Best automatic watches to give as a gift

80 hours is the number that makes this the pick. A full wind on Thursday is still running on Sunday night, which covers any realistic gap between wrapping a watch and somebody wearing it — and covers the recipient taking it off for a weekend later on without having to reset it.

The fitting numbers are all published and they are the right ones: 38mm across, 11mm thick, 47mm lug tip to lug tip. That footprint does not overhang a six-inch wrist and does not look lost on a seven-and-a-half-inch one, which is the only sensible thing to want when you cannot measure. Sapphire, 100m and standard 20mm lugs complete it.

Who it is for: almost anybody — a first good watch, a thirtieth or fiftieth birthday, somebody who wears a watch daily and has never chosen one. Who should skip it: a recipient who wants a bracelet rather than a strap, and anyone who only wears a watch a few times a year.

Against it: Hamilton publishes a European service price list and no US equivalent, so the eventual overhaul is a quote rather than a number. Two years of warranty is the shortest term on this page except the Timex.

Mechanically identical to the Murph and usually cheaper, because it does not carry a film's name. 47mm lug-to-lug on a 38mm case is a genuinely versatile footprint.

The most predictable Swiss automatic here to own, because Tissot publishes the number almost nobody publishes: $210 for a complete service of a mechanical two- or three-hand watch in the US. Combined with an 80-hour reserve, sapphire, 100m and a 10.93mm case that slides under a cuff, it is the most complete answer on this page.

Who it is for: a recipient who will wear it every day and appreciates a Swiss name, and a gift-buyer who wants to hand over a known running cost along with the watch.

The caveat is structural and you should know it before you spend: the lug width is 12mm, which is not a strap size. This is an integrated bracelet, so the bracelet is part of the case. If it is the wrong size a jeweler removes links; if it is not their taste there is no cheap escape. Who should skip it: anybody whose wrist you are guessing at, for exactly that reason.

Against it: the bracelet, and the fact that Tissot publishes no lug-to-lug for the reference. At 40mm with a short integrated bracelet it wears compact, but we cannot give you the figure.

Tissot publishes a US complete-service price of $210 for a mechanical two-or-three-hand watch, which makes this the most predictable Swiss automatic here to own. The 12mm lug width is not a strap size — the bracelet is part of the case.

On paper this is the best value in mechanical watches and it is not close: sapphire and an in-house hacking, hand-windable automatic at a price where Seiko still fits Hardlex, with 200m and a screw-down crown on top. Three years of warranty is longer than Hamilton or Tissot give.

It is also the only watch on this page with a published lug-to-lug under 47mm — 46.8mm on a 41.8mm case — so the fit can be checked before you buy for somebody else.

Who it is for: a recipient who will wear it most days and does not want to think about water at all. Who should skip it: somebody who will wear it occasionally. The F6922 runs 40 hours, not 80, which means it will be stopped most times they pick it up.

Against it: that 40-hour reserve, and Orient publishes no US service price. The caliber is in-house and current, so an independent can identify and quote it, which is the next best thing.

On paper this is the best value in the category and it is not close: sapphire and a hacking, hand-windable in-house caliber at a price where Seiko still fits Hardlex. Orient's three-year warranty is longer than Hamilton's or Tissot's.

An 80-hour H-40 in a 42mm case with a day-and-date dial, carrying the same Nivachron balance spring Hamilton fits to the Khaki Field line — a more substantial and slightly more formal watch. For a recipient with a larger wrist who finds a plain field dial austere, this is the version of the same purchase that suits them.

Sapphire, 100m, standard 20mm lugs and two years of warranty, and the same 80-hour reserve that makes a gift automatic behave itself.

Who it is for: a wrist of about seven inches or more. Who should skip it: a narrow wrist — Hamilton publishes no lug-to-lug for this reference, so 42mm is the only number you have, and that is the single biggest unknown on this page.

Against it: no published lug-to-lug, no US service price list, and 11.85mm thick. It is also the second most expensive watch here.

Hamilton fits the same Nivachron hairspring here as on the Khaki Field line, and the H-40 runs 80 hours. Sapphire and 100m on a watch this legible is the pilot-watch specification sheet most of the category never manages.

Seiko publishes a flat $176 to overhaul the 4R35, which is the cheapest known mechanical service figure on this site. If the point of giving a mechanical watch is that it can be kept forever, this is the one where forever has a price on it.

Seiko also publishes the lug-to-lug — 47.5mm on a 40.5mm case — and the box-shaped Hardlex crystal is the Cocktail Time signature, which catches light in a way a flat crystal does not. For a recipient who wants something that looks expensive, it reads well above its price.

Who it is for: a graduation, a new job, somebody practical who will ask what the watch costs to run. Who should skip it: anyone who cares about the crystal. Hardlex sits between mineral and sapphire and cannot be polished out, and 50m means handwashing rather than swimming.

Against it: the 41-hour reserve, so it will be stopped if it is not worn, and the crystal. Three years of warranty and a published service price are what balance it.

The same 4R35 and the same $176 published overhaul as the rest of the Cocktail Time line, with the lug-to-lug published — 47.5mm — so you can check the fit before buying. 50m and Hardlex are the dress-watch trade.

The least expensive way to give somebody a real mechanical watch with a named in-house caliber and a published footprint. 44mm lug-to-lug on a 38.4mm case is genuinely small by modern standards, which makes it the safe choice when you suspect the recipient's wrist is narrow.

Orient names the F6724 and states that it hacks and hand-winds, so it can be set to the second and wound without being shaken, and three years of warranty is the longest term on this page.

Who it is for: a sixteenth or eighteenth birthday, a graduation, a first dress watch for somebody who does not own one. Who should skip it: anybody who will get it wet. 30m means rain and handwashing, full stop, and it is the lowest rating here.

Against it: 30m, a domed mineral crystal that keeps every scratch it collects, and a 40-hour reserve. It scores 6.3 against the Hamilton's 8.6 and the money accounts for all of it.

A 44mm lug-to-lug is genuinely small by modern standards, and this is the Bambino to buy if the 40.5mm versions never sat right. The domed mineral crystal is the compromise, and it is the one Orient never fixes on this line.