Best See Through Watches with Visible Moving Parts

What is a skeleton watch?

A skeleton watch is a mechanical watch with its moving parts visible through the front and the back. The dial on these skeletonized watches reveals the detailed working of the watch beneath, showing the movement and precision of the mechanism.

If the technical side of things gets your adrenaline pumping, skeleton watches are a perfect fit.

Today, many brands are making skeleton watches for men and women, and there are plenty of excellent models on offer, including the competitive Swiss watch equivalents.

The only potential design problem with even the best skeleton watches is readability.

You'll be able to see what's happening inside a skeleton watch, so there will be much to admire within the detail—being able to see the time at a glance may take some effort at first, unless the case is only transparent at the back.

Skeleton watches also come at a hefty price point, making this timepiece not well suited to those on a budget.

What is a skeleton watch called?

A skeleton watch is the most-used term for these watches, but you can also find names like see-through, skeletonized, or transparent watches on the market. All of them essentially describe the same thing - the ability to see the intricate inner workings of an automatic or mechanical movement - the skeleton - inside the case of a watch.

Are skeleton watches tacky?

We are not here to judge whether a skeleton watch is tacky or not. We believe if an accessory suits your style and your hand, it's not tacky. However, even the best skeleton watches for men aren't the most practical options for working people. That's why we'd suggest something a bit more utile in nature. It's certainly fun to have a skeleton watch in your collection, but you'll want one of our beautiful stainless steel case watches as your first option. Save your skeletonized timepiece for a special occasion.

Nordgreen's Collection of Watches

With our drive to keep our prices affordable, buying both a skeleton watch and an everyday luxury watch won't break the bank. You'll notice that we've got a smaller range of models. Maintaining several watch design lines would have meant reducing the quality. Instead, we stuck to a smaller collection of luxury watch designs to offer high-quality products at a fraction of the price most other brands offer.

Our designer, Jakob Wagner, first drew on the principle of Hygge for inspiration. This Scandi concept is all about focusing on moments instead of things. Our watches embody this principle by keeping perfect track of every time moment and sticking to simple watch features and, in some cases, ultra-thin designs.

Our men's and women's stainless steel case watches are elegant, affordable, and timeless. It's a good combination for a brand, but we still weren't satisfied. Our 2020 flagship, The Pioneer chronograph, features a sapphire crystal glass top for those that want an extra durable luxury watch.

Customization Options

We wanted our clients to have more choices. As a result, we've added several customizable options, so you can choose the type of timepiece that fits you best. You can, for example, choose the stainless steel case size, case tone, dial shade and strap material, size, and shade. What other luxury watch brand you know offers that?

Dial Size

All of our watches, aside from the Pioneer, come in a range of case sizes. The smaller sizes, like those with a diameter of 28mm and 32mm, are well suited for thinner wrists and are generally categorizes as women's watches. A diameter of 36mm is good for both men's and women's wrists. Lastly, our 40m and 42mm watches are well suited for larger wrists and are considered men's watches.

Dial Color

Who says the dial has to be plain white or silver? Certainly not us – choose between black, white, or navy.

Strap Material and Color

We offer straps made from stainless steel metal mesh in a silver/white gold, gold, rose gold, gunmetal, or black tone. Our genuine Italian leather or vegan leather strap options come in various colors, like black, brown, navy, or pink. We also offer rubber and nylon strap options. Not sure which strap to choose? Get a few – our straps are interchangeable so that you can quickly shake up your look.

Pair our brown leather strap with a gold case for a high-end vintage look, or opt for a black leather strap with a white gold case watch for a classic black-tie look. Your watch choices at Nordgreen can get as unconventional as you want them to. Want a pink gold dial watch with a black water-resistant rubber strap? No problem! Customize any of our watches to your liking.

Want an extra set of straps? Have a look at one of our Popular Bundle Options to find the perfect bundle and save up to 20%. Don't see anything you like? Put your own package together with our Bundle Selector Tool.

Case Color

Each watch case is made of high-grade stainless steel. Choose between colors like gunmetal, rose gold, gold, or silver/white gold. If you want to elevate your style even further, consider pairing the stainless steel metal watch case tone with your jewelry. A rose-toned timepiece, for example, will go perfectly with a rose-toned ring.

More About Our Watch Models

First, here's a quick rundown of your options, all at an affordable price.

The Pioneer

The Pioneer chronograph is our first classic water-resistant chronograph and a popular design in men's watches. We thought it was time to make it a little more contemporary. We've added two dials inset into the crystal glass face. One is a stopwatch, and the other is a second counter. We added in the date but stripped out any extraneous details that would significantly increase the cost and clutter the design of the watch. The Pioneer chronograph also features 5 ATM water resistance and domed sapphire crystal glass to make it extra durable.

We understand that it's cool to have a depth gauge on your watch, but that's only useful for divers. A water-resistant automatic/mechanical watch with a ton of added features and inner workings can become overly complicated for daily usage. It's best to stick with something simpler - a good sapphire crystal glass top, a functional but minimal design, quartz movement as a power source - what else do you need to tell the time?

The Native

The Native timepiece is stylistically one of our least complex designs and also our most cost-effective watch. This classic ultra-thin model features hour markers with no roman numerals to ensure that the face is clear and uncomplicated. Pair the Native watch with a black leather strap for a classic put-together look, or attach one of our popular stainless steel metal link straps in your tone of choice for a modern style statement.

The Philosopher

Want something a little more complex without opting for the Pioneer chronograph? Then have a look at the Philosopher. It marks off the hours, minutes, and seconds. The date is also featured on the dial.

Infinity

Finally, we get to the Infinity. This ultra-thin model is the only one without lugs and so is good for those who prefer a more streamlined look. The hours and minutes are marked, but there is no date or third-hand markers.

What watch movement do we use?

Mechanical and automatic watch movements have been becoming very trendy recently, especially in skeleton watches for men, and many brands are using these watch movements in their watches. However, they have a few disadvantages, which is why we chose to use a different watch movement. Ultimately, the type of watch movement you choose is solely dependent on you, your price budget, your brand preference, and your style.

A watch with an automatic movement is also known as a self-winding watch because it re-charges itself through the wearer's natural motions. This is one of its most impressive features, as it doesn't require manual winding like other mechanical watches. An automatic/self-winding watch movement also has an impressive-looking watch skeleton, as if it's specifically made to be put on display with a transparent case back or case front.

At Nordgreen, we use a good quartz movement to power our watch collection, specifically the Japanese Miyota brand movement, considered one of the best on the market. A quartz movement uses a battery as a power source, which is one of the most precise ways to measure time. It also makes the watch more cost-efficient and allows for more minimal men's designs. It's a win-win situation if you ask us.