A lot more to consider than I anticipated! There are more options than I originally thought.
I'm pretty well narrowed down to something simple -- I believe navy/pilot style with maybe just the date and a classic looking silver/stainless round case. After looking at the suggestions of Hamilton, Tissot, Seiko, and Citizen and then doing some digging online to check face styles, I think it looks like Hamilton & Citizen have styles that I like best for the long term.
The Citizens I saw and liked are Eco-drives. The Hamilton I really liked at the top end of the price range for those is an Automatic; it's well over what I initially wanted to spend, but I like it a lot and may go above budget if it's worth it. The other Hamiltons closer to my price range are Quartz. The price difference is $130--$160 for the Citizens compared to $320--$430 for the Hamiltons.
While I really like the look of the $430 Hamilton Jazzmaster, I like the looks of the Citizens at about $150 as much as the Hamiltons at about $350 and I could absolutely live with it and probably forget about how much I like the looks of the more pricey Jazzmaster pretty quickly. Is the quality difference between a $150 Citizen and a $430 Hamilton significant enough to make it worth the cash outlay or are they likely closer in quality than the cost difference would imply, i.e. a difference due to volume & manufacturing costs from a bigger company to a small maker? I don't care about "status" over function. Part of me leans toward the Citizen and then taking some old family leather goods and paying a leather making friend $50 to cut a custom strap from it so I have something with a unique personal tie...still coming in under budget overall. That's something I'd hold off on doing if I bought the over-budget Jazzmaster (whose strap I don't really love but could live with for a while). Any insight into the actual quality difference between the two brands?
I'm pretty well narrowed down to something simple -- I believe navy/pilot style with maybe just the date and a classic looking silver/stainless round case. After looking at the suggestions of Hamilton, Tissot, Seiko, and Citizen and then doing some digging online to check face styles, I think it looks like Hamilton & Citizen have styles that I like best for the long term.
The Citizens I saw and liked are Eco-drives. The Hamilton I really liked at the top end of the price range for those is an Automatic; it's well over what I initially wanted to spend, but I like it a lot and may go above budget if it's worth it. The other Hamiltons closer to my price range are Quartz. The price difference is $130--$160 for the Citizens compared to $320--$430 for the Hamiltons.
While I really like the look of the $430 Hamilton Jazzmaster, I like the looks of the Citizens at about $150 as much as the Hamiltons at about $350 and I could absolutely live with it and probably forget about how much I like the looks of the more pricey Jazzmaster pretty quickly. Is the quality difference between a $150 Citizen and a $430 Hamilton significant enough to make it worth the cash outlay or are they likely closer in quality than the cost difference would imply, i.e. a difference due to volume & manufacturing costs from a bigger company to a small maker? I don't care about "status" over function. Part of me leans toward the Citizen and then taking some old family leather goods and paying a leather making friend $50 to cut a custom strap from it so I have something with a unique personal tie...still coming in under budget overall. That's something I'd hold off on doing if I bought the over-budget Jazzmaster (whose strap I don't really love but could live with for a while). Any insight into the actual quality difference between the two brands?
Dapper Dan wrote:
There are plenty of watches in that price range that are nice looking and reliable. Best thing to do is narrow down your selection....mechanical (automatic), regular quartz, or quartz with self charging (Seiko kinetic/Citizen Ecodrive, etc, or solar). All have their advantages and drawbacks...although I would say on paper there are really no positives to buying a mechanical movement...you just have to want it. Then decide the style (dress watch, diver, pilot, etc) and what features you'd like...date, day, stopwatch, GMT, etc. Once you have that narrowed down you will probably find several manufacturers offering something comparable and you can shop on price and looks. I'd avoid any plated finishes (gold, black, etc) as these are thin in this price range and will quickly wear off. Any of the Japanese brands make high quality watches in that price range. Try to buy in person if possible - I've found it is hard to get the look and feel for a watch over the internet - a slight difference in weight or thickness can mean a lot.