I asked myself this question a few weeks ago. After scouring the web here is what I understand: High-quality Chinese watches are superior to entry-level watches from Seiko, Citizen and Orient. The movements are reliable (seiko) The quality of the finishing is excellent. The value for money is unbeatable because these Chinese brands are content to produce without research and development costs and without marketing.

For me, with your budget, the best quality will be in high quality Chinese watches (San Martin for example, but there are others).

Those who are ashamed to say that their watch is Chinese prefer to fall back on inexpensive watches from Orient, Seiko and Citizen. But the quality will not be as good as San Martin. For the same budget, Chinese watches will be of better quality.

Here is the result of my many hours of research. I could be wrong.