What's new

Best beater watch

For beater automatics: Invicta Men's Pro Diver 40mm Stainless Steel Automatic Watch, Silver (Model: 8926) $79 on Amazon, has a Japanese movement. Then there's always the Seiko 5 automatic series, but they've gone p to around $100 now; three years ago they were ~$55.

There re simply too many choices in quartz to recommend specifics; go with what appeals to your eye.
 

Whilliam

First Class Citizen
Depends on your budget and the beating you plan to dish out.

For less than $50, a Timex will "take a licking and keep on ticking." For less than $100, an Invicta ProDiver might fit the bill. For less than $250, a Casio G-Shock, Citizen ProMaster, a Seiko dive watch or a Victorinox INOX will do it better. For less than $800, there's Seiko's Alpinist. And for upwards of $10.000, a Rolex Explorer II will do nicely.

There truly is a watch for every wrist and every budget in today's world.
 
Last edited:
What are you looking for in a watch? What kind of movement? How big? Analog? Digital? What kind of beating do you expect it to undergo? What kind of complications do you prefer? What's your budget?

If you're just looking for the ultimate watch that will take a beating, get a G-Shock. They can take a heck of a beating.
 

Legion

Staff member
Citizen eco-drive BM8475, swap the strap out for a nato.

DSC00306.JPG
 

Legion

Staff member
Nice strap. Appears to be blue/black. Looks outstanding with that watch. Where's it from?
It's pretty much all black, except the hands and numbers, and the strap is black as well. I had a version of the watch that had black hands and numbers as well, but that turned out to be as dumb as it sounds.

Can't remember where I got it, but it is not a hard watch to find online. I think the strap might be a Maratac Zulu.
 
Last edited:

Whilliam

First Class Citizen
It's pretty much all black, except the hands and numbers. I had a version that had black hands and numbers as well, but that turned out to be as dumb as it sounds.

Can't remember where I got it, but it is not a hard watch to find online.
I know the watch, which I like and almost bought. I was referring to the strap.
 
Best is a personal preference as is Beater not to mention cost. As mentioned above there is a mulitude of watches to choose between. Since I personally look for a watch that can take all conditions and all beating and I don't like the G-schock series I've settled for the discontinued but very affordable Seiko SNZG series (SNZG017 to the left below). All of the other watches in the picture could, given the different set of conditions, be classified as beaters, but definitely not as tools. Only the SNZG and the SNG (third from the left) fulfill those condtions. The rest I'd say are excellent watches for a person that loves the outdoors life but still takes off his watch when the going gets tough. I'd never do any dirtier or tougher work with the Seiko Alpinist SARB033 (second from the left) on my wrist. The SNZG017 stays on regardless of what I am doing.

So set up a price range, a definition of beater and you'll find a wide range of watches in this thread that will fullfill your requirements. As mentioned if you're looking for an automatic Orient is hard to beat these days since Seiko discontinued the SKX, SNG and SNZG series. Seiiko does however still produce the Seiko tuna in a number of versions. The solar powered version of the tuna could only be better protected if you put in in a bunker. Then again the heavy protection of it might not appeal to everyone.

20210322_100353.jpg
 
Casio Men's Black Dive-Style Sport Watch MDV106-1AV can be had for less than $60. I love mine.
Depends on your budget and the beating you plan to dish out.

For less than $50, a Timex will "take a licking and keep on ticking." For less than $100, an Invicta ProDiver might fit the bill. For less than $250, a Casio G-Shock, Citizen ProMaster, a Seiko dive watch or a Victorinox INOX will do it better. For less than $800, there's Seiko's Alpinist. And for upwards of $10.000, a Rolex Explorer II will do nicely.

There truly is a watch for every wrist and every budget in today's world.
As has been mentioned, it depends on what you are doing for your "beater". Also, what your budget is. I've personally been swapping between my Marlin and ProDiver a lot. Both have been great so far. The Marlin's stock strap is perfectly fine (Bill Gates even uses it), though I have mine on a NATO currently. The ProDiver bracelet is pretty crap. Mine is currently on a 2 piece NATO, and will swap to a rubber strap in summer to see which I prefer. Only thing I've found with my ProDiver is that I don't always seem to get the 40hr of power reserve from wearing, so sometimes I need to wind/re-set it.
 
OP still has not chimed in re occupation or budget. It makes it very hard to meet the mark IMHO.

I.E. If I was a working man subject to a ton of vibration, i.e. running a jackhammer or a weed eater, I would likely wear nothing but a Timex or a G-Shock. I certainly would not wear any automatic despite the fact that my G-Shock might cost the same or more that a Seiko 5 etc.

Beater for me might be 99.99. Beater for others might be 19.99 or 499.00 etc.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
If cost is the only factor. Just use your cell phone to check the accurate time. Needing a beater implies rough work, if that’s the case why wear anything or something that may get caught on something while working.
 
All good suggestions, I'll also throw in Momentum and Bertucci for military inspired, titanium cases, good quartz movements and affordability.
 
Top Bottom