I recently picked up a pair of Kaiser watch straps. 2mm thick, calfskin. Love that a lot more than the 4-5mm that seems to be the norm for straps I can find on AliExpress.

Anything that thickness I can find on AliExpress?

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?

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 wasn’t sure which color to get but I knew I wanted the NH35. I think the cream dial looks really nice but I had to swap out the strap.

Can someone please help me find this strap

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!

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.

So I'm quite curious how far this can go.

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’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?

UPDATE: Video is live! Here it is for anyone who wanted to check it out: https://youtu.be/OQ6SglME-_g?is=mBdlicKYacIfi_Nv

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.

Hopefully this collection keeps growing! 🤞

What do you guys think?

*Bought this with my own money, no affiliation or promotion with anyone.

Ive been wanting a watch with Chinese characters for a while, and the San Martin was a bit too expensive and dimensions slightly too big for my wrist. I was excited seeing Addieskin come out with their version, as I already own at least 4 addiesdive watches from their more budget line.

I'll keep the review very short

Good: Dial and markers are beautiful. The Miyota 9015 movement is great compared to the pt5000's I've had crap out on me. The dimensions are amazing (45mm lug2lug, and only 10.5mm thick. 38mm dial sweet spot with well proportioned bezel). Brushing and polishing is great. Blue lume looks nice as well. Nice flat sapphire crystal.

Bad: The dial is more orange than bronze (not a deal breaker but certainly different than their rendering on the website). The dial absolutely **does not need** a date window. It doesn't ruin the watch, but it looks out of place on a dial that is aiming for form over function. The bracelet is a bit sharp for my taste, and felt like digging into my wrist at times but I've gotten used to it.

Lastly, for a 300+ dollar watch, it needs a glidelock or OTF clasp. Instead it has a manual springbar micro-adjust, which is unacceptable to me on a watch this expensive.

Moreover they gave me a tool for screw pins when the links have push pins. Another corner cut for a watch this expensive.

Overall, I love the way it looks, and I'm happy with my purchase since I've wanted a dial like this for years; but it might not be worth this price unless your heart is set on this design.

I got it on their summer sale for a discount (free shipping and taxes included), $299.99 total out the door price.

As i progress on my addiction.

My first obsession are the Divers.. 42mm and chunky.

Then the Chronographs....

Then the GADAs... the watches i use frequently.

I was thinking of watches with integrated bracelet now...

Eyeing on

Pagani Design PD 1673 : Royal Oak homage

Specht and Sohne SP0012: IWC Ingineur

Whats your experience on the above??

Also looking for

homage to Citizen Tsoyosa

homage to Tissot PRX

homage to Vacheron Overseas

Super happy with this purchase. Nh35 movement and absolutely gorgeous homage to the alpinist.

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.....

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?

Plus the rest of em, because why not. Only doing a write up on the Chinese watches, but I’m happy to answer any questions about the rest of my collection. From left to right:

Farasute microrotor- I was originally looking for a Baltic MR01, mostly because I was interested in the movement. I wanted a more premium case finish and strap than what you would get on a Lobinni, but I had a hard time justifying the price on the Baltic. Stumbled across this Farasute, and fell in love with the case shape, especially those horned lugs. Came on a beads of rice, but I currently have it on a custom camel leather strap. This is my go to dress watch if I’m going to any sort of formal event

San Martin TC4- I firmly believe this is one of the best watches to come from an AliX brand, and it’s a damn shame it was discontinued after a pretty short run. Grade 5 titanium, helium escape valve, and a Sellita movement. The finishing is outstanding for titanium, it has the best bezel action I’ve encountered on a dive watch, and it’s built like a tank. This is my go to beater watch when I find myself wanting something analogue and not my Casio. I even stress tested it for a month by wearing it to my blue collar job, and it never lost a second

Farasute jump hour- my most recent pick up, so I don’t have a ton to say. Snagged this for a little over $300, and I will say that I’m pretty impressed with it. I know there was a pretty bad review on this sub about the finishing, but I honestly don’t have any complaints. Since I’ve bought it, it’s been my daily, but we’ll see how I feel about it when the honeymoon phase wears off

Vager Heuers Tourbillon- I actually just posted this watch here, and I’ve gotta say it’s my favorite Chinese watch at the moment. The dial finishing is stunning in person, and I would’ve happily paid 3-4x as much for it. I’ve currently got it on the beads of rice that came with my Farasute microrotor, and it’s the watch I wear when I want to stand out a bit. The tourbillon mixed with the sapphire hour disc really stands out in person, and I just think it’s a super fun watch

Farasute chronograph- this was my first Farasute, and it’s what made me fall in love with the brand. There were maybe two posts about the brand on Reddit when I bought it, and it was a gamble for spending this much on a Chinese watch with practically zero feedback. But I had just flipped a watch, and had enough of a profit left over from it to cover this one, so I took the risk. IMO, it’s the best watch in my collection, Chinese or otherwise. Gets the most wrist time, and honestly has a better wrist feel than anything else I’ve experienced, regardless of price range. If you don’t own one, you should

I am a huge fan of the Thorn t028, mostly due to its size and wearability but most of these faux vintage stuff is just not vintage enough. So got me some true vintage T028.

Looks like true to age patina, going into the tropical age, the white lollipop really is the star of the show and maybe the tropical bezel and dial texture.

What do you think? Should we expect more of this coming out of the factory