Watches A to Z: Caravelle

Caravelle is a watch brand introduced by Bulova back in 1962.  It's purpose was to offer quality Bulova-designed timepieces with jeweled movements at lower, more accessible, price points. This is a good thing because I'm a big fan of more accessible price points.    

A Vintage Manual Wind Caravelle Watch - Joe Haupt from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Today, the Caravelle website says that Caravelle watches are inspired by vintage designs. This is also a good thing because I like vintage designs. It's also a sign that Caravelle watches might be a little more interesting than usual to watch collectors. For a dose of vintage and classic, I like this Caravelle by Bulova Open Aperture Automatic on Amazon.

Caravelle Open Aperture Automatic

A quick look at the men's Caravelle section of the Bulova website reveals plenty of interesting watches.  On Amazon, I found this Caravelle retro quartz watch and it's a beauty.

Caravelle Retro Quartz Watch (Amazon.photo)

Caravelle Watches in my Collection

One of the first watches I added to my collection was a Caravelle stainless steel diver-style watch.  It was one of the coolest watches. Sears stores used to have an abundant supply of Caravelle watches. Unfortunately, the rubber strap deteriorated and I was unable to find a nice replacement strap.  If I still have this watch, I may have to restart my search for a replacement strap.

Caravelle by Bulova Diver Style Watch

Recently, I've added a new Caravelle watch to my collection.  This one has a cool blacked-out look with green batons for marking the hours.  This watch is also a good value proposition with a unique look at a low price point.  You can find this Caravelle by Bulova Sport Quartz (Model 45B155) on Amazon.

A New Caravelle Watch

In this era of rampant inflation, Caravelle is a brand that you can use to stretch your watch buying budget and add interesting watches from a storied watch company.

Seven Great Men's Watches for Less Than $30

Bargain Watches that Make Great Stocking Stuffers

Many watches deliver excellent value for very low prices. These inexpensive watches are the perfect buy for Christmas stocking stuffers, office party gift exchanges, or birthday bonus gifts.

[This is reprinted from my Yahoo Contributors Network articles.  However, most of the watches mentioned are still great deals and are still less than $30.]

While most watch enthusiasts focus on expensive, luxury, watch brands, many low end watches offer high end features and deliver excellent value for very low prices. At low price points, watches really make the perfect Christmas stocking stuffers, office party gift exchange, or birthday bonus gifts. Here are seven really nifty watches that cost less than thirty dollars.

1. Casio Men's Digital Watch (W-201). Shown here on Amazon the Casio W201 is a capable little watch that offers all the expected digital functions in a retro 80's style package. The W-201 provides the time, date, dual time, 12/24-hour time display, stop watch with split times, an LED light for night, and even 50-meter water resistance. When people think of a digital watch, they probably envision this exact model. While this watch is a rather small band, the W-201 remains the perfect nostalgia watch gift for older nerds and geeks. [Amazingly, as of August 2025, the watch still costs less than $30!]

Casio W-201 on Amazon

2. Timex Expedition (Model T18581). The Timex Expedition watch series is the backbone of the Timex watch line. The watches are available in a variety of forms from low end to high end. At every price point, the Timex delivers good value. If you are looking to stay under $30, check out the camper Timex Expedition. This classic military-style watch has a black face and black strap that will satisfy any low budget commando.

Timex Expedition

[As of August 2025, this Timex is still available on Amazon.com and is regularly available at sale prices. If you need a bang around field watch, you can find the Timex Camper here on Amazon.] 

3. Mossimo Digital Watch. Mossimo is a designer and design firm with close ties to Target. Mossimo has many innovative watch designs and they all retail for about $20 at your local Target store. I particularly like the Mossimo Digital Watch. However, you can find many Mossimo Watches at Target.

Mossimo Digital Watch

4. Casio Forester. If you are ready for adventure, but don't have a big budget, check out the analog Casio Forester (reviewed here). It's a rugged, well protected, watch with an internal backlight and a case that fits into most camouflage schemes.

A Casio Forester

[As of August 2025, the Casio Forester is still available on Amazon.com for less than $30. If you are ready to set out into the deep woods, you can find the Casio Forester here on Amazon.] 

5. Casio Telememo 30 World Time Ana-Digital Watch. If your adventures are more jet set than jungle, check out the amazing Casio WorldTime Ana-digital watch. It has a data bank for storing phone numbers and can display multiple timezones. Plus, it has a ten year battery and very cool retro-futurist styling for a low budget timepiece. [As of 2024, this watch cost a little more than $30, but it was still inexpensive on Amazon.com.]

Casio Telememo

6. Precision by Gruen Diver Style Watch. Kohl's offers a series of "Precision by Gruen" watches for less than $30. I particularly like the Diver-style watch with a rotating bezel. If you swap the cheap velcro band for an inexpensive rubber watch band like I did, this watch will look like a million dollars. It offers a great diver-style look in a bang-around watch. However, I wouldn't go in the water with it.

Precision by Gruen

7. Casio HD-Series Men's Analog Watch. The Casio HD-Series watch presents a rich, golden, champagne-colored, face for shoppers on a beer or soda budget. Once upon a time, you could find this watch for less than $20 at Walmart, the Casio HD-series analog watch offers an amazing 10-year battery, a date window, luminescent hands and markers, and an endlessly fascinating face.[Update 2025:  Available here on Amazon, the Casio HD-Series watch is still a long lasting watch and still costs less than $30.]

A Casio HD Series Watch

These watches certainly show that there are a lot of cheap watches that look great and offer cool features. Each of these bargain watches would fit into a tight gift-giving budget.

[This article was updated with new photos and links in 2024 and again in 2025.]

Wristwatch Review: Mens Legion Analog Watch

A recent visit to Belk, one of the South's greatest department store chains, turned me on to Legion brand watches.  Legion watches are attractive house brand watch that sell for modest prices.  This review covers the first of three that I bought.

[Please note:  This review covers the Legion brand of watches that are a house brand at Belk department stores in the Southeastern United States.  I do not believe that these Legion watches are in any way related to the Legion Watches currently making a splash on the web at www.legionwatches.com.  I don't know if the Legion watches on the web are any good.]

Design.  My first, Legion watch has an attractive silver-on-silver design that looks great. The dial is silver, the bezel is silver, the case is silver, and the bracelet is silver.  Of course, when designing a silver-motif watch, it's all about contrasting tone and texture. The dial, case, and bracelet have a flat brushed metal appearance while the bezel, numbers, and Legion logo have shiny, high gloss, look.  The bezel has the popular ship's porthole look and the bezel has indents to look like it is screwed down into the case of the watch.

Construction.  As a fashion watch, this Legion watch is not rated for water resistance or shock.   For the record, of course, we are speaking of silver in color--not of the metal actually used in making the watch.  The watch has a stainless steel case back and a base metal for everything else.  However, the watch appears to be fairly solid in construction.

Dimensions.  This Legion watch is well proportioned with a dial large enough to be manly and on trend, but small enough to be tasteful and appropriate to all ages.  The bracelet is comfortably wide and adjustable via a pin in the clasp.  Initially, the watch hung very loose on my rather large wrists.  By moving two adjustments smaller on the bracelet, it fit better.

Drawbacks.   Many of the Legion watches at my local Belk had dead batteries.  Make sure that the watch you intend to purchase actually works.

Value.  Legion watches are marked at $40 to $55, but can be had on sale for considerably less.  By taking advantage of a sale and register coupon, this watch was about $23.  I'd say this watch is a solid $30 value and compares well to other commodity quartz watches like Structure, Precision by Gruen, and Folio.  Overall, I like this watch and believe it to be a good value.