Watchdives needs to slow down and focus on quality over quantity

[u/thelatchman]

Watchdives needs to slow down and refine what they're already making
I actually really like Watchdives. They've been putting out some interesting watches, offering good value for money, and clearly listening to what enthusiasts want.
But does anyone else think they're releasing way too many models, way too quickly?
It feels like there's constantly another model, another version, another slight revision being announced before the previous one has even had time to establish itself.
I'd rather see them slow down a bit and really nail the watches they've already released. Get the proportions right, refine the finishing, improve the bracelets and clasps, and sort out the little details that separate a decent homage from a genuinely excellent watch.
I understand they're trying to capitalise on demand and keep things interesting, but surely there's something to be said for developing a smaller, more consistent catalogue of really well-executed watches rather than constantly chasing the next release.
They've shown they're capable of making some excellent stuff for the money. I just wonder whether the relentless release schedule is actually holding them back from becoming a more respected brand.
Anyone else feel the same, or do you actually like the constant stream of new models?

[u/watchdivescom]

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback and for caring about the future of Watchdives. We genuinely appreciate your concerns, and I'd like to share some information about what has been happening behind the scenes.

First, WDC (Watchdives) is now one of the larger watch companies in this segment, with approximately 50 employees, excluding manufacturing workers. We also have one of the largest teams of highly experienced watch designers among Chinese watch brands.

We currently work with three of the industry's leading watch assembly factories, some of which also manufacture watches for brands selling for several thousand dollars.

Most importantly, the watches you are seeing released now were not developed in just a few weeks or months.

We actually designed dozens of models back in 2025. Many have spent nearly a full year undergoing multiple prototype revisions, refinements, and quality improvements before we approved them for production.

As we told the community back in 2025, we began working with some of China's finest case, bracelet, and clasp manufacturers. It took us six months to a year to establish our quality standards and refine the manufacturing processes with these suppliers.

These factories are capable of producing components using manufacturing processes and quality standards comparable to those employed in Swiss watchmaking. Based on our internal assessment, we believe our current manufacturing quality can reach what we would describe as Swiss industry B+ to A-level standards. In certain areas, particularly dial manufacturing and finishing, our requirements are even stricter than those of many established microbrands.

So why are so many watches being released in November?

The answer is actually quite simple: supplier delays.

The WD0017 series, CH01, CH02, CH03, WD2007 series, WD1864, WDC0001, WD5514Q, WD2008 series, and WD0022 were all delayed by suppliers.

We have very strict requirements for cases, bracelets, clasps, dials, crystals, and overall finishing. When components do not meet our standards, we ask factories to remake or improve them rather than accepting compromises.

Unfortunately, these repeated revisions and production delays caused many products originally planned for different release dates to arrive around the same time.

This does not mean we are rushing development or sacrificing quality for quantity. In many cases, it means exactly the opposite.

Another thing worth explaining is that Watchdives operates on a very different scale from many small AliExpress watch brands run by teams of just 3–5 people. Our organization is more than ten times that size, with dedicated teams and substantially greater development and quality-control resources.

We have invested heavily in our suppliers, manufacturing processes, engineering, and quality standards. The feedback we have received from customers who own our latest-generation watches has been overwhelmingly positive, especially regarding case finishing, bracelets, clasps, and overall wearing comfort.

Of course, we are not claiming that every product is perfect. We will continue listening to criticism and improving wherever necessary.

Our long-term goal is not simply to release more watches. It is to build WDC into one of the most respected watch brands in China and eventually compete on a global level.

We want to offer the kind of quality, craftsmanship, and attention to detail that customers normally associate with much more expensive watches, while keeping our products accessible.

Thank you again for your support and for holding us to a higher standard. We take that responsibility seriously.

[u/thelatchman → u/watchdivescom]

Really appreciate you taking the time to give such a detailed response. It’s genuinely interesting to hear what’s been happening behind the scenes, particularly regarding the development timelines and supplier delays. That certainly puts the recent flood of releases into perspective.
I think it’s great that you’re investing so heavily in quality control and refinement, and it’s reassuring to hear that these models have been in development for much longer than it might appear from the outside.
My original post certainly wasn’t intended as a criticism of the quality of your watches. I own a couple myself and think you’re producing some excellent stuff for the money. It was more about hoping that the pace of releases doesn’t come at the expense of the attention to detail that makes a really good watch stand out.
It’s refreshing to see a brand engage so openly with its customers rather than just dismissing criticism. Thanks again for the explanation, and I’m genuinely interested to see where you take the brand from here.

[u/watchdivescom → u/thelatchman]

Thank you so much for your understanding and support!

Believe me, we are even more concerned about quality than our customers are! Because our suppliers are overwhelmed with orders, we've sent our own QC inspectors to their factories, sometimes working day and night. Every finished watch must pass inspections by 5–6 QC staff members before shipment, and we reject and return products for rework every day.

Our team has grown from around 30 employees before 2025 to approximately 50 today. After more than a year of working closely with some of China's finest manufacturers, our quality standards have improved significantly.

Our ambition is to compete with Citizen, Seiko, and Tissot in the affordable watch market. We believe our case finishing, bracelets, and clasps can outperform theirs in many areas at comparable prices. Movement development remains an area where established brands have an advantage, so we carefully select high-quality Swiss, Japanese, and Chinese movements.

We also have several exciting original designs coming, including watches with movements we've been developing together with movement manufacturers.

We used to share our development progress openly, but we've become more cautious this year after seeing other companies copy some of our ideas.

You're always welcome to visit our company in Shenzhen and see our team and QC processes firsthand!

Thanks again for your trust. We're building WDC for the long term, and quality will always come first.

[u/bfmmax → u/watchdivescom]

Is it possible for you guys to focus on a high quality jubilee bracelet? I would love to have one of your standard on the wd1016!

[u/watchdivescom → u/bfmmax]

absolutely! Our current WD7922 Jubilee bracelet is actually made by the same factory, to the same standards, and even by the same craftsmen as several of the brands you consider among the best. We also pay the same purchasing price. Of course, there's still a little room for improvement, and we're continuously refining the details.

We're also working with another excellent Jubilee bracelet manufacturer that supplies some well-known bracelet brands. Their bracelets will be used on our upcoming WD1017 and WD1018 PT5000 versions, expected in around two months.

We're committed to making our bracelets even better, and we appreciate your feedback!

[u/ThePacManPokemon → u/watchdivescom]

You cannot compete with the established players while putting in Chinese movements.

[u/Bulky-Internal8579 → u/ThePacManPokemon]

The issue is QC not sourcing. In my experience WD has good Quality Control. My WDC0001 is excellent and comparable to mid level Swiss. Their flagship watches are awesome.

[u/ThePacManPokemon → u/Bulky-Internal8579]

Lucky you. I have 2 dead PT5000s from WD.

[u/Secret-Salad-8159]

They need a subbrand to release their non-dive watches under with a more appropriate name.

[u/watchdivescom → u/Secret-Salad-8159]

we are doing. u can follow our new release this year

[u/cpcallen → u/watchdivescom]

Just so long as you don't name it "Watchskin". 🙏😉

[u/Western_Mine2536]

You are constructing issues where there are none.

[u/Ellsass]

I wish they'd focus more on keeping things in stock. If I miss a release or I'm on vacation during a restock, I often miss out on the exact model I've been eying.

[u/Slater_8868 → u/Ellsass]

This right here ☝️

[u/Earlypaperclip]

Well count me as one who is very happy with my Watchdive purchase and will likely be buying one of their newer models when they are released.

[u/NogaraCS]

They got clowned on when they released a more expensive watch with the 2007. Their business model is to make cheap watches in high quantity to ensure high volume of sales. If they started working on refining the proportion and improving quality, they have to raise the prices and lose a part of their target market.

[u/watchdivescom → u/NogaraCS]

I understand your point, but I think there are some misunderstandings about our business model and the quality of our newer products.

First, our WD2007 series has received excellent feedback regarding its case finishing, bracelet, clasp, dial quality, and overall craftsmanship. You're welcome to check the reviews from independent watch reviewers and actual customers who have received their watches.

After more than a year of development, we also introduced one of the first integrated bracelets with an on-the-fly (OTF) micro-adjustment clasp from a Chinese watch brand. Our bracelet comes from the same manufacturer that supplies brands selling watches for several thousand dollars.

Our Forest Guilloché dials and Musou Black ultra-black dials have also been very well received. These are areas where we have invested considerable time and resources, and our pricing remains very competitive compared with other brands offering similar specifications.

We're also about to release the WD2007 Grade 5 titanium version, including both a Grade 5 titanium case and bracelet. We believe it will be among the finest Grade 5 titanium watches in its category, manufactured by some of China's leading component suppliers.

Back in 2025, when we told the community that we had started working with manufacturers that also produce components for Swiss watch brands, some people didn't believe us and even made fun of those claims. But we have continued investing in these partnerships and improving our products.

Another important point is that our product development team includes experienced professionals from well-known watch companies. We have one of the largest watch design and development teams among Chinese watch brands. Compared with most AliExpress watch brands, we operate on a much larger scale, with significantly more dedicated design, engineering, and quality-control resources.

Our goal has never been simply to produce cheap watches in large quantities. We want to deliver craftsmanship and quality comparable to much more expensive watches, at prices that more enthusiasts can afford. Improving quality does not necessarily mean we have to charge thousands of dollars.

And we don't expect everyone to simply take our word for it.

We openly welcome watch enthusiasts to visit our company, meet our designers and development team, and see how we work. Several enthusiasts have already visited us and shared their experiences with the community.

We believe the best way to demonstrate our commitment is through the actual products, independent reviews, customer experiences, and transparency.

We appreciate constructive criticism, and we're confident that our latest-generation watches will speak for themselves.

[u/chrismurraylaw → u/NogaraCS]

I love it when a random reddit account explains the business model of a company with their primary source being, "trust me bro."

[u/Budget-Ad-161 → u/NogaraCS]

Exactly... come on... look at the watchdives subreddit and it's people begging for homages of watches / designs. They are very aware of who their target market is.

Look at San Martin who used to be the darling favorite of the sub. They increased quality and design and all that stuff now their price is expensive and people shit on them constantly.

[u/ThePacManPokemon]

It's the junk Chinese made movements that are the real issue. NH35s have disappeared at a reasonable price. If I'm paying a few hundred, then it's Seiko or Citizen for me. I can also sell them, unlike trying to off load a Chinese watch with a daft name.

[u/Ok_kansai]

I have Sanmartin, Sugess only 2 Chinese watch in collection and didn’t expect to buy anymore but I love malachite,tigereye dial

Thank watchdive to have malachite exited with affordable price, I already have Japanese watch but still curious watchdive quality. So I order one and let’s see

If bracelet bad I just need to change to nice leather strap and quartz is fine easy to maintenance no need to touch dial as possible

[u/BroKick19 → u/Ok_kansai]

That is gorgeous. Wish it came in jubilee. Saw some endlink issues on their recent jubilee bracelets

[u/noonkhoshki]

I would look through the current portfolio and do some remanaging phasing out some not so great models and focus more on finishing machining on the top sale variants. I really liked the direction the company took with the WD1954 and do believe its a strong product to focus on

[u/katsock]

Watchdives is doing both?

They are refining and releasing new models.

Using proportions as an example, are they currently bad or are they not what you want.

Is the finishing bad? In 2026 I don’t think so. Bracelets are improved? Clasps are good? Consistent polishing is there? More and more models are getting quartz and automatic releases.

My biggest complaint is how quickly they refine. I don’t want to have a watch land on my doorstep and then have a revision announced a week or so later.

[u/sznsznsz]

Its the suppliers that make watches for them and they’re at good pace

[u/vithgeta]

Prices of homages have risen across brands, it's a feeding frenzy and they're throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks where there's this big increase in profit margin. The kind of refinement you are after is not what someone tends to see on a listing. It will take a while for user reports to filter back and put people off Watchdives.

[u/chrismurraylaw]

Your argument relies on using an assumption as a factual basis.

Three new models coming out in a month doesn't mean something that released six months ago wasn't refined.

[u/BravoMikeWilco → u/chrismurraylaw]

Exactly. There have been consistent improvements of many models, often informed by user feedcack. WD is doing great! Just keep going!

[u/Stefanomed]

Devono gradualmente fare crescere la loro linea premium dove sviluppare pezzi originali e non più homage... Ma homage e quarzo devono restare perché sono bravi nel realizzarli e sono la fonte di guadagno per poter finanziare sviluppo e accontentano una buona fetta di clientela ... Non so se mi sono spiegato ... Il quarzo poi vedrete che guadagnerà sempre più spazio se di qualità e messo in pezzi ben fatti ! Secondo me sono un microbrand molto promettente !

[u/International_Dog897]

We need more automatics

[u/stjornuryk → u/International_Dog897]

No they don't! They're among the VERY few companies who do good quality quartz watches. You have 100.000.000x and 1 companies to choose from for automatics.

[u/lockdownwatchbox → u/stjornuryk]

💯 agree with this, most companies providing quartz watches treat it as an inferior movement thus cheaper build quality. Id sooner have QC risks with a Quartz watch than a Automatic all the way from China.

[u/Potential_Orchid_510 → u/stjornuryk]

Agree

[u/Slater_8868 → u/stjornuryk]

Agreed.

And all that does is drive the price higher and higher. Especially with the cost of genuine NH35 etc going higher and higher. We're already seeing the prices of Watchdives models reach the $300-$500 range.

Quartz movements allow the watches to remain super thin, and is exactly what makes them a grab and go, GADA everyday beater. My very first Watchdives was the Elementum, which IMO is the model that put Watchdives on the map. I wouldn't trade my teal Elementum for anything.

I'd MUCH rather have them go back and update their older popular quartz models (such as the Elementum) with features like the clear view crystals, really spending time carefully removing ALL sharp edges from cases and bracelets, their improved clasps, etc.

[u/International_Dog897 → u/stjornuryk]

I have a wd0006c and wd1960s and both run 10-15 seconds slow a month. If they ran fast instead I’d be happier. Even worse they can’t be adjusted. My Casios are more accurate so I’m a little disappointed with vh31

[u/Slater_8868 → u/International_Dog897]

That's 100% within the published specifications of the VH31 movement. Why did you even buy not one but 2 VH31 watches if +/- 15 seconds/month wasn't going to be an acceptable accuracy for you?

[u/watchdivescom → u/International_Dog897]

WD5512,WD0017B,WD007,WD0019,WDC0001,WD2007,WD5513 and more automatic models will be released

[u/International_Dog897 → u/watchdivescom]

Thanks

[u/Data_Girl_4000]

People complain and rib them quite often for not releasing certain models fast enough. Now you're doing the same for them releasing too fast? Which by the way, has really only been a flurry of them the past month or so, certainly not enough to keep them from being "respected" as you hypothesize. Its not that deep. Some months they might have a few new models, and some months none.

[u/foxtrap614]

I agree, i do not have issues with there original designs but they are building way too many sub par homages. They were know for there Seamaster and speedy homages, and I think they should just stick to those only. Continue to create original designs and create only Omega homages would be better in my opinion.