I’m on a tritium search, but it’s proving to be a frustrating experience. As a baseline: I’m currently wearing this: http://www.timex.com/watches/expedition-metal-field-t400919j

That was my “do I really want to wear a watch again?” experiment and it’s answered the question well in the last year. I like the simplicity, and especially the size (38mm outer diameter) and it fits nicely on my wrist, plus it was cheap for a test piece. But I’m starting to want something a little bit nicer with tritium inserts. My budget is modest, I can only reasonably go up to about $250, and even that’s pushing it.

The problem I am finding is that nearly every tritium watch in that price range I can find is ridiculously oversized, with outer rings for timers and chronographs or huge logos. I have very small hands for a man (6″) and that puts a limitation on my willingness to go with anything significantly larger than the Expedition. It’s been really hard to find just a nice, small watch with an uncluttered face. I realize that the vials themselves are going to drive up the size a bit compared to simply painting GITD onto the face, but not enough to warrant a 45-60mm outer diameter, which is what I’m seeing on most of these.

My perfect watch would be as close as possible to the style of the Expedition (silver or black with a dark colored face) that looks good with a chestnut leather band. It needs to be sturdy enough for office and light outdoor use, I’m not taking it to war or even into any deep woods, but I do bang it around. I’m not going to find an automatic or a sapphire crystal in my price range, so quartz/glass is fine. It’ll get scratched, life will go on.

So far I’ve found four options that I don’t hate (all of them found through browsing this forum):

Luminox A.1801
http://www.luminox.com/watches/sea/+/watch/A.1801/
While I kind of like the style, this is pushing the outer edge of what I’d consider. It’s pretty large, and I’m not really in love with the huge logo or numbers, but the colors work and it already has a leather band.

Marathon General Purpose Quartz
http://www.marathonwatch.com/product/general-purpose-quartz
This was my original option and lived on my wishlist for most of the last year. However, while it’s a nice simple design, I was really looking for something that doesn’t look quite so “tactical,” given that I work in an office environment, and that was a main driver to expand the search outward.

Traser Classic Translucent Black
http://www.traserusa.com/html/Classic_Translucent_Black__mod-detail-id-93.html
This one helps to define the outer bound in the other direction. I’d rather have numbers than roman numerals in quarter-hour increments and while the reflectors are clever, this one was just over the edge of “too stylish” in terms of overall design. Plus it’s on the outer edge of my price range and anything that far out needs to be perfect, not good enough. It looks nice though and would go well with leather.

Traser P5900
http://www.traserusa.com/html/P_5900_Type_3__mod-detail-id-26.html
This is my current top choice. Good price, not too much larger than mine (nominally the same diameter though measurements seem to differ between companies) but it’s a bit thicker. Most of the rest of my EDC gear is black, silver and chestnut leather so this matches decently well. I don’t think I’d be unhappy with this one,

As you can see, I’m being really picky here, but this is a case where I know what I want, I just can’t find any company that makes it (in ANY price range, not just mine). There are features of all four of the above that combine to make the perfect watch for me, and there are features in all four that I’d prefer not to have.

So I figured if I was as explicit as possible with what my requirements are, someone here might know of some other companies or models worth a look?