Gentlemen, having the appropriate watches for business casual attire is an essential part of having a well-rounded wardrobe.
As men, we typically don’t get as much variance in category of accessories as our female counterparts. For us, the few accessories that we do get are for us what makeup or lipstick is for women.
That means there needs to be careful consideration when building and maintaining your arsenal of wardrobe pieces. A great place to start is with the watch on your wrist.
The Gentleman’s Playbook wanted to get together an easy-to-use and timeless guide going over some of your options when it comes to business casual watches for men.
Feel free to bookmark this page and come back to it – you may find yourself wanting to purchase several of the amazing watches on this list and needing to come back later to do so.
Again, we ask that you share this article with the fellow men in your life whether they be a coworker, friend, father, son, or man in general!
Before we hop straight into the list itself, let’s take a look at what watches are appropriate for business casual use.
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What Watches are Appropriate for Business Casual?
Business casual doesn’t mean sloppy clothes with a nice watch and/or shoes.
Business casual attire is still refined and requires a level of planned dapperness to be considered true biz casual.
Just like you wouldn’t throw on your favorite graphic tee and some chinos and head in to the office, you also wouldn’t want to slap on some digital, cloth strapped Velcro watch you found at the grocery store.
You want the little accessory options you do have to make a statement!
The absolute best watches for business casual are ones that have the following:
- Leather or Mesh Metal Wristband
- Thin watch face
- Neutral color dial
- Minimalist appearance
- 0-2 extra dials on the watch face
- Analogue, not digital. Just. Never. Digital.
Now that you’ve seen what our criteria are when it comes to choosing business casual watches for men, we can move on to the good stuff!
Here’s the 8 Best Watches for Business Casual:
Hand-made from Scandinavian design, The Nordgreen Native Scandinavian Silver Analog Watch is the perfect watch to kick off our list of the best watches for business casual! This watch has a 36mm minimalist white face with an 18mm wide black leather wrist strap. Showing no numbers, but rather a set of tick marks to indicate the time around the watch face, Nordgreen has crafted what they tout to be a perfectly symmetrical watch. On top of the clean, business casual friendly design, the watch straps are easily interchangeable with any of their other 9 straps.
- Case Size: 36mm
- Band Size: 18mm
- Watch Face: White
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: 2, Silver
- Date: No
- Strap Material: 9 Options
- Strap Color: 9 Options
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
Another phenomenal hand-made Nordgreen watch, the Nordgreen Philosopher maintains that minimal, tick mark numeral appearance similar to the Nordgreen Native. The primary differences we see in the Philosopher, however, are an added watch hand to track the seconds of the minute and a number-of-day ticker on the right third of the watch’s dial. Again, we get a clean white watch dial coming in at 36mm held onto the wrist by an 18mm wide brown leather strap. We will mention yet again that this Nordgreen is also compatible with all 9 straps the company produces, so you can mix and match your new watch with different materials and colors for different scenarios, making this a great addition to our roundup of the best business casual watches for men.
- Case Size: 36mm
- Band Size: 18mm
- Watch Face: White
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: 3, Silver
- Date: No
- Strap Material: 9 Options
- Strap Color: 9 Options
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
MVMT keeps making a splash on our watch lists here at The Gentleman’s Playbook, and for good reason! These watches are priced very well, and the quality is out of this world. This specific lineup of MVMT watches is the men’s Minimalist Vintage Watch with Analog Date. While you see a beautiful 45mm gray dial above circled by numberless tick marks, embraced by gray leather, the Minimalist Vintage line has many different dial colors, band materials, and band colors to choose from. You’re definitely going to find something that matches your business casual attire.
- Case Size: 45mm
- Band Size: 18mm
- Watch Face: Gray
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: 3, Gunmetal
- Date: Yes
- Strap Material: Leather
- Strap Color: Gray
It’s like Daniel Wellington just loves to put out watches that slap you in the face with classiness. The Classic St Mawes Watch from Daniel Wellington has a deep rose gold case, hands, and time tickers set on a black dial. The contrast gives it a very rich, bold appearance that just feels nice to look at. Also, this is one of the first watches we’ve suggested that you get an option in the size of the watch – you can choose between a 26mm or 40mm watch dial. Held to your wrist by a brown leather strap, you’ll love showing this guy off. There are also options available with a white dial and rose gold accents, and a black dial with stainless steel accents. Honestly, those three options are really all you’d need to have a fully functional set of diverse watches you can wear with almost any business casual outfit.
- Case Size: 36mm/40mm
- Band Size: 18mm
- Watch Face: Black
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: 2, Rose Gold
- Date: No
- Strap Material: Leather
- Strap Color: Brown
Stepping up the ante, we’re bringing Junghans into the list of great watches for business casual wear. Junghans is a high quality watch maker with some timeless (get it, “time”less) pieces on deck. This particular model sports a dark brown leather strap that holds the German-crafted timepiece in place. A white dial greets your eyes with very clean, thin number markings surrounding the watch face. With a date ticker on the right side of the watch and three hands keeping track of the time, this is an elegant watch that’s the perfect fit for just about any business casual scenario you find yourself in. This would also work with casual wear and formal wear. It’s a phenomenal watch that you should seriously consider.
- Case Size: 38mm
- Band Size: 22mm
- Watch Face: White
- Numbers: Tick Marks & Numbers
- Hands: 3, Stainless Steel
- Date: Yes
- Strap Material: Leather
- Strap Color: Brown
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
So, we are hitting a new level of watches with this specific one. We would classify this as a luxury watch for business casual use – the price tag is usually a little over one thousand dollars. Now, what you get is an incredible watch with that stellar German engineering. This one has a matte silver dial sporting tick marks rather than numbers. The Junghans Max Bill Automatic runs on a self-winding mechanism. You just have to see this one for yourself. It’s truly an incredible piece of art.
- Case Size: 38mm
- Watch Face: Silver
- Numbers: Tick Marks & Numbers
- Hands: 3, Stainless Steel
- Date: Yes
- Strap Material: Stainless Steel Mesh
- Strap Color: Silver
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
Something about this MVMT Men’s Slim Minimalist Vintage Watch just catches your full attention. Deep, sultry colors pull your eyes to this statement of power, which is perfect for those who are worried about what watches are appropriate for business casual use. This MVMT watch has a void black dial elevated with minimal rose gold tick marks for every 10 minutes around the watch face and color matching minute and hour hands. A dark brown leather strap brings the case to an easy and smooth rest on your wrist. This is definitely one of the most impressive watches The Gentleman’s Playbook has seen available online.
- Case Size: 41mm
- Band Size: 20mm
- Watch Face: Black
- Numbers: Tick Marks
- Hands: 2, Rose Gold
- Date: Yes
- Strap Material: Leather
- Strap Color: Brown
- Interchangeable Strap: Yes
If you’re a fan of the old military aesthetic – rugged leather, worn canvas, brushed metal – then you’ll fall in love with the Longines Heritage Military watch. The case is 38.5mm with an aged parchment colored dial and three navy blue hands. The watch face is circled by standard numbers, the casing held in place by a worn rustic green leather. The Longines Heritage Military watch is placed into the luxury category as well, so if you’re looking for something that makes a wealthy statement, you’ll want this puppy wrapped around your wrist. It’s absolutely perfect for the man who loves a vintage aesthetic and will definitely add some unique character to your business casual outfit.
- Case Size: 38.5mm
- Watch Face: Aged Parchment
- Numbers: Arabic
- Hands: 3, Navy Blue
- Date: No
- Strap Material: Leather
- Strap Color: Green
Best Watches for Business Casual Scenarios, Concluded
Gents, we hope you found something you love in our list of watches for business casual purposes. We took time to pick some of the absolute best watches that would be appropriate for any business casual scenario you can find yourself in.
If you’d like some more options, you can check out our list of the Best Business Watches for Less than $150 – a lot of those are business casual friendly as well, plus you’ll be able to stay on a budget!
Everybody here at The Gentleman’s Playbook is so thankful that you took the time to read through our breakdown and consider our awesome opinions. If you found this article helpful, please share it with your fellow male friends or colleagues, or even on social media!
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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!