Obtuse's guide to entry level Swiss watches under $2000

This is a great time of year to buy an entry-level Swiss watch since the online discounters are cutting prices to the bone. I have assembled a list of Swiss brands that I would recommend. I have included a watch or three from each brand that I like but use this more as a list of brands than particular watch recommendations. Most of these brands have a wide variety of watches in the price range and I have worn so many watches I often lean toward the avant-garde (though I tried to curtail that) with less expensive watches because I view them as fun. The large discounters like Jomashop will have a large variety of these brands in stock.

Swiss Made has a legal meaning and if anyone is interested I will discuss what exactly that means and what you should expect to get at these price points from individual brands. All of them, however, offer solid value for a Swiss watch at the given price points. I note the street price you should expect to pay this time of year.

All the watches I have listed are mechanical and almost all of them are automatics.

I did not include any micro-brands nor any Japanese watches both of which can be excellent as well. Most of the threads here ask about Swiss watches so...

I will shut up now since I spent too long making the list but will be happy to answer questions later.

I hope at least one person finds some inspiration in the thread.




Note I have included two German brands.

HAMILTON
Khaki Field Automatic Black Dial ~375



HAMILTON
Intra-Matic Silver Dial ~525



HAMILTON
Pan Europ Day-Date Automatic ~675



GEVRIL
Vaughn Automatic ~1900



FREDERIQUE CONSTANT
Slimline Automatic ~1800




ETERNA
1948 Legacy Automatic Silver Dial ~1000




EBEL
Wave Silver Galvanic Dial ~650




CONCORD
Mariner Silver Dial ~625



CERTINA
DS Action GMT Automatic ~575



BELL AND ROSS
Vintage V2-92 Garde Cotes Automatic Matte Grey Dial ~2000



BAUME ET MERCIER
Classima Slate-Gray Dial ~675




BALL
Aviator Dual Time Automatic ~1250



TUDOR
1926 Automatic Black Dial 41mm ~1500



Tudor Blackbay 36



TISSOT
Heritage Visodate Automatic ~400



TAG HEUER
Aquaracer Automatic ~1500



REVUE THOMMEN
Airspeed Automatic ~575




RADO
HyperChrome Captain Cook Automatic ~1650




RADO
D-Star Automatic ~700



ORIS
Divers Sixty-Five Automatic ~1300

I like Oris a LOT in this price range, I am showing 2 watches but they have a ton under $2k



ORIS
Chronoris Automatic ~1200




NOMOS
Tangente 38 Datum ~1750 German Glashutte watch



MONTBLANC
Tradition Automatic ~1150



MIDO
Multifort Automatic ~$750




LONGINES
HydroConquest Black Dial ~675






JUNGHANS
Max Bill Chronoscope ~$1200 One of two German-made watches in my list