“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
Epictetus
This new journey of strategically building my own watch collection has been fun, informative and despite having over 100 watches, not that big of a financial drain. YAY!
Mostly, besides my interests in a variety of watches, these acquisitions have become my muse for developing my tabletop and macrophotography. Each watch speaks to me and I try and create a unique setting for each shooting session. This was led to a bigger collection of die-cast cars than I would have imagined, along with other various props. The resulting efforts have allowed me through experimentation of perfecting strobe lighting versus natural or LED lighting.
So, now we can talk about AliExpress and buying watches off of Amazon. In this Top 20 watches under $20 the majority of the watches were purchased from various AliExpress stores. It is important to read the description and specifications for each watch like the movement, case size and also look closely at the features. But, some of these watches are under $10! And it is not that big of a gamble to just get what you get. Of the 30+ watches I have purchased off of AliExpress, only one watch was not working (a $6 watch) with no hope of a refund, and another watch the lens was cracked on delivery, but I was quickly sent a return shipment label for a refund which will lead to a replacement purchase.
The great thing for me is that EVERY watch I have purchased must satisfy the core requirement of “is this watch different from any others in my collection”? As you will discern, there is a great variety of styles and functionality for under $20! Then, when I go to the category of $50-$200, the level of quality rises exponentially but still a handful of my under $20 watches are on-par with the more expensive AliExpress watches.
Disclaimer: I am not an influencer and I do not provide links to the stores where I purchased these watches. In fact, I would lose a little respect for you if I did influence you and your watch purchases. Find your own way and discover watches that speak to you. My only goal here is to inspire and inform new watch collectors that budget watches can be legitimate!
The listings below are ranked by the potential greatest wrist time versus lower on the list are more novelty and will be worn only in specific situations but still part of my Top 20.
Keep things in perspective – this is a $12, yes, TWELVE DOLLAR WATCH! 😲Unlike a lot of other watches ordered from AliExpress, this had no-frills packaging. I really like the unique day-date configuration and the overall modern design of the markers. No lume to speak of and I added a nice FKM strap and this is one of my fav GADA watches for all adventures!
MY PERSONAL RATING
Somehow, I first saw a version of this watch on an India Amazon page. Yes, this does NOT feel like a very expensive watch, or I could say it was titanium? But, it looks great and with a basic quartz you cannot go wrong. The black minute and hour hands are a little stealth but after throwing on a red FKM rubber strap this is a go-to race day watch!
MY PERSONAL RATING
I had noticed people talking about the Timex Easy Reader watch, and I like the clean and simple design. I jumped on Amazon and of course with all their cookies and algorithms, they showed me this Timex equiv for $12. It probably took a couple of weeks to arrive, and eventually I learned Amazon contracted with Armitron to make this watch. TREMENDOUS value and easy gift for anyone!
MY PERSONAL RATING
This was one of my first purchases on AliExpress and I have very low expectations for a $10 watch. I mean come on, nothing can be good for $10, right? Wrong!!! This is an amazing homage/clomage to the Cartier Tank! They call it a leather strap and who knows…I will never wear it enough to know but it looks fabulous on the wrist. AMAZING VALUE! Side note, Sanda makes these same models but I like the Pablo Raez name better. 🤣
MY PERSONAL RATING
I wanted a “dumb watch”! I do not want to connect to my phone, but I would like to keep track of my steps, have a stop watch and timer and have it look modern. This watch is only $10ea, so I bought a couple of colors. And, the directions to setup the watch were really good IN ENGLISH!!!
MY PERSONAL RATING
Hard to figure out this watch company. I had originally thought this brand was the “Lexus” version for SKMEI, but I do believe they are an independent Chinese watchmaker. They sell through all channels like AliExpress and Amazon and most other portals. I liked this watch for the brushed surface of the dial and very much a clomage to the AP Royal Oak series. The bracelet was good enough for a $20 watch, but I did want to bump up it’s street cred with the two-tone jubilee.
MY PERSONAL RATING
Yea, sometimes I feel like when I see a wild watch like Hamilton’s Ventura, I am like where have I been all my life? 🤣 I love the variety of offerings of the Ventura, but I am not going to plunk down the bread for their watch. Thus, AliExpress comes to the rescue. This is def an homage and not a clomage. Plenty of faux elements but, for $20 I am going to get the same looks from 6feet away as the $2500 Hamiltons…🤑🤑
MY PERSONAL RATING
I wanted to spend my hard-earned $12 on something outrageous, and I got it. It is freaking cool! The first one arrived quick enough, but it had a cracked crystal. I messaged the store right away, and they initiated the return shipping label asap. What I am saying is I did not have to chase this down. Via messaging on the website it was handled very quickly. I shipped the watch back and in two days they refunded my order. So, I turned around and ordered the replacement. These Oulm watches are super crazy and avail on Amazon as well.
MY PERSONAL RATING
Pushing the envelope once again for the outrageous, besides the outlandish faux diamonds, I really did like the numbers on the dial. I knew this would be fun to shoot and it was. But, what I did not expect was how fun this watch is to wear, and it is completely opposite of my personal brand, but I LOVE THIS WATCH!
MY PERSONAL RATING
The lower on the list of my Top 20 watches, the more impractical and ridiculous the watches are. This Onola represents that old and tacky geezer demographic with gold chains driving an outdated beat up Corvette wearing white tennis shoes. But, dammit, this watch has style. Janky bracelet but a rotating bezel and a fun look from 5feet away!!
MY PERSONAL RATING
I bought three of these, so I can wear one but give the other two as funny gifts. So many Ali stores sell a variety of these clomages but they are fun! The tongue wags when you move the watch on your wrist with this one.
MY PERSONAL RATING
This is another version of the Joker. Not as fun and animated but still worthy to having the collection for $13!
MY PERSONAL RATING
The true original maker of this watch I think sells these for over $100 and no doubt the quality is much better. But, once again, why spend a hundy for novelty when you can just spend $5.
MY PERSONAL RATING
This was the only watch I have purchased on AliExpress that was dead on arrival. I could not really figure out how to set the watch up and that was because the battery was dead. I plied off the case back and replaced the battery and worked for a minute and then died. No doubt these are produced in the gillions and this will happen but the store just kept saying “send us a video” and I am like “I THREW IT IN THE TRASH!!”. 🤣 You might wonder why I included this in my TOP 20 and that is because the novelty aspect and the price are worth $14 if you receive a watch that works. But, it was not interesting enough to order a replacement.
MY PERSONAL RATING