IMHO this may be one of the best value-for-money on a gentleman's automatic watch is the Seiko SARB033 & SARB035. https://www.amazon.com/...matic/dp/B001AE9XS0/ Seiko's 6R15 movement in this $300 watch is comparable to the Swiss ETA 2824 movement that you'll find in some $2000+ Swiss watches (i.e. Breitling Superocean)
Check out some of the 'watch geek' forums to get your bearings. And if you're willing to spend a little more (i.e. $2,000) consider a Grand Seiko. You'll get a watch with movement and class as good (if not better) than a $10k+ Swiss Omega or even Rolex.
https://monochrome-watches.com/...b033-fully-reviewed/ http://forums.watchuseek.com/...3-spirit-257162.html There are other JDM automatics from Seiko that are also good alternatives. JDM = Japan Domestic Market. The Japanese make excellent automatic movement but for some reason only keep it domestic. The movements they mass export are meant to compete with the cheap flood of Chinese and other brands. Avoid the mass export models.
Another option is this:
https://www.amazon.com/...bdial/dp/B0066GKTM6/ Its got good quality Japanese movement (Citizen/Miyota 9132) and is oh, so very, very good lookin'.
Junkers is an old German brand, best known for their aircraft. During WWII they were appropriated by the Nazis (as were many German firms) and made the famed Junkers Stuka dive bombers.
If brand-name appeal is your goal, you'll generally only find quartz in the $500 price range you stated. Quartz - Why bother? Sure you can get a 'pretty' Swiss Tissot or American Bulova or something similar for that price. I have quartz watches from both brands. They sit in a box.
There are also 'Hybrid' watches - solar quartz, mecha-quartz, etc. They are known by names like 'Ecodrive', 'Kinetc', 'Solar'. They are all available in your price range (some well below it) and a cool in theory, but all have some sort of battery and ultimately lack the beauty of a mechanical movement watch.
Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's