I started my watch journey a couple years ago when my Casio Pathfinder started acting up on me. It was my wife's fault, really. My only criteria was something durable that I could read at night without my glasses. She said, "Why don't you get a watch with hands on it?" I hadn't really ever considered such a thing, since I had worn digital watches since I was a kid. I had some time on my hands, so I started up the Google and down the rabbit hole I went.
I was vaguely aware of quartz vs automatic watches, but didn't really know the pros/cons of each. I found Marc of Long Island Watch, and the little dude with the greasy hair and pencil mustache on YouTube. Lots of good information there, which led me to the WatchUSeek forums. Wow! These people must really have a problem. They are just watches after all, and a $20 digital from WalMart would do everything their $1000+++ wrist candy would do. But it was so compelling that I dug further.
The first analog watch I came across that I almost bought was an SKX007. I thought the James Bond 007 thing was cool, and I was living in Hawaii doing a lot of diving at the time. A dive watch made sense. I didn't really care for the blue and red of the SKX009, but I couldn't find any 007's in stock for a reasonable cost ($200 was my limit). I moved along and ended up buying a Citizen BN0150 Eco-Drive. Nice watch, but it didn't really fit that well, and the strap was awful. On top of that, I really wanted the day feature on the dial, which the Citizen didn't have. I sent it back to Joma and went back to the drawing board.
Since those first days, I've had Seiko Turtles, Trasers, multiple Citizens, Marathons, Precistas, Dagaz'zz, MKII, CWCs, and NTHs. I did find a beat up SKX007 a few months back that I refurbished and flipped, and then went off on a Marathon kick. The SKX stayed in my thoughts, however...
So about a month ago I sold the two CWC quartzes and the two Marathon autos that I had, and bought a brand new SKX007. After a coupon code from Joma, it was around $180 shipped with the jangly jubilee bracelet. The date on it is July 2018, so it's minty fresh (rumors of Seiko discontinuing them are greatly exaggerated). The day I ordered it, I also ordered an Uncle Seiko Waffle, which IMO is the perfect strap for this watch (unless Scurfa comes out with a 22mm, please, please!). So why after all of the chasing around did I circle back and go with my first instinct?
It's cheap. It's durable. It's no-frills simple. It has a day and date. The lume is amazing. The bezel action is perfect. Parts are available everywhere. I appreciate the automatic movement, but I'm a bit OCD. Being able to hack a movement to the second kind of messes with me and I'm always checking it. I like that I can just twirl the hands around to within a minute or so of the actual time, and forget about it. I like that it doesn't hand wind. I've had a couple ETA 2824-2's that didn't like hand winding and someone had messed up the reversing gear. K.I.S.S. The simple auto movement is kind of soothing to me. When I wear a quartz, I'm always checking to see if the 2nd hand lines up, and of course obsessing about the accuracy.
The whole saga wasn't in vain though. I learned how to maintain an auto, and can do almost all the work by myself. I've regulated ETA's, Miyotas, and a couple of the Seiko calibers successfully with just an iPhone app and a toothpick. I can replace crystals, gaskets, bezels/inserts, hands and dials now. I'll likely leave this SKX stock, but I know if I gouge it or want to change it at some point that I can with my $50 or so in simple tools. BTW, this watch is incredibly accurate. I haven't even opened it up. I timed it for a full 7 days when I got it, and it came in at -1.55sec/day. For a $180 watch that I don't have to worry about, I'm pretty happy.
Some day when I'm an empty nester, maybe I'll sell off a rifle (if we're still allowed to do such things) and get a nice Rolex or Tudor, but until then I'm pretty happy with my beater SKX.