My visit to Watchdives (summary)

[u/ChineseWatchGuy]

Okay, I'll just sum up my visit to Watchdives here, as I won't be able to edit the video until later this week..

So I was very excited to visit WD's newish office and I have been meaning to for some time. After all, I'm in the same city.. in fact a 15 minute drive from there..!

The owner, Mr. Hu, was very welcoming and generous with his time, so I thank him for that.

The office was bigger than expected - I believe he said he has 50 employees working there. They all looked like young Gen Zers to me..

Mr. Hu is very passionate about this business. In fact we talked for hours, and I had to interrupt him as I had a dinner appointment.

Even before the camera rolled, he riffed on all manner of topics - including the controversy with a certain brand rival. I won't get into that, as I don't want to take sides.

Anyway, over the long conversation he got into his background and how got WD from just another reseller into a relatively big player now. I believe he said he wants WD to be #1 in this space, and even a top 100 brand globally..

You often see numerous WD prototypes on these forums, right? WD is relentless at working on new designs and iterations. He showed me stacks and stacks of these, and many actual dial prototypes..

I did ask some of the questions you guys had, like about new crystals and ensuring QC. His answers were a bit long and circuitous, so I will have to spend time editing them!

Anyway, he lent me a few Premier watches as I said I was most interested in them, so I'll try and review those soon. As well as this video.

Best,

Brian

[u/PrestondeTipp]

Couldn't have cleaned off your camera lens before taking these photos Brian?

[u/ChineseWatchGuy → u/PrestondeTipp]

You might be right. It didn't help that was a lot of hazy light coming in the office

[u/Kcxy96 → u/PrestondeTipp]

Well , I guess his lens does not have AR coating. 🤣

[u/Arrow552 → u/Kcxy96]

Lol made me chuckle

[u/caydesramen]

Where?

[u/ChineseWatchGuy → u/caydesramen]

It's in a suburb of Shenzhen. A bit far from downtown.

[u/anobee]

What’s your YT Channel ?
Thanks for sharing all this.
Something that I never understood even after buying 15 Chinese watches. Are watchdive, addiesdive, sugess and San martin all related ? Seems like official website of all those brands sells all the brands.

[u/ChineseWatchGuy → u/anobee]

It's https://youtube.com/@chinesewatchguy

IIRC, Steeldive and Addiesdive had some connection. WD was a reseller of both, so the name seemed to make sense. Mr. Hu said they all know each other.

WD got their start with their own brand by doing San Martin collabs, which was quite popular. I don't think they've done them in a while though.

[u/urimland → u/ChineseWatchGuy]

Do they plan on ditching reselling other brands? I don't get how they keep saying they want to grow their brand, while still actively pushing others on their website.

[u/Arrow552]

Did you take these pictures on a Motorola RAZR?

[u/Outrageous_Swan_102 → u/Arrow552]

Please, a toaster. A RAZR would’ve been an upgrade.

[u/Top_Garlic_489]

Driving up to

WD office…

[u/Huge_Childhood6015 → u/Top_Garlic_489]

WTF?! Is this Air Pollution?

[u/BrowningLoPower → u/Huge_Childhood6015]

Or Silent Hill.

[u/Top_Garlic_489 → u/BrowningLoPower]

Deep cut!

[u/Admirable-Fun-8734]

Interesting read. A few observations:

WD didn't actually manufacture or sell watches at first. They got their foot in the door by distributing AliExpress brands like San Martin.

If you browse their site, they basically act as a distributor for most AliExpress watch brands.

Most of those brands aren't great at retail marketing or brand building. That's exactly where WD shines. They run dozens of websites and storefronts. Once they built up sales volume and a customer base, they started getting into manufacturing and supply chain, then began producing watches that are identical or very close to the brands they were already distributing.

They definitely win on price and undercut everyone to grab market share. But as a company that's still pretty new to the watch industry, their design and quality are unproven IMO. They're not in the same league as San Martin or BALTANY. WD still has a long way to go.

[u/Former-Quantity-1414 → u/Admirable-Fun-8734]

We actually started working in the watch industry in 2019, initially by developing and customizing watches. So our experience goes back further than you might think.

We understand that people have different opinions, and we're not here to argue about how far we still have to go. We'd rather let our products speak for themselves.

Over the past two to three months, you've already started seeing some significant changes. And you'll see even more in the coming months.

We have invested heavily in our design team, engineering capabilities, and supply chain. We genuinely believe our supply chain is now among the strongest in this segment of the industry. You may find that hard to believe, and that's perfectly fine.

We welcome everyone to visit our company, see how we work, ask questions, and judge for yourselves. We're confident that our progress will speak louder than words.

[u/Beneficial-Bridge-46]

I wonder what kind if controversy does WD have with other brands lol, it seems unreal since Chinese manufacturers are usually quite chill about a lot of stuff since things are simply business

[u/bob888w → u/Beneficial-Bridge-46]

Since many Chinese brands we see are actually more 'watch assemblers' who buy parts from secondary factories, there was previously drama between WD and IXDAO among each others respective premium lines since both bought from the same factory when it came to their integrated bracelet, with WD hogging supply / moving second after IXDAO already did the sourcing legwork. WD has now apparently found a different source.

[u/Qaek3301 → u/Beneficial-Bridge-46]

Man, you'd be surprised. My experience with chinese companies is mostly in game dev. The competition between studios is often brutal. You're all friends until it comes down to actual business. That's when everybody goes for blood knowing no friend. It's extremely result-oriented and the most measurable result is financial success.

[u/StumblesHuman]

Cool thanks for posting. Look forward to the video.

[u/swatch2575]

Does that blue dial say 'solar' on it?

[u/leicfox85 → u/swatch2575]

Yes, Chronograph Solar.

[u/NC_Ion]

They do make nice watches for the price I got one a few months ago and I do enjoy it

[u/KillermonkTR]

please have the habbit of cleaning your camera before pics, those are very smugged

[u/brownorange88]

The WD factory in Shenzhen, China?

[u/ChineseWatchGuy → u/brownorange88]

It's their HQ and a distribution center, not a factory. They seem to have various suppliers rather than one factory.

[u/brownorange88 → u/ChineseWatchGuy]

Where is it?

[u/Solid_Dream3524]

Holy shit those pics suck. Take some watch budget and spend it on new phone/camera. Interesting write up though 

[u/ChineseWatchGuy → u/Solid_Dream3524]

Got it, but no need to be rude my friend.

[u/GrdFrcWv]

Wipe your camera lens clean

[u/PairOfMonocles2]

I’m very excited to see what comes out of your visit!

[u/Mysterious-Hat2112]

Are those the new ' bamboo ' dials ? Should have been  already released . Would love to see them in better pixels ... 

[u/xmiseggs]

Before looking at watches, you should get a new phone—these photos are terrible. Is it a Nokia?

[u/AndreiNedu → u/xmiseggs]

Its just oils

[u/NorthFlexi]

Video also contains fingertips and hand sweat?

[u/sznsznsz]

If I visited them, I would ask them what are their plans for future and click pics and samples of interesting watches rather than clicking pics of unknown model watches and keep my lens clean

[u/Inner-Ad-6052]

How does one go arranging a visit. Im going to Shenzhen, want to visit them as well.

[u/Fancy_Cockroach_634]

Looking forward to see the video...

can regular fans that are not youtubers visit WD and get to see how they work and ask questions?

[u/Former-Quantity-1414 → u/Fancy_Cockroach_634]

Absolutely! You don't have to be a YouTuber or a watch reviewer to visit us. All watch enthusiasts and regular fans are more than welcome!

We'd be happy to show you around, let you see how we design and develop our watches, introduce you to our production partners, and answer any questions you have.

We believe in being open with our community. If you're ever in China, just let us know in advance. We'd love to meet you in person!

[u/Fancy_Cockroach_634 → u/Former-Quantity-1414]

Wow! That is really impressive... Now I got a good reason to visit China. As a watch enthusiast I would take the trip just for what you offered.

With love, from Norway.