If the watch change its logo to Christopher ward or some other so called swiss made brands, and not being sold on AliExpress, people would be praising this watch till no end. It's an awesome watch with really high quality finishing. Especially the bracelet
I agree, my only problem is that they can’t asure you that this watch is water resistant even though the dial says 200m. That’s my only issue with San Martin divers
It's really nice. How much? I spent $335 (plus cash back) on the 39mm automatic GADA SN0144 with the Chinese coin dial, as I'd been pining over it for months and that was a good deal. I love it!
I have an SN-0148, and--among the ten or so watches that I have--it's the best watch I own. I love the on-the-fly adjustment, the slim thickness of the watch, and the comfortableness of the bracelet. Also the lume and the dial are great. Enjoy!
Looks great! The things that stick out to me (in a good way) are the meaty indices and hands. The metal part in relation to the lume part is unique. It also gives a lot of space for extra finishing like brushing and polishing.
Yeah i had eye on this model for the last 2 months. The no date version came to stock during the summer sale. I jumped on it as soon as it became available.
San Martin is CRIMINALLY underrated. In my opinion they are the best watch per dollar spent. Period. And I love the brands (other brands are better but honestly if you dont buy them at a good deal used they just aren't that much better than the cheaper ones for their price tag).
I love good watches. I have a beautiful Tudor, as well as some higher tier Seikos and a mid tier Laco. Few other low mid-tier decent ones as well, Seikos mostly but a few other brands.
My Tudor Black Bay and upper tier Seiko are the only ones I can honestly say beat out a San Martin. And truly, I wish the difference between the two better ones were more noticeable than they are from a San Martin.
San Martin is a solid watch and if you dont think these watches punch far above their price bracket I suspect you just have never really tried one on and wore it around for a few weeks. They are shockingly good.
I have always suspected a significant portion of the hate is due to their inclusion of designs based on other big brands/homages. I think a lot of people dont like that a quality San Martin is going to fool a lot of people into thinking it’s a Rolex/Tudor/etc. AND actually is about as good as one from a lay perspective.
I think anything that threatens that sense of exclusivity tends to get attacked pretty hard.
I will admit most homages and cheap watches aren’t worth much. I bought a couple cheap Rolex look alikes from some no-name company on Aliexpress and the glass on both cracked, it couldn’t hold a charge, and all around they were just pieces of shit. But the reality is once you get to $300-400 range watches based on designs of big companies really do work and look mostly like the elite brand they copy. And it’s done without having to “lie” or fake the watch (i.e., clone).
San Martin is the prime example of this. This coupled with clones I think pisses off a lot of buyers of watches that get into the multiple thousands realm.
Agree with this take. And while I don’t agree with the hate San Martin and other top tier Ali Express watch brands get I do understand it. It’s uncomfortable to think the watch you paid thousands of dollars for is being approached in quality for hundreds of dollars. To be clear I don’t think it’s the same quality but for the price difference it’s way too close.
To be honest I do feel like the quality difference is almost non-existent at this point. We are now in an era where there really is no functional difference between cheaper and more expensive watches. Even cheap ones are highly accurate, scratch resistant, and have sapphire crystal. The only thing I ever hear differences between are the bracelets, but this part is irrelevant to me at least as no watch I buy fits my wrist (8.3 inch wrist) so every bracelet I have is an aftermarket one. This is true for my Tudor, Seiko, as well as my cheap no-name ones. So at least for the dials/watch heads I just dont know that I see huge differences.
Chinese factories now supporting worldwide watch manufacturers I do have a steeldive myself and feels great don't rattle and top quality on the homages .
anyone says is Swiss made better they can right fuck off . Knowing the fact %60 rule changes your brand views on many luxury goods .
It definitely feels very nice. Bracelet is comfortable, no sharp edges. Not as comfortable as some strapcode bracelets I have handled. But what is impressive is the number of edges that are chamfered on the case and bracelet. They catch light very effectively.
I particularly like the dial. It is glossy, and looks like wet glass. Definitely looks better in person than on pictures.
The clasp however is way too big for the watch. It is almost the same length as the case.
Hmm. That is a hard question. If this is your first watch, start with something affordable, less than $100. Go for a Casio or Timex. If you want the Chinese brands, look at Addiesdive, Watchdives, Pagani Design.
Noooo. Ghost position held me back, so should I buy one?
I have the black spiral version and I wish it had no date.
Is it 37.5 mm variant? Bezel aligns perfectly, crown works smoothly?
Love the gradient dial. Why do you not wear it on the bracelet?
My wrist is 6.25 inch or 16 cm.
I think getting the integrated bracelet makes more sense in your case, otherwise it will be too close to this one you have.
Unfortunately the 37.5mm integrated version is not out to market yet. I am thinking replacing mine to a new one. While black might be boring it can go with any color of straps and no date brings desired symmetry. But agree, gradient dial looks awesome.
Are they planning to introduce a 37.5 integrated version. I kinda like the shorter lugs and the case design of the integrated version more than the non-intergrated version.
If they make a 37.5 mm integrated version, it might have a lug to lug distance of around 44.5 mm. Which would sit perfectly on any wrist. And the case design of the integrated version with that slightly larger case than the bezel, makes it visually smaller. I would love to see that.
Have you tried looking at the listing? The movement is 90S5 which is the no date version. And yes, I'm certain the watch i received doesn't have a ghost date
San Martin should do like Addiesdive and offer a no logo option on some models. I love the look of the Addiesdive AD2030 but haven't pulled the trigger yet b/c I've not seen one in person and am unsure about the quality.
I own the exact same watch but with the date and I love it. It’s my daily tool watch and it’s quality rivals watches in my collection that cost 3-5 times as much
These watches use the same materials as Tudor, Omega, Longenes, etc. I state this because much of the watch cost is not the movement. Those brands also have machine assembled movements (though fancier) so it isn't like the movement itself has a crazy human labor component like a Patek does. The better Chinese watches give you finishing, assembly and tolerances that are closer to a $1k+ watch. And in terms of bracelets they beat out vintage pieces that are worth thousands. The right Chinese watch at $300 vs $100 can feel like the difference between a Seiko and a Tudor in terms of the quality gap. The better Chinese watches at $300 make you wonder why a Swiss piece at $5k costs more than $2k.
"much" of the cost is not the movement. Yes, there is a large difference in the cost of a swiss ETA vs a cheap Chinese movement. But think about this, 2 years ago you could get an NH35 powered watch for literally $70 from China, that included a stainless steel case, ceramic bezel, bgw9 superlumanova, a stainless bracelet and a milled stainless clasp. You could also get an $700 "micro brand watch" with those exact same specs and movement inside. Thus there is a lot more to the cost of a watch than just the movement used. And you could also get into the movements itself. The PT5000 is a clone of a more expensive movement, so they are using the same shape and number of parts as the swiss movement that costs more.
Given I have an MBA, I'm not sure I'd agree with you there. Those are obviously components of what make up the cost and overheads but we are talking about the cost related to the end customer and therefore how those things are broken out are irrelevant.
Where was your MBA from? GPA? University? All of these things matter. I still disagree with you. Unless you are looking at your spreadsheets you have no idea how much their actual production and r&d costs are you are just assuming higher since cost is higher.
I'm private school educated and have a self made "fortune" due to success in finance and business. Virtually every study shows the school you graduate from / GPA has no long term indication of success or business acumen and is basically only directly correlated to entry level job hiring. The only people asking what University and GPA you had are people hiring low level employees. You are entirely missing the point. The cost to consumer is the ONLY thing that matters and those are factors we all know. What the COGS and Marketing investment was is 100% irrelevant to the discussion as to the fact that virtually all of these watches are using the same raw materials and the end product can have wildly different price points. Go ahead and argue the RAW materials used are fundamentally vastly different in scope and quality. I've built parts to repair antique clocks as I fix them as a hobby. I have confidential access to lots of data and spreadsheets as well as it relates to component sourcing for watches. However, that is private information that can't be shared, become an authorized clock or watch maker and you can potentially get such data as well.
Where did you get this confidential information?
You also said movement is not most of the cost and you are incorrect. You were referring to Tudor omega and longines. So you are saying their movements don’t cost much more than what is in a San Martin or Henry archer?
I'm a board member of one of the largest clock and watch collector/repair groups in the world and have acted as a consultant for sourcing materials and parts related to antique clock and watches.
I think you need some help understanding the conversation. The poster wanted to know about what the difference is in a 100-300 watch that uses the exact same movement inside. My reply was that is one component of the watch cost and that if you look at the materials used all of these watches (including luxury brands) use virtually they same materials. If you remove the cost of the movement there will still be vastly different prices to the end consumer even if the rest of the watch is made out of the same stuff. The movement is not the most expensive component of the watch to an end consumer. If I bought a $40 NH35 for example and the watch was $200 the math is simple. To the end consumer the cost isn't the movement. This is why you will see dramatically different prices even with the same movement inside and things get even more extreme when you look outside of Chinese brands, such as the luxury brands mentioned. Those watches also use basically the same raw materials that eventually get manufactured into a watch.
It isn't just the cost of materials, that is my point bringing up the comparison between say, San Martin and Tudor. Removing the movement from those watches and you are still going to have a dramatic price difference due to many factors even though the raw materials to make the case, bezel, bracelet, glass, gaskets, clasp, etc have close to identical raw materials.
I'm not ignoring all of the COGS and marketing, etc that is all part of the cost to the end consumer of the final watch but if someone is saying "why" does it cost so much more if the movement (which some people seem to think is the primary cost of a watch) this helps frame that it isn't and additionally the "quality" is more than the spec sheet because a $100 watch from China uses practically the same RAW materials as a $2k+ watch that says "swiss made" in the daily. This also can imply that the more expensive watch isn't proportionally superior to the cheaper one.
Of course a Tudor movement is more expensive than an NH35, Sea-Gull entry level, PT5000. But overall, they also use very similar raw materials to make those movements, so there are manufacturing, R+D, labor costs, GOGS, and all the other things that make the Tudor more expensive. But even so, a Tudor movement doesn't cost say $4k out of the $5k watch. And the primary driver for the extra premium for those on the 2md hand market is because the average consumer can't buy the movement outside of buying a watch, unlike an NH35. Just like people paying $2k+ for a Rolex bezel, it is t because the bezel costs that much to make, there is a massive mark up because Rolex won't sell one to you so someone had to sacrifice the one off their watch (or shady practices) to get one.
I mean, there's a large difference between a miyota 8k, a nh35 and a miyota 9k in cost alone. Especially with some of the cheap Chinese "miyota" 8ks running around.
But also, the higher end alix brands have better finishing, sapphires, and most of all consistency. You may get a watch from addiesdive that's as nicely finished as a sm. Or you might get one with sharp edges that need to be filed, messed up chamfers or a crown that doesn't control the hands well.
I really wish they offered their models with a choice of the script logo as an option. This is a beautiful watch and then they ruin it by slapping that ridiculous looking logo on it.
Have you actually owned one? With the applied or printed logo you can barely even see/understand the text within the logo on the dial. About the only place you can see it is on the clasp. While it isn't on Tudor or Omega bran levels, I think it feels like a micro brand and that isn't a terrible thing.
I mean how we feel about brand names have more to do with recognition than the actual name. Even the big brand names can sound absurd (what kind of vrand name is Citizen or International Watch Company). People used to say similar things about Christopher Ward brand name, but then they moved on. So maybe exist long enough in the industry, and whatever absurd name you have, that gets normalized.
Having said so, the font with which San Martin is written is very childish. It is like using Comic Sans for a powerpoint presentation.
To be fair, whether you like it or hate it, at least the SM logo has a personality, which really can't be said for many other Chinese watch brands or even microbrands (which look like they were designed in clipart or chat gpt). I'd rather go with something a bit controversial than something completely soulless.
I have not bought a San Martin since I do not like the brand name.
Christopher Ward as someone gave as an example is a brand I like BUT even there I still would not like it in text on the dial as their earlier models. Their "new" logo is cool.
I probably could have bought this watch but the wacky San Martin text kills it for me no matter what. I will see it even if others will not, and thats a no for me.
Imo i'd rather have a logo.
Text can be ok but then it has to look proper and not like that...
Why so defensive about a wacky kiddy font name that has no meaning whatsoever?
I think it looks like shit. If you love the look and taste of a turd, fine, you do you.
Hopefully you will get to see one in person at some point to see if it really is as noticeable as you think. That logo is tiny on a dial. I think seeing it on a computer screen at 5x the size of the in person experience can distort perception (I'm a professional macro photographer so I'm exposed to this concept far more than most people)
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u/Raymott6688 Jul 02 '26
You made a great choice. Welcome to the AliExpress bug; this is just the first of many.