I have seen some really great watches here but not much on ones that you have to wind . I thought that i was done wearing one but i find myself missing having one . I have mostly owned diving watches in the past i have sold all of them off . Looking to go real simple this time i am aware of the Marathon Military field watch . Is there something similar out there without the higher price ? Would like but dont have to have the luminuos feature water resistant is fine . Not a fan of steel bands and would like not to spend more than $ 100.00. Does a watch like this exist ?
There is a big range of mechanical watches out there and people get just as fanatical about collecting watches as they do collecting knives.
You can get plenty of good mechanical watches with some water resistance for under $100. You might not want to actually dive with them but you could probably swim with them or wear them while washing your car without much risk.
First of all there are mechanical watches that you wind, called "hand wind", and there are watches that wind themselves while you wear them due to the inertia of a little weight inside of the watch, these are called "automatics". Most inexpensive watches will have a power reserve capacity of around 40 hours so with an automatic you have to wear it frequently or it runs down. You can even buy electric powered winders that you set the watch on when you aren't wearing it and the rotation of the winder keeps the watch wound.
Second, just like with knives, you have to buy your watches the right way. If you walk into the mall jewelry store you will pay a lot for a watch. If you find internet sellers you will do better, but for best prices you either buy used or you buy from asian sellers on online auctions. And there are plenty of used watches being sold every day among enthusiasts because watch enthusiasts are even more fickle than knife enthusiasts and they trade frequently.
Third, there are a few brands that use tritium tubes on their dials. Luminox is one of the most popular. I'm not aware of any very inexpensive mechanical watches with tritium tubes but there may be some. I have a couple of Luminox watches that I really like. Most dive watches use a luminous paint that absorbs light and then glows in the dark for some time. Good luminous paint will glow much brighter than tritium tubes, at least for an hour or two. Tritium tubes will glow the same for years.
Fourth, many watches come with metal bracelets but the watches that most watch enthusiasts go for have the ability to use a variety of bracelets or straps. Straps are available in various leathers, rubber and nylon. Rubber and nylon are suitable for diving and outdoor activities. The better nylon straps are the NATO and ZULU styles, James Bond was wearing his Rolex dive watch on a NATO strap in one of the early 007 movies. There are some watch styles that come with integrated bracelets and the bracelets can't be switched out for something else. These types of watches are the ones that you find mostly at department stores and jewelry stores. I don't see very many inexpensive watches with integrated bracelets that watch enthusiasts are interested in but there are a few.
For inexpensive automatic watches I would recommend Seiko, Citizen and Orient. You can find good models from them for $100 if you search carefully. The better Seikos are more expensive but the Seiko 5 line is a very good value and many of them are priced under $100.
There are a lot of good online watch forums- pmwf.com, seiko-citizen watch forum, timezone.com, watch you seek, etc.
At one time I had a collection of 6 or 8 mechanical watches, none of which cost more than about $110. I've moved to a few more expensive watches now.
Here is a variety:
