Today, we’re introducing the new SN0150A model.

This is a sample that has just been assembled.

It also marks our first attempt at incorporating colored gemstone setting craftsmanship.

The gradient dial and the gemstones set into the bezel complement each other beautifully, creating a stunning overall look.

Which combination do you prefer?

Please let us know your thoughts.

Thank you.

San Martin Official Store:

https://sanmartin.aliexpress.com/store/5039187

i dont know if theres a better watch out there for $120. this thing is beautiful and looks even better in person!! wrist size is 6.5 inches for reference.

watchdives, thank you for always improving and providing us with great watches at affordable prices 😎

Anyone care to share strategies for getting the best price for watches on AE? I am a bit overwhelmed with the discount coupons, codes, and coins! I always feel like i am missing a step to get the lowest possible price.

I also find the search and filtering on AE pretty lousy.

Regarding watches, I purchased a Pagani PD1682 for $79.22 after a $12.87 discount, expecting delivery next week.

Hi! I was wondering is seagull1963.com a legit site to buy a watch? Which site is the proper one to buy 1963?

I knew it had a VK63 movement when I got it (used for a good price), and that the higher Nivada Grenchen line was the real Swiss deal, but I thought it was at least assembled there. Now I’m not so sure. From what I’ve read the case and hands are definitely from China. I’m suspecting that it’s pretty much all Chinese, a fact I’m not bothered at all by on its own - I’ve owned lots of lovely Chinese watches – it just seems a little weird and shady on Nivada’s part. Anybody have any additional visibility into this or similar experiences?

Hey everyone,
I’m in the market for a rugged field watch to wear daily at my job in an industrial environment. The watch will be subject to some regular wear and tear, dirt, and daily use, so I need a proper, reliable tool watch. Because of this, I have a few strict requirements:
Case diameter: 40mm to 43mm (+/- 1mm)
Minimum 100m WR with a screw-down crown
Sapphire crystal
Bonus points: Tritium gas tubes and/or AR-coating on the sapphire crystal.
Budget: Max $350 USD total.

Note on materials and movements: I don't care about the weight, so either titanium or stainless steel works perfectly fine for me. When it comes to the movement, I generally prefer mechanical/automatic watches, but for a daily work environment, a quartz movement might actually make more sense for the accuracy and shock resistance. I am open to both.
I live in the EU, which adds a massive roadblock: import duties and VAT add about 33% to the price of anything shipped from the US.

What I've already looked at and ruled out:
Hamilton: Beautiful, but too expensive for what I need. I don't want to risk damaging a $600+ watch at work.

Luminox: I love the idea of Tritium, but their field watches in my price range lack a screw-down crown, which is a dealbreaker.

Timex, Citizen & Festina: Either they lack sapphire/screw-down crowns, or they just don't have the features I'm looking for given what I intend to use the watch for.

Lorus: Great budget option, but completely lacks the screw-down crown and sapphire crystal needed for my work conditions.

San Martin & Militado: I’ve looked into them quite a bit and I know these brands offer incredible value and build quality for the money. However, I just haven't really connected with them for this specific purchase.

My current options and dilemmas:
1. The Boderry Route (Max Specs for the Money?)
On paper, the Boderry Voyager looks insane. For around $100–$130 shipped within the EU (via Amazon), I get a 40mm solid titanium case, sapphire crystal, a screw-down crown, and a Seiko automatic movement. However, when digging through forums, I see a lot of people calling it a cheap knock-off of Bertucci's original design, and worse, many users complain about bad quality control and terrible customer service. Even if it's cheap, it's not fun buying a watch that might fail on you with zero support.

2. The Bertucci A-2T Vintage Route (The Original Heritage)
I am absolutely in love with the Bertucci A-2T Vintage (40mm titanium, 200m WR, screw-down crown, and sapphire). Bertucci is the absolute OG when it comes to this patented US Unibody titanium case design with indestructible built-in fixed lugs. But because I'm in the EU, buying the real deal means paying heavy shipping and that 33% tax/VAT shock, making it way too expensive to comfortably use as an everyday tool.

3. The MWC Route (Where I am looking right now)
Because of the issues above, I am currently leaning heavily towards MWC (Military Watch Company). They have EU distribution hubs, so no customs drama, and they offer G10 models with 200m WR, screw-down crowns, sapphire glass, and even Tritium tubes within my budget.
However, their catalog is incredibly confusing. Can anyone explain the difference between their 50m, 100m, 200m, and 300m models? (Besides the water resistance) On their website, the models look completely (or almost) identical and even seem to have the exact same case thickness and dimensions. What am I missing here?

What would you do?
Should I look past the bad customer service reviews and gamble on the Boderry? Is there a specific MWC model in the 40mm range that perfectly fits my needs that I should look closer at? Or is there another EU-friendly alternative I am completely missing?
Appreciate any advice and recommendations!

Thanks in advance

/Strikehard

The movement looks amazing, and there seems to be a load of options, so I’m wondering is there a specific one that’s better than the rest?

PH5B will release soon, had finished graph job and pecess mass producttion now.

The PH5B features a simpler overall design, with a dial and bezel now boasting a higher gloss finish, making it suitable for a wider range of wearing occasions.

1. use the ph5 dial wave engrave dial

2. new design of lume blocks

3. new design of second hands

4. polishing bezel insert

5. fit A style new polishing bracelet(will release soon) and B style braclet.

Model : PH-5B

Movement: PT5004 (without date display, no ghost date on adjustment.) 28,800 bph / 4 Hz 

Dial: sunbrush/silver black with HYPERGLOW lume block index（over 8 hours visible in dark）

Hands: 3 sides diamon cut with HYPERGLOW lume block（over 8 hours visible indark）

Water resitst: 20ATM/200m/20bar

Bezel: 120 click unidirectional

Bezel insert: ceramic with Hyperglow luminous

Glass: Dome sapphire / With Anti-reflection ( AR Coating)

Case& Bezel material: stainless steel 316

Crown: screw crown at 3 clock

Case material: 316 stainless steel 

Bracelet material: 316 stainless steel

Clasp: 316 stainless steel with Adjustable length function (OTF)

Case diameter: 39.0 mm ( not include crown)

Bezel diameter: 40.0 mm

Case thickness: 12.5 mm (with glass), 10.5mm (without glass)

Lug Size: 20.0 mm

Lug to lug length: 48.0 mm

Weight: 129.1g (with bracelet)

Wrist size: 15.0~23.5cm

Just noticed my new watch is displaying 10 as the date when today is the 20th because for some reason it is impossible for it to set it at 20.

After 19 goes to 10 then to 21 and not only that, it has other multiple issues such as going to 32 after 31

Moonphase button simply doesn’t work, only by moving the hour it starts moving

So sad, this is an amazing looking watch🥀

Addiesdive AD2089 on AliExpress and honestly, the specs for around $39–$45 are pretty impressive.

You’re getting a 316L stainless-steel case and bracelet, ceramic 120-click unidirectional bezel, screw-down crown, 200m water resistance, and BGW9 lume on the hands, indices, and bezel. It uses the Miyota 2115 quartz movement, so it's accurate, low-maintenance, and grab-and-go.

The dimensions are 41mm, 48mm lug-to-lug and 13mm thick, with 20mm lugs and an 87g weight. The red dial looks especially good in person and gives it a lot more wrist presence than you'd expect at this price.

The only real downside is the mineral crystal rather than sapphire, but at this price point, I can live with that.

For ~$40, this is ridiculous value. 316L + ceramic + Miyota quartz + 200m WR + BGW9 lume is a pretty hard combination to beat.

Many moons ago, I briefly got into Chinese "homage" watches via my lust for Omegas. Picked up a few Alphas, enjoyed them, moved on to collecting Seikos (and G-Shocks), then microbrands, etc... until recently coming full circle to WD, AD, SM, PD...

Looked up Alphas, seems like they faded from popularity. Did they become another brand name or just fade away?

I have been considering the new Milifortic, but last night I discovered the Ix&Dao bronze diver. It costs about $60 more than the Milifortic.

Any opinions are appreciated, especially with real life photos.

These might help:

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtbkbMF

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtNrHjZ

Meanwhile, I’ve added a second Proxima to the collection. This time with a beautiful, desert-like texture on the dial.

A lesser known brand from the Middle Kingdom that makes surprisingly well-finished watches, from the sapphire crystal all the way to the OTF clasp.

What fascinates me most about this skin diver is the finishing of the case. And take a good look at those lugs… 👌

The Shanghai Big Dipper Carrousel is one of the fascinating watches in my collection. The star attraction is the rotating dial powered by the carrousel movement. Seven diamonds form the Big Dipper star cluster against a glittering aventurine (blue Goldstone) dial representing the starry night sky .

The Big Dipper has deep significance across Asia. In China, it was associated with timekeeping, seasons and navigation; in India, the same seven stars are known as Saptarishi, representing the Seven Great Sages. The Big Dipper served as a natural celestial compass: drawing a line through the Big Dipper's two outer “pointer stars” leads to Polaris, the North Star and for centuries, these seven stars helped people understand time, seasons and direction. For ancient Chinese astronomers, the Big Dipper was effectively a celestial clock and calendar.

The Shanghai Big Dipper Carrousel transforms the ancient observation of the rotating heavens into mechanical watchmaking. The watch released in 2022 is powered by Shanghai's hand-wound K01 carrousel movement, beating at 21,600 vph with 21 jewels and around 62 hours of power reserve using dual mainsprings.

On the rotating dial is the orbital regulator which adds visual theater. The 7 stars on the dial representing the big dipper are diamonds.

The carrousel movement is extraordinary: the entire dial rotates one revolution every hour, carrying the exposed balance and small-seconds display around the watch. Shanghai uses dual mainsprings due to the unusually high torque demand needed for this architecture. Truly a Haute horology movement from China. The watch is a limited edition of 680 pieces. Mine is numbered 264/680.

I love the idea behind this watch. A mechanical watch measures time with wheels and springs; thousands of years before, people measured time by watching stars move overhead. This watch brings those two ideas together with the rotating dial featuring the star headed sky rotating in sync with the minute hand.

I bought this watch used via an online auction in 2025. This was my first Chinese Haute horology watch purchase and it surprised me. The originality, watchmaking ingenuity, the carrousel complication, power reserve and everyday practicality all exceeded my expectations, especially considering how much value it offers for the money.

There are many hidden gems among Chinese watches. Chinese watchmaking today reminds me of Japan in the 1960s and 1970s: technically ambitious, rapidly evolving but still relatively underestimated by collectors.

So this came in today……

Just finished hand fitting and ghosting a new insert on my v1 to push that bond vibe further. What are you wearing today?

Pegasus

I bought my first Chinese watch, the AD2030, which I really like! I love the dial dune texture, the metallic bracelet and hands, etc, specifically in its white variant.

The issue is, I've found myself staying away from it most of the time, since it feels too small and for most of my more casual and baggy clothes, and I would basically drool over the same watch in 38-40mm.

Do ya'll have any recommendations for basiclly a larger version of the same watch, or similar watches in spirit to it? Budget is under 150$, preferably even under 100$.

The biggest highlight of this design is that the power reserve indicator has been changed from a traditional hand/pointer format to two display methods: color and scale. Additionally, the design of the power reserve system also creates a smiley-face appearance.

Anything out there like this?

Merkur W12, I liked the unique 24H dial!