Buying a luxury watch doesn’t have to mean spending enormous sums. There are plenty of brands with outstanding pedigrees that create beautiful, solidly built watches that won’t require you to take out a second mortgage. If you are looking for a mechanical watch that’s made in Switzerland (or Germany, as it may be), then you are inevitably going to spend a couple of thousand pounds. We’ve spent a bit of time in the past explaining why a luxury watch costs what it does, but whether you’re buying your first watch, your second or your 22nd, it’s as much about value as price. The seven watches below are our considered choices for watches under £3,000. Each comes from an established brand and goes about its business with a certain style.

There is no greater cliché in the horological universe than that of the racing watch. The design touchpoints are well-worn – tyre-print straps and wheel-shaped winding rotors. The stories of the greatest names – the Carrera, the Daytona, the Monaco – revisited ad infinitum. Surely, one’s inner cynic is moved to ask, it can’t be real? Surely today’s racing driver – a clean-living, publicity-shy professional, light-years removed from the swashbuckling Mr James Hunt stereotype – isn’t actually bothered by old-fashioned gears and springs?

There are many reasons to admire a piece of fine watchmaking: the inventiveness of its workings; the beauty of its decoration; the cleverness of its functions. But going weak-kneed for the luxurious styling and finish of the movement – what’s on show when you flip the thing over – is perhaps the hardest aspect for aficionados to explain to their smartwatch-wearing brethren, not least because it can require a macro lens to do so.

For better or worse, the “old money” look has been picking up a lot of attention recently. We can’t ignore that the very concept is laden with stigma and structural inequality, so perhaps it’s best to focus on the aesthetic without aligning yourself too closely with any problematic social attitudes of a bygone age. Take the class, leave the classism, if you like. Because the top end of today’s watch market is well served with references that tap into the character of a post-industrialist tycoon-turned-philanthropist. Here we present five watches with dignity, detail and a certain sepia-tinged sensibility that are guaranteed to have you googling “detachable shirt collars” and rooting around for shoe polish.

Buying a luxury watch doesn’t have to mean spending enormous sums. There are plenty of brands with outstanding pedigrees that create beautiful, solidly built watches that won’t require you to take out a second mortgage. If you are looking for a mechanical watch that’s made in Switzerland (or Germany, as it may be), then you are inevitably going to spend a couple of thousand pounds. We’ve spent a bit of time in the past explaining why a luxury watch costs what it does, but whether you’re buying your first watch, your second or your 22nd, it’s as much about value as price. The seven watches below are our considered choices for watches under £3,000. Each comes from an established brand and goes about its business with a certain style.

There is no greater cliché in the horological universe than that of the racing watch. The design touchpoints are well-worn – tyre-print straps and wheel-shaped winding rotors. The stories of the greatest names – the Carrera, the Daytona, the Monaco – revisited ad infinitum. Surely, one’s inner cynic is moved to ask, it can’t be real? Surely today’s racing driver – a clean-living, publicity-shy professional, light-years removed from the swashbuckling Mr James Hunt stereotype – isn’t actually bothered by old-fashioned gears and springs?