@gosmom, the MVMT watches look like a contender. Metal band or leather? What are you seeing with your young adult crowd.
Maybe something like this:
Funny! ^
my 16 year old D asked for, and wears a cheapo watch every.single.day. I was floored when she asked me for one but she said the same thing as above…while she has a phone, she cant be checking it all day and a watch is much easier to glance at.
i’m looking hard at the pebble round for Christmas for her. the other pebbles (that imo are more masculine) are pretty cheap by comparison–best buy seems to have good deals on them. the pebble round is, of course, the only one that will not be on sale this year. 
S2 asked for a watch for Christmas, but what he really wants in this watch is a stopwatch to help him do workout type stuff. You can get a decent Casio watch for under $20.
H who usually is not picky did buy his own watch. It has all the features he wanted. He usually is ‘cheap’ but he did spend for what he wanted. His has a way to see the time in the dark - glowing parts - that was very important to him - and I think he likes his rugged for outdoors but looks nice enough to wear all the time (engineer).
It may be for someone in business - a guy may want a really nice watch, and switch out for casual/active.
If you buy a watch for a gift, make sure it can be returned.
I think you may find what @romanigypsyeyes found out - some young guys are so use to seeing the time on their phone or other electronic devices and don’t like having something on their wrist.
My nephew was dating a gal (both were only children) and the gal’s parents gave him a very nice watch for C-mas. I think they were hoping he was ‘the one’. He was not. Maybe down the road - who knows. It was a college romance and he was two grades ahead.
My one DD is a nursing student, so she has the right watch for what she needs. My DD2 has gotten to like watches as a fashion statement - she has four or five, all but one at or under $100 (usually buys a stores so she gets a good buy on something originally priced higher). The one she paid bigger money for (I think $300), she scratched when falling off her bike (in college had to avoid pedestrians and her wheel caught a curb) - I sent it in and the repair was about $80 - new crystal and rim around.
I am use to wearing a watch, and like the gal up-thread, like to glance at my watch.
My 22-year-old S also loves watches and wore one throughout college. His favorites are 2 I gave him: A silver color metal band Wenger and a cloth band Swiss Army with black case and face. My brother gave him an expensive gold watch but he doesn’t wear it.
Edit: I wore a watch for 50 years but now never wear one!
My DS wanted a watch and we bought him a very nice one for his 21st birthday. He loves it and wears it all the time. It actually shocked me he wanted one.
My S both wear Nike running watches. If he runs, maybe those? They are not that expensive.
What kind did you get @conmama? Leather strap or metal?
OP maybe the brother can eek out what his brother would like in a watch. Even with his ‘caviar taste’ he may be a good source for what the brother would like.
My younger son likes wearing a dress watch. He thinks it’s more discrete than pulling a phone out of your pocket. Then again, he’s currently wearing an Android watch which he’s had a lot of fun programming to send him all the info he wants to get.
I will ask but the two of them are just so different.
My 25-year-old daughter wears a watch every day - she has at least 3 watches and is saving for another. She says that most of her friends (male and female) also wear watches and most wear them every day. Now, she and her friends are accountants with a Big 4 firm and dress fairly conservatively for work - so this may have some bearing on their affinity for watches.
When I asked her why she liked them so much, she said she just likes the way they look, and she likes how they “finish off” her business look. That being said, she also wears watches outside of work.
She never started wearing them until she graduated from college.
Unfortunately, her tastes are pretty rich - her favorite are Shinola watches. This is the one she’s saving for now: http://www.shinola.com/shop/watches/womens-watches/runwell36-moonphase-leather-band-watch-1287.html
Having 3 young men (OK one of them is really 16), watches are hit and miss for us. But the oldest, 21, has a skelton watch from Swatch. He likes it because it is a truly mechanical watch that has to be wound, and the movement is visible.
D2 is almost 22 and has been wearing watches for several years. I don’t think D1 does.
S1, 28 years old, wears a watch daily, although not an expensive one and doesn’t have a dress watch. His arm feels naked without one.
S2, 25 years old, has lost or broken every watch he had as a pre-teen and teen, and no longer owns one or wants one.
My 19 year old son loves watches and wears them often; even has a small collection going.
MVMT is a fine option, so is Nixon which was mentioned. For a more daily use / knockabout option, look at the Citizen Eco-Drive pilot (model BM8180-03E, currently $99 on the 'zon). Slap a brown leather band on it and you have a great daily wear watch.
I’ve worn a watch since I was about 14, but it was only a few years ago that I got a more expensive one. When I was looking, one jeweler pointed out that it is one of the only pieces of jewelry (other than wedding rings) that one wears every day. Why not make it a nice piece of jewelry as well as some way to tell time? Now I have a Citizen’s watch with diamonds, about $300.
My Ds and their significant others have always worn watches so the ‘back in style’ comments are a little strange to me. I do think that a watch is very much dependent on personal taste for style so I would be hesitant to buy one for someone else without some input.