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.
 

Watch Wearing Wednesday: George Retro 70s Watch

Today's watch is from George.  Yes, the Walmart brand George.  It's just an inexpensive watch that only cost $10.98, but I think it captures the 1970s vintage look of the watch everyone's dad owned back in the day.

A George Watch from Walmart

I did a little sleuthing on the internet about this watch and uncovered a few interesting details. First, I thought George brand was originated by George Foreman.  I was wrong.  George brand originates from British fashion designer George Davies.  He had a deal with the British retailer Asda and sold the brand to Walmart when Walmart bought Asda in the UK.

Using the factory service instructions from the box and discovered that the watch was made by E. Gluck Corporation (EGC).  E. Gluck is no stranger to making watches. The company owns Armitron and Torgoen. More importantly, EGC makes many, many, private label watches for retailers around the world. The company definitely knows about making watches.

A George Watch from Walmart with Green Dial

There's no doubt that $10.98 is an incredibly low price.  Some corners definitely have to be cut to bring this watch to consumers at this price point.  Compared to more expensive watches, the bracelet feels lightweight and hollow and the crystal seems to be made of some kind of plastic.  Still, I think this is a really good looking watch, a great way to fight inflation, and it is fun to wear.  It's another example of retro style in low cost timepieces.

Wristwatch Review: Brigada Men's Business Casual Quartz Wrist Watch

This review is for a Brigada Business Casual Quartz Wrist Watch.  It's a very inexpensive watch that offered some interesting looking features. With a bronze case, a leather band, and a dial that looked like a camouflage pattern, I thought it would be an interesting watch to check out.  I've been watching the Brigada Brand for awhile and they are definitely an up and coming source of inexpensive watches.

The Dial of my Brigada watch.

Brigada Watch Prices

I now own two Brigada brand watches. The first watch was a conventional dress watch that was a very good value for about $30 in 2023 and this second Brigada watch is a more casual watch that I purchased for roughly $16 in 2024.  Both watches have to be viewed as very inexpensive watches that are really competing with no-name quartz watches on the shelves of stores like Walmart.  This watch arrived in a bundle of bubble wrap instead of a traditional box and I found that a little off-putting.

Brigada Watch Dimensions

This watch was a little lighter and thinner than I had expected. The case was 40 mm in diameter and just 7mm thick.  The band was 20mm wide at the lugs.  Unfortunately, the small size rendered watch features that I thought would be manly and rugged as just a bit dainty.

Brigada Watch Features

The watch has individually placed hour markers and batons.  The bezel is non-rotating.  The crown has a Brigada logo and the caseback is quite attractively etched.  The watch has a Japanese quartz movement and 100-feet of water resistance.

The Brigada Caseback Design

The watch has a brushed aged bronze look that looks a little cheap.  (It's a $16 watch.)  The strap is made of comfortable leather and has a generous length and width.

Detail on the Crown of a Brigada Men's Business Casual Watch

From this perspective (below), you can see how thin and light this watch is.  In a dress watch, the thin nature of this watch would be an asset. However, in a watch with a diver-style bezel, it seems too thin to be credible as a man's watch.

The thin 7mm case of this Brigada Watch

Finally, the strap is off a nice width and comfort level, but for me the buckle design is strange and would just look more at home on a woman's watch.

The wide buckle design on the strap of the Brigada watch

OVERALL WATCH REVIEW

This Brigada watch brings together many desirable features at a very low price point. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work for my personal style and old school sensibilities about traditional masculinity.  I need to dig out my Brigada dress watch and give that a review.  It brings everything you need for a dress watch together very nicely. It may not have worked for me, but it does demonstrate the many features that can be brought together on a low cost watch.  If it fits your sense of style, go for it.

[Unfortunately as of 2025, this brand seems to have disappeared from Amazon.]