Watches that never need setting

They charge from light and correct themselves from a radio signal, a satellite or your phone. No winding, no battery changes, no clock adjustment twice a year.

543 models  ·  4 brands  ·  Europe and Japan  ·  from €119

To be listed, a watch has to do both: run on light, and set its own time. A solar watch you still have to set by hand is not here, and neither is a radio watch that needs a battery. The list opens on the 182 watches sold in Europe. Switch Sold in to Japan for the 369 Japanese-market models, including Casio Oceanus, Citizen Attesa and Exceed, and Seiko's domestic Astron range; those carry yen prices and their makers do not sell them in Europe. Prices shown in the Price filter are the European ones.

radio phone satellite 0 watches

About

About a year ago I bought my first watch that never needs setting: the legendary Casio GW-M5610U. Before that I mainly wore mechanical watches. They are lovely things and I still admire the craftsmanship and the design. But I have four young kids, and that has made my life hectic and expensive.

One afternoon on the beach with my youngest, the pebbles scratched my €2,000 mechanical watch. Servicing and repairing those watches is an expensive hobby in itself. So I bought a cheap Casio instead, the watch I dreamed about as a kid.

What surprised me after wearing it for a year is not how tough it is, though it is tough. It is that I never think about it. It charges from light and it corrects itself every night. I have never set the time on it and I have never changed a battery.

After that I got a bit obsessed with these zero-headache watches. I like looking at their designs and their specifications, and I could not find anywhere that listed them all in one place. So I built this, with a lot of help from AI. I hope you like it.

Casio GW-M5610U
Casio GW-M5610U. The one that started it. Charges from light, picks up the time signal overnight, and has never once been set by hand.

How they set themselves

Radio

Listens overnight for a longwave signal broadcast from an atomic clock, usually while it sits on a table.

This is my favourite kind. No phone, no app, no account. It just works while you sleep.

Satellite

Takes the time from GPS, so it needs a view of the sky rather than a bedside table.

Phone

Asks your phone over Bluetooth, which means an app and an account to go with it.