Long time construction guy, new watch guy. My 2 cents for whatever it’s worth is the two things you should be looking for is 1) sapphire crystal and 2) bracelet.

Anything with a strap looks cheap right outta the box in my opinion, but they wear fast when you’re rubbing your arms on rough shit all day and it’ll look like trash in a suite. For the crystal I’ve beaten the shit out of 2 watches and I’ve only owned them for about 4 months. I bought a “flame fusion” crystal which is supposed to be sapphire over crystal and I wish i would’ve just bought sapphire because my shits whooped already.

I know a microbrand may have a longer wait but I think clemence watches make a perfect combo of durable and classy, and that’s what I intend to buy next.

Automatic watches have a bit of a learning curve. For most that may be a turn off, for a guy that builds and tinkers for a living it may be a positive. You’d know bettter than me what gizmos your dad likes to geek out on.

An easier alternative in a similar price range you could buy fast on Amazon would be an alpina AL-240SS4E6B.

These will at least give you an idea of features and looks you can look around and compare on. Asking about types of watches is like asking guys what truck brand is the best. You’ll get lots of opinions but they’re all basically pretty equal in value, it depends on what quirks and heritage appeal to you personally

God bless Invicta for making some of the ugliest watches known to man so we can pick from the rest of their collection for dirt cheap. I picked up a 9937 for 220 usd. That’s basically the same price as the sellita movement in it. Invicta fucks.