If you are open to an automatic, I would highly recommend looking at Christopher Ward. The C60 Trident is a fantastic watch and keeps great time. They have a sale in July that generally offers 30% off select watches.

If you definitely want quartz, take a look at Marathon.

+1 on Christopher Ward. They are a lovely watch brand with IMO THE best customer service in the business. Their 60 month warranty is also superb. I’ve had to use their warranty and I can tell you from my many experiences with various watch manufacturers only Zelos comes close to the high caliber of customer care provided by Christopher Ward. Put simply they place a tremendous amount of attention on their customers and making them happy.

My warranty experience was not from anything Christoper Ward did wrong but rather a stupid mistake I made that destroyed my lovely watch case and required a new case.

The C60 Trident started out as a nice, affordable U.K. designed diver with heavy Omega Seamaster influences. Fast forward a bunch of years and many design refreshes to the latest Tridents and the Omega influence/inspired aesthetic is gone. The C60 now draws its inspiration from the silhouette of an Aston Martin as well as establishing its own unique look among the watch world.

This watch was set about 2 months ago and is -2 seconds from atomic time. I can more or less regulate it dead on depending on how I lay it down at night. Quartz would be more accurate sure but it will not come close to providing the joy of ownership as a Valjoux powered automatic C60 Trident Chrono.

It’s a brand I highly recommend looking at.

Thanks guys, for the great suggestions and info.

1. I have some dress watches that I no longer use (very thin and comfortable but no lume and batteries are dead (no solar). They tend to be a little smaller too so harder to read.

2. I have Citizen's - looking for some improvements; some are good but not ideal. But this is the current solar quartz baseline. Looking for something better (dial, lume, size, contrast, etc).

3. I used to use Casio solar waveceptor watches but less satisfied with them than Citizen.

4. The Orient Tanno is my every day watch now. I just also want a solar quartz equivalent. The CW and Tissot automatics all look nice. As do some Seiko's. But I'm more than happy still with the Tanno as my automatic watch. BTW, I have reset time since regulating it. I gain about 5 sec per day while wearing it then lose about 5 sec setting it down at night; sometimes, if I'm not particular active on a given day, I give it some some shakes to advance the time a bit. But other than that, in general, wearing and then setting it down for the night - no adjustments needed.

5. I'll look at non-auto suggestions above. Thanks!

6. Key requirements: excellent lume, clean high contrast face / hands, solar. And then also price and size.

Sounds like Seiko checks all the boxes and will be the one to beat in this price range.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
+1 on Christopher Ward. They are a lovely watch brand with IMO THE best customer service in the business. Their 60 month warranty is also superb. I’ve had to use their warranty and I can tell you from my many experiences with various watch manufacturers only Zelos comes close to the high caliber of customer care provided by Christopher Ward. Put simply they place a tremendous amount of attention on their customers and making them happy.

My warranty experience was not from anything Christoper Ward did wrong but rather a stupid mistake I made that destroyed my lovely watch case and required a new case.

The C60 Trident started out as a nice, affordable U.K. designed diver with heavy Omega Seamaster influences. Fast forward a bunch of years and many design refreshes to the latest Tridents and the Omega influence/inspired aesthetic is gone. The C60 now draws its inspiration from the silhouette of an Aston Martin as well as establishing its own unique look among the watch world.

This watch was set about 2 months ago and is -2 seconds from atomic time. I can more or less regulate it dead on depending on how I lay it down at night. Quartz would be more accurate sure but it will not come close to providing the joy of ownership as a Valjoux powered automatic C60 Trident Chrono.

It’s a brand I highly recommend looking at.

I LIKE that! I'll be putting my name on one next week. even though they seem not to be made in England any more, according to the dealer.

Tacfoly, much like the world my friend they are 100% designed in the U.K. and manufactured in Switzerland & China BUT when mine had to be repaired the entire thing was rebuild in the U.K. How do I know this? Because Christopher Ward is one of the companies that keeps you informed on the status of your watch repairs/custom work in a VERY good way.

Tac, you should support this brand and treat yourself. You and I have similar watch taste, we both love the Seiko Willard because of how it punches above its weight class and its history…not to mention its incredibly good looks. This is a brand that will strive to please you. And being U.K. Based they are somewhat unique. My family is from greater London (the other 1/2 is mostly German hence my love of guns ) so it is kind of neat that my favorite watch brand is based in the U.K. AND unlike the vast majority of the micro brands in this subset of thr watch world they pride themselves in quality Swiss made movements.

The watch in that pic above is precisely on atomic time right now down to the second. You couldn’t hope for a better performing watch once you pay the small amount extra to have Christopher Ward’s watch experts fine tune your watch for maximum accuracy. I have a COSC rated Christoper Ward watch and my regulated C60 Chronograph outperforms it in regards to accuracy. That is AWESOME.

It has a Sellita 510 movement which is based on the iconic & robust Valjoux 7733 movement.

I have two Rolex watches, and both of them sit in
a dresser drawer not being used. Instead, I wear
an Apple wristwatch which magically seems to be
connected to the National Bureau of Standards since
it is accurate right to the second. It also measures my pulse rate, checks for potential heart
problems, and countless other bits of information.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael J. Shannon:
I have two Rolex watches, and both of them sit in
a dresser drawer not being used. Instead, I wear
an Apple wristwatch which magically seems to be
connected to the National Bureau of Standards since
it is accurate right to the second. It also measures my pulse rate, checks for potential heart
problems, and countless other bits of information.

Send them to me. I will provide them would good care and comfort. They can visit with the two I own. Thx. Oh, a good cheap watch is either a Sako or a Casio. Dave T. can hook you up.

I am a fan of VAER watches, check out the
D4 Atlantic
20ATM USA Solar Diver

I wear a D7 almost everyday and it's been a really great watch.

quote:

Originally posted by Calif Phil:
I am a fan of VAER watches, check out the
D4 Atlantic
20ATM USA Solar Diver

I wear a D7 almost everyday and it's been a really great watch.

Quick glance - looks like a nice suggestion. I'll look more closely later. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Michael J. Shannon:
I have two Rolex watches, and both of them sit in
a dresser drawer not being used. Instead, I wear
an Apple wristwatch which magically seems to be
connected to the National Bureau of Standards since
it is accurate right to the second. It also measures my pulse rate, checks for potential heart
problems, and countless other bits of information.

I'll never understand this.

I have lots of solar watches.

If you’re interested in higher-quality versions of what you’ve had, check out the higher lines of Citizen, Seiko, and Casio.

Casio Oceanus and Seiko Astron are worth checking out.

Look at the Casio Oceanus OCW-T200S. Highly recommended.

I'm having some difficulty finding an authorized Seiko dealer with whom I could inquire about price and availability for what seems to be a new watch model.

I haven't decided yet, there are still a few good contenders in the running. But I found this model on what I think is a Seiko global website (not found on the Seiko USA website).

Perhaps it's right under my nose, but I can't seem to determine who online authorized Seiko dealers are.

https://www.seikowatches.com/g...ducts/prospex/sne587

This checks alot of your boxes...lume is maybe a tad bit lacking (if its really that critical)...




The Citizen Bj7094-59l Promaster Land Watch is another possible candidate.

Lum-tec also has multiple solars:

https://lum-tec.com/collections/vortex-solar


The previous suggestion about the Garmin is also solid. You can find a new Fenix 6 for under $350 and change watch faces to any of multiple configurations with ease...from digi to analog...change an array of colors, etc. If you're not running it full blast (GPS), you throw it on the charger overnight ever couple of weeks and you're G2G.

Boss

I have the Citizen Pro Diver. Great watch but the lum fades quickly. I'm currently wearing a Marathon TSAR. Lum is tritium tubes so they last 25 years. Not solar. At 800 dollars its at the top of your price range. Having wore both I'd choose the Marathon every time. Can't tell you why. That's just me.

I have some experience with the Seiko solar watches. They are tough, reliable and accurate. I’ve had a SCC017 for about 8 or 9 years. It was my daily watch until about 2 years ago. My only gripe was the date window. The face of the watch is the solar cell so it is thicker. The date window is very tiny. This creates shadows on date that make it difficult to read unless your light is directly overhead. The bezel is not as sharp now and turns if it is bumped - but it was worn and used everyday.

Best advice is to try to see one in person before you buy. Good luck.

I’ve had good luck with an Aristo. I have a quartz powered model. Flieger type. 3H80 pilot watch. Excellent time keeper.

I like Bertucci Field Watches.

Great luminosity. Got one from my wife engraved with my initials. Very comfy with some sporty features. I like it.

https://www.bertucciwatches.co...4TSYIlluminated.html

Thanks all - still looking at all the suggestions and trying to decide.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Perhaps it's right under my nose, but I can't seem to determine who online authorized Seiko dealers are.

I can't address the online thing for you, konata, but I'd gladly share info for my [relatively] local authorized dealer if you'd like. Stickman can vouch: she (her store) takes good care of us.

quote:

Originally posted by JimmyRayBob:
I also like something with clean, high contrast face. Easy to read as the eyes get a little older.

I found a brand out of Australia called Panzera. Nice looking watches, $3-400 (after the easy 40% discount). Panzera Watches

Downside - not solar. If that's a dealbreaker, read no further.

Most are automatic - but they have some battery powered quartz watches also.

I ordered one a few weeks ago - it took about 10 days to arrive. Nice, solid watch. The lume is just OK. I bought an extra watchband which was easy to change.

I know this only ticks off a few of your boxes, but I think they are good looking watches.

Best of luck.

I have a Panzera Flieger and its been pretty awesome, lume is nice and lasts all night. I forget the exact price but it was under 350.