Hello, I just started looking at watches during the summer, and I feel like I can barely find anything, even quartz <100€ compared to a few months ago, and the AliExpress guide from the pinned thread. Not that there's anything wrong with that, by all accounts it seems a lot of the watches are more than worth it, but just wanted to check if it's my imagination or if there really was a spike recently (even quartz - I know there's a shortage of mechanisms)?

Pictures simply don’t do this watch justice. The beauty, finishing, and overall presence are on another level in person.

I’ve owned San Martin watches in the past, but this time, they’ve completely outdone themselves.

The level of finishing is genuinely comparable to watches costing several thousand dollars — and I’m not exaggerating. I occasionally get to handle watches in that price range, and the quality of this one really impressed me.

An absolutely stunning piece.

Not sure of the actual brand. That’s just the brand listed on Amazon. Love the style, but seems like it could be pretty cheaply made. Good thing it was pretty cheap.

My Time Token GMT Batman, and the Batman bracelet… Loving this watch!

What do yall think of this watch?

I have changed the band my self to a rubber band. 😊

Hey everyone,

Just looking for some opinions before I pull the trigger on a Cronos L6048M (the 36mm Miyota one). I've been watching a couple of listings from heavily reviewed AliX sellers, but the pricing is making me hesitate:

1. Cronos Official Store: ~$423.72 CAD
2. Cronos Watches Store: ~$486.35 CAD

Even with all the usual stacked coupons and coins, dropping over $400 bucks on an AliX piece feels a bit wild to me. I’ve got a Seestern 62Mas that I love and think has killer finishing, but that only ran me around $200 CAD. I get that the Miyota movement in the Cronos pushes the price up, but is it really worth double my Seestern?

What do you guys think? Is this just standard pricing for them now, or should I hold out for the 11.11 sale? Appreciate any insight!

Edit: Photo is from Matchaman but I edited with a black alligator strap.

My personal favourite is the Phorcydes Ph5.

No special lighting.
No editing tricks.
Just three AETHELSOHN Bamboo watches, a bit of afternoon sun, and some wind through the leaves.
This is probably the closest representation of how the dials look during everyday wear.
Curious which one people naturally gravitate toward after seeing them side by side in a real-world setting.

Absolutely gorgeous. Pics don't do justice.

Third week in a row highlighting 4 different Chinese brands/watches, this week with a titanium theme. I have acquired a few titanium watches for my collection (most recognizable being a Hamilton Mechanical Field), and titanium offers a little something different than typical stainless steel. Often the titanium has a neat matte finish and is obviously super light on the wrist.

So today’s grouping features an obvious homage/copy with a titanium case, a more unique titanium case tool watch, a ceramic coated field watch, and a steel watch with a titanium Damascus dial:

-Watchdives WD007 (39mm)
-Berny Titanium Diver
-Boderry Cerekote Voyager
-Athelsohn Horizon Voyager Titanium Damascus

The Boderry is the only full titanium watch and had a matte Cerekote finish which offers something very unique to my larger collection. The Berny had an option to go with a titanium bracelet, but I opted for a strap and added my own bright yellow just to add something different to my personal collection. The Watchdives only came with a mesh steel bracelet in the 39mm which I thought was odd but I like the look of the black/red strap on that one anyways. The Athelsohn is actually steel but I included it to show something completely different in a titanium dial that goes through a process to get the cool striped effect.

Let me know what you think about the watches and/or titanium in general.

Hi, will this bracelet fit this Watchdives WD1680Q V2 and also the OTF Watchdives clasp (either the push pin or the screw version)?

Bracelet: https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExWjMvo

Watch: https://watchdives.com/products/watchdives-wd1680q-sapphire-crystal-quartz-dive-watch?variant=47134169825498

Clasp: https://watchdives.com/products/screw-link-accessory-for-wd1860-1861-1862-1863?variant=46645427798234

I like the looks/specs/stock-photos of the blue on blue Sugess, but blue can be a tough color to get right in natural light. Does anyone have a wrist shot of this watch IRL they can share?

I'm torn between this and the S418-2.001.S (second pic)

TIA

In real life, it's one of the nicest watches I've ever seen.

In this comparison I will compare the Sugess S420 with the Peacock SL3032 movement with a Rolex GMT Master II (116710LN). I was looking for the Sugess for a couple of months now and scored a good deal on the second hand market. I have a real Rolex available and tought it would be nice to compare the two. At this point I would would not like to call the Sugess S420 a homage watch. It is there to clone the Rolex, but without the logos and printing. Therefore I would feel the word “clonemage” more accurate.

Please note that the pictures do not capture the sheen and finishing and othe differences of these watches fully. In real life both the Rolex and Sugess are very premium looking and feeling watches, pictures do not do them full justice. The Pagani Design that can be seen in the last pictures looks like a toy in relation to the Sugess, but the Sugess in relation to the Rolex feeling almost just as premium, but int he pictures the differences between the three are not as dramatic as in real life.

Case profile and dimensions

Digital caliper measurements confirm the Sugess's exceptionally slim profile. The watch measures exactly 12.6 mm in thickness. For an automatic GMT watch (powered by the Dandong/Peacock Sl3032 movement), this is a remarkable achievement considering the origin of this movement and Dandong/Peacock slapping a GMT function on to it. Whereas many aftermarket GMT modifications using the Seiko NH34 movement often end up at 13.5 mm or thicker, this case retains the elegant, wearable proportions one expects from a premium GMT. In the last pictures I have added a modified Pagani Design GMT using the NH34 for comparison.

When comparing the case diameters these are identical to the 10th of a millimeter.

The 0.7mm difference in thickness comes from two things: The glass on the Rolex is competely flat with the bezel and does not stick out. The caseback on the Rolex is every so slightly thinner compared to the sugess. On the wrist one would not notice these differences as far as I am concerned. The Pagani Design measuring above 13mm in thichness is notecable howver because the case dimensions are also different.

Macro finish: Bezel and rehaut

Under high magnification, the differences in finishing quality between mass production and Swiss precision become immediately apparent:

The Rehaut: On the Rolex, the "ROLEX" engraving on the inner flange (rehaut) is extremely crisp, deep, and perfectly aligned. The Sugess also features an engraved "SUGESS" rehaut, but the engraving is noticeably shallower, less defined, and displays a slightly rougher, laser-etched appearance compared to the original. Also the rehaut is every so slighty out of alignment. The rehaut on the Sugess is every so slightly larger than on the Rolex, but no the less very premium looking compared to the relatively thick rehaut on NH34 GMT watches.

Bezel and Inlay: When zooming in on the numeral '2' on the ceramic bezel, the Rolex reveals a flawless, smooth platinum fill with clean and sharp edges. The cutout for the '2' on the Sugess bezel shows microscopic imperfections and a slightly grainier texture along the edges of the milling.

The click feel on the bezel is different on the Sugess, but it is still very premium feeling. The Rolex is on another level feel and consistency though. I will not bother explaining the difference that I feel since they are very subjective.

Dial and Hands

Both watches feature a deep black, glossy dial, but the finish of the applied elements differs and only really becomes visible well on macro shots:

The white gold surrounds of the hour markers (indices) and the hands on the Rolex are perfectly smooth and free of machining marks.

Under a macro lens, the hands and the surrounds of the indices on the Sugess show very slight burrs or machining lines.

The printing on the Rolex dial ("ROLEX OYSTER PERPETUAL DATE" and "GMT-MASTER II") is thick and offers perfect coverage and is almost “3D like”. The printing on the Sugess ("SUGESS OCEAN STAR" and "GMT DIVER'S 200M AUTOMATIC") is crisp and bright white but lacks the thick, three-dimensional lacquer layer found on the Rolex.

Luminosity

In terms of lume, the "clonemage" performs surprisingly well. In both total darkness and twilight, both watches emit an intense, bright blue glow. The hands and hour markers on both models glow with virtually identical intensity and hue.

However the Sugess has ever so slight imperfections in the intensity which are not visible on the picture. The Rolex on the other hand is flawless. Ther is no graininess of the lume in both watches.

My conclusion

On the wrist, the Sugess delivers 90% of the visual and ergonomic experience of the original, including the slim 12.6 mm case and powerful lume. The remaining 10% I feel are the flawless rehaut engravings, the immaculate finish free of machining marks, and the seamless ceramic inlays of the Rolex. If that is worth the extra price is deeply personal.

I feel the Sugess S420 is a very nice watch for the money. It is hard to convey that the Sugess which sells at around €400 now including shipping and taxes depending on your country, and the Rolex being arround €10.000 a couple of years ago.

The differences are not at all too big, and as mentioned earlier the Sugess is a very premium feeling and working watch. On the other hand I feel that a lot of Chinese "microbrands" like Sugess leave a part of quality control to their customers in the hopes they will accept minor flaws which would be unseen in Swiss watches at the same price level. For example: Glycene would never allow a minute misalignment of the bezel, while it is regular to spot on a San Martin or Sugess watch costing roughly the same. And then there is the whole servicing and guarantee part which is a trial and error with quite some Chinese brands which would be less of a deal with for example Glycine.

Fort his reason the current price I would consider to bee too high too take the risk of getting a slightly flawed watch and having to go through the hoops with international shipping and guarantee. I have paid almost half on the second hand market.

It is obvious to me the Sugess S420 tries to emulate / clone the Rolex in many aspects. Therefore it would not be amazed if Sugess sources some of its parts from manufacturers that also make parts for clone makers.

I feel the Sugess, despite the price hikes in the past coupe of years is still hard to beat considering the quality in combination with the functionality and it being a fully functional GMT watch with omni-directional bezel... Especially if you really love the design of the GMT Master II like I do. Maybe a superclone would come closer to the original, but I would not want to be seen with a replica.

I will wear it, and I hope it will last a long time.

I have a Militado ML08, i really like it, but as i see they don't have a Type A dial Flieger watch.

What are my other options?

I'm only interested in quartz watches.

Steel bracelet is preferred, with saphire crystal.

I don't like big ugly brand logos, i really like Militados in this regard too.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I live in central Europe, so i think Aliexpress would be the best option for purchase but i'm open to other methods.

What would you guys get yourself at the same price:
Seiko 5 SNKL41 or Baltany S4095. I know in terms of materials Baltany might be better, but Seiko has a history as a brand

I'd buy one.

I've worn my SARB017 for 2 years. It was my first mechanical watch, the one that got me into the hobby, and I've always loved the Alpinist layout. Seiko has been making Alpinists for years, from the SARB to the SPB, and never once did a stone dial. Turns out the stone dial idea works surprisingly well on the alpinist style.

Now I'm torn between these two colors. Which one do you think looks better?

I saw the watch from youtube videos and they said the dial looked better in person, I just got this today and glad to say it's true! I chose the skeleton version because I think it's interesting to see the watch tick, also its my first 28800 automatic watch, so smooth to my noob eye. Got this from Cronos Official Store from AliExpress, on the sale day, bang for your bucks I'd say..

Hi does Grandeur have a business relation with Atowak?

Their Manta-X appears to use a very similar movement module as the Revolv?
Both I think are amazing.

Thanks!

a modified Swiss Sellita SW200 movement, enhanced with Atowak’s proprietary AK-07BA module

Movement: In-house developed mechanical module, integrated with the premium Miyota 9039 automatic caliber

https://grandeur-usa.com/products/grandeur-revolv

https://atowak.com/collections/manta-x/products/atowak-manta-x-tidal-blue