Well, this somehow, maybe invariably, became my obsession since I posted here initially. The deeper I got into researching various options, making lists on chrono24, a bit of a YouTube wormhole, I ended up getting a watch. Not a Rolex, not an Omega (though that speedy reduced...), not a weird beat up Swiss automatic watch, but a new Seiko Prospex Speedtimer. The panda face one.
I like that it's a thoroughly modern device. Automatic movements still seem pretty cool and magical to me, but this thing just looks good, feels good, and has a no BS factor that makes sense to me.