Hi there.

I inherited my father's watch collection a few months ago (see my post here).
I have been wearing his watches, mostly the two Longines, daily and as I am a law student and work in an office they don't really take a beating while I go about my days. My hobbies include wildlife photography, hiking, working out and I occasionally work in the garden or do work around the house, which go hand in hand with a higher likelihood of damaging the watch on my wrist.
Before he died I was daily driving a Garmin fenix 5 that is pretty beaten up and dead by now as I don't take my watch off for manual labour (see above). Without a watch my left wrist weirdly feels lighter than my right, so I will definitely wear a watch all the time.
I don't want my father's watches to suffer the same fate as my Garmin and develop a lot of heavy scratches and overall signs of use. As my father's watches hold sentimental value, I would like a "sacrifical" (field) watch to wear for physically demanding tasks where a watch might be in more than average danger. I don't like the look of digital watches, therefore a G-Shock won't do here. So what watch am I looking for?

• under 500 Euro, ideally around 300 Euro
• automatic, no quartz, solar powered would be fine if the second hand runs smoothly and is not "ticking" like a quartz
• NATO-strap-compatible, meaning 20 or 18mm lug width
• not larger than 40mm in diameter, ideally around 36-38mm
• at least 5 atm, preferably 10 atm, of water resistance
• easy to read, no complications, day/date not necessary but okay if it matches the dial in colour
• nothing flashy. muted colours (black, tan, brown), ideally non reflective
• can take a beating, hard wearing, ideally non-polished/brushed stainless steel
• in general just a reliable, no-nonsense watch

I have been eyeing the Seiko field watches, specifically the SRPG27 and SRPG35 (the tan limits the strap colours a bit I guess) and the Laco Flieger Basis so far. The watch will definitely be worn with black/grey/coyote/tan/olive nato straps. I like that the Laco dial is a lot less full compared to the Seikos, but I am not sure about Lacos reliability. With Laco I would have to go with a 42mm watch to get the 20mm lug width, or get the 39mm version and make do with its 18mm lug width, which probably limits the range of straps? I think a Hamilton Khaki field would be the usual recommendation here, but it is too expensive. I have also looked at the Marathon GPM, but I am unsure about the plastic case. I am also dreaming about getting an IWC Flieger XVIII "Le Petit Prince" for quite some time now, the Laco would seem rather redundant if or when I ever get the IWC. I am also very used to the 24 hours system, so I don't really need the added 24 hour scale of most field watches. In general, I like the look of the Laco the most, it seems very clean. I am grateful for any advice and opions.

Images of the watches mentioned:

Laco Flieger Basis Augsburg 42mm

Seiko SRPG27

Seiko SRPG35

IWC Flieger Mark XVIII "Le Petit Prince"