If you’re looking for a beautiful, prestigious watch at a reasonable price, there’s little reason to look past the mid-century Omegas. The Constellation and Seamaster models from the 50s and 60s are beautiful, elegant, carry a well-regarded brand name and frequently sell for as little as $300-500. Try searching the buy and sell areas of WatchUSeek or TimeZone, the fora for watch nerds, or take a chance on eBay. You can also buy from a trusted local dealer, though there’s likely to be a 30-50% markup over internet prices.
The end result? For less than the price of a lot of fashion brands’ quartz watches from the deparment store, you can have a beautiful, classic timepiece from one of the best names in watches.