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Digital watches with electronic movements have not been around nearly as long as their analog, mechanical-powered counterparts, but since their heyday in the 1970s and ‘80s — an era most mechanical-watch purists decry as the “Quartz Crisis” — the category has continued to occupy a respectable niche within the timepiece industry. It has also has produced some models — at a surprisingly wide range of price points — that have become iconic in their own right. Here are our top 10 digital watches in the modern era, starting under $100 and topping out over $130,000.
Price: $34.99, Case Diameter: 35mm, Thickness: 8.5mm, Lug-to-Lug: 38mm, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Quartz, Crystal: Acrylic
Chicago-based Farr and Swit is a lifestyle brand with an emphasis on fun, colorful timepieces that don’t take themselves too seriously. It is known for water-resistant daily drivers with automatic movements and cheerful colorways, but the current standout is the insanely fun Retro Digital Mix Tape, an absolute bargain at $34.99. These watches throw it back to the days of boomboxes and homemade cassettes, with translucent cases in vibrant candy colors, and their "B Sides" versions feature a reverse negative LCD display. Think of it as the love child of Casio’s F91W and a Jolly Rancher. They’re the most fun you can have for the price of a nice lunch out, and the Stranger Things vibes will put a huge smile on your face — but be quick, as they tend to sell out quickly.
Price: $60, Case Diameter: 34mm, Thickness: 9.7mm, Lug-to-Lug: 37mm, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Quartz, Crystal: Acrylic
Armitron is a Long Island-based family business founded in 1975 with a focus on affordable watches, and it has the distinction of being one of the longest-running sponsors of the New York Yankees. The brand's digital models exploded in popularity during the ‘80s, and unlike the contemporary resin cases offered by other brands, the Armitron Griffy is an all-stainless-steel throwback to that time. The case contours are sleek, and the brightly glowing display reminds one of classic ‘80s audio equipment. With a choice of LED display colors and case finishes, the retro-tastic Griffy scratches the same itch as similar pieces by Bulova and Yema, but does it at a frankly flabbergasting $60 retail. Given its build quality and finishing, you’ll be scratching your head as to how this is possible. Well played, Armitron.
Price: $65 and up, Case Diameter: 38mm, Thickness: 12mm, Lug-to-Lug: 43mm, Water Resistance: 100 meters, Movement: Quartz, Crystal: Acrylic
Another fantastic throwback piece, the Freestyle Shark was launched in 1981 as the world’s first watch devoted to surf culture, and the company today honors its roots with fun and funky digital watches in neon-soaked colors. The Shark Classic offers 100 meters of water resistance, strap options including the seatbelt-like Shark Clip or velcro Shark Leash, Night Vision illumination, and Hydro Pushers that let you access functions underwater. The pink-and-teal combo known as “Bimini Palms” nails the Miami Vice aesthetic, but if that’s not your jam, there are dozens of other colorways to choose from.
Price: $70, Case Size: 42mm, Case Height: 14.64mm, Lug Width: 18mm, Crystal: Mineral, Water Resistance: 200 meters, Movement: Quartz Digital
Despite its origins as a watch for sports and fitness, the Timex Ironman is regarded as one of the top “tech geek watches” of the 1980s and ‘90s. Originally called the Timex Triathlon, the first version debuted in 1984, aimed at athletes competing in the Ironman Triathlon; two years later, Timex acquired the rights to the Ironman name and released an upgraded model, which is very similar to the model still sold today and still popular with law enforcement and military officers. The Ironman is water-resistant to 200 meters (twice the rating of the 1980s watch) and features a large LED display for its various functions, including stopwatch with lap and split times, countdown timers, Indiglo night light, daily and weekend alarms, and training-friendly devices for runners, including a 99-lap counter and a 30-lap memory recall. More trivia: like the far more expensive and iconic Omega Speedmaster, the Timex Ironman is one of the few watches certified by NASA for use on space missions.
Price: $150, Case Size: 42.8mm, Case Height: 13.4 mm, Lug to Lug: 48.9mm, Crystal: Mineral, Water Resistance: 200 meters, Movement: Solar Quartz Digital
You knew there would be at least one G-Shock on this list, right? In the service of keeping it diverse, we’re featuring only the iconic DW5600, the granddaddy of all G-Shocks, whose rectangular-cased, digital-display design has been a mainstay since 1983. (If you want to see more G-Shocks, digital and analog, click here.) This watch’s black resin case was not only an industry first but also an early forerunner of the black-on-black trend that would take a firm hold on the luxury end of the watch world years later. The classic gray field of this model’s LCD dial frames the compact readout of time, date, and running seconds. Like most all watches in G-Shock’s extensive DW5600 family, its durable resin case boasts a 200-meter water resistance and its digital functions include a 1/100-second stopwatch, countdown timer, multi-function alarm, a full calendar accurate to 2099, and an electro-luminescent backlight with afterglow.
Price: $230 with strap, $410 with bracelet, Case Diameter: 42mm, Thickness: 13.4mm, Lug-to-Lug: 49.5mm, Water Resistance: 200 meters, Movement: Custom UTD-8000 Quartz, Crystal: Sapphire
Saying that the RZE UTD-8000 is a departure from your typical tool watch is akin to calling a Bugatti Chiron quick: It sort of undersells things. Not only is it made of Grade 2 titanium, it features a coating called UltraHex that renders the watch (and optional titanium bracelet) highly resistant to scratching. It’s got G-Shock-levels of durability, and just for comparison, a full titanium G-Shock will run you over $2,000 more than the UTD-8000 on the bracelet. Combined with a 200 meter water resistance rating, a sapphire crystal, and its own custom quartz module inside, the UTD-8000 offers some serious bite with its bark. RZE even offers one of the most confident try-before-you-buy programs out there: a full refund on your titanium timepiece if you don’t fall head over heels after two weeks of real-world use.
Price: $280, Case size: 40mm, Thickness 13.9mm, Lug-To-Lug: 41mm, Crystal: Mineral Crystal with LED display, Water-Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: LED Quartz
Bulova, which had helped pioneer the electronic era of watchmaking with the groundbreaking Accutron technology, presented its first all-digital timekeeper, the Computron LED, in the 1980s, and reintroduced it as part of the American brand’s vintage-inspired Archive collection in 2019. The watch is notable for its unusual, trapezoidal gold-toned case with a digital LED readout of the time angled on its side, a style known to some as a “driver’s watch,” since it enables a driver with his hands on a steering wheel to check the time without tilting the watch or taking his hands from the wheel. The angled layout also eliminates the glare that makes other LED watches difficult to read under direct sunlight. The Computron features an “on-demand” display of the time and the date, both operated by a single command button, which helps conserve the watch’s battery life when it’s not in use.
Price: $295, Case Diameter: 36mm, Thickness: 8.4mm, Lug-to-Lug: 42mm, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Quartz, Crystal: Sapphire
With a clean European design that recalls vintage hifi gear from Bang & Olufsen and Revox, the V01 MKII from Sweden’s Void is minimalist perfection. Launched in 2008 by designer David Ericsson, Void has released several models, both analog and digital, featuring the same reserved ethos, resulting in critical acclaim and two collaborations with New York’s Museum of Modern Art. There’s a quiet serenity to the V01’s spare aesthetic, with a round-cornered and slab-sided rectangular stainless case profile, and the reverse LCD display beneath the half-sized sapphire crystal whispers, rather than shouts, the passing of time. Available in a variety of finishes and your choice of leather straps, the stainless-steel mesh bracelet is the smart pick, offering a crisp continuity in its transition from the case. This is the timepiece for the design major studying abroad, a watch that pays equal respect to art and architecture. A machine with soul, if you will.
Price: $399, Case Diameter: 36mm, Thickness: 10mm, Lug-to-Lug: 42mm, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Quartz, Crystal: Sapphire
A veteran of the microbrand world, designer and gearhead Bradley Price founded Autodromo in 2008, storming the "approachable watch" space with motorsport-themed timepieces that offer gobs of retro charm. Autodromo was selected by Ford to create a watch for the reborn Ford GT, even creating bespoke versions for GT owners, a real coup for a microbrand. In addition to a slew of analog releases, both quartz and mechanical, Price has a real affection for both the cars and the watches of the ‘80s. To wit: the Autodromo Group C, a digital tribute to the clean, slab-sided endurance cars of the Group C era. Rather than offer a basic resin-cased digital watch, Price designed one with a well-sized stainless steel case and sapphire crystal, available in a wide range of brash colorways, including Cerakote-finish models. Autodromo tends to offer their timepieces as limited editions, with new ones replacing retired versions on a regular basis, so if you see one that revs your engine, best grab it before it’s gone.
Price: $420, Case Size: 47.8mm, Thickness: 13.8mm, Lug-to-Lug: 50.5mm, Lug Width: 22mm, Crystal: Hardlex, Water Resistance: 200 meters, Movement: Seiko Solar Caliber H851
Big-screen action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger wore a bulky, analog-digital Seiko watch in two of his 1980s blockbusters, Commando and Predator. That watch, Reference H558-5000, nicknamed the “Arnie,” has been resurrected as a member of Seiko’s sporty, performance-oriented Prospex collection. The modern model carries the reference number SNJ025 and retains the emblematic "tuna can" case of the original, a hallmark of many Seiko divers since the 1960s. Replacing the original watch’s standard quartz movement is a modern, solar-powered movement, the in-house Caliber H851. The Prospex’s steel case is even larger than the original's, which measured just under 46mm (Arnold would likely approve), and boasts an ISO-certified 200 meters of water resistance. Its array of functions, displayed on the digital screen at 12 o’clock, include a 1/100-second chronograph, daily alarms, a full calendar, and an LED illuminating light function that adds even more clarity to the dial’s already impressive array of luminous-coated elements.
Price: $375 - $450, Case size: 35mm - 40mm, Thickness: 10.94mm, Lug Width: 11mm - 12mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 100 meters, Movement: Quartz Digital DGT-2040
The Tissot PRX Digital, which comes in both 35mm and 40mm case sizes, takes the popular, 1970s-revival PRX series out of its analog comfort zone into more high-tech, tool-oriented territory while still retaining the sport-luxury elements that made the model a hit. The PRX Digital, offered in both 35mm and 40mm steel cases, pays homage to earlier digital watches from the brand’s ‘70s and ‘80s period, particularly the Stratos from 1976. The Swiss-made quartz Caliber DGT-2040 powers the functions displayed on the dial’s sapphire screen, which can be switched via the case’s three side-mounted pushers from time display with date, to a second time zone, to stopwatch, alarm, countdown timer, and full date display. The backlight for the digital screen offers strong illumination in the dark and the watches are water-resistant to 100 meters.
Price: $483 (approx), Case Diameter: 40mm, Thickness: 11.5mm, Lug-to-Lug: 48mm, Water Resistance: 100 meters, Movement: Quartz, Crystal: Sapphire
Here’s one with an interesting origin story: the G. Gerlach Kosmonauta is a tribute to Polish space exploration, a niche that few of us knew existed, to say the least. It’s a 21st- century reimagining of Poland’s first digital watch, the Unitra Warel, as worn by the only cosmonaut in Polish history, Mirosław Hermaszewski. He was selected from Eastern Bloc candidates to fly aboard Soyuz 30 in 1978, docking with the Soviet space station, Salyut 6, for a weeklong mission. The Kosmonauta honors the Polish hero with a modern reinterpretation of the pioneering Unitra digital watch, offering a substantial 40mm stainless-steel case and sapphire crystal. The red LED display is retro perfection, and the Kosmonauta even boasts real-world water resistance of 100 meters. Available directly from G. Gerlach, it’s priced at under $500 (at the current rate of exchange), a quirky slice of Soviet-era space history that ensures you’ll likely be the only one wearing a cosmonaut-themed watch at your next meetup.
Price: $750, Case Diameter: 45mm, Thickness: 15mm, Lug-to-Lug: 52mm, Water Resistance: 200 meters, Crystal: Sapphire, Movement: Eco-Drive U680
Citizen unveiled its Promaster line of professional-grade tool watches in 1989, with models engineered specifically for “sea, air, and land.” A standout in the “Air” collection, designed to appeal to fans of both traditional pilot watches and high-tech timing instruments, is the Citizen Promaster Skyhawk, which takes its vibrant blue and yellow colorway from the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s elite flight demonstration squadron. The 45mm stainless steel case houses an Eco-Drive caliber with Atomic Timekeeping (the “A-T” in the model name). The blue analog-digital dial, with yellow highlights and a Blue Angels insignia, was inspired by the coordinate axis on the radar screens found in airplane cockpits. Its multiple functions include a dual-time UTC display, a 1/100-second chronograph, a perpetual calendar, two alarms, and a rotating slide-rule bezel for calculating flight times. The Blue Angels insignia appears in full color on the watch’s solid caseback, behind which beats the light-powered Eco-Drive Caliber U680, built to run for nearly 1.5 years on a full charge.
Price: $845, Case Diameter: 40.8mm, Thickness: 13.5mm, Lug-to-Lug: 46mm, Water Resistance: 100m, Movement: Quartz Hamilton, Crystal: Sapphire
The world’s first mass-produced LED digital watch, the Hamilton Pulsar P1 was released in 1972 in 18K solid gold, retailing for a steep $2,100, (over $16,000 today) almost double the cost of a gold Rolex Day-Date. The Pulsar was a huge hit among A-list celebrities of the day, even making an appearance on Roger Moore’s wrist as James Bond in Live And Let Die. The Hamilton PSR Digital Quartz of today, released in 2020, is a tribute to that original, available in stainless, gold PVD, and black PVD versions. It offers 100 meters of water resistance, a substantive stainless-steel case and matching three-link bracelet, and a unique sapphire crystal protecting the LED display.
Price: $2,500, Case Size: 51mm x 47.2mm, Thickness; 13.8mm, Lug Width: 23mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 100 meters, Movement: Quartz Digital
Hamilton, “the watchmaker of filmmakers,” has a long history of making watches that have appeared on the silver screen, a tradition that stretches back to 1932, and the brand’s iconoclastic Ventura model has led the way, appearing in films as diverse as the 1961 Elvis Presley vehicle Blue Hawaii, the sci-fi comedy Men in Black, and the adventures of Indiana Jones. For 2024’s Dune 2, at the request of director Dennis Villeneuve, Hamilton collaborated with the film’s prop master Doug Harlocker to create a wild-looking timepiece, based on the iconic Ventura, that would be suitable for wear on the desert planet of Arrakis, where the epic sci-fi fantasy is set. The Ventura Edge “Desert Watch,” limited to 2,000 pieces, has a large angular case in black PVD-coated stainless steel and a digital dial whose numerals glow bright blue, reminiscent of the eye color of the alien Fremen in the movie.
Price: CHF 4,500, Case Diameter: 39.6mm, Thickness: 15.6mm, Lug-to-Lug: 39mm, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Automatic Soprod Newton P092, Crystal: Acrylic
Swiss brand Amida is back, nearly half a century after introducing the world’s first mechanical “casquette” driver’s watch at Basel. With a movement patent in 1970, and a sapphire-prism LRD (Light Reflecting Display) following in 1973, the Digitrend was like nothing seen before. After a long sleep, Amida’s new ownership has resurrected the Digitrend in a faithful re-edition, available in steel, gold PVD, or black DLC finishes. The newest iteration is the sold-out Open Sapphire variant, which, along with its digital jump-hour front display, allows the wearer to peek under the hood at the modified and decorated Soprod Newton P092 caliber inside. The considerable hunk of sapphire takes up a full two thirds of the case top, the result of 20 hours of sculpting and polishing. The overall effect is that of a wristborne supercar, with the air-intake-like form segueing neatly into a bubble-back view of the watch’s “engine”, à la the classic Ferrari F40.
Price: $4,700, Case Size: 42.4mm x 33.6mm, Thickness: 14.64mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Girard-Perregaux Quartz Caliber GP3980-1474
In 1976, at the height of the quartz and digital dominance of the watch industry, one of the oldest and most traditional Swiss watch maisons, Girard-Perregaux, introduced a timepiece that captured the era’s horological zeitgeist, with an avant-garde tubular LED display for the time and an angular sidestepped case that brought to mind a 1970s’ muscle car. Girard-Perregaux resurrected the watch — adopting the nickname given to it at the time, “Casquette” as its official moniker, and adding a “2.0” to denote its modern reimagining — in 2022 in an 820-piece limited edition (a callout to the 1970s model’s total production run of 8,200). The case and bracelet are made of lightweight, hypoallergenic, scratch-resistant ceramic, with titanium used for the caseback and pushers. Girard-Perregaux developed a new, thoroughly modern quartz caliber for the Casquette 2.0, which powers an LED time display of hours, minutes, seconds, day, and date viewable on demand via the pushers, a functional attribute that conserves battery life. As a clever bonus feature, the indications also include a “secret date,” programmable by the owner, that can be used as a reminder of a special occasion like an anniversary. The original 820-piece run of the Casquette 2.0 sold out quickly, but Girard-Perregaux has revisited the quirky, retro model since then with an even more limited version (100 pieces) designed in partnership with Saint-Laurent, and another special edition in 2024.
Price: $7,000, Case Size: 45mm, Thickness: 14.9mm, Lug-to-Lug: 48.5mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Movement: Omega Quartz Caliber 5622
Omega, maker of the Speedmaster “Moonwatch,” the first watch worn on the moon and the only timepiece officially certified for space missions by NASA, has created an ingenious analog-digital version of the Speedmaster designed to be worn by the astronauts whose mission is to conquer the next frontier of space travel, the planet Mars. The Speedmaster X-33 Mastimer, which debuted in 2022, was developed in a partnership between the Swiss luxury watchmaker and NASA’s counterpart in Europe, the European Space Agency (ESA). Its 45mm case in grade 5 titanium contains the specially developed thermocompensated quartz movement, Caliber 5622, whose array of indications, in analog-digital style, include an MTC function that tracks the solar date and time of Mars at Earth’s prime meridian, taking into account the length of a Martian day, which is 39 minutes longer than an Earth one. Also included is a solar compass that can find true north on both Earth and Mars — a very useful function for the astronauts who will eventually wear the watch, and a cool talking point for the vast majority of wearers, who can snap one up here on Earth. The anodized aluminum bezel and the dial’s second hand pay a colorful tribute to the Red Planet with their red hematite coloring, reminiscent of the distinctive dust on Mars’ planetary surface.
Price: $15,725, Case Size: 51mm, Thickness: 21.6mm, Lug-to-Lug: 65.5mm, Lug Width: 26mm, Crystal: Sapphire, Water Resistance: 50 meters, Movement: Breitling Thermocompensated SuperQuartz caliber
Introduced in 1995, the Breitling Emergency is literally a watch that has saved lives. The first watch with a built-in micro-transmitter that operated on an international air distress frequency, enabling a pilot to contact search-and-rescue teams after an emergency or crash landing. The second-generation Emergency II, launched in 2015, upped the ante with the addition of a dual-frequency personal locator beacon (PLB), that can both issue alerts as well as guide rescuers to the wearer’s location by accessing a network of satellites and ground receiving stations. The analog-digital display, powered by Breitling’s thermocompensated SuperQuartz movement, includes an array of indicators including 12/24 hour times, alarms, multilingual calendars, a 1/100-second chronograph, and an end-of-life indicator for its rechargeable battery; all this, of course, is in addition to the built-in antenna that activates the PLB, which can be deployed by a screwed-down knob in the lower right of the titanium case. Make sure you’re really in trouble before activating it, as the FCC, which monitors the frequencies, does not take kindly to their misuse.
Price: $132,000, Case Diameter: 44.2mm, Thickness: 12.3mm, Lug-to-Lug: 52.3mm, Lug Width: 20mm, Water Resistance: 30m, Movement: Manual L043.8, Crystal: Sapphire
This isn’t like any “digital” watch you’ve ever seen. There are no electronics, no beeping alarms, and you won’t find it at your local big box store. No, this watch is from German brand A. Lange & Söhne, and instead of $20, you’ll have to dig a little deeper into your wallet. About six figures deeper, to be more specific. Yes, this is technically a digital watch, but that’s where any similarity to a Casio ends. The Lange Zeitwerk Date flies in the ionosphere of high horology, with an 18K white gold case framing an intricately crafted dial that boasts a jumping hour digital display, powered by the manually-wound L043.8 movement. Every detail of this watch is a handcrafted work of art, from that incredibly decorated movement, to its clever date display, and the solid silver dial, with the large numeral disks changing over in an incredibly precise display, thanks to its constant-force escapement. To rock this digital wonder, you’ll have to save your pennies to the tune of over $130,000, or the price of 6,500 Casio F91Ws.
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