The Top Watches of 2020 - 18 of My Favorite Watches I Reviewed in 2020 (Affordable to Luxury)

what's going on guys teddy baldusar here so 2020 is finally coming to an end and i think everybody is happy about this being the case but this year when looking back uh reviews and just watches in general there's been some nice eventful releases as well as watches that i've tried to cover this year so wanted to kind of look back at my favorite the top watches of 2020. so just for some basic criteria here these have to be watches that i covered to a sufficient degree so usually going to have an in-depth review on them handled them specifically so that's going to be one of the main points that have to be met in order to be included on this list in addition to that i'm going to be looking at this from different categories so looking at the best dive watch the best chronographs and then also looking at say affordable option as well as a luxury option whenever appropriate and possible but before we jump into this i also will have a link down below to a helpful blog that actually looks at 67 of the best watches for 2020 so ones that were released this year as well as some other watches that should be on your radar when closing out the year of 2020 so definitely check that out as well because we can't cover all of them here today and also at the end we're going to be looking at is the 10 my 10 favorite watches that i reviewed this year in no particular order just listing them out at the end now first up we have the world of dive watches and i actually have three watches that i'm going to mention here both one from an affordable end we'll have say more of a mid-tier range and then also a luxury end to start us off on the affordable end the one that we have to mention here is the orient kamasu so the kamasu was a watch that i reviewed earlier this year and i believe last year when looking at the affordable diver was also an orient looking at the mako 2. kamasu i think takes everything that the mako 2 did and then kind of ups it to of course a higher price tier but does it very well 41.8 millimeter case but when you factor in the wearability on this thing with the lug to lug distance it's gonna wear around 39 to 40 millimeters so i think this will be a great option for those with a variety of wrists out there nice 200 meters of water resistance not iso certified but still very solid sapphire crystal nice movement that's going to perform quite well for the price really awesome watch does everything you need to do if you're looking for the best value for money around 250 bucks 300 bucks kamasu is a great place to look looking at the mid-tier range looking at seiko with the spb-143 so first when i saw this watch being released as well as other models within this family saw some limited edition models this one really stood out mostly because of the wearing experience many of the seiko dive watches are typically around 44 or 45 millimeters maybe 42 on the smaller end in reality this one really hit the spot in a lot of ways 6r35 movement so an upgraded movement here with a 70 hour power reserve taking that 6r15 popping it up from 50 to 70 hours which is a great plus that case size though and its wearability at 40.5 millimeters give or take is a winner especially when you factor in the lug to lug distance upgraded movement a little bit higher on the price but when you factor in the looks very clean very simple very well done from seiko and i'd love to see more of this in the future and then for our luxury dive watch we're going to be looking at here and i kind of i'm upset the fact that i like this watch so much because it's gotten so hyped up but the tudor blackberry 58 blue i personally like this one more than the black dial version i just like the lack of just golden accents i think it looks a little bit more sporty playful and when i look at the vintage tudor submariners this one to me appeals a bit more i like the look of this one more than the black dial i know that's a personal opinion but just my take on it very wearable case solid price for what you're getting in-house caliber 70-hour power reserve chronometer certified movement and from a brand like tutor that really has done a great job enough sustaining its value these 58s basically now have the rolex effect associated with them which has positives and negatives positive is the fact that you're going to retain your value if you do have one negative is it's hard to get one and they're typically trading above retail to get one i haven't looked at the secondary market prices of these but in terms of what this thing is delivering under four thousand dollars if you're looking for one watch to do it all you kind of want something that's a bit more youthful and fun and with a tire going even more casual now giving the world that we live in currently i think it's a great choice if you're just looking for one watch to buy all right now from dive watches moving into chronographs and i don't want to say this one's affordable because it's not but it is on the relative world of chronographs mechanical chronographs swiss made ones at that a little bit more attainable and that is with the hamilton intramatic chronograph i love everything about this piece i outside of just the thickness i think i really enjoy everything about this watch first starting with the looks it's a killer dial panda dial i think panda dolls get a little bit too much height but this one is very well done it also has some historical significance in terms of its connection to the old school hamilton 1960s chronographs and if you are familiar with the chronograph races of the 1960s and the different manufacturers that work together to create automatic chronographs pretty cool and then from a price range i think it's very much in the realm of one of the better i would say more entry-level swiss made chronographs that you can find out there if a valjean 7753 base within this watch 60 hour power reserve here 40 millimeter case so it is going to be relatively wearable it is on the thicker side as you'll find with many chronographs out there because they are usually thicker movements that they're working with but overall very attractive piece and certainly probably one of my favorite chronographs that i have covered this year easily and then from the luxury end i had one watch that really stood out one of my favorite releases of the year and it's right on the fringe of the top 10 of my favorite watches i've covered this year with the jlc master control calendar chrono this is one of those watches yes very expensive but you see people paying double retail for daytonas you just ask yourself what are these people thinking this thing is beautiful i love just the looks of this the silver dial seeing that beautiful calendar moon phase that you're seeing there that disc is just very striking and will change with the color and the light that it's under it turns to a vivid blue to a light blue and more harsher lighting conditions very attractive also very wearable for the most part i really enjoyed this one thousand hour testing certification on this full calendar with a chronograph and also comes with a vertical clutch and a column wheel this is a winner all around love the look at this as well as the other master controls that were released this year now we're going to be looking at watches that i gained more appreciation for and the first one starting off and both of these are going to be more to a luxury perspective but i hope you'll forgive me the first one is with the grand seiko sbga 413 so this is part of the four seasons collection and there's a little backstory around this and how this all became probably one of the watches that i gained a lot more appreciation for so i wanted to review the spga four one five and i actually reached out to go and say okay can you just send me one just loan it i'd love to be able to review it i love the piece love to cover it i think it'd be a great video uh they sent me a watch and it wasn't the svga415 it was the spg8413 and when i initially took it out it was in kind of dark lighting conditions and i couldn't really tell what the dial was and it kind of threw me for a loop and i was just looking at it and i'm like oh maybe is this it you know i saw the 415 before in person i just really liked it but then i saw this again and it was well lit up and i'm like wait that's the spga 413 and i was just very confused because when you looked at the press photos the thing looked crazy pink but when you see it in person it's actually one of the most striking beautiful dials a watch that i would not have considered before seeing it in person but when i saw it in person i'm like wow this is actually i don't say i don't want to say it's better than the spga 415 but it's right there with it so this is the spring dial variant it's made to resemble the cherry blossoms the pink that you'll see there but it's mostly silver and then will kind of play a trick in darker lighting conditions will look pink overall it was one of my favorite watches that i reviewed all year it was a watch that i didn't necessarily consider buying or even looking at in the direction of because i think the press photos just kind of turned me away from it but after seeing it in person one of the more attractive dials that you're going to find out they're so photogenic and you're getting a spring drive movement within which we all know a big fan of did a full in-depth analysis of the spring drive how it works if you've not seen that video i'll check it out down below but certainly one that i gained some more appreciation for kind of by accident now another watch that i looked at this year that certainly i gained more appreciation for was from habring2 very cool brand and it was actually loaned in by a friend of the channel john he was nice enough before he even got the watch delivered to him he had it purchased and then sent directly to me to review the watch so i really appreciate that thanks again it was a fantastic piece and a great story so the founder here richard hobring and maria habring they're a husband and wife couple and they're based in austria richard worked at iwc as well as longa prior to going off on his own with his wife now creating very limited production timepieces in austria with a thing of four-person team so chances are if you call in you're going to be talking to somebody with the last name hovering which is pretty cool the watch itself the salmon dial hobring 2 felix is gorgeous the salmon dial was very striking i love salmon dials i'm all on the trend for salmon tiles now love that we're seeing more of them on the flip side though you're getting very much reworked movement on the back side and there's a very interesting presentation where richard hobring went through the production process of his movements and how they went around just the limited production with a lot of the third-party movement manufacturers and how they're able to use different manufacturers in the region to help develop the movements of their watches he's a master watchmaker and a very very great one at that and i think their pieces are some of the best kept secrets in watchmaking and certainly a brand that should be on more people's radars if you are looking to get into the world of independence at a more reasonable price i mean independence can start getting crazy in terms of the pricing and that's certainly one i want to include so next up we have watches that underwhelm me this year and to be underwhelming i think there has to at least be some expectation or hype associated with the watches that are going to be in this category which is certainly the case for both of these starting at the affordable range looking at timex with the m79 i found that the m79 for the most part it's not a bad watch it's well designed it looks great it kind of goes off the back of the timex q which also probably could be considered in here personally i just didn't necessarily get the hype with these things i thought they were a little bit overpriced and i think mostly the challenge with these watches was the bracelet the bracelet was a hair puller at around 270 300 you're starting to get into a territory where that lack of flexibility with the lug hoods on the piece made it a bit more difficult if you want this overall style i'd probably go for the timex q you can get it for a hundred dollars less and i think those shortcomings with the bracelet will be a little bit easier to digest at that price range rather than getting closer to 300 so i just think timex sometimes they knock it out of the park with their designs but in terms of everyday wear and function sometimes struggle and that would be the case for this one attractive it was hyped uh but probably a little bit overpriced and that one kind of underwhelmed me a little bit and i think just went off the backbone of the timex q and all the hype that was associated with that watch release now transitioning to the luxury tier gonna be looking at rolex and rolex when they announced the release of their new watches they kind of did a little pump fake saying oh we're not gonna have any new releases this year but then they decided that they were going to and we did see a new submariner we saw some new oyster perpetuals which i really like the new oyster perpetuals i like the new dial colors i think those are great winners and great new inclusions to the line but when it comes to the submariner the standard black submariner goodness for the amount of attention this watch got and i'm not saying it's a bad watch because it's absolutely not it's a great watch but goodness was it just a little bit underwhelming in terms of just the press and the coverage i chose not to cover these things in much detail but i did get to handle one in terms of what you're seeing you do see of course a bigger case thicker lugs a little bit different wearing experience different lug width 21 millimeters which when you're talking about the third party market for straps i think now for those with odd number lug widths that's going to really help out there's going to be many more strap manufacturers are going to be producing straps of that size i'm definitely taking note of that as well but overall i just found that these were just pretty underwhelming the new kermits pretty cool don't say it's groundbreaking but the submariner overall uh just kind of was just like yeah good for me this year now going to dress watches we're starting with the affordable option the seiko srpd37 really like this watch this green dial cocktail time i positioned it in a video where i basically claimed it was the best dial you can find for 400 bucks and i stand by that completely this is a great looking watch it's slightly on the larger side of things but if you're just wanting a very attractive piece a watch that can look good in a variety of situations this green dial variant i think can be dressed up a bit more casually as well but certainly does the trick on a nice say reptilian strap or something of that sort to be dressed up but there's a variety of different colors to choose from but this was just personally my favorite i really love the coverage of this one this year and honestly again probably the best tile that you can find for 400 now transitioning to the luxury dress watch this one was pretty easy for me the jlc reverso tribute duo phase now the standard reverso is cool enough but when you factor in an additional dial face on the back side that's almost too much to even comprehend so this watch is just incredible i love just how it's able to create conversation it's one of i think the best conversation starters that you're gonna find in watchmaking and this watch in terms of that blue dial very stark just polished markers that you're going to be finding jlc caliber within just manual wound caliber within and how the reverse side has this nice guillotine finish on the flip side that really does look striking underneath the macro lens it's a fun watch to engage say you're traveling you can also use this reverse side as a additional kind of gmt function because there is a trigger in the chassis that will allow you to isolate that hour hand on the flip side and really uh judge additional time zones but this watch is just spectacular there's a lot of watches out there that will grab attention in a more ostentatious kind of manner just being in your face this is not one of those this is one where when somebody does look in your direction they see something interesting on your wrist they'll only be furthered with their interest once you actually show them what this watch is all about and the manufacturing behind it now the subject of everyday watches and i actually have four different watches i'm going to be including this category because i just think there were so many watches that could fit within this range it was hard to just break it down to two so we'll start with an affordable range first looking at the seiko srpe-053 so this is the watch that a lot of people are calling the dress kx or i've just kind of labeled it as that and i can totally get behind that name great watch takes the skx format with its dial and then creates it in a 40 millimeter case lack of a rotating bezel can be dressed up dressed down maybe a little bit more sporty certainly i don't think you can dress this up as like say a dress watch but for somebody who's looking for a great watch you can take on pretty much every scenario from 250 300 bucks it's really going to be hard to beat this 100 meters of water resistance nice seiko movement features hacking as well on this you're getting a nice upgrade from the 7s26 family fantastic watch variety of colors to choose from but this is my personal favorite and one of my favorites that i covered all year moving into i would say somewhat affordable still but a little bit more on the higher end of the price bracket in terms of under a thousand dollars still though the tiso gentlemen powermatic silicium so silicon hairspring 80 hour power reserve attractive looks that i think lean a bit more sporty but definitely not too far in the direction as much as that seiko so it can be dressed up i think a little bit better this t-cell really knocks out of the park i think a lot of times when looking at watches under a thousand dollars there's almost just natural just wanting to mention watches in that range over and over again they become popularized and then people just always recommend them i do that all the time but i think this one has now got into that category this is one of the better all-around watches that you can find for under a thousand dollars if you're just trying to look for something say under a thousand bucks once i can check off all the boxes for every scenario as much as i can this is certainly one to consider lengthy power reserve very versatile looks 100 meters of water resistance and a very solid package with a variety of dollar colors to choose from true winner here under a thousand bucks then jumping up to say a more attainable luxury perspective i want to look at aorus this is a little bit more subjective in terms of one of my favorites this year i am a huge sports fan i don't know if many of you guys know that but when i saw this watch release i thought it was a complete home run and uh sorry for the pun there couldn't help it but the roberto clemente aorus big crown pointer date love the big crown pointerdate family probably my favorite line that aorus makes very close with the aquas but i think this one edges it out for me personally this one when you tie in the baseball backstory to it with roberto clemente probably one of the greatest ambassadors of the sport i have a full in-depth review on this piece part of the actual sales of these pieces are going to the roberto clemente foundation so a very great cause one of the greatest baseball players of all time very a plus high caliber human being and all of the details of this watch i think match that the looks of the actual strap that are going to match that of a baseball mitt love the look of that and also the number 21 on the pointer date along the outside of the dial coming a goal to honor roberto clemente this is a fantastic piece this is one of my favorite releases of this year by far especially if you're a baseball fan or just like a great looking watch i think the color just profile of this one is maybe the best and most attractive looking pointer date that you're going to find out there now for the luxury watch we're going to be looking at the zenith d5 classic and last year very similar to the watch that i reviewed it was probably my favorite watch i reviewed all year the omega globe master when looking at everyday watches under ten thousand dollars the common ones you see oyster perpetuals datejust aqua terras watches of that sort why i like the globemaster as well as this is that at d5 classic because they're just different i think they're great places to look if you're looking for something a bit more of a less traveled path but also being able to deliver very solid watch for the money and perhaps for this one better than a lot of the counterparts that you can consider this one comes in a full titanium case the bracelet is perhaps one of the best that you're going to find out there for the money in this price range getting a nice elite movement within which has a bi-directional date which is a pretty cool feature like the fact that you can set the date in both directions also getting cantilevered indices that extend out over this blue dial that's just very striking when combined together very attractive very photogenic piece very light on the wrist gonna be pretty wearable as well even considering that diameter on this thing when you factor in the lug to lug distance but for rounds say seven thousand bucks new on the pre-owned market you can get these for pretty good deals as well pretty awesome watch to look at and one of the better watches i think i reviewed all year now looking at micro brand watches and two to look at here first looking at the monta atlas gmt earlier this year did a review of this watch label that is the best micro brand that i had reviewed on the channel to date and it certainly was this piece had a lot of features in the details that i liked one was that just bent actual gmt hand which was very cool because it elevates over the applied markers which are very high when you're talking about how much they extend out from the dial in addition you're getting a nice at a caliber on the back side the price on these did go up but from a finishing on the bracelet standpoint the dial as well as the small details within it was very good and gives a lot of the big boys a run for their money honestly i found the finishing on this better than many tudor aorus counterparts so a lot going in favor of this monta atlas i think the prices are getting a little bit steeper on these things but certainly still a fantastic watch and watch that i gained more respect for a brand that i gained more respect for and probably my favorite watch that monta makes then transitioning to formax another brand that i think is in the class with montes being probably the two best from a finishing standpoint under two thousand dollars from a independent brand and maybe for any brand for that matter looking at their formax reef so this is the newly designed dive watch from formax i was really impressed with this thing it has the new logo which was usually the number one issue with formax watches they had that weird italicized font before that kind of made it seem like it was a floor cleaning product so that goes away you're getting this a nice supplied logo which apparently is going to go on all their other models as well ceramic bezel probably the best bracelet i've seen in a dive box for under 2 000 on this all of it is polished edges getting a nice diving extending clasp getting some great on-the-fly adjustment within the clasp diver extension as well incredibly well finished chronometer movement within an sw 300 chronometer movement with a chronometer grade 300 meters of water resistant ceramic bezel it's just a very attractive looking piece and very well finished that that is maybe one of the best dive watches in general you're gonna find for under two thousand bucks from a finishing standpoint okay so now just going through ten of my favorite watches this year no particular order just going through them i'll try to go through these a little bit quicker one the grand sago spga413 one of the big surprises of the year when you see it in person so different than the press photos press photos does not do this thing justice like many grand seiko's for that matter but especially this one love the dial finish case finishing of course with the zaratsu polishing second to none and you're getting a spring drive movement and this was one of my favorite reviews of this year by far another watch that was not mentioned in this list so far but my one of my personal favorites was the longine heritage classic sector sector dials along with salmon dials are two trends that i'm seeing a lot more as of late and i'm getting behind both of them i like both of the trends i'll probably get exhausted with it in the next couple years but hey what are you gonna do this watch for me is a just a great embodiment of what long jean does very well which is creating great heritage looking pieces long jeans well as many other brands had these sector dials in their lineup in years prior in mid 20th century and earlier this one is one of the best executions that i've seen even really giving some of the jlc ones run for their money love this watch one of my favorite this year from a dive watch perspective gonna throw the spb 143 in here again all the things that i said at the beginning definitely one of my favorite dive watches that were released this year i think on the price getting a little bit on the higher end of things but certainly in the conversation for one of the best dive watches for around thousand bucks is getting up there 6r35 definitely does help in the wearable case one of the best you're gonna find from a seiko if you are somebody with a small to medium-sized wrist but like the seiko designs then we have the jlc reverso tribute duo face what more can really be said about this watch one of the greatest conversation starters you're going to find out there this is just class personified if you're wearing this watch on your wrist you are somebody with great taste you're somebody that will allow yourself to be discovered rather than to point it out to everybody in the room that you have something interesting on your wrist which i personally i've always been a fan of i like a watch that draws people in in a more subtle way rather than showing everybody in the room hey check out what i got so this watch is easily one of my favorites this year then we have the roberto clemente big crown pointer date perfect marriage of watch with great design i love the look of this thing from a color design point of view knocked out of the park and then in addition also having i think one of the greatest ambassadors for the game of baseball i remember doing a project on roberto clemente as a young guy in grade school do love baseball love what this guy was all about and just a high character person and a high caliber watch as well to go along with that so really fantastic piece then we have the zenith d5 classic if you don't want to go for the oyster perpetual you don't want to go for the datejust you don't want to go for the aqua tear you want something that's a bit different but also you're getting a ton of watch for the money from a brand that probably is one of the most underrated luxury brands out there and it probably shouldn't be with zenith this is a great piece to look at one of my favorites this year great wearability great movement and of course very attractive looks then we have the hamilton intramatic chronograph probably one of the best entry doors into swiss mechanical chronographs attractive looks wearable case for the most part outside of the thickness no nonsense valjoux 7753 base within nice power reserve it's a winner all around from a great brand from hamilton you have the tutor blackberry 58 again i think this watch has gotten so much attention so much hype but it's one of those watches that you can't deny that it's a great piece for the money and in the conversation for one of the best watches you can get for under 4 000 bucks i like the blue more than the black people are probably gonna argue in the comments about that it's all subjective opinion but i really like the release this year it was a no-brainer i've been waiting for it for quite some time from tutor and i'm glad to see it now all we're waiting for is a new pelagos maybe some different colors especially some different sizes as well come on tudor don't do this to us and we have the omega rail master trilogy edition honoring the 1957 releases this was released back in 2017 but covered it this year one of the watches that i am just a huge fan of i think the rail master line has always been kind of the black sheep of the omega professional family of watches and to be honest i don't really know why i think i think the speed master of course we know why it blew up we of course know why the sea master is very popular with his connection to james bond now but the real master just out there in the distance still being a very great watch but just doesn't get the love that it deserves like this piece not as much of a fan of the polishing on this but other than that i don't think there's really anything bad that i can say great alternative to the explorer without necessarily making a compromise it's just different but there's still a good amount of these in circulation on the premium market which certainly i would look at if you are a lover of omega and like something that's a little bit more under the radar maybe not as appreciated and then for the last in this top 10 the seiko srpe 5.3 seiko 5. i mean come on this thing it looks great very wearable case variety of colors to choose from seiko did such a nice job with this i see this is a great entry door for so many people looking to get into mechanical watches for the first time this one does everything that you need 100 meters of water resistance could work with a variety of different straps maybe not the best choice for dressier scenarios but could probably get you up to say like that blazer category where you're maybe wearing a blazer button-down shirt something of that sort and say down in terms of casual wear it's a great choice variety to choose from great price point solid movement 100 meters of water resistance true big thumbs up but all right guys those are some of my favorite watches this year i do have some other watches that are kind of lined up before the end of the year that i probably would have included on this list but unfortunately this video came out first because we are running pretty close to the end of the year but i'd love to see comments down below what was your favorite watch either released that you bought or you handled in 2020 leave comments down below so other people can see what you're excited about love to see it also thumbs up subscribe hit the bell icon if you did enjoy this video really would appreciate that if you do want even more watches to look at from 2020 things to consider look at the blog down below 67 watches for 2020 the best watches for 2020 so check that one out also follow us on instagram to see some awesome photos of watches and to stay up to date with the content and then also check out teddyballstar.com full authorized dealer of over 25 brands full factory warranty one of the best places most reliable places to buy a watch online so guys thank you again so much for watching be well and i'll see you all very soon

Channel: Teddy Baldassarre

Views: 551,282

Rating: 4.898911 out of 5

Keywords: best watch brands, watches to buy, teddy baldassarre, best watches for men, best wrist watches for men, best affordable watches for men, best diver watch, best chronograph, best pilot watch, top watches of 2020, best watches 2020, watches to buy 2020, grand seiko, watch buying guide, best watches, microbrand watches

Id: ksnhtBFKozQ

Length: 26min 23sec (1583 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 13 2020