Are they? If yes then $17 is a very good deal for someone looking for that quality level. The question is if they are the quality of $50 watches or of $70 watches or of $10 watches.
My bad, I assumed they were all the same... In my opinion there are only two types of watches that are worth spending money on. If you want a solid watch that will give you the exact time and will last at least a few years, go with a Swatch. You should be able to find old models on sale. If you want to make a statement go with an mechanical or automatic but skip on brands that you can find on sale, these will lose value.