GMF is perfectly fine, I believe they make the best 36mm, worst case if you are not 100% happy you swap in a gen bezel and crystal. Don't overthink it, I have a 36MM day-date I bought from trusty time in 2012, I believe it was BP factory, this was back in the day where you could opt for a genuine Swiss 2800 style movement. I paid like $280 bucks for it, and wore the watch for 10 years, nearly every day. The only reason I stopped wearing it was because one of the markers came off the dial (had the same thing happen to my gen airking) and have not had it fixed yet.
I tell you this because there is no point in agonizing over a rep, just get a decent quality one with a good movement, and you should get a nice life out of it.