If you’ve shopped around for chronographs, you’ll know there are a lot out there on the market coming in a wide range of prices, sizes, and specialties. To help cut through the noise and save you some time, we’ve organized this list into 7 categories. You’re not going to like every watch on this list, but there will be one or two that resonate with you. Maybe you want a chronograph to time how long your pasta’s been boiling. Maybe you want to see how quickly you get through airport security. Or maybe you just like the way they look. We’ve got 7 categories on the agenda. Let’s start!
Best Dress Chronograph
We’re starting with the category of best dress chronograph, and this is a tricky balance to find. Most chronographs were designed for the racetrack or the cockpit, but very few were designed to be office appropriate. However, there are options out there. I’ll tell you what’s considered the go-to option and then throw in some alternatives, including affordable options.
Perhaps the most popular choice – and for good reason – is the IWC Portuguese Chronograph. The dial is clean and classic with a very minimal bezel. The pump pushers aren’t as dressy as our next options, but they’re a solid historical touch and fun to use. You’ve got a wide range of dial colors, and cases hover between 40 and 42mm. Prices for these start around 3,500 USD.
As an alternative to the Portuguese, might I suggest the Zenith Elite Chronograph Classic. The in-house El Primero movement has been modified here for a two-register setup, and to make the watch even more dressy, there’s no date window. At 42mm in diameter with long lugs, they don’t wear small, but they come in under 12mm thick (which is rare for a chronograph), and they have that minimal elegance of a dress watch. The dial here is really sharp without doing too much. Gold versions sell for around 9,000 USD, but steel versions sell for about half that.
Further alternatives at a glance: The Girard-Perregaux Richeville, Chronographs of the Longines Heritage or Master Collection or the Microbrand Baltic
Best Automatic Chronograph
When it comes to the Best Automatic Chronograph, the world’s your oyster as they say. If you go to Chrono24 and filter for automatic and chronograph with a 10,000 USD limit, you’ll have more results than you could ever look through. You can get quite granular about comparing power reserves or column wheel vs. lever movements, but chances are you’ll choose mainly based on size, price, and visual design. With that in mind, let’s hit a few quick highlights before naming a debatable winner.
The Zenith El Primero is a historic watch for being arguably the first automatic chronograph. A recent favorite is the TAG Heuer “Glassbox” Carrera debuting in 2023. It comes in that popular size of 39mm, and there are a lot of details to fall in love with here. You’ve got various textures, depths, angles, and finishes that add up to a lot of watch for the money.
And finally, our selection for best all around is Omega, and there’s plenty to choose from. The movements feature silicon hairsprings and their proprietary co-axial escapement for improved accuracy. Many of their movements are also Master Chronometer certified which is more rigorous than the industry standard COSC certification. You can find these automatic Omega chronographs in the Speedmaster collection and beyond. Although, a word of warning, you may get some heat from other collectors for choosing an automatic Speedmaster over a manually wound version.
Best Chronograph for Smaller Wrists
Now for a category where there really are not a lot of options, but there is one that’s pretty perfect. We’re talking about chronographs for smaller wrists. You have plenty of options for watches with a lug to lug of 47mm and above, but there are very few for 46mm and below.
If you watched our watch size guide, you know that the most important measurements to keep in mind for sizing are lug to lug and thickness. We mentioned the Girard Perregaux Richeville already with a 45mm lug-to-lug. For a more crowd-pleasing solution to this, try the TAG Heuer Carrera reissue – a mid-century-inspired watch that stays true to mid-century sizing. It’s based on the first Heuer Carrera the ref. 2447N from 1964, and the two models to look out for are the CS3110 and the CS3111. You also have the CS3113 from the early 2000s if you prefer outlined subdials.
These sport a manually-wound Lemania 1873 movement and measure only 36mm wide by 44mm long and approximately 13mm thick. It’s a classic watch that, thankfully for the small-wristed among us, stays true to classic sizing as well. As always, if there’s a watch I forgot to mention, shout it out in a comment. Hey, I might even buy it for myself.
Best Vintage Chronograph
Next, selecting only one best vintage chronograph is an impossible task. There’s just so much history and so many brands to cover, even with 10,000 USD.
For TAG Heuer, you can go with the Carrera, the Camero, the Autavia, or the Monaco. For Omega, you have the Speedmaster lineage, not to mention non-Speedmaster chronographs with the famous caliber 321. For Breitling, you have the Navitimer, the Chronomat, or the Premier. For Zenith you have the El Primero. For Longines you have the 30CH or if you’re really lucky, the 13ZN. And that’s the short list! With so many options to choose from, maybe it’s best not to try to pick a favorite. Maybe we come at it from the angle of the most underrated vintage chronograph that offers a solid amount of value for money. And that leads us to Seiko.
If you follow our YouTube channel, you know I won’t shut up about the references 5717 and 5719. However, what we’re really here to talk about is the ref. 6139. Remember, this is arguably the first automatic chronograph movement debuting in 1969 alongside the Zenith El Primero and the multi-brand Caliber 11. The 6139 also put Japan on the map as a serious watchmaking country. It’s nicknamed the Pogue because it spent 84 days in outer space on the wrist of astronaut Colonel William Pogue between 1973/74. The yellow dial is the most recognizable variation, and you can pick these up for less than $1,000.
Best Pilot Chronograph
The argument over the best pilots watch or the best pilots chronograph typically boils down to Breitling vs. IWC since these are the two companies that have built their histories and their reputations on aviation watches.
IWC is synonymous with pilot watches and their Top Gun chronographs are a solid collection of timepieces. The watches have a lot of legibility going for them, and the brand has pushed into new materials like Ceratanium, a combination of ceramic and titanium that offers lightness, scratch resistance, and shows color exceptionally well.
Here it is. The watch edging out IWC for the top spot is Breitling Navitimer. You have a huge range of examples to choose from, vintage and modern, and you can hone in on historic movements like the Venus 178 or the famed Valjoux 72 which was featured in early Rolex Daytonas. This is all for under 10k. For bonus points, you can grab a ref. 806 from the 1950s or 1960s with the AOPA logo on it. This is where the Navitimer all began with a collaboration between Breitling and the US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. And for even more bonus points, you can learn how the slide rule works. Hint hint, it is not easy.
Best Under $1,000
For the best chronograph under 1,000 USD, I’m not afraid to throw in the MoonSwatch. Yes, it has its haters. Yes, it’s essentially made from plastic. And yes, there’s a new one coming out practically every day. But it’s fun, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s gotten the support of even high-powered collectors. It is not, however, our winner for this category. The Seiko 6139 can be found for under a grand, but that’s not our winner either.
We’re going to go modern for this selection, because if you want to spend less than 1,000 USD on a watch, chances are you want to be sure you won’t have to shell out for a service anytime soon.
The winner of the best chronograph under $1,000 is not one watch. Yes, we’re cheating a bit, but the chronographs you find from microbrands offer the best value in today’s market. You have mecaquartz options from Furlan Marri and Brew, and you have mechanical options from Baltic and Autodromo. These aren’t the only microbrands making chronographs these days, but these are the ones that have proved to be crowd favorites. They’re stylish, they’re reliable, and they offer strong value for money. And if you really want to save a buck, you can often find them for cheaper on the secondary market.
Best Under $5,000
You can find a surprising amount of luxury chronographs for under 5,000 USD. I say surprising, because offering a complicated, reliable, and beautifully designed watch at this price point is not always easy to do.
The Tudor Big Block debuted in 1976 and featured an automatic chronograph caliber 12 years before the Rolex Daytona. This was the Valjoux 7750 which is quite beefy in size and solidity, contributing to the 14.5mm thick case profile. That thickness is where the name Big Block comes from. The watch features a quickset date, and to be fair, these typically sell for over 5,000 USD but can be found for under.
For a similar watch that falls firmly within budget, consider the Tudor Heritage Chrono. It’s based on the highly-collectable Monte Carlo chronograph and carries the same DNA through its “home plate” hour markers and funky color scheme. You get the same build quality you’d expect from a Black Bay or Pelagos, and the watch features an ETA 2892 base movement with a Dubois Dépraz chronograph module. As an added bonus, you get 150m WR, and it’s 1mm thinner than the Black Bay 58. Oh, and you can turn the bezel to track a second time zone.
So, while there’s a lot of competition for the best chronograph under 5,000 USD and perhaps no one right answer to that question. Tudor chronographs make a strong argument.
