I gave up on expensive watches years ago because of the cost of servicing them. I had and automatic Tissot divers' watch which lost about 3 minutes a week and had the potentially dangerous habit of stopping and then restarting itself thus losing u to an hour before I had realised. This caused me to be embarrassing late for appointments on occasion. Annual servicing was prohibitively expensive and involved being sent to Switzerland leaving me without a watch for weeks. The temporary replacement, bought on a Cambridge market stall for £5 was more accurate and reliable. ("I don't sell cheap watches, sir, only inexpensive ones!" said the stall keeper caustically). This was replaced by a solar powered job whose brand escapes me, but was very expensive, probably to cover the cost of using prominent sports celebrities to advertise it. It was accurate, but the winder fell out and it was thereafter impossible to adjust. The makers refused to replace it as being out of guarantee after two years and I was quoted about £150 for repair.
I replaced it with a Casio quartz divers' watch bought on line as a temporary stopgap over ten years ago for about £35, I think. It has had the battery replaced about three times by a guy who knows how to reseal it properly for about £12 a time and I had replaced the original strap with a NATO one at a cost of £10 pounds. So, around £60 in all so far.It is accurate to about a second a month, has only been off my wrist if I remember to take it off before showering, which I seldom do (remember, not shower). I swim, snorkel, canoe and generally expect it to perform anywhere I can. It has never let me down and I think it may well outlast me. Not that it matters to me, but the only possible downside is that, like me, it is a bit bulky and not very beautiful..
