Strolling into the boardroom next week?
Maybe you’ve got an interview coming up. Or perhaps a new job.
Maybe you just like to dress well.
No matter what the reason, you know you’ll look great wearing a sleek, professional watch. However, you are a price conscious man, so you want something that radiates class without breaking the bank.
The Gentleman’s Playbook is here to help with our list of the best business watches for less than $150.
This list will have some of our favorite watch brands. They were all chosen specifically for their sleek style and the fact that they’re just really comfortable watches for business scenarios. From leather to metal, round face to square face, we know there will be a watch that matches both your attire and aesthetic.
We’ve made sure that all of the watches listed here are alphabetized by brand name. There are a few watches from the same brand, giving you variance in color, size, and shape while maintaining the same professional aesthetic.
Let’s dive right in. Here’s a look the 11 best business watches for less than $150, from a businessman himself.
Daniel Wellington designed this classy leather banded watch with business in mind. The Daniel Wellington Dapper Durham Silver Watch reps a clean 34mm wide white watch face circled by Roman Numerals rather than the traditional Arabic number system. The brown Genuine American Leather Strap band complements the watch face with its 17mm width. The date is placed right above the 6 on the watch, maintaining a minimal and noninvasive presence on the watch. Surrounded by 7mm thick stainless-steel casing and finishing everything off with stunning blue accented watch hands, you’ll be able to wear this watch with confidence to any business meeting or scenario you find yourself in. Bonus points if you can get those beautiful bright hands to match a teal pocket square or button-down shirt.
- Watch Face: White
- Numbers: Roman
- Hands: Two, Blue
- Date: Number of Day
- Strap Material: Genuine American Leather
- Strap Color: Brown
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
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This Daniel Wellington textile strap watch has a lot going for it and is great for both a business casual and business formal look. With a nylon red band, you can pull this one off with a teasing red pocket square or tie to match and accent your business formal wear. You can also wear this classy watch with a contrasting button down and matching red chinos for a business casual look. A hauntingly black watch face with minimalism inspired rose gold markers for each minute rather than a number makes this one of the best business watches for under $150 you can find! The case is 36mm wide and 7mm thick, giving it a modern and low-profile on your wrist. The band is 18mm wide.
- Watch Face: Black
- Numbers: None
- Hands: Two, Rose Gold
- Date: None
- Strap Material: Nylon
- Strap Color: Red
Jumping into some of what Fossil has to offer, we are kicking things off with a larger watch face coming in at 42mm. The Fossil Chapman has a bright blue sunray dial with Roman Numerals as well as three other smaller dials around the watch face. The three smaller dials track the day of the week, the date of the current month, and the time on a 24-hour scale. Wrapped in a silver casing and showing off three remarkable gold hands and trim, this watch is a statement when worn for business. If you like a larger watch that’s got a lot of features to boot, the Fossil Men’s Chapman is the one for you.
- Case Size: 42mm
- Band Size: 22mm
- Watch Face: Blue
- Numbers: Roman
- Hands: Three, Gold
- Date: Yes
- Strap Material: Leather
- Strap Color: Brown
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
Taking a step into the opposite direction from the previous watch, Fossil has a more modest (but still as business-friendly) white face watch with three white hands. The hour and minute hands are white with black trim around the edge, tapering into a strong point, giving you accurate time readings. The third hand is a thin, black hand that tracks the seconds of the minute. With a darker brown leather band that’s interchangeable, you can maintain a respectable and dapper appearance without being too minimalist about it. This watch would work great with a white or blue button down, or even a gray three-piece suit.
- Case Size: 42mm
- Band Size: 22mm
- Watch Face: White
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: Three, Black and White
- Date: Yes
- Strap Material: Leather
- Strap Color: Brown
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
Here’s another Fossil watch for men, though this one is more minimal in both color and features when compared to the Commuter and Chapman from Fossil. With a modest grayscale front holding a gray dial and white hands with the same gray as trim around them pointing toward the Roman Numerals lining the outer edges of the dial, the Fossil Copeland is a very classy and elegant watch built for the homegrown businessman. Make a statement with its 42mm case held by a 22mm genuine brown leather strap. This watch will look great with just about any level of business attire. Plus, it would be an amazingly clean watch to wear in a casual setting as well. It’s pretty all-purpose. No extra frills, just a sexy watch that tells the time.
- Case Size: 42mm
- Band Size: 22mm
- Watch Face: Gray
- Numbers: Roman
- Hands: Three, White and Gray
- Date: No
- Strap Material: Genuine Leather
- Strap Color: Brown
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
Typically, here at The Gentleman’s Playbook, we wouldn’t recommend any watch with a silicone strap as a business-friendly accessory. However, this once, we absolutely must make an exemption. GUESS brought us a phenomenally designed three-handed watch with a black diamond dial accented with polished gold-tone stainless steel as the case and watch hands. With no numbers or markings surrounding the dial, this watch tells everyone around you’re here to get down to business and you’re not trying to waste time (ha, get it) with frivolousness. Contrasted with a white GUESS logo in the top third, the 44mm case held by a silicone 22mm black wrist band, this is an impressive watch with a luxurious feel. Because of this, it’s one of our favorite business watches for less than $150 on this roundup.
- Case Size: 44mm
- Band Size: 22mm
- Watch Face: Black
- Numbers: No Markings
- Hands: Three, Gold
- Date: No
- Strap Material: Silicone
- Strap Color: Black
Don’t think we only love watches with leather bands and simple faces! It’s about time we drop in some metal banded class on this list. This GUESS Men’s U1194G2 is yet another watch with a crispy blue dial and rose gold Roman Numerals tracing the circumference of the watch. The stainless-steel bracelet supporting the 42mm case brings a level of luxury to a watch that has a budget price tag. Your fellow coworkers and business associates will definitely eye this beauty as it makes home on your wrist.
- Case Size: 42mm
- Band Size: 22mm
- Watch Face: Blue
- Numbers: Roman
- Hands: Three, Rose Gold
- Date: No
- Strap Material: Stainless Steel
- Strap Color: Silver
Pretty sure this watch warrants a bottom lip bite. Hot dang, it’s a nice one! MVMT made a splash in the watch industry with their refreshing minimal designs and high-quality builds. The MVMT 40 is named aptly after the 40mm diameter casing. This one in particular falls under the thin watch category, coming in at a thickness of 7mm. The brushed gunmetal stainless-steel mesh strap provides a flexible and comfortable fit with a clean, sharp appearance. Accented with a minimal sky blue second counter hand and a matching sky-blue MVMT logo in the top third, the watch has an absurdly respectful professional appearance. You see this thing, so you get it! Again, coming in as a business watch under $150, this is a must have in your chrono collection. The MVMT 40 we’re looking at would be great with a black three-piece suit and matching blue button down or pocket square. You really want to hit the accents with this one when you wear complimentary business formal or casual clothing.
- Case Size: 40mm
- Band Size: 22mm
- Watch Face: Black
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: Three, Gunmetal Stainless Steel & Sky Blue
- Date: No
- Strap Material: Stainless Steel Mesh
- Strap Color: Brushed Gunmetal
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If you enjoyed the MVMT 40 listed above, but it wasn’t making as powerful of a statement as you would like, meet it’s brother: the MVMT Quartz Black Dial MT01-BL. This handsome fellow has that same minimal look to it, but with Darth Vader vibes instead. With an all-black dial with contrasting white tick markers for the minutes in the hour and a deep red second hand and matching MVMT logo, you can’t help but stare. This is a phenomenal look for someone who’s in important business meetings all day. The dark appearance isn’t too distracting and has a respectable presence. The watch band is the same tone of black stainless steel the case is, giving it a consistently strong look, no matter what angle you’re seeing it from.
- Case Size: 40mm
- Band Size: 20mm
- Watch Face: Black
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: Three, Black & Red
- Date: YesNo
- Strap Material: Stainless Steel
- Strap Color: Black
The Skagen Men’s Jorn watch is something quite iconic. Simply put, it’s a watch. With a 41mm case filled with a white watch face and three black hands for the hour, minutes, and seconds, it just looks nice. It’s a classic and clean business formal or casual look, plus it would totally work in a weekend out on the town in a t-shirt and chinos if you wanted to keep things casual. This minimalist Skagen is an unbelievably versatile watch that we believe every man should have in their watch collection. The clean case and dial are held to your wrist with a 22mm genuine brown leather band (also, it’s interchangeable). The price is insane as well, it’s one of the best watches you can get dollar to value and quality.
- Case Size: 41mm
- Band Size: 22mm
- Watch Face: White
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: Three, Black
- Date: No
- Strap Material: Genuine Leather
- Strap Color: Brown
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
We love this line of Skagen watches so much here at The Gentleman’s Playbook that we just had to list another one. Instead of a leather wrist band like the Jorn we just mentioned, this one has a 22mm Black mesh stainless steel one. Still keeping things minimal on the dial itself, the dial on this Skagen Jorn is a deep, handsome blue surrounded by a black stainless steel 41mm case. The three watch hands are a nice, dark and dull brushed silver color pointing to color-matched minute ticks running strongly along the circumference of the watch face. This is another must have for those who want to rock a matching black suit and white or deep blue button down underneath. The simplistic and refined appearance of this Jorn is what landed it a spot on the list of the best business watches for less than $150.
- Case Size: 42mm
- Band Size: 22mm
- Watch Face: Blue
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: Three, Dull Silver
- Date: No
- Strap Material: Mesh Stainless Steel
- Strap Color: Black
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
The Classiest and Best Business Watches for Less Than $150
There you have it, Gents, the 11 best business watches available online for under $150. We hand picked each of these based on personal use of these specific models, recommendations from fellow men, and because they are just damned good watches for both business casual and business formal scenarios.
Sticking to a $150 or below budget when it comes to a watch for work or business is a great price range to be in.
It allows you to get a watch that exudes class and professionalism without breaking the bank. People can tell when your watch is low quality.
The Gentleman’s Playbook wants you to look and feel your best as a man, that’s why we make sure we never share any recommendations we wouldn’t ourselves use.
If you know of some other great watches for business that come in under that $150 price tag, feel free to contact us and we just may add it to this list!
We will keep coming back and updating this mega-list of watches as we find more that we absolutely love.
Still thinking about what kind of watch you want? Check our guide on the 5 Best Minimalist Watch Brands you can explore!
We Are Launching a Podcast!
Enter your email below to be notified when we launch The Gentleman’s Playbook Podcast, coming late 2021! Also, click here to see what we have in store!