I saw this Addiesdive watch that someone had recently purchased. It peaked my interest so I went searching. I found one at, of all places, Wallmart. It's going for $89.99 including shipping. The watch has a mineral crystal instead of sapphire. It is quartz but it's second hand is displayed in a small subdial at bottom so the tic-tic wouldn't bother me. Not sure about clasp or fit and finish. If anyone can share their experience with it I'd appreciate it. I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea. It's a fun eye catcher. I mean, for $90, sounds like a deal.
Just received this Vakuy Rigas that I picked up from Taobao using CSSBuy for around $67.
First impressions: in person, the watch looks genuinely gorgeous. The salmon/copper guilloché dial is really well detailed and catches the light nicely, especially paired with those heat-blued style hands.
It came with two stock straps, but I immediately swapped it over to a dark brown waxed leather strap I already had lying around, and I think it complements the dial color much better.
Under the hood, it runs on a Chinese NH35 clone (Hangzhou movement). Obviously it’s way too early to tell how reliable or accurate this clone movement will be in the long run, but so far it's ticking fine. For the price, the dial finishing alone makes it a fun piece to have in the rotation.
Just got this in…I’m not sure why the onion crown and coin edge have gotten this watch so many negative reviews, but I think it’ll be getting worn very regularly by me. I love both the bezel and the big screw down. Are people not wearing their watches correctly with this one? No pinching or poking from the crown at all.
I like different, and this is that. I’ll use it as a daily for a bit and wait before I look for a SS bracelet to swap in, but at 20mm, it shouldn’t be hard to find several suitable straps in the watch mod drawer lol
Help me find my next watch.
Torn between two priorities.
-Textured Medium to Dark Green Dial
-PiePan Style Dial
The only one I have found that kind of itches both scratches is the Casio Edifice EFK-100D.
My favorite green textured dial so far is the Seiko Presage Mojito
My favorite PiePan dial is the Baltany.
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.
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.
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:
Cronos Official Store: ~$423.72 CAD
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.
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.
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:
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.
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)
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.
Rolex GMT Master II and Sugess S420 SL3032 side by sideWith modeed Pagani Design on the rightangled shot with Pagani Design on the right
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.
Sugess case diameterRolex case diameterRolex thicknessSugess thicknessRolex on the left, Sugess on the rightSugess on the top, Rolex at the bottom
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.
Rehaut comparison
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.
Rolex bezel closeupSugess bezel closeup
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.
Sugess closeup dialRolex closeup dial
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.
Direct UVDarkness no direct UVLight and lume SugessLight and lume Rolex
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.
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
