This perception that cost=quality is so funny. It’s a tragedy that Jules Borel gave up on Mallards. Swiss movements in stainless cases, sold as a price-point piece. Peanuts compared to most shitass luxury watches of the time that used the exact same movement.
What watch, in your opinion, is worth the cost? I’d like something a little nice, but tend to only buy quality items so I don’t re-buy
Citizen has some quartz models for ~$60 if you’re looking in the right place. I see a lot of ebay sellers that are authorized vendors and are going out of their way with undercut pricing. Find something all stainless if you can, and go for a screw back if you want to replace the battery yourself. I work at a jewelry store and we get at least one person a month who’s ruined their watch by trying to do a battery change themselves.
If you want digital, Casio and Timex are both currently doing reissues of extremely functional vintage models.
I like the look of modern Seikos, but I’ve handled very few myself. In the past they were an absolute bitch to get parts for, but that may have changed.
Any modern mechanical watch should be absolutely avoided, unless you’re a connoisseur looking for a fancy-pants showoff piece. There’s a reason we’re all on quartz now lmao