Month: July 2022

Merkur

Merkur Pilot Manual Winding Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 11, 2022
No Comments on Merkur Pilot Manual Winding Watch Review

Merkur, I like this brand more, many watches coming from this brand not only have creative design ideas, but also feature some characteristics of old Chinese military watches. This is a very young watch brand created in China, perhaps few of you guys have heard of it, in fourms, Merkur may not be as popular as some diving-style brands such as STEELDIVE and Proxima, but it is the brand you will be immediately attracted once see one watch from them, because there are a lot of new designs you did not see before, just like this watch I am going to talk about today, it is completely new.

The watch has a lot Chinese elements, that’s my first impression with it. About the dial, you will never think this is a pilot watch’s style, yes, besides its big dial, is there any design on the watch related with a pilot’s watch, that’s my first thought if you have to say it is a pilot watch. But after analyzing each element on the dial, it is indeed a pilot’s watch based on Chinese elements, so you guys may not understand. There is a Chinese word “鲛” on the small dial at 6 o’clock, it has a special meaning in China, it is an old animal, which is called crocodile dragon or shark dragon. The black dial has cloud patterns decoration, usually in Chinese cartoons, such cloud will appear when a dragon flying in the sky, so seeing from these two traditional Chinese elements, this Merkur is indeed a pilot watch. By the way, the track-style hour hand and minute hand are applied with luminous material, so are Arabic numeral hour markers.

The Merkur watch is equipped with a manual winding movement, you may ask why Merkur did not choose an automatic movement, but you know an automatic movement will increase the cost of the watch, so, sometimes a manual winding movement will be a good option for such a watch with creative designs. By the way, when winding, do not rotate it too tight, it will affect the servicing life of the watch. The last is the specification of the watch.

Movement: Manual Winding
Case Material: 316L stainless steel
Case Diameter: 38mm
Case Thickness: 12mm
Crystal: Acrylic
Dial: Black, Lumed hour markers and hands
Band: Nylon
Water Resistant: 30m

Tags Merkur

STEELDIVE

STEELDIVE Green Marine 200m Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 8, 2022
No Comments on STEELDIVE Green Marine 200m Review

Now, STEELDIVE has become my first choice when considering to buy a diver’s watch, it is the Chinese brand that has the most authentic diving watch genes, I have seen a lot of STEELDIVE watches, this is my fifth piece I bought from STEELDIVE, each of them has a strong case design, the dial is regular diver’s watch dial style, strong lume and big markers to increase readability, everyone likes such type of diving watch, wearing it is also a way to show your personality. When you are thinking of a diving watch to buy and do not want to spend too much, then a watch made in China is a great choice, do not consider these big traditional Chinese brands like Sea-gull, Beijing, Shanghai or Fiyta, because they do not have homage watches that have a more popular outlook and design, so sometimes that’s the reason why you see niche brands such as STEELDIVE and Parnis are more popular among watch fans in forums.

This is a classic diver’s watch from Green Marine series of STEELDIVE, the watch is full stainless steel made, there is also rubber band option to choose, STEELDIVE offers several colors, black, blue and green, I choose the black one, it is the most classic, just like the Submariner 116610LN from Rolex.

The watch is made with solid 316L stainless steel, both case and bracelet are brushed, the case has a diameter of 41mm, not including the crown, it is a little thick, which is up to 13.5mm. The lugs have a short design, the end link of the bracelet is also bent well with the curved lugs, seeing from the side, the case side has polished face, there is a STEELDIVE logo on the crown, it is the oxygen tanks and mask for diving. The bezel stands high above the middle case with a black ceramic insert, which features blue lumed bezel markers.

The dial is a hot spot of the watch, the hour markers seem to be bigger than those of other diver’s watches I have seen, the hour hand and minute hand have a much wider design, they are all applied with cyan luminous material, the lume light is green and so strong. The dial has white minute markers printed on an beveled inner bezel, which brings a three-dimensional layered effect to the entire dial. From the red printings above the marker at 6 o’clock, we can know the series and water resistant depth of the watch.

The watch is powered by a NH35 automatic movement that comes from Japan. Almost all diving watches from STEELDIVE use this movement. It is one of the most affordable automatic movements in the market, also with considerable accuracy and stability, its accuracy is claimed to be -20 to +40 seconds per day, now I have had this watch for three weeks, it is about 35 seconds faster each day. For the Chinese watches with the same price level, I would rather choose the one with a Japanese movement.

Conclusion:

This watch is more suitable for your daily wearing than other STEELDIVE diver’s watches. Made with solid stainless steel and uses Japanese automatic movement, the watch can be used for more than five years.

Tags Ceramic, Green Marine, NH35, STEELDIVE

STEELDIVE

STEELDIVE Marine Master 300m – a moster in the deep sea

Post author By Bob
Post date July 7, 2022
No Comments on STEELDIVE Marine Master 300m – a moster in the deep sea

For a diver’s watch, people often do not wear it in their daily life, but there must be one in their collection, the watch should be big, strong and has an unique outlook so that I can show in front of my friends, STEELDIVE is a brand that offers such type of diver’s watches, many watches from them are homages of old Seiko diver’s watches, they are solid made with robust design like this one. STEELDIVE is not a new custom-made watch brand, it appeared in the market several years ago, some watches of STEELDIVE are even more popular than those of traditional Chinese brands like Sea-gull, one of the most popular diver’s watches that is being widely discussed in various forums is STEELDIVE, so, that’s the reason why I usually browse STEELDIVE’s website when need a diver’s watch.

This STEELDIVE watch is very big, its case is solid 316L stainless steel made, it looks strong and robust, the case has an unique construction that is different from that of other diving watches, the case head is surrounded by a piece of thick steel sheet, I did not see such case structure before, I searched online, some people said that the special models made by Seiko in the past used such case, people call these watches “Seiko Can”. The surrounded bezel has a black ceramic bezel insert, the bezel is uni-directional rotating, the crown screwed in the case at 4 o’clock is also very big. Any way, seeing from the case structure and spare parts on the case, this is the most robust and strong case I have ever seen, like a mechanical toy.

The dial is a classic diver’s watch dial, big hour markers, wide hands and superlume, these three are necessary for almost every diving watch. Each hour marker, hour hand and minute hand are applied with cyan luminous material, they will emit a strong green lume light in dark conditions, which is different from the blue lume light emitting from bezel markers. The hour marker at 6, 9 and 12 has a small tail, both hour hand and minute hand are brushed, there is a small round luminous dot on the end of the second hand. The STEELDIVE logo under the triangle marker looks like an image of oxygen tanks and masks for diving, this logo also appears on the case back.

The watch is driven by a NH35 automatic movement that is made in Japan, the movement not only offers timing, it also has date function, NH35 beats at 21,600VPH, it has 24 jewels and 40-hour power reserve. I received the watch four weeks ago, now its daily error is about 20 seconds faster. The watch has two band options, stainless steel and rubber, the stainless steel bracelet has three-section and five-section options. Besides this black, STEELDIVE also offers green, blue, red and orange dial colors for this watch.

Tags NH35, STEELDIVE

Sea-gull

Sea-gull 6099 Small-Seconds Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 6, 2022
No Comments on Sea-gull 6099 Small-Seconds Watch Review

Simple and Bauhaus-style mechanical watches are very popular, in Sea-gull catalog, there are some models with Bauhaus style. Born in China and as the biggest watch manufacturer, Sea-gull not only makes watches with features of old Chinese military watches, they are also keeping up with the latest watch trend and publish the models that are more recognized by customers abroad. Among all Chinese watches I have bought, Sea-gull is the only one that gives me a feeling that such watch can compete with other famous Swiss brands. Today, the Sea-gull watch I am going to review is exactly a bauhaus-style model, it completely fits the aesthetic standard of most people, and can let Sea-gull really go to the world.

The watch is made with 316L stainless steel, its case is measured to be 39mm in diameter and 10.5mm in thickness, a very thin case with narrow round bezel that is polished, four lugs are slender and narrow, classic Bauhaus style in case design. Due to the thin bezel design, the dial looks very big and so offers the wearer a better readability. The crown is screwed in, there is a big “S” logo on the face, which is sand-finished on polished face. Seeing from the side, the case has a beautiful streamline design with naturally curved lugs to fit your wrist more comfortable. The case back is see-through crystal, with reference number engraved on the rim.

The dial is under the protection of sapphire crystal, it has a simple design, maybe there are no other Chinese elements on the dial except the printings of “CHINA MADE”, but the design inspiration of the dial indeed comes from a traditional item of China – Jade Button Shape Mascot, which means peace. The gray circle on the center has Arabic numbers for hours display, the sunken subdial features a small second hand in orange color that is obviously eye-catching. Both the big dial and small-second subdial have a delicate sand texture. By the way, on Sea-gull website, the circle on the dial has three color options, gray, blue and green.

The watch is powered by ST17 automatic movement developed by Sea-gull, now Sea-gull has become one of the biggest movement suppliers in the world, I trust the quality of their movements. ST17 beats at 21,600VPH and has 40-hour power reserve. To achieve a thin and light case, it is a wise choice to use this movement. By the way, the watch uses a brown leather band with pin buckle, the company will also send one nylon strap for free.

Tags Sea-gull

Sea-gull

Sea-gull Green Military Watch Made for Chinese Army

Post author By Bob
Post date July 4, 2022
No Comments on Sea-gull Green Military Watch Made for Chinese Army

Sea-gull must be your first choice if you want to know the background and development history of Chinese watches, for most people, the Chinese brand they are most familiar with is Sea-gull, which is formerly known as Tianjin Watch Factory. Now, Sea-gull has grown to be a very big watch company, they have a very full watch series, and their movements are now being used in watches of many big brands in the world. So, if you are considering a very good quality Chinese watch as a start, I recommend Sea-gull.

I like the military watch made by Sea-gull, some of the elements on these watches look unique, I like the mysterious symbols. This watch is a special edition from Sea-gull, it is made to pay tribute to those military watches produced for the Chinese Army by Tianjin Watch Factory, the watch has a military green color, it comes in a green box, which looks very special. On the case and dial, there are also several elements related to the Chinese Army, each of them has unique meaning, which is attractive to me.

The case is made with solid 316L stainless steel, it has a diameter of 43mm and is measured to be 13mm in thickness. The case is brushed with angular crown guards, on the left case side, there is a piece of metal attached, and it is engraved with “陸軍1號”, which means Army No. 1 in English. Two crown guards look special, they are in ladder-shaped. The case back has special engravings, with a big five star on the center. Looking from the pictures, the screw-in back absolutely adds thickness of the entire case, but it makes the watch look stronger and more reliable.

The dial is green, which is in line with the green color on the nylon band. The dial has every necessary detail that makes the watch become a good military watch. Simple design, big hour markers, wide hands and strong lume. The slender second hand on the center has a red tip and a five star in silver on the end, both hour hand and minute hand are in sword-shaped, they have a wide design so that can be applied with more luminous material on the stem. There is a medal in the shape of a coin at 6 o’clock, I do not know what special meaning it has, the Chinese words under the medal are “五四式”.

The Sea-gull watch is equipped with an in-house automatic movement, which is ST2500. This movement beats at 21,600VPH and has a power reserve of 45h to 48h, the accuracy of ST2500 is ok for me, I have worn it for six weeks, the watch is about 18 seconds faster each day, for a basic automatic movement Sea-gull, such accuracy is normal. By the way, the green army green nylon band also meets the military theme the watch wants to present.

Not only this green, the watch also has black and sand color options on Sea-gull’s website, and the one in sand color looks more interesting.

Tags Sea-gull, ST2500

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