A pin-lever watch is a lever escapement mechanical watch that uses pins on the lever, rather than jewels.
Although this technically includes some jeweled watches (the Timex 21 Jewel was an example of a pin-lever design with added jewels), the most common meaning is an inexpensive watch using plain steel pivots rather than jeweled bearings. While these watches could be more rugged than a jeweled mechanical watch, they wore far more quickly and were less likely to maintain a constant rate.
By 1980 quartz watches dominated the market, and low-end mechanical production largely ceased.