Never had a watch in my life. Before I do a big purchase of thousands of dollars, I want to try something less expensive and see how I like it. I think a stainless chain and “classy” design is what I want. Anything you guys can recommend (or what I should avoid)?
If you are in the US take a look at the officialwatchdeals store on ebay and get a citizen eco-drive you like from there. It’s probably the best watch you can find. They don’t have much stock at the moment since it’s before Christmas but there are still plenty to choose from. Keep in mind the size of you have a small wrist.
This BM6929-56L would be a great everyday watch. It’s super titanium and has a scratch resistant coating + a sapphire crystal.
This AW0100-51A is another option with a more simple design or maybe this more modern/minimal blue dial (has an integrated bracelet and you can’t replace it for a strap if needed). There are others to choose from also.
For automatics there’s the orient ray 2, bambino, maestro, pilot/flight, defender that might be within budget depending of where you live. Keep in mind that automatic watches are not as acurate as quartz and can gain or lose time /day as much as a quartz does in a month.
Citizen ny0086 is an ISO certified divers 200m watch that you can find within budget depending on your region.
Invicta 1953 (31290).
There are also plenty of homage type of watches both automatic and quartz (not many solars though) from brands like escapement time, seestern, addiesdive, SteelDive, Pagani Design, sugess, ets… that are good watches for the price. You can ask for recommendations on r/Chinesewatches. If you look on the choice section of aliexpress you might find some on sale but usually on r/Chinesewatches you gel a lot of direct links. Escape wheel watch reviews on youtube covers many of these in detail.