.
With a sleek black watch face and either green, blue, or red accents, this is a striking timepiece. And it’s versatile, too. You can adjust it to 40 different time zones, and onboard GPS tracking ensures it’ll always be set to the perfect time to the second. If you’re a serious adventurer, Citizen’s innovative Eco-Drive system uses light from any source, so you won’t need to charge it. To top it all off, a five-year warranty relieves worries about longevity.
Price at time of publish: $875
The Details: 44 millimeters | Stainless steel | Water resistant up to 330 feet
Best Unique: Undone Calavera Neón
Why We Love It
This watch will stand out in a crowd, especially at night.
What to Consider
While Undone is known for its customizable watches, this one comes as-is.
Nothing says Mexico’s Day of the Dead better than this handsome watch from Undone. With a bright neon Calavera skull on the face, you’ll surely stand out. On the back, there’s a skeleton singing with a guitar, with José Guadalupe Posada’s famous quote inscribed: “Todos somos calaveras.”
If the Calavera isn’t your style, Undone makes plenty of other unique styles including ones with Disney characters instead.
Price at time of publish: $365
The Details: 40 millimeters | Stainless steel | Water resistant up to 100 feet
Best Minimalist: Nordgreen Pioneer Watch
Why We Love It
Each purchase helps support environmental causes.
What to Consider
There are no numbers on the dial.
Copenhagen-based Nordgreen brings the hygge with this minimalist timepiece. The clean dial has no numbers on the rim — the only number you’ll see is the date at the 6 o’clock position. The other small circles are for a stopwatch (on the left) and seconds (on the right). This watch is also waterproof, and 20 percent of profits go toward worldwide environmental causes, as Nordgreen is a certified B Corp.
You can get it in silver, black, or gunmetal and in a variety of different dial colors. Nordgreen also sells seven different straps, which you can interchange depending on the occasion.
Price at time of publish: $314
The Details: 42 millimeters | Stainless steel gunmetal | Water resistant up to 165 feet
Related: The 15 Best Travel Accessories for Men in 2023
Best Durable: Casio G-Shock G-Steel GSTB400 Watch
Why We Love It
It’s a tough-as-nails G-Shock watch that isn’t too thick.
What to Consider
At 80 grams, it’s not the lightest watch out there.
Known for its rugged watches, Casio’s G-Shock timepieces have traditionally been thick and rugged. While still rugged, this model is the thinnest G-Shock to date at 12.9 millimeters, yet it doesn’t sacrifice the brand’s prized shock resistance. This watch connects with an app on your smartphone to get the most accurate time possible — don’t worry, it still works without connection. Three buttons allow you to cycle between world time, alarm, timer, and stopwatch, and there’s an extra-bright LED illuminator. The black resin strap is comfortable and durable.
The B400 series comes in a variety of different colors, including a bold copper case.
Price at time of publish: $390
The Details: 46.6 millimeters | Stainless steel and resin | Water resistant up to 656 feet
Tips for Buying Men’s Watches
Think about how you plan to use it
Are you using the watch for business trips, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, or diving? Different watches have features geared to different activities, so consider how you plan to use it before making your purchase. For example, a watch with top-of-the-line sport features will probably look a bit out of place at a business meeting, and vice versa.
Work within your budget
Watches can range from budget-friendly to the price of a car. But the most expensive watch isn’t necessarily the best, especially if you want smart features. Decide what you can afford before you choose, and know that there are plenty of great options to pick from within any budget range.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I consider when buying a watch?
All watches tell time and probably have timers, but there’s much more you can do with a watch these days. So look out for specs like water resistance, durability materials, and additional features.
How is a men’s watch supposed to fit?
Men’s watches tend to have a large dial, but that doesn’t mean it’ll fit every wrist. In terms of fit, they shouldn’t slide around, nor should they be too tight. A perfect fit is when you can slide your index finger comfortably inside the strap while wearing it.
How many years should a watch last?
Some watches get passed down from generation to generation, while others only last a couple of years. Look for watches with 5- or 10-year warranties if you’re worried about longevity.
Why Trust Travel + Leisure
T+L writers are shopping and product experts who use personal experience and expert recommendations to choose the best items for shoppers. For this article, writer Joel Balsam, a frequent traveler who has visited more than 50 countries, reviewed and selected from the industry’s best options.
Related: The 19 Best Hoodies for Men of 2023
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