What time is it? Watches and horology

An Apple Watch is a different thing to a watch, though. Yes it tells the time and you wear it on your wrist, but it's another little computer that needs charging and talks to your phone all the time. You also really need to wear it every day to get the benefits, which usually means not wearing another watch (I've tried double wristing and it's weird).

It's a fitness and sleep tracker primarily, IMO. You can also have it repeat the thousands of notifications you receive on your phone but that can all be turned off. The health stuff is the real point of it. If that's what the gift is, then a watch-watch won't be any good. If the gift is a personal accessory that is a nice thing to wear, that will last for many years and reminds you of the gifter, then a mechanical or quartz watch would be better IMO, but it really depends on how the giftee feels about watches. Mechanical watches can be annoying, they're less accurate than quartz (which is in turn less accurate than an Apple Watch) and need winding or wearing otherwise they stop running.

At £300 you might not get something that will definitely last a lifetime but a Seiko or something like that has a good chance of doing so. The Seiko 5 Sports range are in that £300 ballpark and come in a range of styles (diver, field watch, general sports watch). The SRPE55 is as close to a general purpose GADA (go anywhere, do anything) watch as they make.

How nice of your daughter. The Seiko Alpinist is still heavily discounted at WoS in brown to £310. Nice looking watch, half sporty, but looks sharp too. V good value.

I have an apple watch and agree with Regal, it is good for fitness motivation/tracking, and many other clever things that a young man might play with. You don't really need the top of the range. The fitness functions may not be very accurate, but you can compare your performance from day to day. I wear mine for a couple of months on and off. If he is slim the c44m ones are pretty chunky. Charging it every day is a bit of a pain, but a young bloke will just put it on a multi charger with his other stuff. I am pleased I have one. Loads of cheap straps to keep it fresh, and so many display changes.

my wife bought me a Fitbit inspire 3 for Christmas and I've worn it every day since. I'm not entirely sure what improvement an apple watch would offer (unless it's a style thing). They're also much thinner, so you could get one of them, then use the difference on a 'proper' watch? Or you could buy the boyfriend the Fitbit and your daughter could spend the £300 on something more permanent?

Probably don't get involved though would be my advice! Kids don't understand longevity. For my 18th my parents and grandparents clubbed together to buy me a watch for £300. There was a plain vintage rolex in a 2nd hand shop I could have got but instead I bought a Dior Christal new but heavily discounted (for a reason). It's now worth nothing and never gets worn. But at the time the decision was easy and made me happy. If anyone had got involved and bought me the other one I wouldn’t have been their biggest fan back then

I've not read the replies, but if he wants an apple watch, let her get him an apple watch.

Regarding obsolesces, I got my wife one in 2020 and she still wears it daily. I know that is not that long but it is still going strong. (also, cost me about £500)
Fairly sure my brother is using an older one that was donated to him.

They are more that a watch, whether that is a good thing or not is up for debate, I wouldn't wear one (aside from not owning anything Apple, I like wearing watches)