10 Great Skeleton Watches Under $1,000 to Add to Your Collection

What is a skeletonized dial watch? Well, it’s a watch where you can see the inner workings of the movement on on the dial of the watch. And skeletonized dial watches have become incredibly popular in recent years because… well, they’re just cool! But often we see skeletonized watches with exorbitant prices. Yes, a skeletonized Royal Oak or a Richard Mille is nice, but most of us can’t afford one. Luckily, there are plenty of high quality skeletonized watches at much lower prices. In this article, I take a look at 10 of my favorite skeletonized watches on the market, all under $1,000.

Depancel Pista GT

Price: $895 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 42mm; Thickness:10.5mm; Lug-to-Lug: 46.5mm; Water Resistance: 50m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Sapphire.

If you are looking for a high quality, Swiss made skeletonized watch, for under $1,000, you can’t go wrong with the Depancel Pista GT. I reviewed the Pista earlier in the year, and came away very impressed. Many skeletonized dials have legibility issues. You often can’t distinguish the hands from the dial. This is definitely not the case on the Pista. Depancel has made the main bridge of the skeletonized dial black, which is contrasted by the big, blocky white hands. This means telling time is an easy task. Overall, you get a ton of value with the Depancel Pista GT. It retails for $895 USD.

Bulova Surveyor

Price: $476 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 41mm; Thickness:11.65mm; Lug-to-Lug: 46mm; Water Resistance: 30m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Sapphire.

Bulova has a long history as an American watch brand. They have been making watches since their founding in 1875 in New York City. In 2007, Bulova was bought by the Citizen Group. As a result, most of their watches are actually made in Japan. However, they are all designed here in New York City. And when it comes to an affordable skeleton dial watch, the Surveyor is a worthy choice. The Surveyor is your standard stainless steel sport watch. Think a more affordable version of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual. The only difference is that this watch has a fully skeletonized dial. For just $476 USD, you can’t go wrong with the Bulova Surveyor.

Xeric Invertor II

Price: $750 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 43mm; Thickness:12.5mm; Lug-to-Lug: 46mm; Water Resistance: 30m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Sapphire.

If you’re looking for something a little more “out there” or avant-garde, you should look to Xeric. Xeric creates interesting watches, sometimes with unique complications, at very affordable prices. And the Xeric Invertor II is one of the more interesting timepieces I’ve seen from the brand. Similar to the MB&F M.A.D. 1, the movement has been inverted and the time is told through a rotating disc in the midcase. And you can see the rotor and the movement owhen you look down at the watch while its on your wrist. Clearly, Xeric was inspired by the M.A.D. 1 here, but at $750 USD, I’m not complaining.

D1 Milano Skeleton Bracelet

Price: $745 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 41.5mm; Thickness:12.5mm; Lug-to-Lug: 50mm; Water Resistance: 50m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Sapphire.

D1 Milano is well known for one very unique watch: the Sketch. The Sketch basically is an homage to the iconic Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, except that the whole watch looks like a cartoon. It’s fun, and even I own one. But there is more to D1 Milano’s catalog. The Skeleton Bracelet also has a lot of influences from the Royal Oak. But that doesn’t make it a bad watch. It’s sleek, and the skeletonized dial offers a little bit of luxury at a fraction of the cost of a openworked Royal Oak. It retails for $745 USD.

Venezianico Nereid Ultraleggero 42

Price: $650 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 42mm; Thickness:13.15mm; Lug-to-Lug: 49mm; Water Resistance: 200m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Sapphire.

A diver with a skeletonized dial? It might not be the most legible watch, but how many of us actually dive with our dive watches? But joking aside, dive watches are one of the most popular type of watches on the market. So it makes sense that someone would release an openworked diver. And that’s exactly what Venezianico did with the Nereid Ultraleggero. Available in a vast array of colors, you can choose the color of the main bridge of the dial, including green or blue. It’s a fun take on a diver, and will only cost you around $650 USD (depending on the model).

Eoniq Signature Braemar

Price: $975 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 38.5mm; Thickness:8.5mm; Lug-to-Lug: 46mm; Water Resistance: 30m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Sapphire.

If you are looking for an elegantly understated watch with a skeletonized dial (I know, that sounds like an oxymoron), then take a look at the Eoniq Signature Braemar. The Braemar is as close to a dress watch as you can get with an openworked dial. What I like about the watch is how open the dial actually is. You can see all the bridges, as well as completely through the movement. It is incredibly well done and especially impressive given the fact the watch runs on Eoniq’s own in-house movement. It is good to see a brand based out of Hong Kong manufacturing their own movement. You can pick up an Eoniq Signature Braemar for $975 USD.

Rotary Skeleton Automatic

Price: $506 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 40mm; Thickness:11.65mm; Lug-to-Lug: 48mm; Water Resistance: 100m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Sapphire.

The Rotary Skeleton clearly has some inspiration. It has some Nautilus in it. And perhaps some Royal Oak too. But it also has its own identity. And besides being an attractive looking watch, it has some pretty good specs. It runs on an automatic miyota movement, has 100 hours of power reserve, and is fairly slim at 11.65mm thick. If you are looking for a skeleton dial watch that won’t break the bank, the Rotary Skeleton will set you back $506 USD.

MIDO Commander Gradient

Price: $970 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 40mm; Thickness: 10.84mm; Lug-to-Lug: 43.83mm; Water Resistance: 50m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Sapphire.

A Swiss made automatic watch with skeletonized dial at under $1,000 is hard to come by. But the MIDO Commander Gradient is just that. What makes the Commander Gradient unique is that while the dial is skeletonized, there is a piece of sapphire glass that sits above the movement, creating a semi-transparent view of the watch’s movement. Additionally, unlike most skeletonized dial, you have a full view of the date wheel, as it rotates around the dial. This creates a unique skeletonized watch, unlike anything else on this list. The MIDO Commander Gradient retails for $970 USD.

CIGA Design Series M Magician

Price: $899 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 44-46.2mm; Thickness: 11mm; Lug-to-Lug: N/A; Water Resistance: 30m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Sapphire.

Besides their GPHG award winning Blue Planet, CIGA Design is best known for their affordable, mechanical skeletonized dial watches. And while the brand’s skeletonized offerings are available at a wind range of prices, the Series M Magician is both under $1,000 and one of my favorite models. And what makes the watch so cool isn’t even the skeletonized dial (which is cool), but the case construction. The watch comes with an inner container containing the movement and time, which you can place in 1 of 3 different outer cases (a circular case, tonneau case, and square case). Basically, with the Series M Magician you are getting three watches in one. Three skeletonized watches for just $899 USD. That seems like a good deal to me.

Spinnaker Piccard Skeleton

Price: $550 USD; Material: Stainless Steel; Diameter: 45mm; Thickness: 21mm; Lug-to-Lug: 52mm; Water Resistance: 550m; Movement: Automatic; Crystal: Super Domed Sapphire.

A skeletonized diver with 550 meters of water resistance?! Well, that’s exactly what you get with the Spinnaker Piccard Skeleton. This watch is a true diver. From the bubble sapphire crystal to some ultra-bright lume, if you need a stylish skeletonized dial watch to explore the depths of the ocean, this is the watch to do it with. It retails for a very affordable $550 USD.

Watch Guide 3, Watch GuidesCraig Kargerupdated-article-formatComment