Watch Recommondations for the Wifey

If I can give one piece of advice on giving a watch to a significant other who is not a watch enthusiast (and I say this after having some clankers of gifts and some more recently successful ones).

Choose quartz, choose quartz, choose quartz.  Don't choose an automatic, choose quartz.

I think women's watches skew very heavily dress and dress-ish and generally bejewled.  You can google those but you probably should make sure that it's to your wife's taste (mine hates the super jeweled stuff).  

Some of the potential ideas are the various sizes of Seiko Tanks with a few dollars devoted to upgrading the strap.

https://longislandwatch.com/seiko-classic-thin-quartz-dress-watch-with-stainless-steel-case-swr049/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhLKUBhDiARIsAMaTLnFkUpAZy0y3TnCsF-npLYCurshUFWbcS0gytRxu3LOxAUNMMIzgd-caAjsNEALw_wcB

https://www.jomashop.com/seiko-quartz-ladies-watch-swr054.html

Or the Bulova Regatta

https://www.bulova.com/us/en/product/96L275.html?cgid=womens

Or a number of Certina models:

https://www.certina.com/ch-en/watchfinder/women-watch?f%5B0%5D=movement%3A151&f%5B1%5D=price%3A%28min%3A285%2Cmax%3A495%29&page=0

If  you're looking for more of a tool watch, you might consider Abingdon Watch, which makes actually quite decent women's focused quartz toolwatches.  The Elise is a super competent and slim GMT with a lot of pretty female friendly design things (like detachable links all the way up the side of the watch to maximize wrist sizes).

https://www.theabingdonco.com/collections/35mm/products/elise-travel-watch

Good luck!

My wife's favorite watch is the white ceramic Rado, but it's beyond our budget. When we got married she got as a gift the Movado Museum, gold with mother of pearl. I know that sometimes collectors say that Movado is not what it used to be, but the design is still unique and my wife loves it! Plus, it's so versatile, you can wear it with jeans and cowboy boots or with an evening gown. The camera can't capture the elegant simplicity and the mother of pearl. I got it for around 500-600 CAD from Hudson's Bay on sale.

Hey @Lars_Vader. Yeah, your situation is very common. I even remember this YouTuber mentioning that.

Mr. Frederico from Federico Talks Watches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeN5momn07Y&t=170s

That also happens to me. My wife has a couple of mechanical watches but she largely prefers quartz.

I can suggest 3 watches in the price range you mentioned. All German, 2 dressier, and 1 more adventurous.

Here are the dressier options, both Bauhaus.
Option 1, Sternglas Naos (White, Black, or even colorful). They cost around USD 266/280 depending on the size:

Option 2, Junghans Max Bill (White, Black, Grey, or with other colors). Priced around USD 550.

Even the WC channel made a video comparing these 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkEQxDR2wYk

The 3rd and more adventurous option is the Laco Genf-2-40. Prices as USD 320. They have with/without date and type-A/type-B.

I hope these options help you.

Or a Tag Aqua Racer Ladies quartz? Stretching your 1k to $1400 

Oris , Longines,  Hamilton? 

Longines conquest! 
they have black and blue dials and if your wife is adventurous and wants a diver, they have a hydroconquest 34 mm in quartz that would be good too. I bet you could find them in Jomashop for around $500 or $600

Show her some styles and ask her to help pick out a watch for some female family member like her mother or yours. Her tastes will come out and give you a direction. 

While i would normally push a bunch of Seikos from the Cocktail Time series, or even their solar line for women in the SUP series... if she's really not a watch enthusiast, then I would look to the more jeweler/fashion side of watches. 

Cartier is the easy/safe but expensive bet. I dont think anyone would dismiss or ignore a watch with that name on it, and their tanks are beautiful.

But on more of a budget, ar around $500 or less, Bulova has some great pieces for women. My and my wife fav's are in the Rubiyat and Regatta series.  A lot of great choices to fit different tastes and styles.

But I think the most important thing to mention here is remember that the gift is for HER. Don't think about what you like or have learned about watches. Think about what would make her smile and want to wear. And I think all of us would agree that it would have nothing to do about horology or movements.

Agree, I think the Cartier Tank solarbeat is the perfect gift. It is a Jewelry if you are not into watches. It is solar powered quartz that can last about 16yrs. The deign is just timeless.

I would second @roberto suggestion of a Swatch Ivory. Very inexpensive (in comparison to other watches in the watch community). Quartz watch that comes with free battery change if you keep the receipt. Many options available. 

Swatch also has a good reputation in the watch community, so even though she's not a watch enthusiast WIS will still appreciate it (even though that doesn't really matter). 

Finally if she doesn't wear the watch often you're not out of a lot of money! 

Now if this is a gift for an occasion maybe you'll want to spring for something fancier 

I would suggest looking at Matthey Tissot, and  Certina. Both have nice offerings in quartz for women. 

I'm going to give another vote for Cartier. They are beautiful, worn by lots of amazing women throughout history and most non-watchy people recognise Cartier. Plus the whole package of the beautiful red box they come in (do they still come in the red box??) and the experience of unboxing it... 👌 

These are my 2 cents, this is from experience. If your wife is not into watches like you are please don't give her a watch, buy her a purse, jewelry, a nice dinner, etc something she might enjoy. We love this hobby and want to share that passion but the truth is that not everyone is into it, and that's okay.

If you want to surprise her I'd get her the Tissot. It's classy and versatile. But if you really want to wear it I would take her watch shopping and let her choose. It's actually a lot of fun that way.

Thank you all so much for all these great suggestions. 

She used to wear watches. I only wanted to emphasize that she wouldn’t appreciate a mechanical watch over a thinner quartz as is the case with most people who aren’t into that hobby as we are. This is not to say these people can’t appreciate a nice watch. 
 

I totally forgot about Sternglas! Thanks! 

Have you considered the Seiko SRE series? 28mm across, automatic, 4R36 Movement (I believe) ranging from $275 to $325 depending upon the colourways

https://longislandwatch.com/shop/?search=Seiko+sre

Yeah Susan Harper went mental for one

This 100% especially for the first watch. She won’t wear it if she has to wind it or reset it every time the power reserve runs out.