I would prefer a leather band over a stainless steel but doesn't really matter to me. Was looking at some Seiko 5 Watches and Mondaine brand as well. Any suggestions?
seiko 5's are great. you can also score some nice ESQ watches on ebay for under 300. And if you watch for a good sale at Macy's you can usually get a citizen eco drive for about 200
heard good things about Orient watches. Japanese made with in-house automatic movements. http://orientwatchusa.com/ Also try Christopher Ward UK for swiss automatic in the 300-400 range. You might also be able to find a Hamilton Khaki in that price range.
If you are going that cheap then I would find some stylist watches rather than looking for one that is half decent. Buy a swatch watch, and look online at ebay and find some cool watches. 300.00 is just not enough to get real quality. If you double that you can get you a basic movado museum dial watch. It is a great and stylish.
I've always had a problem losing watches, or scratching them. Finally I just started getting all my watches in Chinatown. They're all fake, but the leather bands are real leather. I would be about 5 at a time, and they would average a year or two, until I lost it or scratched it somehow.
Skagen hands down. Get the titanium ultra thin chain linked band. I have one and am constantly getting complemented on it. Sometimes more than once in a week. You will love it. If you want something a little more expensive. You can't go wrong with a classy and simple movado. The luno, juro, fiero are all good choices
Or you could always go with this baby: http://www.amazon.com/Zenith-96-0529-4035-Tourbillon-Titanium-Chronograph/dp/B001K3IXW8/ref=sr_1_1?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1309844383&sr=1-1 That thing will allow you to time travel, teleport, and explore all kinds of out-of-world phenomena. Read the review comments at the bottom for more detail
I have a Casio Pathfinder Atomic/Solar-powered titanium watch with compass, barometer, altimeter with ascent/descent memory, thermometer, water resistant to 100 meters, 5 alarms, 24 time zones, countdown timer, stopwatch, autolight, and more. Best watch I have ever owned. Never have to set the time or change the battery and the titanium is so far indestructible... and I've banged it pretty hard on occasion. Just about every wildland firefighter with a little experience has some version of a Casio atomic/solar watch. If I was going to get a new one, I'd probably get the PAW1500T-7V which also has tide and moon data. You can pick them up for $250 or less if you look in the right places.
Another vote for an Eco Drive, those things are bulletproof. Even the ones without sapphire crystal don't scuff up that badly. The Seiko Kinetics look like they have a pretty cool movement too. Should even be some sexy titanium in that range.
You haven't indicated what style of watch you are interested in: dressy, casual, dive watch, metal case or plastic, etc. If you are interested in new watches, then those suggested already (Citizen, Seiko 5, Orient, Swatch, and I will add Fossil) all can be had under your budget. I also like and have G-Shocks but they are really casual and you have to be OK with an all plastic watch and strap. If you like the Seiko 5's you can also find the Seiko "Monster" dive watches for under $300. A really solid watch, available with either a rubber strap or metal bracelet. The Citizen EcoDrives are all really nice watches... I have their "minute repeater" model and it looks great on the metal bracelet and on a leather strap. If you are willing to buy an used watch, you will open the door to better quality watches. You should be able to find very good Hamilton Khaki watches with leather straps. You can also find a used Seiko "Sumo" dive watch (sold normally into the Japanese watch market... they are extremely durable, accurate, and well-made). You can also find nicer Seiko dress watches like the Seiko "Spirit". Good places to look at used watches for sale include: www.timezone.com ; www.pmwf.com (Poor Man's Watch Forum) and www.watchuseek.com have very good watch sales and you'd be safer than simply trying craigslist or ebay. I have purchased a number of watches through these sites and haven't had any problems with the watches or transactions. If you go this route, you can get more rare or unusual watches. For example, you can get Russian made watches like the Strela that will be extremely reliable and will get lots of comments.
There are some decent Tissot's at that price range. Can't go wrong with a Swiss watch. I've been eyeing this one http://www.amazon.com/Tissot-T04941...TF8&coliid=I18LQLE9MQPVCS&colid=3GCKZR5PZV8CN. I have a Movado 800 series Chronograph, which is a fantastic watch. It's a sporty watch with the classiness of a Movado. I've seen this watch without Chronograph for as low as $350 on some retail stores (Sam's, Costco)
I really prefer something either casual or dressy but nothing plastic or dive (pricey). Just something that stands out and out of the ordinary. The Seiko 5's I can get some for 60 bucks on Amazon looked really nice for value/price. Really like the Fossil FS4310 but can't seem to find it even used. Plus, I'll definitely consider that Skagen titanium watch as Amazon has for only about 80 dollars (got $150 in gift cards at Amazon). This was Mondaine Retro Big Day Date I could get for about $180
How do you feel about skeleton watches? It's mostly automatic so it could get kind of annoying, but Stuhrling Originals have some really nice eye-catching ones. I have this one http://www.amazon.com/Stuhrling-Ori...W1N8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1309872082&sr=8-9
ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/Mans-OMEGA-SEAM...ristwatches&hash=item25653a16ad#ht_2597wt_936 - vintage Omega http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...sPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en#ht_6296wt_1170 - vintage Breitling http://cgi.ebay.com/Movado-Two-Tone...istwatches&hash=item2a12051e87#ht_7485wt_1170 - Movado http://cgi.ebay.com/Tag-Heuer-Formu...ristwatches&hash=item231227485a#ht_500wt_1185 - Tag Heuer
