I wear a Timex Expedition analog date/time. Cheap and easily replaceable. Also, as accurate as any watch I’ve ever owned. It never gains or loses and is in perfect sync with the DVR clock after probably eight years of ownership.
My old Prius had a :00 button which would reset the minutes to 0, useful when you got a time hack from the radio. It was annoying since it always ran fast, and the time set buttons would only go forward, meaning you’d have to cycle through 60 minutes to synch without the :00 button.
My Prius had the same problem, as does my furnace thermostat. After a few weeks, I’ll notice that it’s five minutes fast and reset it.
They’re all dead.
The last ultra-cheapo from Hellmart got laundered so many times it just went blank, and the I decided that I had lost or killed too many watches to continue the habit. I had begun carrying a cell phone by then, and didn’t need one any more. I have a couple of other Hellmart cheapos, and a very nice one I inherited from my grandma, but I let all the batteries die.
I never really liked wearing one, and would unconsciously take them off and drop them in my pocket or put it down somewhere. I had a great class of 1st graders who would see me look at my bare wrist and all point and yell, “You put it over there!”
Back in my wasted youth I owned a thrift-store pocket watch, I forget the brand, and I built an ultra-cheap Realistic (Radio Shack) analog shortwave receiver from a kit. My “hobby” was to try to adjust the watch to keep some semblance of sync with NBS standard time signals. It was a futile, endless effort, like many hobbies. I also built a Sinclair digital wristwatch from a kit for more accurate reckonings. I have another of those kits sealed in its original wrapper. Might be worth something to a collector.
I like it very accurate. In fact, one of the reasons I still own a shortwave radio is so I can set my watch against WWV.
I suppose I could just go out and buy a clock with a WWVB receiver, and adjust my watch against that…
I don’t have a watch right now, because the band wore out and I haven’t had a chance to replace it yet (and besides, what do I need a watch for right now, anyway?). But when I do wear one, I don’t settle for inaccurate watches like you’ll get for $500 or $1000. I insist on the far higher quality you’ll get from a $10 Casio, and if that makes me look like I value function over flashiness, well, it’s true: Why would one want to pay orders of magnitude more, for a product that is objectively orders of magnitude worse? They never seem to vary by more than 5 or 10 seconds per year.
Now, which standard to calibrate them to is a very valid question. I would set them to match the school bells, but I’m a substitute teacher, and routinely work in six or seven buildings. So I just try to remember the offset (to the second) for the buildings I work in most often, and when I don’t remember, pay attention to the first bell of the day so I’ll know for the rest of the day.
I have 4 Timex quartz that are accurate as heck and in the 10 years I’ve owned them I have never had to change a battery.
I have never liked wearing a watch on my wrist. I hated that they banged into things and would scratch the glass and I especially hated that my wrist would be all clammy underneath where it was when I took it off at the end of the evening. A fancy, expensive watch was out of the question because I don’t like owning expensive things of any kind. I value function and efficiency.
Before I owned a cell phone, I had a cheapie Casio that I would wear around the belt loop at the front on my jeans. I’d glance down at it when I needed to know the time. They’d last a few years and I’d get a new one. I discarded that when I got my first cell phone in 1999 and used that as my watch and only used my phone as my watch ever since. It’s very accurate of course.
As time has gone on, I have a clock in my car and my laptop which, like my phone, set themselves. There is a clock on my 1960s oven that I don’t use and if it’s anywhere near accurate, it’s a coincidence. There is an old clock radio that on my bedside that was my ex-wife’s that she got for opening a bank account in 1989. The radio doesn’t work nor does the battery power. I have to totally re-set it if the power goes off and at day light savings. It’s never off by more than a minute or two which is fine.
I have a Invicta self wind. It loses a minute once in a while, no biggie.
I’ve actually got out of the habit of wearing a watch. About 5-10 years ago, I got a pretty good case of some kind of dermatitis/eczema on my wrists/hands, and quit wearing the watch (wasn’t the cause, but made it harder to treat). Since I already always have my phone, I didn’t miss it much really.
But in general, cheapo quartz watch accuracy is more than fine with me- 22 seconds a MONTH? So after a couple of months, the watch may be off by a whole minute? Not a problem- every few months I’ll just notice that it’s a few minutes off, and reset it.
One of the most accurate watches I’ve had was a Mickey Mouse watch I bought at Disney World in 2000 for about $35. I’m sure it was just a fluke. It stopped working after a few years and my local watch guy couldn’t restart it with a new battery but I hate to get rid of it. My current most accurate watches are an Invicta and a Swiss Army that both lose a few seconds per month. My least accurate is a skeleton watch branded as Axcess from a clothing store of that name (about 1980). I just wear it for the look.
I built a wooden gear pendulum clock for my front hall recently and I’m quite happy if it stays within 5 minutes a day. Gives me an excuse to fiddle with the pendulum if it gets too far off.
For wrist watches I collect automatics and even the best of those are less accurate than a cheap quartz. I just prefer knowing my watch is entirely mechanical; I have enough electronics in my life.
My current daily wear is a Speedbird III. Its ETA 2824-2 movement is pretty accurate for an automatic at +/- 12 sec / day but the cheapest quartz should be accurate to about that many seconds / month (and the quartz doesn’t need to be serviced every few years).
My Wally World watch was set to my computer time about four days ago. Now it’s about six seconds behind. Now everybody has the update they were looking for in this thread! Stay tuned, there may be more…
Great user name/question combo.
Does it have to be extremely accurate if you’re CookingWithGas?
I don’t wear a wristwatch (used to wear a smartwatch but got tired of charging it).
If I did wear a wristwatch, it better be freakin accurate. I would never put on a watch just because it looks nice or makes me look rich.
Accurate enough that I do not need to compulsively remove my cell phone from my pocket just to see the time.
Accurate enough that I can be 10 minutes early for a show and not 6. --Shrug-- I don’t live in a second by second world. I make live television. Second by second is the Control Room’s problem. 
I use ad a Timex till I got a Vaer about 6 months ago. The thing’s gorgeous. Was ab it more than $ 100. Worth it. Keeps what appears to be very accurate time.
Or the conductor who seems to be smirking at you from behind those closed doors…I know, he probably meant to express sympathy and commiseration for you, but the NCTD Sprinter dare not tarry…
My <$9 Walmart watch was set to my PC time nearly a week ago. Now it’s eight seconds slow.