The Luxurious Rolex Air-King Watch Alternative That's Under $300

That the average Rolex owner tends to be well-off financially is not surprising given that Rolex watches are worth a lot of money. The GMT-Master II Rolex can have an exceptional resale value of more than $100,000. And a vintage Double Red Sea-Dweller can cost around $75,000.

Even Rolex's more affordable watches can cost big money. For example, a Rolex Air-King has an average price tag of about $5,000 as of August 2025, according to WatchCharts.com. Air-King's most popular model, the Ref. 126900, has a market value of just over $7,800.

But for watch aficionados, there is a much cheaper product on the market. In 2024 Rolling Stone magazine named the Vaer S3 Tradition as a good affordable alternative to the Rolex Air-King. At the time, the price of a S3 Tradition was $259, but, as of August 2025, it can be acquired directly from Vaer for $179. Just like the Air-King, the S3 Tradition is resistant to water below 100 meters, has a screw down crown and is protected by scratch-proof sapphire crystal. According to Vaer, the S3 Tradition's design is inspired by the Rolex Explorer, which has an average price of $8,000 as of August 2025, per WatchCarts.com. This would be another trait the Tradition has in common with the Air-King as some of its later designs were also modeled after the Explorer.

The Air-King was among several "air collection" brands introduced by Rolex in 1945 to honor World War II pilots, according to the Robb Report. While other models went extinct, Rolex continues to turn out Air-Kings. The Explorer was introduced in 1953 in celebration of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reaching the peak of Mount Everest, both of whom were equipped with Rolex Oyster Perpetual chronometers, per Rolex's official website. In 1958, Rolex came out with the 36 mm Air-King 5504, which Robb Report described as a modified Explorer I. The Ref. 5504, like the Explorer, displayed the numbers "3," "6" and "9." It also served as the basis for some subsequent Air-King models such as the Ref. 114200 of 2007. 

The S3 Tradition hit the market in 2020, was made to withstand harsh environmental conditions, and kept the simple 3-6-9 design of the Explorer. Yet, unlike the Rolex Explorer or Air-King, which use an automatic mechanical motor, the S3 Tradition is powered by a quartz battery. Quartz-powered watches not only keep better time, but are easier and cheaper to make.

Yet while Rolex has been making watches in Switzerland since 1919, Vaer was started in 2016 in Los Angeles, California and manufactures some of its products in the United States, although the S3 Tradition is assembled in China.