Finding the best moon phase watches under $500 shouldn’t be a chore – and you should not have to sacrifice on quality either.
There are a lot of different reasons why you might want a moon phase watch. Be it the aesthetics that they bring to the table, as an addition to your watch collection, or for their intended purpose, the options are endless.
Thus, we have reviewed the best moon phase watches that cost below $500 for you.
Pro Tip: We also explain what moon phase watches are, why you should get one, and what to look out for. You can jump to various sections by clicking on them in the table of contents below.
In This Article...
Which is the Best Moon Phase Watches Under $500?
Rank | Product Image | Product Name | Check Price On Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|
1. |
| ||
2. |
| ||
3. |
| ||
4. |
| ||
5. |
| ||
6. |
| ||
7. |
| ||
8. |
|
Best Moon Phase Watches Under $500 for Men
For our classy men at UberWrists, we have selected the following moon phase watches for you.
Look through for the one(s) that best match your style. You can also buy for a father, friend, brother, husband, son, or other special men in your life. They surely deserve one or more of the beautiful timepieces on this list.
1. Casio Men’s Pro Trek PRW2500T
- Tough Solar Power, Multi-Band Atomic Timekeeping, 200M Water...
- Digital Compass, Altimeter, Altimeter Memeory, Barometer,...
- Full Auto EL Backlight with Afterglow, 5 Independent Daily...
- Countdown Timer, Battery level indicator, Power saving function,...
- Battery: Solar rechargeable battery, Approx. battery life: 5...
It is tough. It is a solar watch. It looks beautiful on the inside and outside. It is none other than the Casio Men’s Pro Trek PRW2500T
Above all that, it is also a moon phase watch.
This watch could easily fit onto our list of hiking watches, given that it comes with an ABC (altimeter, barometer, and compass) sensor package. Inside the same watch, we have a tide graph and thermometer with a display range of -10C to 60C.
Casio watches are known for how tough they can be. This one backs that up with a 200m water resistance rating. The watch won’t die on you anytime too, all thanks to the rechargeable solar battery support. Yet again, this watch will sit well among our outdoor watch picks.
Special watch functions, ranging from countdown timer, battery level indicator, power-saving function, and a full auto-calendar to storage wraps up the impressive features on this watch.
2. Orient’s Men Sun and Moon Version 3
- Sapphire Crystal
- Sun and Moon Indicator
- Japanese-automatic Movement. Power reserve: Approximately 40...
- Case Diameter: 42.5mm. Pull out the crown to set the time
- Water resistant to 50m (165ft: in general, suitable for short...
Going by the name of this watch alone, need we say more?
The Orient’s Men Sun and Moon Version 3 stands out for its simplistic, everyday design.
We have the conventional watch face with just three dials (seconds, minutes, and hours) and a leather strap to boot. Under the hood is a Japanese automatic movement, making this watch almost a collector’s item.
It is not every day that we find a moon phase watch that also brings automatic watch movement with it.
A 50m water resistance rating looks nice on a watch of this build. For this iteration of the Sun and Moon watch, Orient added hand winding, hacking the seconds' hands, and a day/ date quickset feature to boot.
If you have had a predecessor of this watch before, this is the logical upgrade for you.
3. Citizen Calendrier BU0050-02L
- Keep your fashion game functional with this Men's Citizen...
- The sleek, blue-tone dial makes a splash with four subdials that...
- Caliber number 8730.44mm stainless steel caseBlue-tone...
Citizen is yet another veteran watchmaker that we are happy to have on this list.
Like the pick from Orient above, the Calendrier BU0050-02L also took the conventional approach to things.
Here again, we see the marriage of a round, traditional watch face with a leather strap. On the watch face are a series of complications that make it both more functional, and aesthetically pleasing also.
The moon phase display is nicely worked into the base of the watch face. The top area plays home to a dynamic date display which not only shows the day but also the month of the year. Citizen finished that off with one of the most beautiful date designs that we have ever seen on a watch of this kind.
You won’t be taking this watch snorkeling anytime soon but it is good to know that you have 100 meters of water resistance to count on. Finished with a stainless-steel case around both the mineral glass crystal and leather clasp, this watch is as beautiful as it is functional.
4. KARL-LEIMON Japanese Moon Phase Watch
- Made in Japan
- Most crowdfunded analog watch in Japan / Over 320,000 dollars...
- Moonphase watch in affordable price
- High-quality materials such as stainless steel 316L and sapphire...
- 2 years Warranty
This made-in-Japan watch has a nice history behind it, seeing as its development was crowdfunded by over 1,000 people in Japan.
The watchmaker aimed to design an affordable moon phase watch that would exude a different class and brilliance too. We can say that they did a good job seeing as they have made it to our list of the best moon phase watches under $500.
One of the things that quickly stands out to us about this watch is the simplicity. The only complication on the face is the moon phase indicator, and nothing more. We don’t even get a second hand with the watchmakers only opting for the hour and minute markers.
There is no question about the quality that this watch brings to the table, though. Marrying high-quality stainless steel to sapphire glass and a leather strap, this is a moon phase watch that could double as a dress watch on some other days.
5. MASTOP Automatic Mechanical Watch
- Imported Stainless steel case and Genuine Leather synthetic...
- 1 x User Manual, 1 x Gift Box
- Polished 316L stainless steel case /Diameter:41mm ,thickness:13mm
- Multifunction sub dials feature the day, date , week, month and...
- Water resistant up to 3 ATM （Suitable for everyday use....
We have never had reason to look the way of a MASTOP watch until today, and they are not doing badly either.
First things first, this is not an ideal pick for anyone who likes to stay as minimalistic as possible. We also don’t recommend that this passes off as a dress watch in any way. Even though it features one of the best watch designs (just look at that calfskin leather) on this list, its splash of colors limits its range of usage.
That said, the watch itself is great at what it does.
The name already suggests that this is an automatic mechanical watch, so we won’t dwell on that too much. The watch face is equally complicated with day/ date/ week/ month features, a 24-hour time tracker, and the moon phase dial itself.
Don't go diving, swimming, or snorkeling with this watch. It is rated for splashes and water spraying but not for deeper dives and submersions.
Did we mention that you can get the watch in different color types and designs to match your style too?
Best Moon Phase Watches Under $500 for Women
Men don’t get to have all the fun here.
In fact, the men will wish that they can have some of these beautiful moon phase watches for women.
You don’t have to take our word for it, though. How about you look at what we came up with?
1. Citizen Mickey Mouse AP1053-15W
- White dial accented with mickey mouse
- Moon phase and analog month/day/date display. Recessed type...
- Rose gold-tone stainless steel case and sleek Black leather Strap
- Uses Eco-Drive technology – powered by any light and never...
- 5-Year limited manufacturer's warranty, with an additional 1-year...
Citizen makes a bow here in the same way that they did for the men. Yet again, they are nothing short of impressive in their choice of design and finishing.
The analog phase looks very well-spaced out, so time-telling won’t become another chore. The watch face looks extremely busy, though. That makes us grateful for the white background, else things would have gotten even busier.
Besides the moon phase indicator, the only other complications on the watch face are for month and day. It beats us how they forgot to include a date readout on the same screen.
There is an Eco-drive branding on this watch so we know that it does not have a battery under that gorgeous face. It only needs to come in contact with any source of light and it gets powered up to keep working. A neat little feature, might we add.
2. Peugeot 14k Gold-Plated Watch
- 37mm Case Diameter
- Super soft suede band with a boyfriend sized rounded case for a...
- Analog-quartz Movement
This is easily the most affordable watch on this list, and it still manages to bring some bells and whistles with it.
We won’t even talk about the moon phase complication anymore. If that was not here, the watch would not even have made this list at all.
On either side of the moon phase at the top are other complications for day and date. We don’t get one for the month function, but we can as well live without that.
For women who prefer thinner straps, this watch brings that in a fine suede finish. Decked out in a 14K-carat plated face, this is the best bargain moon phase watch for women.
3. Frederique Constant Moon Phase Watch
We love a wristwatch from a manufacturer that has a romantic name like this one.
Everything about this moon phase watch is practical, though.
Ladies with small wrists might want to stay away from this one, considering how big it could get.
If that won’t be a concern, you should feel right at home with a face large enough to show you the moon phase, day, and date complications at the same time. Add that to a quality leather strap and stylish build on the front, and you have another dress watch to add to your collection.
You should not depend on this watch for your snorkeling, diving, and swimming activities. If it is the only one around, though, it would still work well up to 165 meters underwater. That is kind of impressive, given it is not designated a diving watch.
Special Tip: The red arrowhead hand is not a second hand. Don’t think the watch is broken and send it back just because that hand won’t move. It is there to indicate the months/ weeks set on the watch face.
What is a Moon Phase Watch?
It might look like our love for moon phase watches is only for their aesthetics. While that is true in part, it is not close to the reason why these kinds of watches are revered at all.
As the name implies, moon phase watches help to track the phase of the moon at different times of the day, across every month.
The moon phase watch is a successful attempt to relay the visible parts of the moon on a watch face. It allows us to track the 29.5-day lunar cycle from our wrists. This sounds like a fun feature to have on a watch but it can also do more than that.
Since the moon has a lot of pull on the tides, moon phase watches become very important for people living around water bodies or have their livelihoods depend on such.
Type of Moon Phase Watches
There are two different types of moon phase watches:
- ‘Bosom’ moon phase watches – displays the various phases of the moon throughout the month graphically. It physically shows the phase of the moon via an aperture on the watch face, as is seen with most of the picks on this list
- Radial moon phase watch – track the lunar cycle throughout the month with an indicator hand.
Why Get A Moon Phase Watch?
Besides telling the time, why else would you want to grab any of these watches? If you fall into any of the following categories, you should have one of these watches in your collection:
- Fisherman/ Hunter/ Mariner – we mentioned somewhere above that moon phase watches also allows you to track the ebb and tide of the rivers. This comes in handy for mariners, fishermen, and hunters, among others. If you're a fisherman, a moon phase watch can help you to catch more fish. It is believed that fish bite more at the time of a full or new moon. Try that out and see if it works for you also.
- Farmers – moon phase watches can help farmers plan when to plant and harvest select crops. In ancient times, this is the logical reasoning behind concepts like Full Moon Harvest.
- Muslims – the Muslim calendar rests on the rotation of the moon. This explains why they have 12 days lesser than the conventional calendar provides. With a moon phase watch, counting down to the Ramadan becomes even more fun.
- Collectors – moon phase watches have been here for long, and they will remain here for even longer. Collectors are still seeking out truly classic pieces of these watches to add to their watch collections too.
- Stylish people – are you stylish? That is all the license you need to own one of these watches.
How to Set the Moon Phase on Your Watch
Most of the moon phase watches, if not all, come with an instructor’s manual out of the box.
If yours is supposed to come with one and you cannot find it there, we recommend that you send it back. If you already know how to set a moon phase on the moon phase watch, though, that might not be necessary. As long as you can authenticate your purchase, we can chalk the missing set of instructions down to manufacturer error.
For those who still need help setting the moon phase, we have embedded a video guide to that effect above. Should you have any brand specific questions on your moon phase watches, kindly reach out to us in the comments section and we will provide a response as soon as possible.
Final Words
We have powered through a list of the best moon phase watches under $500, discussed what moon phase watches are and why you might need them. We have even added a resource on how to set the moon phase function on your watch.
If you are convinced that you need this watch too, which one of the picks on this list catch your fancy the most? Check them out, grab them today, and see how well you can also rock one of these amazing pieces of watch engineering.
In the meantime, you can check out some of our other watches for men and timepieces for women too.
