Watches A to Z: Emporio Armani and Armani Exchange

Giorgio Armani was one of the world's best known fashion designers. He died recently (in September 2025). He was best known for luxury menswear, but his interests expanded into women's fashion, hotels, and even watches. 

Giorgio Armani - Photo by GianAngelo Pistoia,
CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Armani was also into watches. He collaborated with watchmakers like F.P. Journe and Patek Philippe on some of his own personal watches. While those brands are likely beyond the regular scope of this blog, Armani was also behind two far more accessible watch brands that are available to middle class fashion and watch enthusiasts:  Emporio Armani and Armani Exchange (A|X).

Armani Exchange Chronograph (Amazon Photo)

Both brands are designed, produced, and distributed by the Fossil Group. However, they hit the youthful and stylish tone expected by Armani. Emporio Armani was founded in 1981 with an emphasis on accessible, modern, and ready-to-wear styles. It was also envisioned as a container brand to offer many styles and accessories. The A|X brand was founded in 1991 as a more accessible brand for young people and drew inspiration from youth culture, street life, and dance music. It's mission was to be stylish and affordable. 

My Armani Exchange Watch

My Armani Exchange (A|X) Chronograph has a clean and elegant design for an affordable watch. It nods to the impractical side of fashion with black hands against a black dial. You can read my full  review of it here. I'd buy one again with better hand colors. 

Armani Exchange Chronograph Photo for Christmas

In practical terms, A|X watches are slightly more affordable than Emporio Armani watches.  With a few exceptions, A|X watches seem to run from less than $100 to just over $200 on Amazon while Emporio Armani watches generally run from just over $100 to $400. You can see both of these brands on Amazon. Click here for A|X and here for Emporio Armani.

Christmas Stocking Stuffer Watches for 2025

The world is awash in great watches that are priced under $50.  Watches in this category are quite budget friendly for everyone.  For many families, inexpensive, practical, watches make perfect stocking stuffer gifts for Christmas!

I've been combing through watch listings on Amazon for much of the Holiday season and I've found three watches that would serve really well as Christmas stocking stuffers this year.

Armitron Men's Multi-function Watch

Armitron has a long history and features many budget friendly watches. Many of their designs are quite eye-catching and their watches often look more expensive than they actually are.  For example, this Armitron Multi-function watch has a cushion case. Cushion Case refers to an elongated case that makes the watch look as if it resting on a pillow. With gold tone accents, this watch looks like a million dollars!

Fortunately, this great looking Armitron is available for less than $50.  You can get it here on Amazon.

Timex Men's Diver

In a world where everyone is hard-pressed for cash, many people have figured out that they can save lots of money when they choose a dive watch that isn't actually made for diving. People have joked for years about "desk divers," but Timex offers a great looking one with a unidirectional rotating bezel that meets the $50 price point. This Timex Men's Diver only has 50-meters of water resistance. That's very practical for day-to-day wear, but it doesn't cost nearly as much as a bona fide dive watch with 200 or 300-meters of water resistance.

Timex Dive Watch (Amazon Photo)

You can check out this nifty Timex "Dive" watch here on Amazon! I like it. I don't SCUBA dive and I think it looks plenty rugged for my purposes. If you are looking for a dressier Timex watch, check out my post on the Amazon Christmas deal on the Timex Easy Reader.

Skechers Silicone Strap Watch with Compass

Skechers is a shoe company that is much loved by young skateboards and old people. But, they also sell a small selection of watches online and in their shoe stores. While the brand doesn't make any wild claims of tactical suitability or mountain-climbing applicability, the watch has field watch written all over it. It also comes with two very tacti-cool extra straps.

Skechers Silicone Watch Set (Model: SR9138) with Two Extra Straps (Amazon Photo) 

Somtimes, in fact most of the time, it's enough for a watch to just look cool. This Skechers watch set accomplishes that mission well. You can get it here on Amazon.

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For the latest in cool watches for sale on Amazon, hit it this link for Amazon Christmas Deals 2025!

Watches A to Z: Mondaine

Mondaine is an unusual watch brand. Founded in 1951, it was inspired by the clocks in Swiss Federal Railway Stations. Thus, they are simple, functional, very readable, and tied to something near and dear to the hearts of the Swiss and tourists who love the country.

A Swiss Railway Station (note clock on right) photo by Joachim Kohler-HB, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The brand is Swiss Made and offers both quartz and automatic models. In a world where everyone suddenly wants to be minimalist, Mondaine watches have been a standard bearer for minimalist Bauhaus design for over 70 years. Mondaine is very progressive in their use of energy and material resources. One of their factories generates 80% of their electricity needs via solar power. The brand recycles metals and other byproducts for re-use. They also work with an Italian company, Vegea, that creates vegan leather straps from winery and grape plant byproducts. They also participate in reforestation projects. Auditors have found the brand to be CO2 neutral. 

Mondaine Evo Sapphire Classic

This Mondaine Evo Sapphire Classic typifies the Swiss railway watch look. It's a quartz watch with a 36mm diameter case that is just 7.65mm thick.

Mondaine Evo Sapphire 36mm Classic

You can check it out here on Amazon. While I'd probably swap the strap for a black one, this is one of the lowest cost Swiss watches around and it has a unique look. For a collector, this is an unusual watch choice for less than $175. You're unlikely to see many of these in the wild here in the United States.

Mondaine Classic 40mm Quartz Watch

If you'd like a larger sized watch, the Mondaine Classic is a 40mm brushed stainless steel watch with the same railway clock minimalist style. It has a Swiss Ronda RL quartz movement with an estimated 60-month battery life. The strap appears to be nylon, but it is actually made from recycled PET bottles.

Mondaine Classic 40mm Quartz Watch (Amazon Photo)

If you'd like to check out this watch, you can find it here on Amazon.

Wristwatch Review: Gianello Dominion Watch Set with Interchangeable Straps

I recently discovered a supply of Gianello watches at Burlington. The New York-based brand belongs to Vernier Watch Company and touts Italian design and Asian manufacture. The brand has watches available at their website, on Amazon, and at Burlington retail stores. The Gianello watches that I've found at Burlington are generally available at prices between $20 and $25. The watch I'm looking at today is the Gianello Dominion.  It's a rectangular dress watch for men that's really made for more formal looks.

Gianello Dominion Silver Watch and Box

Gianello Dominion Watch Dimensions

This little tanker watch is 28mm wide by 35mm tall. My wife thinks it is a bit dainty and too small for jeans and tee shirt wear.  Indeed, the watch is only 8mm thick and would easily fit under a dress shirt cuff. The bracelet is 18mm wide bracelet by the case that tapers just slightly to 17mm.

This Gianello Dominion looks great in a nice restaurant

Gianello Dominion Watch Features

The watch is powered by a Japanese quartz movement, has a stainless steel caseback and alloy case. The bracelet is a comfortable "beads of rice" design that is secured by a foldover clasp with a double push button. For a watch from Burlington, it comes with a slightly nicer embossed (presumably synthetic) leather presentation box.

Gianello Dominion (Silver-Tone) Quartz Watch and Interchangeable Straps

Gianello Watch Pricing

The prices for Gianello watches vary widely. Sometimes I think, "Holy Invicta! These Manufacturers Suggest Retail Prices (MSRPs) are way too high!" For example, the Burlington Price with $19.99 and they would compare this watch set to a $34.00 watch set. That's a great deal and reasonable for a discount store quartz watch. However, the $445 MSRP price on this watch label is in no way realistic for this watch.

Holy Invicta Pricing on this Giannello!

Overall Impressions of the Gianello Dominion Watch

I do like this watch as a dress watch to wear with a long sleeved shirt. It's comfortable, thin, and light weight. It also fits me perfectly. But, my wife is right, this watch is rather dainty and, in day to day life, I'm not that fancy. I'm more of a sports bar or pizza joint kind of guy. I do think this watch is a good deal if you can find it at Burlington. The brand is a fairly rare find. This one has earned a place in my collection for dressier occasions. I have several Gianello watches now and there seems to be one for almost everyone.

Amazon Christmas Deals 2025: Timex Easy Reader

[If you missed this deal for Black Friday and Cyber-Monday, it's still available for at a great discount for the holiday season. I've updated the links appropriately!]

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your time with your family and your feast! You don't have to get up at 3 a.m. for Doorbusters. They are all online with the click of a mouse. This year, Timex has many great deals for Amazon Black Friday week. 

Timex Easy Reader (Amazon Photo)

You can get great deals on their watches at all prices in their range.  For starters, click here to check out the deal on this 38mm Easy Reader (above).  You've missed the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals that sold this watch for 42% off and a price just under $30. But, you are in luck, this Timex Easy Reader is still 39% off for a limited time! At just over $30, this watch is still a deal and it still makes a great stocking stuffer.

Amazon Christmas Deals 2025: Tommy Hilfiger Watches

[This watch is updated with post-Black Friday prices. It looks like Hilfiger kept some price discounts, but they aren't labeled as Black Friday. Who knows how long they'll last?]

If you are looking for great deals on decent, brand name, watches for $150 or less during this holiday gift giving season, check out the watches of Tommy Hilfiger. I love watches from Tommy Hilfiger because the brand provides attractive design, consistent quality, and a high degree of brand acceptance. On Amazon, most Hilfiger watches are usually priced between $80 and $160.  But, for Black Friday and the holidays, I found some great Amazon deals on a couple of Hilfiger watches. 

Hilfiger Casual Watch Deal

The first timepiece that caught my eye was the Tommy Hilfiger Men's Casual 3H Stainless Steel Watch.  

Tommy Hilfiger Men's Casual Stainless Steel Watch

This casual watch has a black stainless steel case and bracelet and a 42mm case diameter.  The watch is designed for 3ATM or 30 meters of water resistance. The dial has a black and white design that is a pleasing blend of minimalist, tactical, precision and casual.  The case and dial are black with white hands for hours, minutes, and seconds. While you missed Black Friday, you can find this great watch for 23% off here on Amazon. The deal isn't labeled Cyber Monday so I'm not sure how long it will last. At just over $100, it's a good deal.

Hilfiger Racing-Inspired Watch Deal

The next watch deal that caught my attention was the deal on this racing-inspired sports watch.  It's Model 17920282 and it has a stainless steel case with day, date, and 24-hour time represented on subdials.  The price for Black Friday was 50% off.  But, now, the watch is still 35% off. You can find this sporty Hilfiger watch here. 

Tommy Hilfiger Men's Stainless Steel Racing-Inspired Watch (Model 1792082)

At just over $110, this watch is still a great deal. One thing you can count on is that Hilfiger watches offer a great value proposition that makes them a watch worth watching.

Amazon Christmas Deals 2025: Tissot Watches

[This post has been updated for Christmas 2025.]

The renowned Swiss watch maker Tissot has some great Black Friday Week watch deals on Amazon for 2025. 

Tissot Classic Dream Automatic Black Friday Deal

I'm duty bound to let you know that the Tissot Men's Classic Dream Automatic is 19% off for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas 2025 to come in at a price below $450! It uses a Swissmatic Movement and a 72 hour power reserve. It's also in my favorite silver-on-silver color scheme. It's a Swiss watch bargain!

Tissot Classic Dream Automatic (Amazon Photo)

The watch is 42mm in diameter and 11.53mm thick. It has a date complication at 3 o'clock and an exhibition case so you can see the rotor and mechanism. If you are intrigued, you can check this great watch out here on Amazon.

Tissot Tradition Automatic Black Friday Deal

Another beautiful dress watch from Tissot with a great Black Friday Week Deal is the Tissot Tradition Stainless Steel Automatic. It has a 1950s inspired case design and small seconds hand.

Tissot Tradition Stainless Steel Automatic (Amazon Photo)

This one has a strong, masculine design, an ETA movement, the additional visual interest of a textured dial, and a small seconds subdial. At 40mm in diameter and 11.16mm thick, the watch is also large enough to be visible and present on the wrist.

For Black Friday Week on Amazon, the Tissot Tradition was 51% off. Now, for the 2025 holiday season, the price remains discounted by 49%. That still brings the price down to just under $425. That's an excellent price for a Swiss Made automatic watch. Unfortunately, these watches sold out fast and are now out of stock!

For more Amazon Christmas Deals in 2025, click here. You'll see all my Christmas bargains for 2025!