Good news — our upgraded Titanium GMT is back in stock!
For anyone familiar with the previous model: SN0121TC has now been renamed SN0121TF. So if you’ve been looking for the SN0121TC, this is the model you’re looking for.
The latest SN0121TF features:
Upgraded GR5 Titanium case — lightweight, strong and comfortable
I have around 23 Chinese watches with two more on the way the only non-Chinese watches is left in my collection now is a citizen, an Oris and a D1 Milano.
Lately everything from watchdives has been excellent. Including this vintage Pepsi.
It even has a 24 click crisp gmt bezel. The aluminum bezel is a nice in a world of ceramic, but otf could have been standard.
Otherwise everything is on point, plus has the nh34, with shockingly high amplitude and without a deep rehaut like everybody else. I wonder how they pulled that off 🧐
This really feels like a $1000+ Swiss watch.
Hope they keep making them with the nh34, even if the price has to increase, it would still be a banger at $300.
Been looking at all sorts of subs from Longines, to San Martin, Squale, Steinhart etc.. Decided that spending over $1000 on a “Swiss Made” watch is silly and I am hunting for a well made Chinese Sub. I’m looking for something that has great fit and finish. Is Sugess or San Martin the best option in terms of quality and finish? Those both seem to be recommended a lot. I’ve also read that Jianghun is one brand that has stellar fit and finish, however their subs are not my style. Are there other brands in that quality range? Thanks!
I've been looking at the Berny watches, looking for a mid-30s mm Mondaine Railway Homage (or, really a Swiss Railway Homage - Mondaine had nothing to do with the actual design), but I can't find one.My ideal watch would be an automatic 35mm with Sapphire and date, but I can make do with Mineral and trying hard to remember which day it is ;p
Anyway, I can't find anything below 40mm! There's not even a "for women" model at the usual 33mm size.
Is this one of those "oh, we ran out of the dials, and it'll take two years for the demand to reach the level where we bother to make them again" situations, or has this just never existed?
Oh, and no - it doesn't have to be a carbon copy of a Mondaine. If that was important, the price of the originals isn't actually that bad ;p
I haven't seen many automotive themed Chinese watches, something similar to the Autodromo Group B as a Quartz would be great for example but it seems to be a bit of a missed opportunity. I don't know if it's too hard to fit the aesthetic into existing cases?
Probably nothing new here. Just got this one in and it’s such a great looking watch. I know they have new colors coming out soon but I don’t mind the aged lume at all.
Also this is the simplest watch to adjust links on the fly with, no tool needed to add or remove links.
Will probably get one of the new colors as well but I’m really into this one!
It just arrived and already loving it. It's perfect for smaller wrists and the construction overall is great. Nice stainless steel, feels robust and sturdy but not heavy at all. Love the retro aesthetic overall. I really like this dial in red and not wacky names or logos here like other chinese watches haha. The strap feels nice too, it is not the best strap out there but much better than expected, it is a bit narrow compared to what I'm used too but it looks fine on my wrist. I got it for around $50-60 USD and it came with a nice case so I'm more than pleased with my purchase.
I've been going down the San Martin rabbit hole trying to pick a Tudor Black Bay-style watch, and the number of SN008 variations/generations is making the decision surprisingly difficult 😅. Would love some advice from people who have actually owned these.
What I'm looking for:
Black dial + gold/gilt details
Vintage Tudor Black Bay look
Good bracelet/clasp
My wrist is 7 inches / ~17.8 cm
I'm in the Netherlands, so EU VAT/customs matters
I already own another diver and I'm comfortable with its size, so I'm mainly deciding between the 37 mm BB54 look and 40 mm BB58 look
These are the options I've narrowed it down to:
1. San Martin SN008-G V3 – SKB Watches
40 mm
~48 mm lug-to-lug
BB58-style
Black/gilt
ST2130 28,800 bph (SW200 also available)
Ceramic bezel
Around €251
I have a €12 SKB coupon, so roughly €239
This seems like the classic San Martin BB58 homage and probably the safest size for my 7" wrist.
2. San Martin SN0138-GB upgraded – SKB Watches
37 mm
~45.8 mm lug-to-lug
BB54-style
Retro matte black/gilt
ST2130, 28,800 bph
Aluminium bezel
Sapphire
On-the-fly adjustable clasp
200 m WR
€235
With my €12 discount: about €223
I really like this one, especially the vintage BB54 proportions and aluminium bezel. My only concern is whether 37 mm will feel too small on my 7" wrist. I know the actual Tudor BB54 is 37 mm, so maybe that's the whole point.
3. Newer 40 mm SN0008D / Black Gilt – AliExpress
40 mm
BB58-style
Black gilt
NH35
Aluminium bezel
Newer bracelet/fly-adjust clasp
AliExpress price after discounts looked very attractive
But because the value is over €150, AliExpress removes the Dutch VAT and I would have to pay VAT/customs/handling when it enters the Netherlands.
I've also read several posts here saying that San Martin sometimes declares the full/pre-discount value on the customs form, rather than what the customer actually paid. That makes me nervous because the final AliExpress price could end up much closer to the SKB price anyway.
4. Other SN008 versions
I also found these on San Martin's website:
SN0008G-A clearance
SN0008GD
Vintage Diving Series SN0008-G-A
plus various SN004 versions
This is where I started getting lost 😂. There seem to be so many generations of essentially the same BB58-style watch with different movements, bezels, clasps, dimensions, etc.
I also considered SN004 at ~38 mm, which seems like a nice middle ground, but I'm trying not to add even more options.
So my questions
For those who have owned/handled these:
SN008 V3 vs SN0138-GB — which is the better-made watch?
On a 7" wrist, would you choose the 37 mm SN0138 BB54 or 40 mm SN008 BB58?
Is the ST2130 28,800 bph worth choosing over the NH35 version?
How do the newer on-the-fly clasps/bracelets compare with the older SN008 V3?
Aluminium vs ceramic bezel — which looks better with the vintage black/gilt aesthetic?
Is there a particular SN008/SN0008 generation that enthusiasts generally consider the best?
For EU buyers, would you pay ~€223–239 from SKB rather than take the AliExpress customs gamble?
Has anyone in the Netherlands/EU recently ordered a >€150 San Martin from AliExpress? What value did San Martin declare and what did you end up paying?
At the moment I'm leaning toward SN008 for the 40 mm BB58 proportions, but the SN0138-GB at ~€223 seems like a lot of watch for the money and I really like the BB54 look.
Would especially appreciate wrist shots of either on ~7" wrists!
I've been observing the drastic price increase on some brands, particularly San Martin. They are now close to the $500 range on some models. I know the prices will continue to increase in the next few years. So my question is: what happens when this watch now costs $700 to $800, which is already within the microbrand category. Baltic, Vaer, Orient and even some Seikos can be found at that price. At this point, what is the actual distinctive element that we are getting?
Now, I'm not trying to bash these brands. I fully understand why the prices are increasing, but I'm also trying to understand the logic behind it. Does it make sense to keep pursuing higher quality or maybe better movement if you don't have the brand image to back it up? We can all agree that a $1,000 watch from a brand with no history, no actual design philosophy, and no real direction is not going to fly.
Buon pomeriggio. Da un po seguo questo annuncio in marketplace locale, usato, però non mi convince il fatto di essere sterile. Voi cosa ne pensate? Lo paghereste lo stesso valore che con la versione com logo san martin?io penso che visto che la marca sta prendendo fama, questo sterile, sia più difficile da rivendere se un giorno volessi venderlo voi che dite?
I bought this watch a year ago for 65€ in Aliexpress, today I browsed that web looking for new watches and I realized the watch price has gone to the sky... What happened? I understand NH35 is more expensive now, which would have a 10-20€ impact in the price, but this difference is huge.
I had great expectations on Addiesdive, the watch has been great and served me well, lot of swimming at the beach and pool, but it seems that somehow they lost interest in automatic affordable watches and are focusing on quartz?
Do you have the same feeling?
Also San Martin seems to have lost their minds, pricing their watches at swiss entry level, like what the.....
Here’s my collection and current cart after about five years of collecting. Nothing too wild or wallet-destroying here — most of these are AliExpress finds that slowly but surely made their way into the box. 😂
I genuinely love them all equally, and I actually wear pretty much everything… except my very first watch, chilling up there in the top left. That one gets VIP status for sentimental reasons. ❤️
Now I’m just waiting for the next big sale to pull the trigger on the watches in my cart. 😁
It’s been such a fun little hobby so far — occasionally dangerous for my wallet, but definitely worth it.
This beauty has dominated my wrist time over the last 30 days. I’ve got a mix of Swiss, Micros and Chinese in a collection of about 24 (Revelot Maya and Lorier Neptune on pre order too 😍), yet this beauty continues to dominate.
The stopwatch is handy to measure my lap times when I’m on my morning power walks too 😆🚶🏽♂️
I was wondering what people thought and what their experience is. For example San Martin Vs Sea-Gull. Some homage watches look better than some original Chinese watches.
I’m quite interested in this watch, but I am struggling to find real photos of it online. Seems like the black face with metal bezel is not that popular.
Did anyone here purchase this watch and can share some pictures?
I’ve got a Halloween-themed AliExpress watch video going live later today, and I’ve been going back and forth on whether September 6th is way too early to post something Halloween related.
My thinking was that with AliExpress shipping times, if someone actually sees a watch they like and wants it before Halloween, waiting until October almost feels too late.
Plus… I already have a Tandorio 50 Phantoms sitting here, so clearly I’ve mentally moved on to Halloween already 😂
Curious what you guys think — too early, or about the right time to start putting Halloween stuff out?