While two-tone timepieces have been around since the early-20th Century, men’s two-tone watches became enormously popular starting in the late-1970s and throughout the 1980s. Their popularity tapered off during the following two decades, with stainless steel watches becoming the must-have men’s watch style of that era.
However, the love for luxury two-tone watches is picking up again, and plenty of brands have been releasing new iterations in recent years. Generally speaking, two-tone watches combine stainless steel and gold components on one watch, however, some examples use other metals too. Here are some of our favorite two-tone men’s watches right now, ranging from affordable to aspirational.
Two-Tone Seiko 5 Sports
Prices start at $325
Watch enthusiasts know that Seiko’s strength lies in the company’s ability to make good quality watches (including mechanical ones) at affordable prices. And when it comes to budget men’s two-tone watches, Seiko has that covered too.
The Seiko 5 Sports SRPE60 combines a steel case and bracelet with a gold-toned bezel, crown, and bracelet center links for an inexpensive way to wear the two-tone trend. The black dial also features gold-colored accents, including lume-filled indices and hands while the automatic movement inside the 40mm case drives the time, day, and date functions of the watch. Seiko 5 Sports watches are water-resistant to 100 meters (330 feet) deep, which makes this an easy watch to wear and not worry about.
Two-Tone Tissot PRX Powermatic 80
Prices start at $675
For those who just want to dip their toes in men’s two-tone watches without having to dive all the way in, there are watches with just a touch of gold. One fantastic example is the 1970s-inspired stainless steel Tissot PRX Powermatic 80, which comes in several bi-colored versions including one with a rose gold PVD-coated smooth bezel and others with an 18k rose gold fluted bezel. The warm hue of the bezel contrasts sharply with the steel construction of the watch and gives a subtle two-tone effect without going overboard.
Regardless of the bezel material, the rest of the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 stays the same, which is to say a 40mm angular case, an integrated quick-release bracelet, a time and date dial, and an automatic movement that can be viewed via a sapphire caseback.
Two-Tone Longines HydroConquest
Prices start at $1,200
The HydroConquest is Longines’ line of striking dive watches, complete with 300-meter (1,000 feet) water resistance, a unidirectional rotating timing bezel, and a well-lumed dial that includes a date window at 3 o’clock.
In true Longines fashion, the HydroConquest is offered in a wide variety of metal and color combinations, including two-tone versions that mix steel with either yellow gold or rose gold PVD-coated details. What’s more, two-tone HydroConquest 41mm watches are available with either quartz or automatic movements, in addition to the choice of blue or black bezels and dials. In short, if you’re on the hunt for reasonably priced men’s two-tone dive watches, Longines has plenty to choose from.
Two-Tone Tudor Black Bay GMT
Prices start at $4,300
Tudor went all-in with two-tone men’s watches this year with so many new models presented at Watches & Wonders 2022. Tudor calls its two-tone watches S&G (steel and gold) and one new release that especially caught our eye was the Black Bay GMT S&G.
The watch features a 41mm steel case fitted with a yellow gold crown, a black and brown 24-hour bezel, and a black dial with gold details including four hands and a date window. Though there is an undeniable resemblance to Rolex GMT-Master “Root Beer” models, the two-tone Black Bay GMT S&G watches have a distinct charm that’s entirely Tudor. What’s more, like many other Tudor watches, the automatic Black Bay GMT S&G is offered with a choice of a leather strap, a fabric strap, or a matching two-tone three-link bracelet with gold center links.
Two-Tone Cartier Santos-Dumont
Prices start at $5,450
For an elegant dress watch that marries gold and steel, no one does it quite like Cartier. Take, for example, the relatively new Cartier Santos-Dumont collection, which is home to ultra-thin (thanks to high autonomy quartz or manual-winding movements) dressy variants of the sportier Santos models.
These luxury Cartier two-tone watches have a rectangular steel case topped with an 18k rose gold bezel punctuated with eight screws. Three size options are available — small (38mm x 27.5mm), large (43.5mm x 31.4mm), and extra-large (46.6mm x 33.9mm) — and they all house a sleek two-hander dial with the signature Cartier blue sword-shaped hands.
Two-Tone Rolex Datejust
Prices start at $11,250
There is perhaps no model as closely associated with luxury two-tone watches as the Rolex Datejust. The Datejust, Rolex’s flagship watch model characterized by a date window at 3 o’clock covered by a Cyclops magnification lens, is one of the brand’s oldest models, having debuted in 1945. Rolex offers the Datejust in so many iterations, including plenty of two-tone versions. Rolesor is the name Rolex gives to its watches that combine gold and steel, and you can pick from yellow gold or Everose gold options.
Men’s two-tone Datejust watches have either 36mm cases or 41mm cases, which are all water-resistant to 100 meters. Plus, given the different bezel styles (fluted, smooth, or gem-set), dial designs, and iconic bracelet options (three-link Oyster or five-link Jubilee) on offer, you can choose the perfect Rolex two-tone watch just for you.
Two-Tone Zenith Chronomaster Sport
Prices start at $17,000
Zenith has a long history of making superb chronographs and chronograph movements (the company even supplied movements for the Rolex Daytona in the 1980s and 1990s) and the company’s latest offering is the Chronomaster Sport collection. The Zenith Chronomaster Sport collection may only be about a year old, yet it’s quickly becoming one of the most popular modern luxury chronographs in today’s market. It was even our decided winner among competing chronographs last year!
In 2022, Zenith expanded the Chronomaster Sport collection to include a luxe two-tone steel and rose gold variant, which pairs beautifully with the tri-colored registers on the dial. The 41mm steel case is topped with a rose gold bezel (marked to every 1/10 of a second) and fitted with a steel and rose gold three-link bracelet. The central chronograph hand speeds around the dial to make one full revolution every 10 seconds due to the high-beat Caliber El Primero 3600 automatic movement driving the timepiece.
Whether it be affordable Seiko two-toned watches or luxury two-toned Rolex watches, that concludes our round-up of some of the best men’s two-tone watches you can buy right now.
What are your thoughts on two-tone timepieces? Love them or hate them, let us know what you think in the comments below.