Ten Dollar Tuesday: The Kakabi Minimalist Men's Watch

One glaringly obvious truth in the watch world is that China can produce a perfectly good wristwatch.  If you aren't trying to make a socio-economic statement or support old world craftsmen, an inexpensive watch that looks good and tells time is sufficient for most people. The Kakabi Minimalist dress watch for men may be a good choice for the basic time-telling mission and it fits within our $10 watch pricing criteria.

Kakabi Minimalist Watch (Amazon Photo)

In the looks department this watch competes well with the Timex Easy Reader and Casio Men's Standard Watches. The watch has a generously-sized 40mm diameter case, easy to read numerals, 304-grade stainless steel case, and a Japanese quartz movement. While some purchasers, aren't happy with the longevity of this watch, the Kakabi gets 4.4 stars overall out of 205 ratings. If you'd like to purchase a watch like this one, you can find it here using my Amazon affiliate link.

Ten Dollar Tuesday: Nuovo Men's Classic Quartz Watch

If you are looking for a classic watch look in an inexpensive package, check out the Nuovo Men's Classic Quartz watch. It's a quartz watch with a 41mm dial that is 10mm thick. 

Nuovo Classic 41mm Quartz Watch

The watch has a familiar field watch dial layout. While the advertising copy mentions stainless, the case and bracelet are both alloy metals. Nuovo claims that this watch is water resistant to 30 meters. Several dial color combinations are available. There is another dial arrangement and one with a 50% off special. But, those are for another post.  If you'd like to check this watch out on Amazon, use my affiliate link and see the Nuovo Classic here.

Ten Dollar Tuesday: EOJOMIN Gediyar Men's Large Big Face Watch

Today's $10 watch is sold on Amazon by EOJOMIN. It's a Gediyar-branded "Men's Large Big Face Wrist Watch Waterproof Silicone Band Watch for Men Quartz Analog,Easy Read Male Dress Date Luminous Sport Watch Elegant Gift." It comes straight out of China's Guangdong Province and its stuffed with keywords, a familiar dial pattern, and a quartz movement. All for well under $10.

EOJOMIN Gediyar Men's Large Big Face Watch (Amazon Photo)

This one is a bit of a challenge to my buying sensibilities because the large numerals on the dial 02, 03, 04 are an obvious homage to Diesel watches that aren't that old. I actually do want to get a classic Diesel watch with those iconic big numbers someday.

Gediyar Big Face Specifications (Amazon Materials)

Despite the big face name, this Gediyar watch is practically sized at 45mm in diameter with a normal 11mm case thickness. The silicone strap is also generously sized at 22mm wide and 25 centimeters long. User reviews show the watch marked as having a stainless steel caseback and the case is noted in the description as being a steel alloy case. The watch comes in a variety of color combinations and is a great looking timepiece for a very low price. If you'd like to check it out, bang it here to visit this watch via my Amazon affiliate program link.

Wristwatch Review: Nibosi Men's Black Stainless Steel Quartz Watch

I recently came across a Nibosi Men's Stainless Steel Quartz Watch in black for only $11.99 on Amazon. It was an incredible deal. 

Nibosi Black Quartz Watch

This is my third Nibosi watch, but in terms of build quality, it may be my best one.

Nibosi Watch Features

This Nibosi watch is minimalist in terms of features. It's a simple straight forward design with a quartz movement. This watch is impressive in terms of style, fit, finish, and price. 

For a very inexpensive watch, the Nibosi watch was well packaged

The watch has all stainless steel construction and a good quality deployant clasp.

The Deployant Clasp of the Nibosi Black Stainless Steel Watch

Nibosi Watch Style

This watch is visually striking with a black case, bracelet, and dial contrasted by gold tone hands and markers. While Nibosi makes plenty of homage watches, this one seems to be created in a style of their own that is well within mainstream watch expectations. Sometimes, I like the independence of an affordable watch that isn't an homage to a classic.

Nibosi Black Stainless Steel Quartz Watch

The stainless steel bracelet makes great use of glassy black outer links and flat black interior links. This alternating use of color and text provides subtle visual interest. 

The contrast between out and inner link finishes is subtle

In day-to-day wear, I find that the gold-tone hands and markers really catch the light and reflect well in low light or fading light conditions.

Nibosi Watch Construction

This Nibosi watch has a stainless steel caseback, bracelet, and case. It also has a flat mineral glass crystal. The watch has 100 feet (30-meters) of water resistance. It's not for swimming, showering, or immersion, but it should be resistant to incidental splashes and rain.

Nibosi Stainless Steel Caseback

I didn't see any obvious cost cutting in this watch. It seems very competitive with low cost watches found in stores. I'd say that build quality far exceeds similarly priced watches from brands like George. The watch doesn't have any sharp edges or anything that would dig into the wrists. It's comfortable for all day wear.

Nibosi Watch Dimensions

For me, this Nibosi watch is perfectly proportioned. The case is about 42mm in diameter and 9.65mm thick. The bracelet is about 21mm wide and about 220mm long. 

Overall Impressions of the Nibosi Black Quartz Watch

This watch won't impress people with its pedigree, but it is a nicely priced watch with great features and style for the price. It's another watch that pressures Timex and Casio to bring us nicer watches at lower prices. I like this watch quite a bit. As an IT worker, the economy has kicked me around a bit lately. An incredible watch bargain is a nice way to kick back.

Where to Buy the Nibosi Black Watch

You can get a this watch in black with gold accent tones here via my affiliate link to Amazon.

Ten Dollar Tuesday: Casotime Tactical Military Watch for Men

If you've got $10 and an appetite for a military-style watch, your money can go far! The Casotime Tactical Military Watch is currently discounted by 60% on Amazon to come in at an amazingly low price that's well below $10. The watch offers 30-meter water resistance, a 40mm diameter dial, and a battery good for 1+ years.

Casotime Tactical Military Watch for Men (Amazon Photo)

The strap is of a generous size and the watch looks like a competitor to entry-level Timex Expedition watches. But, there may be drawbacks with a watch this cheap. For example, the 1-year battery life and "fire-and-forget" operation makes me wonder if it is hard to change a battery. You can check this low-priced Casotime watch out here via my affiliate link.

Ten Dollar Tuesday Watch: EAJOMIN Gediyar G713 Sport Watch

 As we deal with a challenging economy, it can be fun to grab a good looking watch from time to time. This EAJOMIN Gediyar G713 watch recently caught my eye. I'm just a sucker for silver-on-silver watch case and dial combinations. This watch regularly sells for less than $10 and is currently 11% off on top of that to make for a low, low, price. It's a pretty tempting price.

EAJOMIN Gediyar G713 Sport watch (Amazon Photo)

The watch is 43mm in diameter and 9.5mm thick. It comes with a long silicone strap that is 25 centimeters long. That allows this watch to accommodate wrist diameter of up to 9.85-inches. The watch is advertised as waterproof for daily life. (I take that to mean a few splashes or light rain capable.)

The main drawback that I see to this timepiece include the unknown metal quality. There is a review that indicate the wearer got a rash from the clasp to this watch. I'll have to add this drawback to my TGIF post on The Drawbacks of Cheap Watches.

Still, it's a great look, a great size, and an incredibly low price. If you want to test your resistance to temptation, check this EAJOMIN Gediyar watch out here via my affiliate link.

Ten Dollar Tuesday Watch: LN Lenqin Diver-Style Watch

The US economy is really rough these days. Lay offs stretch across the land and young people have trouble landing entry-level jobs due to foreign competition and the rise of AI. When young people are living 4-people to a 2 bedroom apartment, it makes luxury watches seem like a distant dream. However, there are plenty of inexpensive watches that can give you great watch looks on a low budget. One watch company that offers low cost watches in China's LN Lenqin. They currently have a diver-style watch for only $10.  It's normally a $20 watch and, as of February 16, 2025, it is 50% off. It's a nice looking Rolex Submariner homage at a very affordable price.

LN Lenqin Diver-Style Quartz Watch

There is a chance that this watch might be inspired by a classic dive watch. It has the dive watch look. The watch has a quartz movement, a date window, a silicone strap, and a mineral glass crystal. There are some complaints with the metal bracelets for this watch, but reviewers seem satisfied with the silicone strap. Water resistance is highly suspect with much of the Amazon copy cautioning against fully immersing the watch. Nevertheless, this watch is faithful to the classic dive watches of our dreams. It comes in several color and case variations. It is available with a date cyclops bubble to mimic the Rolex Submariner look. Overall, it gets 4.1 stars on Amazon. To check it out, visit it here via my Amazon affiliate link.
 

Wristwatch Review: Gosasa SKMEI Men's Quartz Chronograph Watch

This is a review of a Gosasa SKMEI quartz chronograph watch that I purchased off of Amazon for less than $10. In fact, it was on the Amazon Haul portion of the site with a clearance price of only $5.  But, don't le the low price fool you. This watch is surprisingly capable. The established watch brands should be quaking in their boots and thank their lucky stars that this watch was listed with the laughable name of "Gosasa Men's Elegant Quartz Watches Waterproof Big Face Date Analog Watch Dainty Business Dress Watches for Men Stainless Steel/Silicone Strap Gifts for Men." Few western men want a "dainty" watch.

Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph Watch

I'm not sure if Gosasa is a brand name or the Amazon store name. Chinese watch manufacturing can be pretty opaque. I've seen watches being sold with the SKMEI label in many outlets.

Gosasa Watch Features

The most surprising thing about the Gosasa Quartz Chronograph is that it actually has features. In fact, it has functional subdials that provide a 1/10 of a second timer at 12 o'clock, a second timer at 6 o'clock, and a minute timer at 9 o'clock. The watch also has the date in a window at 3 o'clock.

The subdials all work, but the 1/10 of a second time stops after 2 to 3 minutes. I think this may be intentional. Perhaps the designers think that after the first 3 minutes, wearers are no longer interested in 1/10 of a second times? This may be an intentional design as the product video shows the 1/10 of a second subdial stocking after just a couple of minutes. It does save some wear and tear on the watch.

This watch has traditional chronograph markings around the bezel. However, these are just for style since the large second hand does not work like a traditional stop watch. This isn't a strike against the watch design. Many watch manufacturers provide chronograph markings without chronometer functionality.

Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph

Gosasa Watch Style

This watch has traditional chronograph styling and comes is sometimes offered in a wide variety of colors. As of this writing, the only color being offered is a rose gold-tone case with blue dial and bezel. In terms of style, this watch hits the mark and sticks the landing it is a great looking watch.

Gosasa Watch Construction

The Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph looks like a pretty solid watch. The Amazon listing says that this watch has a zinc alloy case and a stainless steel caseback. It also has a mineral-reinforced glass crystal that is gently domed.

Gosasa SKMEI Men's Quartz Chronograph Caseback

If there is an area of cost cutting, it might be the bezel. It is made of a hard black plastic that actually looks very good. The Amazon copy claims that the watch is water resistant to 30 meters. The watch comes with a silicone strap, but it is also sometimes offered with a stainless steel bracelet. Overall, this watch is built at a quality level and materials level that is similar to other watches that cost less than $50.

Gosasa Watch Dimensions

This Gosasa chronograph is a fairly big watch and it has some heft. It feels substantial. It has a 45mm diameter case. It's 46mm in diameter if you include the crown. The case is a bit thick at 15mm.  Lug-to-lug, I measure 47mm. This watch isn't dainty. 

Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph Profile

The black silicone strap is 18mm wide at the lug and tapers to about 16mm at the clasp.  The strap is generously long and fit my 7 3/4-inch wrist perfectly and doesn't have too much overhang. 

Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph Silicone Strap

The strap curves to conform to the round case, but it should be easy to replace since it is a conventional silicone strap.

Overall Impressions of the Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph

The Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph was a great buy. It looks good, seems solidly constructed, and works well. With this watch, I do miss being connected to a historic brand with an origin story and a legacy. Gosasa SKMEI is a fairly unknown entity to western watch purchasers. However, the Amazon store for this inexpensive fashion brand shows quite a few daring designs and they are all affordably priced. If I want to entertain myself with a watch purchase that doesn't break the bank, I'll look to Gosasa and SKMEI again. 

Where to Buy the Gosasa SKMEI Chronograph Watch

You can get a rose gold tone and blue version of this watch here via my affiliate link to Amazon.

Sharp Watch Shout Out: NUOVO Men's Quartz Watch

Every once in awhile, a cheap watch with an interesting design will catch my eye. Today's sharp watch shout out goes to a brand I haven't heard of and a watch I've never handled, but it looks pretty cool. It's a Nuovo Men's Quartz Watch with Leather Strap.  That's the boring description from a Chinese company far, far, away. I'd rather call it the Crazy Green Thing Watch. Look at this watch in Kermit the Frog green. That dial design is eye-catching, funky, and kind of cool.

Nuovo Men's Quartz Watch (Amazon Photo)

On Amazon, this timepiece is priced at less than $20 so buying it isn't that big of a risk. It averages 4.1 stars out of over 250 reviews. But, the negative reviews have mentioned short initial battery life and rather flimsy straps. Others have mentioned that it is a big dial watch measuring nearly 2-inches (50mm) in case diameter. The seller calls this watch light brown. I don't see that as the dominant color. If you'd like to see this big great watch and more reviews by purchasers, it is available here on Amazon. This kind of watch is about fun, whimsy, and interesting dial design. It might be worth $20 for fun.

Sharp Watch Shout Out: BERNY Automatic Diving Watch

Sometimes beauty and value come together in a sharp looking watch.  This BERNY Automatic Diving watch recently caught my eye and looks like the perfect combination. The watch has a Miyota 8215 movement, an internal rotating inner bezel for timing, and 200 meters of water resistance. The bright, modern, and innovative look of this watch earn it a sharp watch shout out! The watch comes in black, blue, or green and has a silicone strap.

BERNY Automatic Diving Watch

The specifications on this watch are worth looking at and you can find this BERNY watch here on Amazon.

BERNY is a Chinese company established in 1995 and is a respected brand in China. The watch gets 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon reviews with some buyers being concerned about durability. The Miyota 8215 movement is sometimes criticized for being noisy when winding at speed. Still, this is a great looking watch and might be worth taking a chance on.

TGIF: Death of An SKMEI Military-Style Watch

TGIF.  It's been a long week.  This week, I had to declare one of my watches dead. It died on the table. Once upon a time, it was one of my favorite cheap watches.  It was my OlaOficina SKMEI Military-Style watch.  

The SKMEI Military-Style Watch

Why God? Why? I had to declare this watch dead because I cannot get the watch back off to replace the battery.  I have tried and tried.  For two weeks, I have tried.  Unfortunately, the case back removal tools that I have cannot get the purchase needed to remove this caseback.  I think the case indents are just a little shallow for the tool's teeth to get a good grip.

The hard to remove caseback of my SKMEI watch

Fortunately, this watch was very inexpensive.  Amazingly, back in 2017, it cost less than $10.  Unfortunately, I can't find the same watch on Amazon now.  However, I'd try SKMEI watches again, they have lots of interesting watches available at the SKMEI Amazon store. In the meantime, I'll re-use the strap on another suitable watch.  It's the circle of life or time or something.

My departed OlaOficina SKMEI watch

Watch Review: Cufuo SKMEI Men's Quartz Dress Watch with Brown Leather Strap

One of the watches in my current rotation is a cheap Chinese watch, but you'd never know it from a casual glance.  It's a nice looking dress watch that was sold by Cufuo on Amazon under the brand SKMEI and cost me less than $15.  I have also seen this watch sold under LYMFHCH.  The Amazon advertisement listed the watch with the short and elegant moniker - "Mens Leather Band Quartz Watch, Men's Analog Business Working Roman Numeral Casual Waterproof Watches with Calendar Date Daily Dress Fashion Wristwatch - Brown."  Sheesh!

WATCH DESIGN FEATURES

The watch has some surprising features at this price point.  The dial is marked with Roman numerals on the hour, hashmarks on the minute, a small date window at 3 o'clock, and an elegant, but basic, guilloché pattern on the dial.  The genuine leather strap offers a generous length that I have found very comfortable from the first wearing.  The dial has a bright white face, but it easily takes on the tone of your surroundings.

WATCH DIMENSIONS

This is not a huge watch. The case diameter is 38 millimeters and the watch is 10 mm thick.  The strap is 20 mm wide.

WATCH CONSTRUCTION AND QUALITY

This is one of the best cheap Chinese watches in my collection.  But, it is not perfect.  When I run my finger over the zinc alloy case, there is a little burr on the front that I can feel.  However, I cannot see it with my eyes.  It's the only flaw that I can find.  Otherwise, this watch would be right in there with other commodity quartz watches or even basic Timex or Armitron watches.

Another issue with this watch is that when you click on it directly on Amazon, you see the watch as I have pictured it.  However, when you order it, a brown watch of a completely different model is shown in the picture on the order page.  This makes for a bit of a panic until the watch arrives.  The seller really needs to clean the listing up so that the right picture is shown consistently.

OVERALL

This is a great watch for under $15.  If you are on a budget and want a decent looking dress watch, this might be one to take a chance on.  I like it.

[Update July 2025, you can find the SKMEI 9058 here on Amazon.]

Wristwatch Review: SKMEI Military-style Watch

I recently ordered a new Ola Oficina  SKMEI Men's Analog Luminous Hands Day and Date Black Watch With Black Leather Strap (SK9113A) from Amazon.  Just two days after I placed my order, this box arrived on my doorstep.  If you are accustomed to a 3 week wait for an inexpensive watch to arrive from China, the quick turnaround time was a pleasant surprise.

Unboxing the Ola Oficina SKMEI Men's Military-style Watch

Unboxing the SKMEI Military-Style Watch

I had a small unboxing ceremony.  To find a smaller cardboard watch box and a bit of plastic bubble cushioning material inside.  There was plenty of room in the Amazon box for the watch to slide around.  But, there really wasn't anything to damage the watch which was snug in a cute little cardboard box.  For less than $10, I didn't expect to find a fancy watch tin.  But, I thought Ola Oficina did a good job in creating very polished and presentable cardboard packing.

SKMEI Watch Design

While this watch has a very utilitarian name, I prefer to think of it as a SKMEI Military-style watch.  The timepiece is basically inspired by a classic military camp-watch inspired design.  It has a compass-like dial with minutes marked in 5-minute intervals and inner rings with 12 and 24-hour time markings.  The watch has a fairly readable panoramic date window at the 3-o'clock position.

SKMEI Watch Dimensions

This SKMEI watch has a 43 mm diameter case, a 13 mm thick case, and a 22 mm wide genuine leather strap.  While the watch seems perfectly dimensions, the watch strap is just a little short for my approximately 8-inch circumference wrist.  It barely fit with the buckle grabbing the very last hole on the strap.

Surprisingly, the SKMEI watch strap and watch seem close to the size of one of my favorite Nautica  watch and strap combinations.  However, the leather strap of the SKEI just doesn't stretch as much as the slightly longer plastic or resin strap of the Nautica.

SKMEI Watch Construction

To reach a less than $10, Ola Oficina had to make some hard decisions about materials and construction.  However, this watch offers an alloy case, a plastic bezel, and an acrylic crystal. The manufacturer even claims that the watch is water resistant to 50 meters.  Like many low cost watches, there is minimal lume on the watch hands, but none on other markings.  The SR626SW battery is a commonly available watch battery that should pose no challenge to change.  The leather strap is genuine and thick.  Some Amazon reviewers thought it was stiff, but I found it short, but easy enough to work with and soft.  I found that the acrylic crystal had a slight tendency to pick up fingerprint smudges that were easily wiped off with a shirt tail.

Overall, I'm pleased by my purchase.  For $10 or less, I had very low expectations.  However, I found this watch to be similar to the commodity quartz watches that you'll find in many department stores.  In my opinion, it is a little bit nicer than the no-name watches that you'll see at Walmart or Target.  If you are looking for cheap bang around watch, you might give SKMEI a try, they have a ton of different models available from a variety of Amazon sellers.

New Watch Brands: Brigada Watches

I recently ran across another interesting watch brand on Amazon.  It's a Chinese brand called Brigada.  While some of the Amazon ad text says Brigada Swiss Brand, my research shows that they come from Shenzen, China.

East Gate in Shenzen, China.

Nevertheless, Brigada watches seem to be solid, no nonsense, minimalist watches with reliable Japanese movements.  The watch brand earns consistent 4 1/2 star reviews on Amazon.  Most importantly they simply look good and they sell for reasonable prices.  This Brigada Men's Quartz Dress watch on Amazon is a real winner for the price.

Brigada Men's Classic Quartz Dress Watch

Another winner from Brigada is what I call my Brigada Minimalist Watch.  It's a simple design with roman numerals and a large watch face.  It's a well-executed, inexpensive, watch that is just perfect for business casual wear.  You can learn more about it in this Watch Wearing Wednesday post.  

A minimalist watch from Brigada

There are some pros and cons with Brigada watches.  I also recently bought the Brigada business casual watch (shown below) and you can read my review here.  There were some nice features and a few that didn't quite fit my sense of style.  

Brigada Men's Business Casual Quartz Wrist Watch

These kinds of commodity quartz watches give the basic models from companies like Timex and Casio a run for the money.  Plus, with an exotic name like Brigada, people will wonder if you are wearing an exotic foreign brand.  In truth you are, but this exotic brand isn't coming from Europe.

[As of 2025, it looks like Brigada may be gone from Amazon. But, the watches may pop up on other sites.]

Cheap Wristwatch Review: YouYouPifa Best Birthday Watch Dress Watch

Have you ever wondered what the very cheap Chinese watches sold on Amazon are like?  I have.  There are many attractive looking watches on Amazon that are sold at very low prices.  For less than $5, you could get a watch that (on the Internet) looked much like more expensive watches from the exciting startup watch company MVMT.

I've often wondered if companies were selling us cheap watches for hundreds of dollars so I had to check it out.  I placed an order for the YouYouPifa Best Birthday Gift watch.  Would my watch be the equivalent of an MVMT or, at least, a typical Target or Walmart commodity quartz watch.  I had to know!

In just a few weeks, I received a mysterious envelope from China.  The customs declaration on the back listed the contents as a watch x 1 and value as 5.00.  My YouYouPifa watch was here!  Inside the envelope was a wall wrapped watch!

I was a little concerned that the package was very, very, light.  But, inside was one plastic wrapped watch.  For $5, you don't get a presentation box.  The watch was well protected and the watch was keeping accurate time.

The watch looked pretty good on the wrist.  But, the materials left much to be desired.  The watch was very light weight.  The case material was a light weight metal.  I wondered if it was tin.  The strap was also a little short and quite stiff.

 

The YouYouPifa watch looked fairly good on the wrist, but the dial was not quite the dark jet black color that I had expected.

This watch is certainly not a good substitute for a genuine MVMT watch.  I'm quite sure that MVMT watches use higher quality materials. MVMT watches also have nice leather bands, have solid stainless steel cases, and use reliable Japanese MVMT movements. But, it isn't fair to judge a $5 watch against a watch that costs 20 times more.

Overall, the YouYouPifa Best Birthday watch is a working watch that arrived quickly and that has an interesting style.  However, the watch does prove the adage that  you get what you pay for.  It has a very inexpensive strap and lightweight metal case.  I will probably not wear this watch to work.  However, I might check them out again for a watch that is clearly bang-around watch.

The fact that I can order a watch factory direct from China and get it in two or three weeks should worry a lot of watch brands.  How many brands are simply sending a set of watch specifications to China?  What happens when the Chinese develop their own brands and become marketing savvy?  Youyoupifa makes a wide variety of watches and even has automatic models in their line up.  At prices this low, it's easy to experiment on your own.