5 gorgeous analog alternatives to suit every Apple Watch budget

The Apple Watch is a watch in as much as the iPhone is a phone: It bears a resemblance to its titular device, but does so much more as well. That said, Apple’s focus on inviting fashion and watch journalists to yesterday’s “Spring Forward” keynote shows that Cupertino does view its new wearable device as an alternative to analog watches.

Now that we finally have a price tag for all the Apple Watch models, we can compare a few classic alternatives you could strap on your wrist instead. You won’t get the apps, or the ability to beam your heartbeat to a loved one, but if it’s a stylish status symbol you’re after, these are the timepieces the Apple Watch needs to beat.

Check out our picks to see if Jony Ive’s proclamation that Swiss watchmakers are “f*cked” is really true.

The entry-level model (sub-$500)

The Apple Watch starts at $349, with a price bump to $399 if you want the 42mm, rather than 38mm, size. In the classic watch world, that amount will buy you a vintage-looking timepiece from AVI-8’s Hawker Hunter collection (retail price: $330), modeled after the cockpit gauges found in 1950s jet planes. You won’t get any apps, but you will get a leather strap with white stitching, a presentation box and an information card about vintage airplanes.

The affordable luxury model ($500 – $750)

There are assorted Apple Watches in the $549 to $749 price range, with the difference being the type of strap you go for. These range from a White Sports Band at the cheaper end to a Soft Pink Modern Buckle leather strap at the somewhat pricier. When it comes to analog watches, this is also a crowded market, since it will pick you up something closer to the upper end of the affordable watch category, a market that is rapidly growing in popularity.

Personally, I’m a fan of the Citizen Promaster Sky CB0134-00E Eco-Drive Solar Watch seen above. It runs exclusively on power from both natural and artificial light sources, and comes with a feature that lets you easily test your charge level. While you’ll be re-juicing the battery on a daily basis, unlike the Apple Watch you won’t have to take it off to do so.

The semi-affordable luxury model ($949 – $1,049)

At the top end of the Apple Watch price bracket for most of us, the Stainless Steel bands will set you back around $1,000. For that same amount, you could take your pick of the Frédérique Constant Classics Range of Swiss watches, which give the appearance and stylish design associated with Geneva timepieces, but without the sell-your-kids-and-remortgage-your-house price tag.

I singled out the above rose-gold-plated, stainless-steel case model because it’s a strikingly attractive watch that, from the rose-gold color to the crocodile strap, I never thought I’d be attracted to. As with the Apple Watch, you also get an antireflective sapphire crystal frontage.

The big spender ($10,000 – $15,000)

Interestingly, the comparison between Cupertino’s upcoming wearable and a luxury analog watch starts to make sense at the Apple Watch Edition level. Once you start waving around five-figure price tags, it is clear that both fall into the same status symbol category.

So what could you buy with the money you’d otherwise spend on an Apple Watch Edition (or putting your kids through school)? How about the $10,200 Louis Vuitton Tambour: It’s a gorgeous analog timepiece from a brand not many people normally associate with watchmakers. Boasting a 45mm GMT Chronograph, this sleek watch’s blacked-out bezel is made from a lightweight-but-rugged material called Metal Matrix Composite, regularly used in the aerospace industry and Formula 1 cars.

The model you pick up in your private helicopter ($17,000)

One way of looking at the most expensive Apple Watch Edition is that it’s Apple completely losing sight of its original status as a company for rebels and misfits, which once sold the “computer for everyone” that was the original Macintosh. Another is to point out that, while $17,000 is more dough than I’m ever likely to drop on a watch (not to mention one that will be outdated within a couple years of its release), it’s peanuts when you’re talking about the world’s most expensive analog watches.

For the same $17,000 you’d spend on the most expensive Apple Watch Edition, you could pick up this attractive Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Men’s Watch. It’s one of the rarer, and therefore more sought after, timepieces Rolex makes — and a wait of upward of a year isn’t unheard of. It’s a gorgeous example of Rolex’s design, and unlike the Apple Watch Edition, will be worth considerably more a few years down the line. It won’t ever play Flappy Bird, though.

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.