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Watches & Wonders 2026: Our Favorite Affordable Watches
The curtain may have well and truly come down on this year’s Watches & Wonders event, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to explore and mull over in the aftermath.
We’ve already dedicated articles to the best from Rolex, Tudor, Patek and IWC. Now, changing gear for a minute, we are going to take a look at a more general and arguably more relevant subject for the majority of us—the best affordable watches.
And yes, I know, ‘affordable’ as it pertains to luxury timepieces (and especially those which usually make the trip to Geneva each April) is a highly subjective term. But below we have picked out three of our favorites in the ‘I could possibly see myself buying one in the future’ category.
The Norqain Freedom Chrono Enjoy Life ‘Sprinkles’ $6,300
There’s a lot to love about Swiss brand Norqain. Founded in 2018, making them positively embryonic in horological terms, they are trying (and succeeding) in doing the virtually impossible; break into the mid-range luxury sports watch market while staying as a family-owned independent brand.
They first came to mainstream attention with their experimental Wild One, the ultra-light, ultra colorful adventure watch sometimes described as a ‘Richard Mille for people who still pay tax.’
At this year’s W&W they brought along a fleet of new creations including a follow on from 2025’s Enjoy Life chronograph. This new model, the Enjoy Life ‘Sprinkles’, carries over much from the previous piece but comes with an even more lively dial.
Whereas the original was fitted with a white face featuring totalizers in blue, green and pink, together with corresponding bars around the minute track, this year’s gives you the choice of a turquoise or pink base covered in luminous ice cream sprinkles (what we used to call Hundreds and Thousands where I’m from!)
The theme is continued in the 4:30 date window where, every seven days, the numeral is replaced with an ice cream cone—just to remind you to take a little pleasure in the small things.
Turn the watch over and see the ‘Enjoy Life’ design featuring more ice cream, along with that model’s specific special edition number. Below the sapphire you’ll find the Norqain calibre N19, otherwise known as the Sellita SW510 a.
Amongst all the big hitters who usually vacuum up the lion’s share of the headlines at the major watch expos, Norqain have scored a homerun with their ‘Sprinkles’ release. Perhaps as a reflection of the larger global picture, something a bit fun and quirky reminds us there is a lot more to life than the 9-5 rat race; there’s watches and ice cream too.
The Oris Artelier Complication $2,950-$3,150
Changing tack completely, another massive favorite brand of ours, Swiss value-for-money champions Oris, also had a great event.
Their signature Big Crown collection got some significant new additions (the Sunshine Yellow model is a showstopper) and the Star Edition took us right back to 1966.
But the bulk of attention from the press was hijacked by the revamped Artelier collection. Oris’s in-house designer, 24-year old Lena Huwiler, has scaled everything back for this latest iteration. The case sizes shrink from the previous 40.5mm to 39.5mm (which makes a lot more difference on the wrist than you might imagine a single millimeter would) and the busy dials have been dispensed with in favor of a far cleaner setup. The day and date complications are gone, leaving just two displays—a moonphase at the 12 o’clock and a second time zone at the six.
That sparseness gives the impression of a larger watch and everything is kept highly legible because of it. There is very little embellishment as befits what Oris calls an ‘urban dress watch’, with sleek applied indexes and super slim handset. The only decoration really is on the moonphase disc, which gets a smattering of stars.
The three steel watches come with ivory, midnight blue or chestnut dials, with either a leather strap or the brand’s own bracelet, each closed with double butterfly clasps.
Inside is the Oris Caliber 782, taking over from the Caliber 781 due to the fewer complications needed. Both are based on the Sellita SW200. The choice not to use in-house movements as former Artelier watches have is likely to keep costs down, but you still get a useful 41-hour reserve at 28,800vph.
With Oris more commonly seen as the maker of pilots and divers watches, their dress pieces often sit a little discordantly in the mix. But this new series pares back the more demanding aspects of former designs and allows a little cohesion with the rest of the portfolio. Sure to be a big hit.
The Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture $6,195
There’s either some serious witchcraft going on inside the Frederique Constant headquarters, or every other watchmaker is vastly overcharging for their wares.
The brand launched their Worldtimer Manufacture back in 2012, proving at a stroke that one of the trickiest yet most useful watch complications did not need a correspondingly enormous price tag. This year they have brought it back for a newer, smaller and better second generation.
In keeping with the current trend for ever reduced case sizes, the latest version goes from 42mm to a more universally wearable 40mm. The three-part steel case is retained, as is the wide bezel and short lugs and, crucially, the multi-functional onion-shaped crown. As well as being a characteristic visual feature, the crown is also used to both set and wind the watch, as well as rotate the time zone disc up front and to set the local time. Notably, however, the date function has been eliminated.
There are three models in this new range. All have the relief map of the world in grey in the center but come with different shades of blue on the dial. Perhaps the most well-known setup is the one with dark blue oceans and a navy city ring, while the middle ground is taken by the model with lighter blue seas and an ivory outer edge. The third, an 88-piece limited edition, comes with a light blue center and diamonds embedded in the bezel.
Powering it all, the FC-719 represents the 35th in-house movement from FC, which is almost unbelievable seeing as how the brand has only been around since 1988. It is based on the former FC-718 and its 28,800vph frequency, but the power reserve has gone from an underwhelming 38-hours to an impressive 72. You can see how much FC hasn’t skimped on the decoration too, through the sapphire case back, with some lovely satin brushing, perlage and Côtes de Genève finishing. The one minor downside is that it increases the watch’s height from 12.15mm to 12.53mm. But that is a small price to pay for a superbly made Worldtimer costing just a little over $6k
Featured Photo: Mixed art by Oriol Mendivil for BKT Archive.
