Gift Guide: Our Favorite Affordable Chronograph & Driving Watches under $300

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This story was updated in November 2022 with new products and fresh information.

Motorsports and watches have a long, happy relationship with each other. There’s a certain aura you experience with a chronograph, a certain look you achieve with a chrome on your wrist and your hand draped over the steering wheel. Or maybe it’s a blessing from those legendary Kings of Cool, guys like Paul Newman and Steve McQueen.

If you’re in the market for a cool yet affordable driving watch, either as a gift or just for yourself, we’ve collected some of our favorite chronographs below. They make a fantastic gift idea for any car lover or driving enthusiast. Best of all, they all cost less than 300 bucks

Our Favorite Affordable Driving Watches

Before tripmeters became ubiquitous, chronographs were used as personal driving timers, helpful for tracking lap increments, fuel supply, driving times, and more. Today, the chronograph function is effectively nullified by smartphones and their built-in stopwatches, but that’s no fun. And it’s nowhere near as cool.

Here are our favorite affordable chronographs—enjoy the consciousness of cool that arrives with the box.

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best fancy/not fancy driving watch

Casio

Aviator Slide Rule Bezel Chrono MTP4500D-1AV

Best Driving Watch for Working on cars

Timex

Weekender Chrono TW2R63200

Best Midcentury Style Driving Watch

Seakoss

Original 1963 Airforce Chrono RS38-IWAP888

Best Rugged Driving Watch

Timex

Expedition Field Chronograph TW4B10300

Best Aviator Driving Watch

Stauer

Co-Pilot Chronograph 35771

Best driving watch for endurance

Zeppelin

Series LZ127 Graf Chrono 7684-5

Best citizen driving watch

Citizen

Chandler Eco-Drive Chronograph AT0200-05E

Collin Morgan
Associate Commerce Editor
Collin Morgan is the Associate Commerce Editor at Hearst Autos, where he presents the best gear for your automotive endeavors.

Jon Langston
Senior Commerce Editor
The Senior Commerce Editor for Hearst Autos, Jon Langston is an avid motorcyclist and gear collector whose work has appeared in Men’s Journal, The Drive, Rider, Iron & Air, Cycle World, and more.

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