With the end of the year rapidly approaching, it’s time to look at some gift ideas. We’ve set our budget at $6,000 this holiday season. You can find a great selection of watches in a wide range of styles under this price point. So, keeping our budget in mind, let’s see what watches you could buy for yourself or a loved one this holiday season. And no, this isn’t just select random watches. In fact, most of these timepieces are either in my collection or on my personal wish list.
Breitling Aerospace Digital
I often take a digital watch with me when I travel. My favorites are the Speedmaster X-33 and the Breitling Aerospace, both of which are widely available and well within our $6,000 budget. Since another Speedmaster appears elsewhere on this list, I’ve gone for the Breitling Aerospace. This is a reliable watch with a battery life of up to 4 years.
Its lightweight titanium case is thin, meaning you will hardly notice it on your wrist. One of the things I love about traveling with digital watches is the number of practical functions they typically have. The features I use most are the second time zone and alarm function, but this watch also displays the date and time digitally and comes with chronograph and countdown functions. Another nifty function is the minute-repeater, something you won’t find on the X-33. When you activate this setting and press the crown, the hours, quarter hours, 5 minutes, and minutes are indicated with chimes.
NOMOS World Time
If you’d like a travel watch, but can’t bring yourself to buy a digital timepiece, check out the NOMOS Zürich World Time. This has been my favorite NOMOS watch for quite some time now. Most of their designs are Bauhaus-inspired, which might be a turn off for some people. The Zürich World Time has a clean look and offers all of your travel essentials at the push of a single button located above the crown. When you press it, the city disc rotates and the time adjusts accordingly. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
The World Time is a great minimalist watch with a level of simplicity we’ve come to expect from this brand based in Glashütte, Germany. With a case just under 40 mm in diameter, it sits perfectly on the wrist. Inside its case, you’ll find an automatic, in-house caliber with a 42-hour power reserve.
Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph
This watch requires no introduction. The Omega Speedmaster Professional is one of the most iconic chronograph watches of all time. With its rich history of space travel, you simply can’t go wrong with this timepiece. The best thing about this watch is that it is still available at a great price.
The Omega Speedmaster Professional currently retails for well under $6,000, but for those who prefer a watch with some history, you can find a variety of similarly-priced vintage and pre-owned watches right here on Chrono24. Some of these date back to the late 1960s.
Tudor Pelagos Diver
Tudor was once thought of as the poor man’s Rolex. Today, the brand enjoys a sterling reputation independent of its larger sister company. Tudor has gained a lot of enthusiasts in recent years, especially following their major brand relaunch some 10 years ago. This began with the Heritage Chrono, which was soon followed by the Black Bay and Pelagos collections in 2012. To be honest, while I like the look of the Black Bay models, I still can’t get used to the combination of snowflake hands and round hour markers.
If I were to pick a top Tudor watch, it would be the Pelagos Diver. Although its titanium case is rather large at 42 x 14.3 mm, the material makes it less imposing. This watch comes in a few variations, though I personally prefer the blue one. It is the only Tudor I currently own. The timepiece comes with a titanium bracelet and rubber strap, which is great because you can change them for two distinct looks
I really liked the LHD when it was introduced, but it does have one drawback for me: The crown pokes into my skin because I wear watches on my right wrist. This was why I started wearing watches on my right wrist many, many years ago. Regardless, I do like its semi-retro feel, red writing on the dial, and date wheel. I also love the snowflake look, which is done properly on this watch. I just wish they would have this combo for the Fifty-Eight. Nevertheless, the Pelagos is a great versatile watch with a lot of bang for your buck.
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