SKMEI 9184 Skeleton Automatic Watch, 41mm

A real automatic movement, open-worked so you can watch it run, on a stainless mesh bracelet. Under seventy dollars, in black, silver, gold and rose gold case and mesh combinations.

Why It Stands Out

• Automatics under a hundred dollars are usually round, usually black, and usually forgettable. This one is a rounded square with the movement on display, which is a much harder look to pull off cheaply.
• The skeleton dial reads as mechanical from across a room, not just up close. That is the whole reason to buy an open-worked watch.
• The mesh bracelet is the quiet win. It makes a 41 mm square case sit flat and dress up far better than the leather these usually ship on.
• No battery. It winds off your wrist as you move.
• Luminous hands, so the time is still readable when the skeleton dial is not helping you in low light.
• Six case and mesh combinations, from all-black to full rose gold, at one price.

Watch Details

• Movement: Automatic mechanical, Chinese, open-worked skeleton dial
• Case: 41 mm rounded square, 12 mm thick, 102 g
• Bracelet: Stainless steel mesh, 22 mm
• Lume: Luminous hands
• Colourways: Black, silver, gold and rose gold case and mesh combinations
• Water resistance: 30 m (3 ATM), manufacturer-rated — splashes and rain, not swimming or diving
• Care: The manufacturer-rated 30 m means rain and hand-washing. Not the pool, not the shower.

Fit and Wear

A 41 mm rounded square covers more wrist than a 41 mm circle does, so it looks bigger than the number reads. At 12 mm thick and 102 g it has some heft, and the mesh spreads that weight instead of concentrating it. Mesh also means you can size it properly rather than living between two bracelet links. All-black is the most casual of the six. Silver with a white face is the one that works with a shirt. The gold and rose gold combinations are the loudest and know it.

Colin's Take

It is the cheapest way into a mechanical watch that actually reads as mechanical from across a room. When someone wants to stop wearing quartz and does not want to spend three hundred dollars finding out whether they like it, this is where we start them. It is a Chinese automatic, so set your expectations on accuracy. You are buying it because it is mechanical and it looks it, not because it keeps time like a quartz. If a few seconds a day would bother you, buy quartz instead and be happier.