I agree with Blue Jays. For the price range you're looking at, the Seiko Automatic Dive Watches are one of the best deals going. Quartz movements are more accurate, but for approx the last 15-20 years, Seiko has been using a cheaper quartz movement with plastic gears. Prior to this, they used movements with metal gears. I have a couple of older quartz Seikos, that are over 20 years old and still work.
The Seiko Automatic Dive watches have METAL gears and should last a LONG time. They have a great reputation. Mine are not as accurate as a quartz watch, though. But, for the price, I think they are one of the best looking sports watches out there and one of the most rugged and durable.
Unfortunately, most of the watch companies using quartz movements are using the Japanese mechanisms, with plastic gears. And the Swiss Army Watches aren't what they used to be, either.
I think Bulova currently has some models, using a Swiss quartz movement, so that's something to look into. If I was going to buy a quartz watch and was going to spend more than about $50-60 for it, I would jump up to something with one of the better Swiss quartz movements. A benefit to a quartz watch in the $50-$60 range (such as a Casio, etc.), is they keep perfect time and when they quit working, you can just throw them away and buy another. A quartz watch WILL need servicing periodically - called a "CLA" - (Clean, Lubricate and Adjustment). The interval is usually around 2-5 years, depending on the watch. These CLAs, depending on where it is done, can range in price around $45-$75. I had a watch that required it every two years. With a less expensive quartz watch, you can just toss the watch and buy another for the price of a CLA.
Automatic watches need periodic CLAs too, but it is usually less frequent. Sometimes it's a LONG time between CLAs, depending on the watch. The Seiko Automatic Dive watches don't need the CLAs very often.
On the other hand, my wife has a Seiko quartz (with metal gears) that I gave her around 15 years ago that still runs like a champ and it has only had ONE CLA. Go figure. My father has a Seiko quartz that is probably about 15 years old and I don't know if he has ever had a CLA done.
Of course, there are tons of watches out there and it's easy to go overboard with them, but in the $200 range, I chose the Seiko. (And I'm specifying the AUTOMATIC Seiko Dive watches, because their quartz Dive watches are not as good. They have also had a lot of problems with their "Kinetic" watches. These are not the same as the automatic watches.)
Sorry for the rambling - it's 2:45 in the morning...
