u/No-Assignment-9699

[removed]

Aight so here’s where I’m at currently: Sea-Gull automatic, Casio Duro, Moonswatch, CasiOak incoming. Some Casio beaters. Nothing crazy.

Not doing the Rolex thing. Just want something where a watch person looks at my wrist and respects it, and a normal person thinks it costs more than it did.

Thinking wearing for work trips and dates. Work will have the Rolex and Omega Crowd.

Not trying to pretend to be something I’m not but want something fun.

BB58 is the dream but not right now. Want that energy though like a tool watch, clean, wears like it means something.

Was thinking Tissot PRX and Seiko Panda as my next two. Open to being talked out of it.

Hard no on Longines. Just feels like settling to me with an unnecessary price tag.

Miami for context. Also care about how things photograph.

Want to spend around 1k, for 2 watches that would be fun for work and dates. Or just 1 at that price point. I travel a lot so don’t really want something I worry about losing.

Alright, hear me out.

It started innocently. I discovered that watches exist on AliExpress. I discovered that most watches are made in China anyway (I told myself this repeatedly, like a mantra, while clicking “Buy Now” at 1am). I told myself I was being a savvy consumer. A contrarian. A man who sees through the marketing.
I was not those things. I was just cheap and dopamine-addicted to flat-rate shipping.

Fast forward to now: I’ve got a real job, real adult responsibilities, and I’m actively dating again. I pulled out my watch box on a date and she asked if I “collected timepieces.” I said yes. She was impressed. Then she looked closer. Silence. The kind of silence that ends relationships before they start.

So here’s the box. Laid bare. No shame. Well, some shame.

I genuinely don’t know which of these are keepers and which are “donate to a nephew who won’t know the difference” tier. A few I actually like. Some I’m pretty sure are legally required to be declared at customs as “inspired by a real watch.”

My questions for the hive mind:

1.	Which ones do I keep without embarrassment?  
2.	Which are secretly actually good and I lucked into them?  
3.	What’s the first real watch I should buy now that I can actually afford one — without going full “guy who just got a raise and bought a Submariner to prove it”?

Budget is flexible. I’m not cheap on things that matter, I just historically have not believed watches matter. I’m open to being wrong about this. The Casios stay, obviously. I’m not a monster.

Be honest. Be brutal. I can take it. My wrist has already taken worse.

Started with a plantar wart on my right big toe. Instead of resting it I taped it up and kept playing tennis and pickleball. Looking back I was subconsciously avoiding pressure on that toe with every step.

Eventually got what I thought was plantar fasciitis. Doctor confirmed heel spurs. Saw 4-5 different PTs over 18 months. Every single one noted weak/inhibited glutes and a chronically tight right QL. Did all the work - calf raises, hamstring, glutes, abs, foot drills. Nothing fully resolved it.

Recently someone pointed out that my abductor hallucis (muscle along the inner edge of the foot by the big toe) is basically offline on my right side. When I try a short foot drill on my left foot that muscle visibly pops up no problem. On the right I can barely feel it, have to concentrate like crazy, and instead of the muscle engaging my plantar fascia just lights up with pain. Like my foot forgot how to use that muscle and the plantar fascia is doing its job instead.

My theory is the original toe avoidance pattern shut this muscle down, the plantar fascia has been overloaded ever since, and everything up the chain has been compensating for two years.

Has anyone rehabbed this specific pattern? How do you activate that muscle when the plantar fascia keeps firing instead? And did fixing the foot actually fix the glute and QL issues or did those need separate work?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​