Swiss watches are some of the most reliable, accurate and quality-driven timepieces in the world. But not all Swiss watch brands are affordable.
So this is where we come in to help you find your perfect Swiss watch for your budget.
It’s no secret that Swiss watches can be expensive. But for those who are looking to buy a quality watch on a budget, there are affordable Swiss watch brands with great timepieces.
This is our list of the top 13 (mostly) affordable Swiss watchmakers, and a look at some of their best Swiss made timepieces.
Best Affordable Swiss Watch Brand
First here is our top pick. Our best affordable Swiss watch brand has to be Tissot.
Tissot have such a wide selection of affordable Swiss watches. From sporty chronographs, to sapphire crystal dive watches, to gorgeous retro dress watches. You’ll find Swiss made affordable watch from Tissot.
Discover the wide range of Tissot watches on Amazon.
Affordable Swiss Watch Brands
Want to discover more affordable watch brands from around the world? Then check out our Top 10 Most Affordable Watch Brands On The Planet blog post... From Casio, Seiko, Victorinox, and more. We only included the most high quality and affordable watch brands around.
Affordable Swiss Watch Brands Comparison
Check out all the affordable Swiss watch brands we’ve reviewed, and compare them in terms of their price ranges.
Affordability is a difficult thing to pinpoint. What is affordable for someone might not be affordable for someone else. So we’ve given a wide range of affordable Swiss watch brands.
| Affordable Swiss Watch Brand | Price range | Specialty |
| Swatch | Very affordable | Funky, quartz watches |
| Wenger | Affordable | Affordable Swiss dive watches |
| Victorinox | Affordable – Mid-range | Hard as nails watches |
| Tissot | Affordable – Mid-range | Sports watches |
| Mondaine | Affordable | Eco Swiss watches |
| Certina | Affordable – Mid-range | Sports watches |
| Alpina | Affordable – Mid-range | Outdoor timepieces |
| Marathon | Affordable – Mid-range | US military watches |
| Glycine | Affordable – Mid-range | Pilot watches |
| MIDO | Affordable – Mid-range | Dive watches |
| Squale | Affordable – Mid-range | Dive watches |
| Oris | Affordable – Luxury | Powerful in-house movements |
| Frédérique Constant | Affordable – Luxury | Art Deco dress watches |
1. Swatch
One of the most famous affordable Swiss watch brands is Swatch.
Swatch is hailed as saving the Swiss watchmaking industry during the Quartz Crisis of the 1970s and 1980s.
Swatch, since their release in 1983, have been an affordable and fun Swiss watch brand. Swatch watches are known for their crazy color combinations. You can see the Swatch watches personality from the start, in the 1984 Swatch advert below.
Swatch today are still super affordable and fun. They offer a wide range of Swiss made quartz watches to choose from.
Swatch now has a selection of affordable mechanical watches too.
You can easily find a Swiss made Swatch watch at a really affordable price.
a) Swatch Group
Today the Swatch Group is the world’s largest watch group. They have a huge selection of legendary watch brands under the Swatch Group umbrella.
The Swatch Group can be displayed in a pyramid. With the most affordable watch brands on the bottom, and the most iconic/expensive watch brands at the top.
The Swatch Group owns many top affordable Swiss watch brands, such as:
You can check out our review on each of the watch brands of the Swatch Group.
Another affordable watch brand owned by the Swatch Group is Hamilton. They’ve even made our world’s best affordable watch brands list.
However, Hamilton started as an iconic American watchmaker, and yes though it is now Swiss made. Yet they’re still an American watch brand at heart, so they shouldn’t make this list.
2. Wenger
This affordable Swiss watch brand isn’t as well known as some of the other watchmakers on this list.
Like Victorinox, Wenger also manufactured Swiss army knives. Until 2005, when Victorinox took over Wenger. Merging their knife making operations into one.
Wenger now only focuses on making affordable watches and travel gear.
Wenger watches are usually more affordable than Victorinox watches. With Wenger selling good quality Swiss made timepieces for an inexpesnive price.
Wenger are still producing their affordable timepieces in the Delmont region of Switzerland.
The Wenger dive watch collection is an excellent pick for an affordable Swiss made diver.
You can find a lot of the Wenger watch collection on Amazon.
3. Victorinox
We are huge fans of this Swiss watchmaker. They’re best known for their Swiss Army knives.
They’re watches are some of the toughest, most durable watches you can buy. Also they’re fairly affordable too.
The Victorinox watches, especially their I.N.O.X. range, regularly makes the cut in our best watch reviews. If you want a watch that’s as hard as nails. Then the Victorinox I.N.O.X. is the range of watches for you.
They’re the brand that love to put their watches through some insane torture tests. Like rolling over their watch with a tank.
Proving that the I.N.O.X. watches can handle a pressure of 8 tonnes! Check out the video below to see for yourself.
We recommend these affordable Swiss watches for many tough jobs, like firefighters and military personnel. Or if you want a watch that you can wear everyday without a worry.
4. Tissot
Tissot is a fairly affordable Swiss watchmaker who sponsors the NBA and MotoGP. They’re the official timekeeper for both.
Tissot are one of the many brands under the control of the Swatch Group.
Their sports association partnerships can be seen in their watches. With Tissot releasing NBA styled chronographs. Tissot also has a great range of chronographs made for racing drivers, called their T-Race range.
Their automatic dive watches are also excellent. With many of their automatic watches featuring a power reserve of 80 hours! That’s 3 days of power.
You can check out our full in depth review of all the best affordable Swiss watches this watchmaker has in our Tissot Watch Review.
Tissot also made our list for one of the world’s best affordable watch brands. So you can’t really go wrong with a Tissot watch. We think they’re a much too underrated Swiss brand.
5. Mondaine
Mondaine are a proud family owned affordable Swiss watchmaker, who’ve been around since 1951.
The Official Swiss Railways Clock, designed by Hans Hilfiker in 1944 is a classic icon of design in Switzerland. And this clock became the inspiration for Mondaine watches.
The iconic patented clock’s blueprint inspired the watch company to create their collection with official license from Federal Switzerland Railways.
Not only do Mondaine make quirky and affordable Swiss watches. Mondaine are also leaders in sustainability among the Swiss watchmakers.
Their watches are made inside a solar powered factory in Switzerland. Meaning Mondaine are now using 80% less fossil fuel based electricity than before. Setting a clear example for the rest of the industry.
The majority of their affordable watches are fitted with Swiss made quartz movements.
However, they do have a selection of automatic Mondaine watches too. These are a little pricier, however, still a good price for a Swiss made automatic watch.
6. Certina
Certina are known for their durability and reliability. They’re best known for creating sports watches.
They increase their sportiness through partnerships. Especially motosports. They’ve also got plenty of racing watches to choose too.
Certina is a watch brand within the Swatch Group. However, they aren’t as well known as the other affordable Swiss watch brands, like Hamilton, or even Tissot. Yet, they’re on the same level as them in terms of quality, heritage and innovation.
Learn a bit about the history of this Swiss watchmaker, Certina, in the video below.
The same Swatch Group technology like the Powermatic 80 automatic movement, and titanium based spring technology. Can be found in Certina and Tissot watch collections.
Certina are also at an affordable price point.
7. Alpina
Alpina has been making watches since 1883, when their founders wanted to make robust watches for those who loved being outdoors.
They make watches today made for the elements. Watches that are tough, shock resistant, anti-magnetic, made of stainless steel and have a good level of water resistance.
Today Alpinists have 130 years worth of experience in designing high quality Swiss made sports watches. Alpina watches are popular among adventurers, divers, pilots, and athletes.
Their watches are also quite affordable, you can easily find one within your budget. Especially if you go for one of their more affordable Swiss made quartz watches.
8. Marathon
Now with Marathon we are heading into more expensive territory. However, if you’re after an entry level Swiss dive watch then Marathon is a stellar pick.
Marathon has even been a supplier of watches for the US armed forces. They are a military watch brand, that allows you to buy military spec timepieces at a decent price.
Their watches have a tough look to them. With the US GOVERNMENT signature sometimes printed on their military timepieces.
You can get a military Swiss made Marathon dive watch for a mid range price. Built for a special forces op.
You’ll see these Swiss dive watches often labelled as GSAR or TSAR.
The GSAR stands for Government Search and Rescue, and TSAR stands for Tritium Search and Rescue. Both these watches are built to handle missions.
The tritium in TSAR is referring to the self-illuminating gas tubes. These can have 24/7 luminosity for up to 25 years.
9. Glycine
Glycine has been manufacturing watches in Bienne, Switzerland since 1914.
Today, Glycine offers excellent value at reasonable prices.
Glycine is a Swiss manufacturer of watches, and one of the pioneers in watchmaking for pilots. Glycine’s Airman line was introduced in 1953 to meet demand from pilots who wanted more than just an everyday timepiece.
Since then, it has continued their legacy with aviation themed models ranging from world timers to collectors items made exclusively for military personnel.
Glycine is an affordable Swiss watch brand that’s perfect for those who are frequent travelers. People who need a watch that can keep track of multiple time zones at once.
10. MIDO
Yet, another Swiss watch brand under the Swatch Group umbrella. This time it’s the Swiss watchmaker MIDO.
MIDO dive watches are undeniably beautiful. Their Ocean Star Tribute divers pay homage to 1960s divers.
Like many other Swiss watchmakers, especially from the Swatch Group. MIDO partners with big sports events. MIDO is a new partner for the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, which showcases athletes from all over the world diving off of cliffs.
We especially love their Ocean Star Captain V dive watch too. There are so many gorgeous Swiss made watches to choose from MIDO.
As for affordability, MIDO is a great choice for an entry level Swiss dive watch. They’re not super affordable like the earlier brands.
However, by purchasing a MIDO dive watch you do get a lot more performance and a higher quality finish compared with the more affordable brands.
11. Squale
Squale 1521 is a Swiss watchmaker that isn’t very well known. They specialize in making gorgeous looking dive watches that are powerful timepieces.
In the 1960s, Squale was commissioned by Swiss watch brands to produce diving watches. Having a SQUALE mark on your watch meant it was true dive gear and indicated safety and reliability. That still holds true today.
These diver’s are excellent entry level Swiss dive watches.
Though not everyone would call this Swiss dive watch affordable. But for those who are willing to splurge a little more on a Swiss made diver. You can’t go wrong with a Squale timepiece.
12. Oris
Oris is a Swiss independent watchmaker, and they’ve been around since 1904, in Hölstein, Switzerland.
They offer excellent value for money. With well built, and powerful Swiss made watches. They would be on par with mid-range luxury Swiss watchmakers.
The Oris Aquis is many watch collector’s favorite collection from this Swiss watchmaker.
You can see their Oris Aquis Date Calibre 400 in their 2020 commercial below. This in-house built automatic movement packs a punch, and has up to a 5 day power reserve!
It’s not a super affordable Swiss watch brand though. Yet, again an Oris Aquis is still a really excellent entry level Swiss dive watch.
You can find the Oris Aquis divers on Amazon.
You can find an Oris watch for around at a mid-range price point. But if you have a bit more to spend you can get a lot of watch for your money.
13. Frédérique Constant
Frédérique Constant is one of the newer Swiss watchmakers. They’re also not as well known for being very affordable.
However their goal as a watchmaker is to make luxury Swiss watches accessible.
Their Swiss made ladies quartz dress watches are a great find. With many featuring an Art Deco style, making them very elegant and timeless.
Frédérique Constant takes pride in the fact that their movements, production, and assembly are all built in-house.
They also make some great Swiss made smartwatches too.
The Verdict
Switzerland is still the epicenter of watchmaking. There are so many affordable Swiss watch brands to choose from, as well as luxury Swiss watchmakers.
Here are the top 13 affordable Swiss watch brands, and where you can buy their best Swiss made watches.
We’ve put them in the order of the most affordable watch brand, to the most expensive on this list.
