If you are over the age of 25, you’re starting to realise that a simple digital Casio or a Fitbit isn’t cutting it anymore. Buying a mechanical watch is a rite of passage for most people as they enter adulthood. Its smooth, sweeping motion indicates both a sense of sophistication and maturity, along with a fascination for the manifold cogs and levers that run the world. Thankfully, entering the mechanical watch club is now easier than ever before with many brands offering automatic movements whose prices rival (and sometimes undercut) those of quartz-powered watches. 

Before we get into the details, it’s important to understand just what mechanical watches are. They’re essentially those with an automatic mechanical movement that is wound by utilising the motion of your wrist and body. Simply put, they’re powered by the motion of your body using a semi-circular weight and a central spring powering the movement. Every watch movement comes with its own power reserve, which is essentially the duration for which it will continue to tick accurately before losing energy. In the olden days, this meant hand-winding a watch to get it to continue ticking accurately, but now, simple and continuous motion of the wrist can do that for you. On an average, entry-level smartwatches feature a power reserve of upto 40 hours. Unlike smartwatches, they do not require extensive charging times and unlike quartz-powered watches, they don’t need a battery replaced.

Blancpain x Swatch Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms

Riding the coattails of the immensely successful Omega X Swatch collab is the Blancpain x Swatch Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms. Unlike the Omega x Swatch “Moonswatch” however, which is powered by a simple quartz movement, this Fifty Fathoms is powered by Swatch’s own SISTEM51 automatic movement. The watch brings the stratospherically expensive and storied Fifty Fathoms name – arguably the most iconic diving watch in the world – and makes it accessible for most watch wearers. Retaining the essential aesthetic of the Fifty Fathoms line, while offering it in a scratch-resistant ceramic case that’s ideal for everyday wear. The Blancpain X Swatch Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms is for the fashionable and tasteful.

Price: ₹38,000

Jaipur Watch Company - The Eternal Watch

One of India’s foremost horological startups, the Jaipur Watch Company brings India’s traditional aesthetic to the watch world. Having created a niche for itself within India’s domestic and diasporic watch communities, the brand has the distinction of being truly peerless. Using a simple Japanese Miyota movement, most of JWC’s watches are priced around ₹45,000. The two flagship collections from the brand include the Eternal Watch – which essentially uses a 50s issue one paisa coin as the central part of the dial with an automatic movement behind it. With a gold or silver coloured stainless steel dial, the Eternal Watch is unabashedly traditional in its approach and a true piece of Indian history.

Price: ₹50,000

Seiko 5 Sports

For those looking for a budget automatic, the Seiko 5 Sports is an excellent starting point. Not only is it ultra-reliable, it is an exceptionally well-finished and robust looking watch for its price. Recently rebooted to include polished sides, applied indices and an in-house movement that’s visible through the caseback, the 5 Sports can hold its own against much more expensive watches thanks to its attention to detail. Despite its hardcore dive watch aesthetic, it’s only water resistant up to 100 metres. But as an everyday automatic watch, it’s one of the most value-for-money options out there.

Price: ₹35,000

Swatch SISTEM51

If it’s an absolute no-frills automatic you’re looking for, Swatch’s SISTEM51 is among the cheapest. Comprising only 51 moving parts, the movement is actually quite sophisticated, and, despite its highly accessible price point, is able to provide a power reserve of a staggering 90 hours. It does have a distinctly youthful vibe to it, so it doesn’t have the sort of broad spectrum sartorial appeal of, say, a Seiko. However, while most models get plastic and ceramic cases, a few stainless steel options elevate the collections overall visual profile.

Price: Starting from ₹14,650

Tissot Le Locle Powermatic 80

Those looking for an automatic watch with a distinctly “grown-up” vibe needn’t look any further. Sure, the Le Locle Powermatic 80 is the most expensive entry on this list, but it’s still a bargain. Not only does it offer an automatic movement from the more premium end of the Swiss watch industry, it also provides top notch aesthetics which include but aren’t limited to a guilloche-patterned dial, scratch resistant sapphire crystal and a stainless steel bracelet – all hallmarks of a sharp dress watch aesthetic that works with pretty much any attire. Ticking underneath that silver-coloured dial is an automatic movement featuring an 80 hour power reserve.

Price: ₹66,000

Titan Mechanical Blue Dial

Titan entering the automatic watch space is a seismic event for Indian watchmaking. Although Titan continues to use watches featuring a Japanese Miyota movement, its own in-house caliber, is a feather in its cap that has not only given it solid footing in the international watch community, but also provided a range of dial and case designs that vary in size and functionality. Titan’s in-house automatic calibre that is crafted in India. It features 22 jewels for precision timekeeping within an accuracy range of -10 to +30 sec/day and has a 38-hour power reserve.

Price: ₹20,555

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