Daily Watch

Criteria
Cost
I cannot afford (and would not pay for) a very high markup watch. But I do want something nice so let's start with a soft limit of $1000.

Power Reserve
I very much want an automatic so the power reserve should, at a minimum, be 36 hours.

Complications
It should have hour and minute hands. Date. Optionally seconds and day of week.

Accuracy and Reliability
Ideally I'd choose a watch that has excellent time accuracy over temperature, shock/vibe, orientation, power level and magnetic fields. It should be resistant to water/moisture (>=100m preferred) and abrasion. Unfortunately watches in this price range rarely publish their performance ratings, so I have to go off industry reputation and reviews. Optional: automatic movement.

Materials and Finish
I'm interested in a contemporary appearance. Emotionally appealing, strong and clean. It should be made of premium materials, but not dressy. Free from flourish. Scandinavian architecture and Bauhaus are strong influences. It should be very functional and easy to read at all angles. The band should be comfortable and have a perfect fit. Lastly it should be silent.

Watches
To start I need a shortlist of watches. I looked at a lot of watches from many vendors. Approximately forty in total. To make things easy I ignored boutiques and watchmakers that are exclusively in the high end market. Each watch selected appeared very readable, did not have unnecessary complications (like Chrono) and finally I chose watches which had an aesthetic or emotional appeal.

Bravur BW001
Weiss Standard Issue Field Watch
Sinn 556 I
Archimede 1950'S
Nivrel Replique Manuelle II
Martenero Founder
Nomos Glashuette Minimatik
Elysee Sithon Automatic
Stowa Antea Back 2 Bauhaus
Junkers 6056 Bauhaus
Triwa Dawn Klinga
Junghans Max Bill Automatic
Larsson & Jennings Saxon
Sjoo Sandstrom Royal Capitol
RGM 150
Ball Watch Engineer II
Yema Yeau 011
Lip Himalaya 1954
Yonger & Bresson Xtrem
Yonger & Bresson Amboise
Damasko DA37
Christopher Ward C9
Christopher Ward C5
Thomas Ninchritz Kathedral
Tourby Marine
88 RDR Origin
Rudiger Siegen
Tissot Automatics III
Tissot Couturier Automatic
Tissot Heritage Visodate Automatic
Total: 30

Cost, Power Reserve and Complications
The most objective of the bunch and easiest to evaluate.

Cost
Most of these watches were quite affordable, however the ones below are outside my price range. Unfortunately my favorite of the bunch, the Nomos Minimatik, was eliminated.

Nomos Glashuette Minimatik
Sjoo Sandstrom Royal Capitol
RGM 150
Ball Watch Engineer II
Damasko DA37
Christopher Ward C9
Thomas Ninchritz Kathedral
Tourby Marine
22/30 Remaining

Power Reserve
All of the devices were either quartz or had at least a 36hr power reserve. I won't repeat the list.
22/30 Remaining

Complications
Most of these were missing a date function.

Weiss Standard Issue Field Watch
Nivrel Replique Manuelle II
Martenero Founder
Lip Himalaya 1954
Rudiger Siegen
17/30 Remaining

Accuracy, Reliability, Materials and Finish
Accuracy/Reliability
Basically anything with an ETA2824-2 gets an automatic pass. Quartz are also reliable. I prefer sapphire glass.

Not a fan of this movement:
Elysee Sithon Automatic

These have little or no info on the movement or water rating:
Yema Yeau 011
Yonger & Bresson Xtrem
Yonger & Bresson Amboise
13/30 Remaining

Materials and Finish
Too dressy, and apparently the movement is quite noisy:
Archimede 1950'S

And sad to say it, one of the best looking watches doesn't even publish it's water resistant rating. That and special mineral glass that cannot be polished:
Junghans Max Bill Automatic
11/30 Remaining

Sudden Death: Round 1
More watches than I thought would make it this far have.

Bravur BW001 vs Sinn 556 I
Right off I'm faced with a tough choice. The serious, and I expect, super reliable Sinn pilots watch. Classic dial and certainly a very masculine and questionless watch. However I want a little pop in my new daily wear and I think a pilot's watch is not the way to go. Sinn is definitely a watch I will revisit in the future if I look for a pilot/dive watch. The Bravur on the other hand is a cool looking watch, reliable enough, good materials and good finish. But that price for a Quartz is going to be a challenge in a future round.

Stowa Antea Back 2 Bauhaus vs Junkers 6056 Bauhaus
Another tough choice. The Stowa is a very nice watch with premium materials, premium finish and super cool look. I could probably get it to work in a 36.5mm version (because the lugs are so large). But I just don't think the watch would look good on my wrist or be easy to wear with a long sleeve shirt. On the other hand the Junkers is a classic Bauhaus design, slim and made with a very nice movement. Unfortunately it does not have a sapphire crystal glass, but it makes the cut here.

Triwa Dawn Klinga vs Tissot Automatics III
It's a cheap watch, but the look of the Triwa is perfect. The Tissot is an excellent watch but not quite the look I'm going for. Triwa wins the round.

Tissot Couturier Automatic vs Larsson & Jennings Saxon
Again the Tissot is too dressy and the L&J hits the look perfectly. Although I am not sure about $500 for a Quartz watch.

Tissot Heritage Visodate Automatic vs Christopher Ward C5
And another tough comparisons. I am a huge fan of Tissot. They make excellent watches, transparent about the specs, Swiss quality and at a pretty good price point. I am very happy with the one I own. This Tissot hits the function and look quiet well. It is squarely Swiss, but without any flourish. It is automatic, excellent rated and comes with sapphire glass.

But surprisingly the Christopher Ward hits the lines just a little better. It also has a slightly higher water resistance rating.

88 RDR Origin
Odd watch out get's an automatic pass. I'll have more to say about this later.

Sudden Death: Round 2
Bravur BW001 vs Junkers 6056 Bauhaus
I think both would look great on my wrist but the Bravur is just amazing. And it has better glass. However I wish, for that kind of money it was an automatic movement. The Junkers looks great, very professional, automatic movement but comes with a domed mineral glass that I would probably tear up. So Bravur wins this round.

Triwa Dawn Klinga vs Larsson & Jennings Saxon
Both are unisex watches. The Triwa wins again on price, performance and look. The L&J has a more premium look but for the price tag I'd expect an automatic movement. I did the strong look of the L&J, but could do without the minute markers. So I'm giving this one to L&J

Christopher Ward C5 vs 88 RDR Origin
The 88RDR is the new kid on the block offering a very young, stylish watch built with more premium materials like higher quality straps and sapphire glass while staying affordable. But Christopher Ward wins hands down in meeting the requirements of function and aesthetic and comes with a proven automatic movement. I really desire both watches but I am handing this round to the CW.

Sudden Death: Final
Bravur BW001 vs Larsson & Jennings Saxon vs Christopher Ward C5
The Christopher Ward C5 takes the cake. It has all the required and most of the optional features. It is elegant, clean, easy to read, elegant and affordable. The Bravur is super cool but very expensive. I admire the L&G for it's strength and clean design, but it is also quite expensive.