Try one of the mode dedicated forums like www.watchuseek.com. Some pointers- Mechanical watches requires periodic maintenance, it can get to 500$ every 5 year

Try one of the mode dedicated forums like www.watchuseek.com. Some pointers- Mechanical watches requires periodic maintenance, it can get to 500$ every 5 years. A movement is the watch's heart, many times different watches share the same movement. Some of the characteristics of a movement are manual vs automatic winding, power reserve for automatics (how many hours or days can it tick without winding it), functionality like day, date or second time zone. Accuracy can be slightly adjusted by a watchmaker and other methods but it tends to be much worse than digital watches- COSC certified watches, and those are not cheap, are allowed −4/+6 seconds per day. Water resistance and design are important, for example some diver watches have screw down crowns. Display backs are a thing, a transparent back showing the mechanism inside. The type of glass or crystal will influence the price and scratch resistance, from just glass, through hardened glass (Seiko have some for example) to Sapphire with anti reflex coatings. I am afraid that the really "cool" watches are out of your budget, but OTOH this is a nice budget for good watch.