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Although it is less famous in Europe than Seiko or Citizen, Orient is nevertheless a very impressive watch manufacturer offering amazing watches for the money.

The Orient Bambino is an affordable dress watch that can be bought in the $150 range. Orient is one of the rare affordable watch manufacturers developing their own in-house movements.

Orient provides unsurprisingly a great field automatic watch: the Orient Defender. It's a 42mm wide watch that is made out of a matte steel case and that provides day, date and 24-hour dial functionality. The timepiece is 12mm thick, with a lug width of 22m so it has quite a bit of wrist presence but is not oversized.

The watch has a 100m water-resistance, ideal for active wearers! The Orient defender has the crown located between 3 and 4 o'clock.

Following the success of the Orient Mako II, the Orient Mako III (ref RA-AA0001B) is a fantastic diver. It is a great entry-level diving watch that retails at a price of around $250. It has a 42mm diameter and a thickness of 13mm.

This diver has its own identity, meaning it is not an homage and that it has an authentic, timeless and well-executed design. However, some might regret that the Mako III lost the numerals that were present on the dial of the Mako II. The hour markers and hands contrast well with the black dial, they are covered with some LumiBrite to ensure a high level of readability in the dark. The water resistance is 200m and the lug width of this watch is conveniently 22mm.

Diver watches tend to have large and thick cases in order to cope with the water pressure during diving activities. The SKX013 is a very much welcomed exception to that. It is simply one of the best dive watches below 40mm in diameter. It's ideally suited for smaller wrists.

This Seiko model has a 38mm diameter. It's a tough tool watch that can definitely follow in the depths of the ocean. The lug to lug distance of 44mm makes it idea an ideal dive watch for small wrists. The thickness of the watch is 13.1mm, which for a diver is within the expected range. The lug width is 20mm, making it easy to customize the strap of this watch. It is one of the best dive watches for small wrists that you will find.

It's also a very affordable dive watch and is in the same price range as its bigger brother: the SKX007. A perfect daily beater that has its own style.

The Seiko SNZF17 - part of the Seiko 5 Sports watches family and also called the “Sea Urchin” - can be seen as a very afforable diving watch with a similar style to the Rolex Submariner. The reference SNZF17 has a black bezel insert and a black dial, whereas the SNZF15 has a “Pepsi” (blue and red) bezel and dark blue dial.

This watch can be for many an ideal balance between price and style: the diameter of the SNZF model is 41mm and it is 13.2mm thick, making it a great fit for most wrists. It is powered by the reliable 7S26 automatic (self-winding) mechanical movement, offering a day-date complication. The water resistance of the Seiko “Sea Urchin” is 100m, making it suitable for surface swimming.

The Seiko SARB017 aka Alpinist is a very well made watch. It has gained strong support from watch enthusiasts and is very often mentioned as a legendary watch. The SARB Series was introduced in 2006 and was discontinued in 2018, which made this watch even more desirable, contributing to a rather high price increase (ranging from 20 to 50%) in the last year or so.

The watch features a green dial with gold indices and lumed hands. It is a perfect watch for going outdoors and hiking, but looks very refined too. It even has a solar compass which can prevent you from getting lost - provided you know how to use it.

The SKX007/SKX009 is a very respectable diving watch that many people have in their collection. It is very affordable and easily found around $250 on eBay. It is very solid and is comfortable to wear.

The water resistance is 200m. It sports the Seiko 7S26 automatic movement which is a reliable workhorse and offers 40 hours of power reserve. Although this movement does not have handwinding and hacking capabilities, unlike the 4R36.

The Seiko H558-5009 was introduced in 1983 and has become an icon in the watch world. This watch has an horological significance not only because it was worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger, but because it was the first dive watch to feature digital alarm, a chronograph and a combination of analog and digital displays.

The black dial is matte and is protected by a mineral crystal. The hands are lumed, we can see that this dial and hands configuration looks very similary to the Seiko SKX013.

The H558 is powered by a quartz movement.

The Bulova “Moon watch” is one of those timepieces that have been flying under the radar for decades before being recognized as a true historically relevant watch. It was worn on the Moon by astronaut David Scott during the Apollo 15 mission on his third moonwalk. This is the reason why this particular Bulova chronograph is also often called the “other Moon watch”.

Scott used his personal Bulova Chronograph because the crystal of his Omega Speedmaster got detached and was lost during his previous moonwalks. This chronograph was not explicitly approved by NASA, only the Omega Speedmaster was.

The Seiko SARB033 ($350 On the used market), also called baby Grand Seiko due to its similarity with its big sister (SBGR001 retailing in the $2k range on the used market). Discontinued in 2018, this watch saw its value increase by up 25% in a few months. This model was only available on the Japanese domestic market (JDM) but is easy to find on eBay. It is still very desirable to this day.

The execution of the black dial is classy and the design is timeless. The watch features a date window at 3 o'clock. The automatic mechanical movement 6R15 - which can be seen through the see-through case back - is the same as the one used in the Seiko Brightz range, priced at the upper $1000 level. The 6R15 movement has a generous 50-hour power reserve. The diameter of this watch is ideal to me, 38mm makes it wearable in all conditions, whether it's while wearing a suit, or going for a walk on a sunny day. The thickness is 11.2mm.

As its name suggests, the Hamilton Khaki Field is a field watch. The Khaki field is a well built and rugged watch that will stand the test of time. Its simple yet effective design makes it very easy to read and use.

This watch is full of history: it was introduced in 1910, when Hamilton began to equip the American Army with military watches which were more precise. It became the official watch supplier of the US Army.

This model has seen many battles, and if someone asked us to show them what a field watch is, it would be our pick: it represents courage and honor.

The first automatic chronograph in space is the 6139 from Seiko, which was worn in 1973 by the American astronaut William R. Pogue, the pilot of Skylab 4. Pogue spent 84 days on the Skylab Orbital workshop and returned in February 1974.

While training, Pogue needed a chronograph, but the Omega Speedmasters would be provided only near the date of the launch, so he bought himself a Seiko 6139-6002 in order time his exercises and tests.

This German-made homage to the Rolex Submariner is particularly well made and is providing amazing value for money in the world of mechanical watches.

The dimensions of the Ocean One are slightly bigger than its luxury counterpart: 42mm diameter, 13mm thick, 22mm lug width.

However, a 39mm version is available on some models, notably the Ocean One 39 black ceramic (103-0981) which is a serious affordable alternative to the Rolex Submariner. Those 39mm models are perfect for smaller wrists, although they have a similar thickness to the 42mm ones, they have a lug width of 20mm.

In 1965, Seiko introduced the 62MAS, its first dive watch. The design of the 62MAS has become a point of reference to other dive watches and has influenced the style of Seiko watches and other brands ever since. The stainless steel case has a diameter of 37.5mm and a thickness of 14mm.

There are 2 main versions of this watch:

• The early 6217-8000 was produced in 1965 only for a few months and has a small crown and a dolphin engraved in the case back.

• The 6217-8001, which has a bigger crown and a more simple case back, was produced from 1966, earlier versions still have a dolphin on the case back whereas later ones have a Seiko signed "Horseshoe".

Steinhart is quite famous for its homage models of the modern Rolex Submariner, but it also issued some watches inspired by some vintage Rolex Submariner watches, that have their own identity:

• The Ocean Vintage Military (OVM) (ref 103-065)

• The OCEAN One VINTAGE Red (ref 103-0657)

The dimensions of these vintage-looking models are: 42mm diameter, 13mm thick, 22mm lug width.

It is also worth noting that a limited edition with a 39mm of the OVM was launched by Gnomon watches, limited to 500 pieces. They are sold out but you can find some on the used market, with a little bit of patience and research.