Paying a few hundred dollars for a watch is cheap, compared to the prices for mid/high-end mechanical watches.

Starting price alone doesn't give you the full picture.

After five years, Apple Watches are out of support, so even if they work their value goes to $0. The battery is gone by that time, new OSes don't support them, and their only destination is a landfill.

Mechanical watches can last decades, and hold some resell value at any age.