I personally like the look of the Citizen eco-drive watches and their convenience since they don't need batteries. I just bought my mom one this Christmas for casual wear. They're water resistant so it's fine to swim with them as well.
In that price range there are a lot of quartz watches that you can find, but i am personally a big fan of mechanical watches for the craftmanship that goes into them. A good mechanical watch in that price range is the well known (in the watch community that is.) Seiko orange monster. It is more of a sports watch so you might think it is not appropriate when you go more formal though. TIP: Get it on steel, the metal bracelet can compete with the best, the quality of it is awesome. this watch goes for around 150 dollars but seeing as it is becoming a bit of a collectible in the community it might be up to 180 now (btw don't make any illusions, you are not making money off of watches by buying collectibles unless you are buying some rare 60s rolexes or something.)
There is a lot of information about all sorts of watches in all sorts of price ranges. another tip is to go over to there affordable watch section. Do note that this is a forum aimed at mechanicals mostly as the quartz watches are basically boring.
NOTE: Do not buy a mechanical watch if you are very concerned about accuracy, they are accurate to like 10 seconds/ day deviation at that price range while a 20 dollar timex will get you like 10 seconds a week or a month. It's a romantic thing and it's about the craftmanship / engineering behind it.
EDIT: I just remembered another watch that fits your demands, it's a hommage to the IWC Portuegese chrono. This watch is the parnis .
Video review:
note: i have read in reviews about this watch that the rotor of the automatic in this watch can be loud, something to consider. think this watch sells for around 80 or so dollars. not sure on that, you would have to search around watchuseek some more or just google it.
On January 04 2011 09:47 PizzaParty wrote: Have been wearing this one for over 5 years.
I received this one this summer as a gift, I wear it mainly on special occasions.
I think the first one is great if you're trying to dress down your button down shirt. I can see that with a rolled up shirt, jeans, and some nice shoes. It'd look great as something to wear in the summer to a club or bar.
On January 04 2011 09:18 LazyMacro wrote: How do you know what "goes" with your clothing? >.>
Depends what the clothing is, as per OP " I'm wanting to get a good looking one to wear with good button up shirts when I roll up my sleeves." Which means hes primarily looking for a dress watch, which should have a silver band or a gold band, with the glass face having hands instead of digital numbers. Clothing wise, he should wear it with more formal wear like slacks and button up shirts.
Casual watches, obviously go with a t-shirt/jean combo or something similar. It should have more of a leather band. Analog or digital is fine, you don't need to stay locked into one.
Sport's watches would be durable, waterproof, and are generally digital. Style isn't as big, but you'll see a lot of people match them to their athletic clothing. IE red strips on track pants = red wristband.
Also if you are getting suited up make damn sure you match colors for black / brown / grey suits. A brown wristband on a black suit sticks out like a sore thumb, and vice versa. Silver and gold are acceptable with almost any suit however.
As a final note, I'm not really an expert on the subject, just picked up various things when buying mine.
That's not exactly true about leather bands. If you notice the Movado posted by Gatsbi has a leather band, but it's a finished leather. You can do leather, crocodile, etc, for a dress watch (work excellently if you know how to match watches to your clothes), but they can't be raw like the Nixon quoted above. Still, a silver metal band makes it much easier to match with things.
Definitely make sure it's a mechanical one, they are so awesome. I have one by Seiko, and it's epic, got it for my birthday, but I'm sure they're fairly cheap.
I have a few suggestions, most are well within your price range. Basically, you have to decide what kind of watch you want. Start by deciding whether you want:
1. Quartz or Automatic. If you don't care, then skip this. The main difference is that Automatic watches don't require batteries or manual winding. They wind with your hand movements. Quartz requires you to change the batteries every couple of years, but are usually way more precise (automatics in this price range will give you +/- 5-20 seconds daily). The other downside of Automatics is that they're a bit more fragile. There are more moving parts to break, but in 90% of the cases that's not an issue.
2. Type There are thousands of watches out there, but if you'll look in any store you'll see which attract you more. - Classy: Not necessarily expensive, but simple and "slim". I would suggest you look into Orient, Casio, or even more expensive brands like Tissot. These are good brands because they have quality mechanics, and that matters a lot in a watch. The Orient Mako blue is one of my favorites in this category:
Believe me, the color of that dial is AWESOME. You have to see it in real life. It's a watch that costs only about $130 but looks and feels like it costs much more. Also comes in other colors but the blue is epic sweet (so is the orange, but less classy).
- Diver: I know you probably don't do diving, but there's a category of watch-lovers called desk divers. I like a lot of these watches as well, it's the design that's bulky and somewhat manly. A good example is the Seiko Monster (orange watch, a few posts above). It's a great watch, but it's really bulky. And weighs a lot too. It won't look great with suits but it fits casual just right. Also, most divers have epic lumen (glow-in-the-dark), so that's a plus in my book. A smaller, more stylish version would be the Seiko SRP043K1-1
- Sporty These are the Swatches and other such brands. They're not 100% classy but not really bulky either. They go nice with certain shirts but usually not with suits. I would recommend Swatch in this area.
- Hardcore Casio G-Shock. If you're gonna rough it up, there are few other options out there. I prefer the G-shock because of their tremendous ability to take beatings. You can search youtube for frozen g-shocks and such. If you want to do sports with it (biking, snowboarding, skiing, etc.) then you either get a solid watch or none at all. No use busting up a good watch. That's about it. Of course there are hundreds of variations, but yeah.
3. Brand Last one. But very important. As I said, you can't go wrong with Orient, Casio, Seiko. I would also recommend Tissot as being one of the cheaper Swiss manufacturers, but you won't find many watches to choose from at your price range. Most start at $230 or so. Swatch is ok, but most of their watches look the same (though I really love the one on the first page, with the changed band). And they're not classy. Other brands in this price range, I haven't really touched, but I have huge confidence in the ones I listed.
My personal opinion: Look into Orient Mako or Mako II. They are great watches that "look" more than you pay for. Also, you have to come back and show us what you got and tiny-review it!
P.S.: The straps aren't that much of an issue. I used to avoid metal straps but the quality ones don't pinch your hair or so, and they're more resistant. I saw very strong leather bands that lasted a lot more than they should have, and i watched silicone bands get treated really rough and survive. And besides, even if it gets ruined, you can always change it. Concentrate more on the watch itself.
P.P.S.: Since you're from the US, you can check out http://www.orientwatchusa.com/ Subscribe to their newsletter or check the site frequently and you'll find a lot of special offers/discounts of up to 50%. Keep an eye on it for a week you might get lucky.
These are in style these days. The stainless-steel skeletal watches. It makes for a good conversation starter if you have no topics in mind. Plus, it runs on wrist movement, so you never have to worry about replacing the battery. Hassle-free. I have an extra one I purchased as a gift this year. If you're interested contact me privately and we can discuss the specifics.