“Hey Ryan… Question: I want a Rolex Submariner, but can’t afford one. And even if I could, that kind of money on a watch doesn’t make sense to me. Can you recommend a sub $1000 watch that might fill the void?”
Man… there are so many submariner “homages” on the market, that it’s tough to recommend just one. The being said, the watch world kind of freaked out on the Vaer D7 series when it was released and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it since.
Essentially, it’s a Swiss made watch featuring a Sellita SW200 movement. The SW200 is a ETA 2824 alternative that lots of watch makers are using these days and it seemingly does really well out in the world. More than that though, Vaer makes one hell of a watch case. The fit and finish of these is 90% as good as a Rolex at a tenth the cost.
I think the Vaer is a really safe bet for a guy like you.
Details here.