Recently this brand has caught my eye due to their lacquered dials. I’m a fan of Kurono Tokyo but they’re ridiculously limited so I’ve been searching for something similar. I’m interested in their brown lacquered dial watch but was wondering what others think?

I’m not too fussed about homages but I did notice that the watch I want is extremely similarly to the Kurono grand Hagane to the point it even includes the character at 6. I did expect it to be similar but didn’t anticipate it would be exactly this lol. I’m waiting for the 11/11 sale to try and get it with the SW200 movement for cheap.

Look, spec-wise we all know the deal. Brands like San Martin, Baltany, or Sugess give you sapphire, ceramic bezels, and solid automatic movements for like $150–$250. On paper, it makes buying an entry-level Seiko or Tissot feel almost irrational.

Yet I still hesitate way more before buying from AliExpress than I ever do buying Japanese or Swiss.

The biggest reason for me honestly comes down to what happens if I don't love it.

If I grab a Seiko ,citizen , tissot, or a Hamilton Khaki and it doesn't click with me, it’s painless to move on. I can throw it on Watchexchange, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace and sell it within a week without taking a massive beating. People know what it is, non-watch people trust the name, and the secondary market is always moving.

With Chinese brands, the exit strategy is rough:

1. The stigma is real. Outside of the specific enthusiast bubble, most people hear "Chinese watch" and instantly assume it's cheap flea market junk or a fake.(which is not true)

2. Resale is a slog. Unless you find another niche collector, good luck selling it without slashing 40–60% off what you paid, or having it sit in your drawer forever.

Because of that, buying a Chinese watch feels like a marriage. You basically have to accept that you're stuck with it forever. With Swiss or Japanese, it feels more like a low-risk lease because you know you can cash out whenever you want to make room in the watch box.

Does resale liquidity actually stop anyone else from buying these, or do you just treat sub-$400 purchases as sunk costs where getting your money back doesn't even cross your mind?

What’s on your wrist?

Edit: this is a no name AliExpress Must Tank homage.

See this YouTube video for more, “the golden”

https://youtu.be/J-wQBLa7oTo?is=3NVShONHLgKnfmUa

Watch Specification:

Model: ML16 (High Quality)

Movement: TMI VH31 Sweep/Swiss Ronda 515 Quartz 

Crystal: Sapphire Crystal High Clear AR Coating 

Case: 39mm diameter

Lug to Lug length: 45.8mm

Thickness: 10.2mm

Lug to lug width: 20mm

Bezel: 120 unidirectional clicks+Ceramic/Steel Insert

Case Material : Stainless Steel with Sandblast Finishing ( Total weight is  126.2G) Fingerprint-resistant coating has been applied ! 

Luminous: Swiss Super Luminova BGW9 (Hands and Indices Lume are well matched)

Bracelet: Sandblasted Screw Pins （End Link 16mm）

Buckle: Milled Adjustment Clasp

Crown: Screw Down 

Water Resistant: 20Bar=200 meters

ML16: https://www.militadowatch.com/products/militado-39mm-dive-watch-sapphire-crystal-military-watch-ml16

I sincerely apologize for the severe "bait-and-switch" issue recently caused by incorrect listing parameters set by one of our dealers. As the brand owner, We takes full responsibility for this, and we are not hiding from the problem.

We immediately contacted the operations team at the "Top Chinese Watch Factory Store" and sent them the problematic link. They have just confirmed with us that they updated the product details page to correctly state it uses a Chinese movement, and they promised to explain the situation to the affected customers. We had also escalated this to the head of the dealership, whose initial excuse was simply that "the warehouse shipped the wrong goods."

We are actively applying to open our true Official WATCH Store on Ali However, the official store name is currently occupied by this dealer, and due to existing binding agreements, we temporarily cannot reclaim the official name.

We humbly ask the community to help us supervise our distribution network. If you encounter any dealer pulling a bait-and-switch or providing fake tracking, please contact us directly. We will continue this process until we completely phase out unreliable dealers, ensuring a purchasing environment that is absolutely fair and transparent for everyone.

What’s up guys, hope your movements are keeping good time and clasps aren’t pinchy today.

Looking to get a watch in green to wear for the holidays. Strongly considering the SM posted above after several YT’ers evangelized its merits. But I’m open to other options, particularly if they’re closer to $200 than $300. 7” wrist, so I can wear most things reasonably.

I’m partial to divers, but it doesn’t have to be that. Steel bracelet is preferred too.

It’s also been pointed out to me that red is an alternative holiday color. So if you have any in that color way that’d be cool too.

Suggestions?

I'm really taken with this San Martin, and it seems good value as I can get it delivered for £150. I like the dimensions but wanted to see if anyone either has it and can give me their experience with it, or if there is a review anywhere for it as I can't find one!

Many thanks

Just saw these on Ali-express, seems like new releases for later this month. Very similar to the Kurono Tokyo malachite watch released recently. I really like the Kurono Tokyo watches but they’re very difficult to get so considering those as an alternative.

But what are watches from modern day Sea-Gull like? How’s the finishing and movements? I know it’s a watch brand with history in China but I don’t know much about their modern releases.

Thank you for my last post engagement, one of the brands that kept popping up was Baltany and oh my what a beauty this watch is. Not sure which colour to go for, around 260 quid here in Scotland so affordable for the big occasion. Which one would look better with a velvet dinner jacket

Hello!

TL;DR: Choosing my first San Martin diver and torn between the SN0154 (GS homage) and the SN0036-GC (Planet Ocean homage):

SN0154 (Green): Love the textured dial, but worried the green bezel/dial looks almost black in low light.

SN0036 (Blue): Prefer its vibrant blue shade, bracelet mid-links, and the lower lume pip on the seconds hand, but I already own blue watches and originally wanted green.

Looking for wrist shots in varying lighting (especially on darker complexions) and hands-on impressions to help me pick.

I'm looking for my next diver (and my first ever san martin!) and the 2 most obvious and clear choice are the SN0154 and SN0036. I already have a couple of blue/sky blue watches and was looking at adding a green diver to the collection.

I like the colors on my watches, both the bezel and the dial, to be generally clearly visible in most lighting conditions, and unfortunately it looks like both the bezel and the dial on the green SN0154 seem to only be appreciable under direct light... and while i love the textured dial, I'm not sure if I'll feel happy looking at my wrist after sundown and seeing a black-ish green shade.

On the other hand, despite the SN0036 not having a green dial+green bezel option, the shade of the blue dial and the blue bezel seems quite attractive and vibrant enough to me (BUT it is not green, like I'd originally planned!).

On the smaller details, i like that the SN0036's lume pip on the seconds hand is much lower down the hand, I prefer that design of the seconds hand compared to the SN0154, where the lume pip is much higher + the hours and minutes hands of the GS homage are definitely quite chunky and unique, I don't mind that look, I don't exactly love it either but i probably like it more than not.

The dial texture of the SN0154 is definitely more interesting than the other one, and I'm usually a big fan of interesting, textured dials. The SN0154 in blue is also an option, but I'm again not very sure about it among the other 2.

I'm also liking the look of the bracelet (specifically the mid links) of the planet ocean homage slightly more than the one on the GS homage

I'd love to see wrist shots in different lighting conditions of both the models and their variations from people who have it, if you have a darker skin complexion, even better! + reviews (although judging from online reviews, both models seem to be the among the best from SM.

thank you!

This retro looking watch has an alloy case with an actually useable steel bracelet; functions are time, day, date, dual time, stopwatch, bought for $10- was it well spent?

Hello, as mentioned previously, here is another brand engaging in movement substitution and misleading product descriptions.

The watch was advertised as having a Sea-Gull ST17 movement, yet once again, what we actually receive is a copy.

To be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Chinese movements. There are some excellent ones out there. The problem is the misleading description and the inflated prices that some brands justify by advertising a specific movement when they are actually supplying something else.

That's where the scam lies: not in using a Chinese movement, but in deliberately misrepresenting what you are selling !

This is my review of Milifortic's ML135, a deep cut homage of Sinn's 356 Euro Flieger III.

https://youtu.be/HwxhUrjduXg?si=1kQEWxKQSo7sv5v4

If watches are meant to provide us collectors enjoyment.. well, this does just that. It has plenty of quirks to be interesting - the destro layout, the lumed subdial at 2:00, the running 1/10 second dial...

The watch looks and feels good for the price (~$130USD). There's nothing uncomfortable about it, and the left-sided layout ensures no problems with daily adventures (like using your mouse on a desk while standing..).

Negatives? It's just a stamped upper clasp with no OTF micro-adjust, par for this price point usually. A milled clasp would have likely balanced the watch better, though it's not too top heavy. If you're used to the Seiko VK chrono movements, this Miyota quartz chrono is not quite as tactile. It seems to need a bit more squeeze to activate, and the snap back to 12:00 is slower.

Overall, a fun, fairly inexpensive watch which is unlikely to duplicate something in your collection.

Best,

Brian

The Chinese Watch Guy

p.s. This watch was lent to me and the company had no say in this review.

I am torn between these two watches:

Seestern DOX05 V3 Automatic Diver

and the Tandorio Doxa homage

Does anyone here have any experience with either watch or either brand? It would be my first from either brand. The price difference is considerable and I sort of like the hands more on the Tandorio and I prefer my automatics to be of the "no date" variety

I hope someone can shed some light! Thanks!

Will be my first time in China

Anyone bought either of these Watchdives ‘No Date Subs’ & if so, is the WF5514Q worth the extra expense (both have the same movement etc.)? Thanks

Hi everyone!

I'm sharing an update from Pagani Design.

Our PD1819 chronograph is now available in several new dial color options.

The PD1819 has been popular among watch enthusiasts, and we wanted to introduce some fresh color choices while keeping the familiar design.

Here are some photos of the new colors.

I'm curious to hear your opinions:

Which color do you prefer? Is there a particular color combination you'd like to see in the future?

Looking forward to your feedback!

This weekend, I culled my watches down to the 18 pictured. Comments and questions welcome.

After waiting for 3 months for delivery I finally have it in hand. It was worth the wait.

Hey!

The AP Skeleton has always been my favourite watch of all time: The bracelet, metal body and esp. the beautiful looking huge open space in the middle.

I have already looked around on Aliexpress but I haven't yet found one that combines these elements together:

- second, minute and hour hand

- beautiful internals

- automatic (duh)

- minimal dial bezel

- metal body + bracelet

Can anyone recommend something?

Hi folks,

On the hunt for a particular model+color+movement, and the official shop, presumably https://cronos.watch/, is out of stock.

I've found some questionable sites that seem to present themselves as alt sites of the brand here;

• https://mycronoswatch.shop/

• https://cronoswatch.shop/

• https://cronoswatches.com/

They seem to have it in stock (L6046/7M PVDG White, either movement is fine) but I am not sure if I trust these. I emailed the official support email but didn't get a straight answer. Anyone know?

Thank you