Any thoughts on my situation...

I live/work in China, so for me these are expensive. Oris ¥17,200 ; Hamilton ¥6750 ; Seiko ¥2150

The Seiko is a good choice and you have your choice of color too. I say go for it if you can swing it.

The Seiko is great ! Their movments are very well designed. You are not giving up anything.

Thanks for the input. I grew up thinking that SEIKO was the best Japanese watch out there, and that the Fit & Finish were Swiss quality even though the movement might be modern and not the Craftsman Watchmaker type movements of the Swiss houses. Is the fit&finish of the high-order I imagine it to be? Kinda hard for me to go into a real Watch shop and see one in-hand, but will be in a large city soon and will go look I hope.

All seikos are great value propositions with high reliability

I would go for it. Does it make you happy? If so, follow suit.

I'll let you guys know how things turn out. I love the Field Watch look, but seems the only thing I can afford like it is the Timex Expedition North (¥1499) and I just never thought of Timex as being on par w/ SEIKO.

I have a pretty firm budget of ¥3300 ($500=/-), so a few SEIKO are in there, the Presage I like, unfortunately not. (¥12,000)

The Timex Marlin might make happiest, but worried at ¥3200 for a Timex!

Seagull? They have some pretty nice looking watches!

Also, if you don't care too much about movement, Citizen Eco-drive is much easier to maintain. They are available in many many styles, from dress to GADA (one of my fave is actually a world timer from Citizen in this style) to ridiculously massive dive.

Citizen I considered, even had one on my list as a definite contender. Then I seen a post on here where an old-hand called them Mall Watch. I had that nagging suspicion myself, so, off my list.

Definitely looking closely both Seagull & Shanghai Watch, but I just worried it lacks in mechanical quality. I love a few of their Models here in China, but often not much less or on par w/ Seiko price. I mean, sure a range of prices, but many (most?) are not cheap anymore.

The Seiko 5 in the photo is the newer 36mm flieger variant. If you have a smaller wrist, both the 36mm models are perfect dimensions. There are quite a few variants within this design. The 39mm models have more finishing options available. The two below are my favourite 39mm variants which come on a very good mesh bracelet and the mixed finishing on the case with polishing and brushing. Suitable for almost all situations and very versatile. You could pick up 20mm straps later on to give yourself more versitility.

SRPH21(white) and SRPH23 (black)

Or if you like a more tool watch aesthetic, the SRPH29 and SRPH31 comes with a completely brushed case.

The 'Tool watch' brushed look works for me. I'll need to switch out for a leather strap though. The 'nylon' just looks too young & casual for my eye. Thanks for all the tips. I'm very heavily leaning Seiko unless I just punt and get a ¥1000 Shanghai for now.

wow,, that Sugess brand is having me re-think the whole deal. Are they affiliated w/ Sea-gull? seem to be... Seems they can be had cheap here in China. I'll definitely research.

There is a model on bracelet SRPH27 which comes with the brushed look and on a bracelet. These all are priced $295-325 but you can pick these up for lesser after a good discount. You can go for the ones on a mesh bracelet too...only the bezel is brushed but still has enough tool watch feel.

At your budget, the other watch Flieger I could suggest is Laco Augsburg 39mm.

I see that Gustav Becker variant. I certainly like for 'beater?' watch. Here it is like 80usd. I have my eye on the Bronze Pilot at the moment. But maybe a bit too clunky. Cool for young guy/girl I'm sure. 🙂. *cool Lume pattern in your last shot.

Obviously, it's ultimately your money and choices, so consider my opinion as a random rambling only.

Generally speaking, most people use the word "mall watch" simply to mean "that watch (brand) is beneath me." It has little actual meaning. For example, Timex these days is considered quite cool, but it's a true "mall watch" (as in, sold in the malls). Brands like Tissot and Omega are available in shopping malls, sometimes I feel they are more available there than Citizen.

Citizen itself is a good company. Worth remembering that Citizen owns Miyota, asking with Frederique Constant and Arnold and son. The last one is probably just as prestigious as Grand Seiko. They also produce excellent watches under their own name, such as The Citizen and Caliber 0100.

So Citizen is anything but "mall watch." They do produce a lot of cheaper watches, but then again, isn't that a good thing?

Again, just 2 cents of random stranger 😜

It's a great choice. I feel there are no compromises with this one. It does what it needs to do and deos it really well. You can dress it up like your picture with a leather strap. Or you can put a Nato on it and it becomes a serious tool watch.

These are mine on a Nato

I have to be careful because I could see myself wearing exclusively the blue and orange. Needless to say, I love mine.