Affordable Chronograph & Driving Watches under $300

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.