Watch Recommendations under $300

Tissot PRX Quartz

Hamilton Field Khaki Mechanical

Seiko5 Sports

Orient Bambino or Kamasu

I love Marathon but their stuff is definitely a little quirky, so it helps that you're already looking into the brand and know what you're getting into. If you don't mind plastic, I love the feel and radioactive symbol on my Navigator.

I would say that if you actually intend to wear it outdoors a lot, you'll appreciate the super lightweight case, otherwise it's just a personal choice. (I am generally a fan of light-wearing cases and I like titanium as well)

Another vote for the Tissot PRX quartz. The finishing is pretty much unrivalled in this price range. Very adaptable in blue or silver - you can dress it up with a suit, even a dinner jacket/tuxedo, or dress it down with shorts and t-shirt. I'd suggest the 35mm size as the 40mm wears big because of the first link of the integrated bracelet being non-articulated.

If you fancy something sportier the Tissot Seastar 1000 36mm is also a good option.

Oh man, that’s a beautiful dial! Perfect for a hike in the fall. Does the case feel like a cheap plastic or more like a heavy duty polymer?

Thanks for the heads up on the PRX sizing! I think this one might be a finalist.

Hard to judge without owning a wider variety of plastic watches, but compared to my Swatches it's very different. A Swatch looks like regular shiny plastic and picks up damage on the soft crystal pretty much instantly, while the Navigator has that matte, military appearance and a sapphire crystal that will wear harder than the rest of the watch. The case seems to be decently impact-resistant and it's not showing a different colour underneath any scratches (always an issue whenever I buy a dark green product from a bargain-basement "army surplus" retailer).

The bidirectional bezel is nowhere near as crappy as my Vostok, but it only has 60 clicks and doesn't feel as solid as most metal dive watches (although it's intended to be used as a second time zone, so different use case there).

My orange dial is a limited edition (made through J.Crew of all places) that's not too hard to find on eBay - there's also a navy version which I believe was more popular, in addition of course to the regular three Navigator colours that can be purchased new at any time.

Get a Seiko SRPE51K1, IMO the perfect 1st watch.

You can find a good review "on one of its sisters" here: https://youtu.be/DEUQDCV54Xs

I actually got that one about 2 years ago and i love it!

I have heard good things about Islander watches - https://longislandwatch.com/islander-watches/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwsIejBhDOARIsANYqkD31J_Q-2SSc1IWH42aIAr0-pNa0tUIv_8ed5MgkXMPDnHwoblB5kR4aAtBDEALw_wcB#/filter:ss_in_stock:1:*/filter:calculated_price:*:300/perpage:48

If you sign up for the newsletter you get 5% that you can keep using.

Glycine Combat Sub:

https://www.ashford.com/glycine-gl0083.html

Thin (under 11mm thick), 200M WR diver, sapphire crystal, Swiss Made high-beat automatic movement (SW200-1). On-budget at $299.99.

If the budget will stretch by an extra $20, there's a blue-dial version on a bracelet:

https://www.ashford.com/glycine-gl0077.html

EDIT: I missed the under 41mm requirement on the above. There are these more formal models in different dial variations, all for $299.99:

https://www.ashford.com/glycine-gl0427.html

https://www.ashford.com/glycine-gl0430.html

https://www.ashford.com/glycine-gl0429.html

Nice! I like the suggested Tissots above, or maybe an Orient Kamasu, if you are looking for a diver.

And there are so many awesome Microbrands in this price range, even some GMTs.

Also I forgot to say in my haste to recommend watches: congratulations on your graduation and best of luck for the future!

The Ashford Glycine deals are pretty amazing though you have to wait for the right offer to come round.

In sub-41mm I absolutely love my 40mm Combat 6 Moonphase, which was $225 from Ashford, mostly because it's a bit of a unique ugly duckling. Is it a field watch? After all it's called "Combat" and it does have 24 hour markers, crown guards and decent lume. But wait a minute, it's got a blue sunburst dial and a moonphase, can't get much dressier than that... I love it for its contradictions and quirkiness.

Since two of your options trended towards tool watch, I'd say the Marathon is an EXCELLENT choice.

If you want lineage of an actual issued item, can't go wrong with the GP quartz.

Another idea would be something from Praesidus, while newer and a Microbrand, they have a cool design philosophy. They also have a few in the OG WWII issued size.