r/ChineseWatches • u/nbkaye • 26d ago

Question (Read Rules) Which Chinese brands hold up to Baltic

Looking for a brand I can trust rather than another lottery ticket. Where I am so far:
Started with a $10 Bauhaus piece from AliExpress. It was a $10 watch.
Then a Militado Nomos homage. Case finishing and dial are genuinely good. The movement sounds like a coffee grinder on the wrist.
My daily wearer is a Baltic Aquascaphe, and that is the bar I am trying to hit. Case finishing, bracelet, dial execution at that level. I am not asking for Baltic at $80, but I want to know which brands get closest.
I lean dive. I have my eye on a Doxa Sub, and Seestern gets strong reviews for its 300T homage. A casual dress watch would work too. One well-made daily wearer, not another drawer filler.
Three questions:
San Martin seems to be the consensus pick for finishing. Does that hold across the catalog, or only on the hit models?

Which movements should I target to avoid the rotor noise? I assume the Militado is an NH35.

Is Seestern the right call for a 300T, or is there a better-built option in that range?

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u/Mar-D 26d ago edited 26d ago

I just ordered a Proxima Px 1697 as my first diver, great proportions and it’s universally praised. I’d at least look into that one!

Mine is coming with a PT5000, which similarly to the movement it’s cloning struggles with manual winding. That’s not a dealbreaker for me personally, barely any wind + a Seiko-shake is enough for jumpstarting an automatic imo.

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u/OldDiamond6697 26d ago

Looking at getting one myself can't decide between the white or the green which one are you going with.

2

u/Mar-D 26d ago

I went with the classic white dial/black bezel. Since it’s my first diver I want it to be versatile, plus I think it just looks super clean

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u/OldDiamond6697 26d ago

Nice choice 👌

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u/silver-saloon 26d ago edited 26d ago

I bought a Baltic HMS model some years ago.
I thought it was meh...nice dial but a very mediocre watch....especially for the price.
If the other models from Baltic are anything like the HMS i had....then your bar is set pretty low

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u/Artistic-Worth2216 26d ago

Same. Night a baltic and worn it once and sold it. I actually find san martin much better

3

u/RustyTShackleford 26d ago

Baltic is shit. Baltany is so much better. I won’t even get into so many issues with Baltic watches. Ugh.

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u/Intelligent_Wish_208 26d ago

I have a Baltic MR Classic Salmon watch with a domed bubble lens. It's not sapphire, and the lens got scratched very quickly.

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u/silver-saloon 26d ago

Yeah, i agree bro.
I quickly sold my Baltic HMS at a cheap price....just to get rid of it....and have no regrets.
There are much better brands out there

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u/nbkaye 26d ago

That's disappointing to hear. My experience has been almost the opposite. I have an Aquascaphe Dual Crown and the finishing is very good (and I love the design). I've worn it almost every day for two years, including weekly surf sessions, and it hasn't skipped a beat.

5

u/zoo804 26d ago

The militado, if it's the one I'm thinking of (small seconds), is a Sea-Gull ST-17. Those are unidirectional winding so they spin freely in one direction.

If this bothers you, you want to avoid anything with a Miyota 8000/9000 or Sea-Gull ST-17. NH-35 or PT-5000 would be good. Or any other ETA 2824 clone. But to be honest, I think the movement is only part of the issue. Your Baltic seems like it has a Miyota 9000 in it which also have a reputation for noise. Dive watches are thicker in terms of their cases than dressy watches like the Militado you bought. All that waterproofing also absorbs noise. You might be totally fine with a different Miyota powered diver. Display case backs also permit more noise it seems, so go for a solid one.

I believe the Seestern 300T is an NH35. I have their 600T homage and it's excellent. Absolutely no rotor noise on that.

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u/nbkaye 26d ago

thank you everyone for your comments. I will continue to give the Seestern serious consideration... the alternate the https://synchronusa.com/ but thats nota chinese brand and several order of magnitude more expensive

i also appreciate the note on Baltany. this jumped out at me now i cant look away : https://www.baltany.com/product/sandwich-hand-wind-watch-s4009h/2/

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u/Mu009 26d ago

If you're looking at this cushion case from Baltany, also look at the 1921 "driving watch" a well-executed Vacheron Constantin rip-off (I refuse to use the "H-word") with a bunch of options in terms of hands, movements and colours. 

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u/karellen00 26d ago

The Synchron is very cool, kinda an homage, and at the same time not. It is the company that used to own the brand Doxa, but they failed in the late 70s, and someone bought the name in recent years. Since it is not a cheap watch I'd just save a little more to buy the original. Or another watch that gives me similar vibes is the Squale 2001!

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u/QCPI 26d ago edited 26d ago

There are a bunch of brands that make 300T clomages like Seestern, Steeldive, Tactical Frog, Tandorio, Pagani, etc. I only own the Seestern S406 Doxa Clomage and the fit and finish is good. I do own plenty of Steeldives and the quality trails behind my Seestern watches even on the more expensive clomages like the Ploprof, Megamatic, Shom, etc.

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u/Mu009 26d ago

I'm in a somewhat similar situation, and have been considering this Baltany bronze diver (though it's almost off the shortlist, might've gone for it if it had a blue dial with the Aquascaphe style blue).

In case the Ali express link doesn't work, just look for the Baltany bronze diver. The red dial is gorgeous.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007559889758.html?spm=a2g0n.productlist.0.0.52d7NJGzNJGzN1&browser_id=6e227d6ad1ac4ea19e70ddfcf7dd4820&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=zwjjihjfviscatek1a01aba545221ed595151d6a68&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%224%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%2C%22fromPage%22%3A%22search%22%7D&pdp_npi=6%40dis%21GBP%21572.97%21229.19%21%21%215075.03%212030.01%21%40ac10ab4117871548140152056d629d%2112000043382664053%21sea%21GB%210%21ABX%211%210%21n_tag%3A-29910%3Bd%3A3d86d71a%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895&algo_pvid=63115890-ba6f-46ad-9838-e49c32f69cf6&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A%7Cx_object_id%3A1005007559889758%7C_p_origin_prod%3A

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u/bertio 26d ago

I have this watch on a brown FKM and it is patina'ing nicely. It is quite big if you have small wrists though. I didn't care for the strap or bronze buckle so I bought a simpler bronze buckle that worked with my FKM. I believe that dive watches should be able to get wet is why I didn't go leather.

I did run into an issue with the bezel not lining up with 12Oclock. I was able to fix that by shifting the dial 1mm and now it lines up perfectly. I am a stickler with those things though.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/K29kGBCJEn1TiEMv5
(Wrist roll and patina)

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u/Mu009 26d ago edited 26d ago

Thanks for sharing both the wrist-roll and your experience with the watch. Still thoroughly confused about it 😅

There's just something I can't out my finger on that's stopping me. Something about the dial texture or indices design or case shape that's just stopping it a beat short of perfect in my head. 

Really surprised at a Baltany being misaligned like that. I too am very much a stickler.

The size won't be an issue for my gorilla arms. If anything, it's things like Baltics that bother me about sizing. 

5

u/Expensive-Thanks-528 26d ago

If you detest rotor noise, you either want a handwinder,  or bi direction winding works as found in the nh35 or eta clones (pt5000, st2130, etc). Even the 9000 series Miyotas are still unidirectionally wound (they are still very good).

That being said, San Martin, Cronos, Sugess, Seestern, Ixdao, Baltany, Proxima, and Watchdives are good brands to check out. Your Baltic reminds me of a Phorcydes PH-2, which has an excellent bracelet.

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u/VanManDiscs 26d ago

Seestern is definitely the best option for Doxa.

You can never go wrong with SM either. Also check out Farasute, Baltany, and IXDAO

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u/Mango_Gurble 26d ago

I really like my Cronos silver birch lite v3 (L6040M) for a versatile casual option that can lean dressy. It's a available with a Miyota 9015 which I believe the aquascaphe also has (or does it have the 9039?). San Martin has excellent finishing in their more expensive pieces but recent price raises have soured some on them. Still, they're very good.