Thanks for the replies, everyone! So far, I’m leaning towards the Sylvac (for the giant digits, and being fairly locally made), but they are sold without thumbwheels, which are an accessory you can install after the fact — in theory. Nobody seems to actually sell the thumbwheels...
As for Mitutoyo, upon closer inspection, almost all of the models they sell here in Europe are metric-only. I don’t need inches often, but it’s definitely something I do need on occasion. So that rules out all but a few models. The standard one with inches is on sale through the end of the year, but currently sold out. :/
So I guess I’ll keep an eye on stock levels and prices and see if I can find somewhere that has the various brands available to try out!
If your calipers are skipping 0.1" here and there, it's possible your calipers are dirty. Doesn't matter if they're Mitutoyo or $10.00 calipers. Grease or dirt can skew the reading by changing the capacitance. Bad enough, and maybe the micro gets confused. The other potential issue is slow wakeup. If they are the kind that turn on automatically when you move them, maybe you are just moving them too fast from sleep. I always check they're zeroed after turning them on, anyway.
Come to think of it, the erroneous reading thing was a small but real, nagging fear before I switched to the silver oxide LR44. Aside from simply lasting much, much longer, I think the silver oxide produce a more flat voltage and don't screw with the microcontroller so much at their end. These should be standard fare for calipers.
Trust, me, the problems aren’t a PEBKAC, they’ve been fussy since I bought them. The problem gets worse (far worse!) when the battery gets low, but even with a new one, I start with them zeroed out, and after a few slides back and forth doing measurements, it’s at 5.08mm when closed. Repeated opening and closing will eventually add more 5.08mm increments. (Only rarely, it adds “just” 2.54mm steps...) I think I figured out that holding them a certain way (I forget how) exacerbates the problem. But above all, I’m not talking about “here and there” as in maybe one measurement in 100. We’re talking about it being so often (1 in 5 maybe?) that I am forced to compare
every measurement to the physical scale to make sure it hasn’t jumped 5mm...
I just got an SR44 (silver oxide; LR44 is alkaline) since the battery is dead, so they can hold me over until I get a good caliper!
I've never touched a Mitutoyo nor ever been a professional machinist. The closest I get is grinding things on the redneck lathe or the router table. Yes, it's possible to grind steel to less than 1 mil precision with a drill and a dremel. And a $10.00 caliper.
I was pleasantly surprised at just how much smoother the Mitutoyo feels compared to my $15 Aldi ones, or even than the $80 ones at the local retail tool shop. Like, we’re not talking a subtle difference. (And had I not already known what the Mitutoyo felt like, I would have called the $80 ones smooth.)