[ngd]

I've been wearing a Casio F-91W for a number of years now and it really is a joy. It's always there, and it always works.

I've gone down the rabbit hole with expensive time pieces but they become a burden / obligation rather than a tool - especially as the prices of certain pieces in the secondary market have gone so high - so over time I've reverted back to much cheaper watches and find myself getting more joy out of the cheaper & much better value for money brands.

Very occasionally I'll take it off in favour of a dress watch for a special event but otherwise I just wear it all the time, knowing that if it finally fails I'm looking at $10 to replace.

[kqr]

I agree on all points, except I prefer my watches mechanical, rather than electronic.

So I got one of the cheapest Seiko automatic watches. Being mechanical it's obviously going to cost more and keep time much less accurately than a quartz watch. Other than that, I identify with your comment.

The cheap automatic Seiko is always there, and it always works. Don't have to worry about putting it away and then needing to replace its battery – it has no battery. I can bang it about and while I'm sure it might break at some point with the way I treat it, it won't be too painful to get another one.

It's no-frills, keeps the time as accurately as I need it to, and doesn't take a lot of space on my wrist. Couldn't be happier.

[ilamont]

Citizen is another Japanese watchmaker and the eco-drive solar technology has been around for about 30 years.

You can get a low-end Citizen Eco-Drive for about $100, sometimes even less on sale. Solar powered, very durable, and they look great. Most are water resistant as well.

I've had one model running continuously for 11 years. I love never having to charge it or change the battery.

[officeplant]

My roommate is a watch collector and made me almost buy an eco-drive watch so many times. I really like the idea of them, but after not wearing a watch for 20 years it just feels uncomfortable to wear one. PDAs and cellphones ruined my ability to wear watches.

[q-base]

I can only chime in and support this claim about Citizen. I have had one of their Eco-drive models for about 15 years now and it has had months in drawers or laying on shelves not being used, but it has never stopped working. I am so impressed with that watch!

[Tarsul]

yes, I love mine too. However, after a very dark december mine stopped (and I was very confused by it ;)). Had to put it on the window sill for a few days for it to work again.

My personal advice for anyone looking would be the following triumvirate: solar ("eco-drive"), sapphire glass (never mineral glass!), radio controlled. It just works - you don't have to do anything ever again (except maybe if you have a december like me...).

[snicky]

Recently, I bought another watch that fits your description + it's absolutely gorgeously looking - Casio Oceanus T200. It's a dress watch with a mesmerizing dial and a beautiful case with some superb polishing that is done in the same factory where they produce cases for Grand Seiko. As an additional gimmick you also get Bluetooth - the watch can connect with your phone every night and seemlessly adjust the time, so it's basically always spot on. They sell it in Japan for around 400$.

[nikau]

I recall reading that the radio time signal is being decommissioned in the us

[jhbadger]

There was a proposal in 2018 to do so (as the argument was GPS was a better alternative), but there was enough outcry by people with radio watches/clocks as well as industrial equipment that uses the signal to delay the shutdown for the foreseeable future.

[shimonabi]

I accidentally damaged the spring on the balance wheel while adjusting my Seiko 5. I then bought a new Chinese NH36 movement for 30$, which can also be wound by hand and is hacking (movement stops when adjusting). I also had to transplant the dial/day dial and get a new crown.

I love mechanical watches and would definetely be a watchmaker if I was born before the quartz revolution.

[hanklazard]

Yes, the “auto-only” base Seiko movement is pretty annoying, if you’re not wearing it everyday. For anyone who hasn’t experienced one, imagine that when you want to wind your watch, you have to turn it dial up in your hand and rotate the whole watch for 30 seconds (the so-called seiko shake) such that you spin the rotor inside.

I ended up swapping my SKX movement out for a hacking / hand-winding movement too, much better.

[spicybright]

That sounds terrible lol. And then you have to find some other clock to reset it after you rotate it. Is 30 seconds always enough? I'd be nervous of it running slow.

[hanklazard]

Yeah, it was just annoying enough to cause me to learn how to do surgery on my watch. It’s the only downside of [some of the] low-end Seiko’s.

30 secs was usually enough for me, but depends on how active you are afterwards—-if just typing at a desk, you’d probably have to do the shake longer than that.

Edit: actually answered the question

[kqr]

I thought it would be annoying, but for me it's not been a big deal. i wiggle it a little on my way to the bathroom in the morning and then it's fine.

Also it's something I only have to do when I haven't worn it in a few days, so there's a limit to how much of it you have to do. (Worst case is if you wear the watch for one day every three days or something. Any less or more wearing and you have to wiggle it less often.)

[puddingshop]

Where did you get a NH36 for $30?

[shimonabi]

On Aliexpress. I bought it in May, 2020.

I guess they are more expensive now because the sellers must now front the VAT to the customs of EU countries.

[jacquesm]

They're nigh on indestructible, mine is still working after five years of heavy use, working with power tools (including a jackhammer for a bit, because I forgot to take it off, I was pretty sure that it was ruined but it didn't even drop in accuracy).

[LoneWolf]

I had a F-91W for years, I still have it and it still works, but like you I moved to an automatic Seiko 5 (the smallest I could find as my wrist is quite thin), for two reasons I wanted something more good looking, and I didn't want to worry about batteries (although they last years)

[kube-system]

I did the opposite. Wore a Seiko 5 for a while until I got tired of not trusting it, then switched to an F91w. The Seiko is very good for an affordable automatic, but it’s hard to beat a quartz for “it just works”.

[jacquesm]

It sounds like yours needed regulation. Properly regulated you can trust them just fine.

[kube-system]

It wasn't out of spec, I'm just referring to the general weaknesses of automatics. If I spend the weekend doing physical activity where I don't want to wear a watch, Monday morning I'll be resetting my Seiko 5. With my F91w, I can take a long vacation, and spot check a system clock to the second when I get home.

[jacquesm]

Ah, I see, that's what you mean with reliability. Ok. I wear mine pretty much all the time so that's the reason I'd never have that problem. I thought you meant accuracy. Thanks for the clarification.

[falcolas]

On the note of cheap automatic watches, Starking is shockingly good (and good looking) for a $60 automatic watch. It has a lot of issues when put under a microscope, but it's accurate enough for daily wear.

[EamonnMR]

Luckily Casio makes a gold-colored version for special occasions.

[cunidev]

In all honesty, the gold Casio doesn't look bad at all with a dress

[spicybright]

You're definitely right! Although when I get mildy dressed up I'll still rock the black strap lol

https://www.ebay.com/itm/274335788294

Rose gold looks awesome here.

[_tik_]

I am wearing one. Switched from smartwatch. A silver colored version is nice looking too

[coldtea]

Pro tip: Casio F-105W-1A. 95% the same as F-91W, but with an actual working backlight.

(The "square" models, e.g. DW-5600 are also quite cheap and even better functionality wise, though a tad more expensive).

[walrus01]

> I've gone down the rabbit hole with expensive time pieces but they become a burden / obligation rather than a tool

If you want something that looks nice and is a Casio, search "casio edifice" on ebay, used, you can find many good watches under $100.

randomly chosen example

https://www.ebay.com/itm/192205400394?epid=19011028556&hash=...

[ngd]

That's a cool recommendation. Thank you!

Like many others on here have noted, there are some really nice Seikos and Casios that look great, keep fantastic time and won't break the bank.

I am not a completely reformed addict though in this regard, as I do have a handful of Seikos and Casios, and recently picked up a Serica 4512 as my dressy / special occasions watch.

One thing I've realised about this world and "collecting" in general is there is nothing wrong with trying things out and refining your collection / process as you learn more about yourself and what you get out of it all.

I've learned that the more traditional expensive time pieces are just more of a headache then I care to bare. A Rolex or Patek sitting in a safe because you're stressed about using it, scratching it or getting robbed just isn't worth it for me personally. No judgement passed on what other people do or don't do with their stuff though! If a Patek in a safe brings you joy, all power to you!

[walrus01]

What I have found is that if you look carefully, good condition watches from the edifice series (there must be 200 models by now) occasionally show up at $35-45 per piece. I even found a few original waveceptors which will receive the US WWVB time broadcast for automatic time synchronization over long wavelength radio.

I cannot even imagine wearing a watch with more than a hundred bucks, because I'm clumsy and will inevitably hit it on some hard surface and scratch it.

[dogline]

I think I've had that, but the wristband is _so_heavy_.

[jacquesm]

Unfortunately my eyes are so bad now that when I'm nog wearing glasses I can't read the display on the Casios, so instead I got a Seiko '5', an old fashioned mechanical watch that keeps fairly accurate time and has a normal dial that I can read easily without glasses. It's an automatic, nothing to wind and no batteries to replace. I'm super happy with it, have it for about five years now and it looks as good as new in spite of wearing it every day, rain or shine (or mud, grease, sandpaper and so on).

[MegaDeKay]

I got an F-91W in April for those times when I am banging around and don't want to risk messing up my beloved Casio 6510BC. I set the time on the F-91W when I got it and it has only drifted off 21 seconds in that time. That is impressively accurate for a $20 CAD watch.

[kqr]

> it has only drifted off 21 seconds in that time

Quartz watches are really magic in terms of keeping time. We take it for granted, but it's insane how accurate they are.

Watch accuracy was a big deal before quartz-based watches, because it was really hard to construct watches that kept time with the accuracy required for celestial navigation etc. Sufficiently accurate watches are a whole separate category, called chronometer. There are certification institutes that put watches through internationally standardised thorough testing to check whether the watch truly conforms to the chronometer label.

Even the cheapest quartz watch will pass the chronometer tests with ample margins. It's not even a fair fight.

[foxfluff]

> Casio 6510BC

What's this?

[CraigJPerry]

Typo i think, 5610 is a really popular gshock

[MegaDeKay]

Yes, thanks. That was indeed a typo. 5610BC is the 5610 with negative display and "combi" polymer-steel bracelet.

[marban]

I buy one every year or so I go to Japan purely on impulse but in reality, there are hardly any occasions for me to use such sandwich products when the decision is between an Apple Watch as the daily driver and a Tag Heuer for a night out.

[DiggyJohnson]

I think there's not a whole lot of discussion going on whether Apple Watch powerusers would prefer a Casio.

Not to say you were implying this in the first place, though I think the point is relevant.

[criddell]

If you stop thinking about the Apple Watch as a watch and more as a data collection and display device, maybe dual-wristing would be an option?

It's not that unusual to see people out with a watch on one wrist and a fitness device on the other wrist.

[t0mas88]

I used a Tag Heuer Carrera as a watch for many years. Accuracy isn't perfect, but you adjust it maybe once every few months, so it also isn't an issue. And I really liked the see-through kind of mechanics and the strap.

But then came the Apple Watch, and now I wear that every day. It's a bit more convenient, tracks health data I like and is around 1/10th the price of a nice watch. The latter also means I don't take it off when I go to the playground or jump in the pool. There were some scratches on my previous Apple Watch, but before that really becomes an issue you want to buy a new model anyway for the extra features and better battery life. So in practical use I like it more than a "real" watch.

[ngd]

I also found that being able to always reach to my wrist for the time has become a habit and when I tried an Apple watch that was scuppered by the off wrist charging so like you say, I treat that right wrist as the "data collection" wrist, which for the last few years has been home to a heart rate and HRV monitor.