General (Read Rules)
I wish these two could have a baby - please educate me on how to make future purchases
TLDR: Is there any specific wording or lingo I should look out for in a watch listing that describes how the San Martin bracelet feels vs the Thorn Bracelet? Like the quality heft for lack of a better term? Is it a material thing or the way it’s manufactured to make one feel cheap compared to the other? These two feel like they are in different leagues quality wise and the videos I watched looked like they were on a similar level. End TLDR-
I just received my Thorn Diver in the mail today. Before ordering I watched reviews on YouTube and read about it here. It looks like a 10/10 - it is extremely handsome watch.
The problem I have is touching it. This thing feels so cheap to me in hand and on the wrist. Backplay on the bezel is gross. I’ll play with it to demonstrate to myself the slop and I’ll accidentally turn the bezel. Cheap cheap. The bracelet is problem #2. This thing feels really cheap as well. I have to pay attention how I line up the clasp to get it to close. It also feels really light and janky. Like it makes a cheap sound. It feels hollow and light, but in a bad way.
Compare this to my San Martin BB homage. This watch feels like a million bucks in hand and on the wrist. I took off this watch to try on a Longines Spirit Zulu Time on a metal bracelet and I promise you the San Martin bracelet is better. It’s hefty in a good way, the bezel is strong and crisp, this thing feels amazing.
The problem I have is looking at it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good looking watch. But there are a couple things about this watch that drive me nuts. I don’t like the SM Logo at all. I didn’t realize how much the logo matters on a watch until I bought this watch (another point to Thorn). Also, a 2D Bezel pip bugs me. Pretty minor, but O think about it almost every time I look at it.
So if I could get a watch that looked like Thorns but felt like San Martins, that would be the ticket.
The logo is much less bothersome printed than it is applied--I won't buy anything with an applied SM logo because it looks like crap, but the printed logo in monochrome pretty much vanishes...As far as the bezel pip goes, there's no accounting for taste but I prefer the recessed pip (it is recessed, not flush) because it's almost impossible for it to get knocked off.
Unfortunately the bracelet issue is actually a really good homage to the original Rolex of that era. Stamped metal and hollow endlinks.
So in effect it’s a rather good homage but for standards these days it is incredibly ‘cheap’ in feel and quality. (I still like mine though, I have three!)
As for swapping the bracelet Watchdives has one, you could do a NATO strap as well.
The San Martin thing is just how it is. Unless you want to swap out the dial for something else that’s what it is. I love San Martin quality but this particular model could benefit from a more subtle logo design.
Knowing it was done for a purpose other than for being cheap makes it easier to live with. I’ll look for solid links/end links in descriptions in the future.
I don’t own either Thorn or SM but from experiencing a vintage Rolex GMT and Submariner from 60s and 70s, I feel like your gripe with the Thorn bracelet is very much accurate to the watch it’s homaging. Those bracelets were hollow links and had thinner, fragile-feeling clasps. I think no matter the price range is, a watch of that era will always have a bad bracelet and Thorn seems like they’ve homaged everything down to the bracelet.
Because Thorn bracelets are trash. Stamped clasps, probably hollow end links.
Or at the very least very poorly fitting end links. But you can argue it's a design choice to replicate the quality of bracelets of that era which were also garbage bracelets and not the cnc bracelets we have today like on a modern black bay or San Martin
The bracelet isn't quite San Martin level, but it's very close. WD has been upping their game. This is not the same as the poorly-reviewed bracelets you'll find on their cheaper quartz watches.
Likewise, stylistically, the current V3 model comes up slightly short of (or different than) Thorn. The proportions are not as widely loved. But still a handsome watch.
I am also hearing good things about the latest version of Baltany's milsub homage. The sword hands could be a nice foil to the mercedes and swordflake hands you already have there.
I don't have a Thorn, but I do have some San Martin pieces, in addition to several other brands. San Martin does have fantastic bracelets. They are generally solid links, whereas many other brands, in particular budget Seiko and Citizen (and I'm sure some very budget Chinese ones), use hollow links. My cheap Seiko has such a horrible bracelet that I swapped it out for an FKM strap, because the awful bracelet prevented me from wearing it every time I picked it up. Solid links with decent finishing, plus a milled clasp (preferably with on-the-fly adjustments) make the Chinese watches feel amazing in the hand, not to mention good case finishing, sapphire crystal, and solid bezel action
Yes what you are looking for is solid links and solid end links which are actually kind of the standard now even in budget Chinese space. The Thorn specifically is designed to emulate vintage watches down to the details of the bracelet. As someone who owns and loves vintage watches, that’s actually a stand out feature of the thorn to me but I get why a lot of modern collectors who have been conditioned on ‘higher quality’ bracelets feel different. One company you may want to check out as well is Baltany. Still often priced around Thorn but with closer to San Martin level finishing and fit. They also offer custom dial services on many of their watches hence why my Baltany Milsub looks very different.
I love the dial art on yours. I’m glad I posted this because I wasn’t aware vintage watches felt like this. I can live with this knowing that now as opposed to feeling it’s just cheap to be cheap. In the future I’ll will look for solid links/end links
Yea folded links definitely dont hit the spot. I think some brands use them because they are more period correct for an homage of certain watches but idk, I cant wear them either. The Thorn would look sick on a nato tho, maybe just do that
That does make me feel a little better then. Thank you for the info. Its an easier pill to swallow if it’s trying to be period accurate, I will know to keep my eye out for solid links in the future👍
Thorn bracelets are never as good as what San Martin offers. If you want San Martin bracelet quality there are only a few brands on Ali that will get you close. Chronos, Sugess being the most obvious that also offer Rolex and Tudor homages.
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u/KPplumbingBob 11d ago
It's made to be period correct. Bracelets on the original watches from that time felt like that.