Definitely challenging, but I'm sure she'd appreciate you approaching with candor about the subject. I wouldn't go up and say "is this a joke watch?", But being honest about your desires and intentions will only help in the long run.
My brother and I have both owned reactor watches for 15+ years. They are very durable and have run well over the course of time, but for being a quartz watch, as biglove says, they're a bit pricey. They just ran a going out of business sale earlier this year. Not sure if there's still any inventory.
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