Month: May 2023

Baltany Military-style Quartz Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 16, 2023
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In recent years, many brands have appeared in Chinese market to do custom-made work, like the brands San Martin, Proxima, Octopus, STEELDIVE I introduced before, all of them seem to come from the same city in China and customize watches according to the designs of Swiss watches or Japanese watches. Many homage watches they created are beautiful with good prices, I have bought several pieces, however, I think too many brands do a repeated work in this field, that’s not good for the development of China watch industry, and sometimes customers also do not know which one to choose when facing too many options with similar designs. But among those custom-made brands, I think Merkur does a better job than others because they have more excellent watches with their own designs, that’s the right development route which every Chinese watch brand should choose.

Never heard of Baltany before, it seems to have some connection to Proxima and San Martin because their watches’ designs are similar, while still not proved. The Baltany watch I am reviewing is a good military style watch powered by a quartz movement, it has several styles that all look really wonderful, I chose the one with black nylon band. The case is made with 316L stainless steel, not titanium even though it looks not like stainless steel because of its darker matte finish. I like the matte finish on the case, I have a lot of stainless steel watches in polished, it is very nice to try another one that has a different finish on the stainless steel case. And the black nylon band also matches well with this matte case and black dial.

The dial has a very good readability, there are four colors on the dial, the black background, red color on the tip of the central second hand, yellow lume color applied on the arrow-shaped markers and hands, white numeral hour markers. It is powered by a Seiko VK61 quartz movement that offers the watch hours, minutes, small seconds and chronograph functions. The subdial at 6 o’clock has a ticking small second, it will keep moving as long as the battery has power. The small dial at 12 o’clock is a 60-minute chronograph counter. At night, the dial will emit two strong lume light, one is blue on these numeral hour markers, the other is green, both are very strong but I have not tested if they will last for a long time. The dial lume is really a big advantage of those custom-made watch brands in China. The watch looks like on this nato band, well, there are too many band choices for such a military watch, a distressed brown leather band or a black calfskin leather band will also look nice, Baltany gives you choices to select your most favorite band because custom-made watch brand is doing such work.

Tags Baltany, Nylon, Quartz, VK61

Sea-gull

Sea-gull Dongfeng 21 Zuan Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 15, 2023
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I am always deeply attracted by the history of Chinese watch industry, this pushes me to buy more China brand watches, there are so many amazing mechanical watches from these traditional watch factories in China like Sea-gull, Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing and so on, some not only design nice watches, but also have fascinating history. Compared with their watches, I more love reading the stories behind these traditional watch factories. The main difference between these Chinese traditional watch factories and new rising homage brands is that the former has their own movements, and Sea-gull is one of the biggest movement suppliers in the world, while a few new homage watches still making up stories to pretend as Swiss brands to cheat customers. The Sea-gull watch I am going to review today is a special model made to pay tribute to the first vintage Dongfeng watch in history of Tianjin Watch Factory, the watch looks nice and it is the best-looking casual watches in my collection.

The Sea-gull watch has a small size that is 38mm in case diameter, this is a size I like, with a small crown, it is very comfortable to wear, and the polished case is only 12mm in thickness. It has a solid case back that has the relief of “东风” and waves in polishing finish, in a sanded background. The entire watch is polished and has arch-shaped lugs that naturally extended from the case to fit your hand in a more comfortable way, I choose the watch with a black leather band, but I could not wait to change the nylon strap on, the nylon band looks better on this watch that has a little vintage flavor.

The silver dial is under the protection of a sapphire crystal that has a arched face, the old Dongfeng watch used acrylic face, on the new model, the sapphire crystal can not only prevent scratches, but also is more clear and has a higher transparence to let you read the dial. The arched sapphire crystal face is a distinctive feature of the watch. The silver dial has simple design but it still looks beautiful to me, check the pictures, the radioactive sunray finish is fine and when you shaking the watch slowly, you will find the unique reflected light on the dial, this is really amazing design for such a Chinese watch, I saw few homage watches can do this. There is no date window. On the top of printings “ZhONGGUO TIANJIN”, there is an unique logo.

The watch is equipped with a ST16 automatic movement, which is independently developed by Sea-gull, the movement beats 21,600 times per hour and has a 36 hours power reserve, I have received it for three weeks, now the watch gains about eight seconds each day, I think this accuracy is acceptable to most people.

Tags 21 Zuan, Dongfeng, Sea-gull, ST16

Hruodland

Hruodland TV Dial Quartz Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 12, 2023
No Comments on Hruodland TV Dial Quartz Watch Review

Hruodland, have you ever bought watches from this brand? I just found it and it looks like other brands I reviewed before such as San Martin, Proxima and Heimdallr, Hruodland also makes homage watches like them, many of them are diver’s watches with strong dial lume, absolutely I do respect these homage brands, although they directly copy the designs of Swiss watches, their quality is usually super. My friend in China did some research and found this brand shipped their watches from Dongguan city in Guangdong province of China, some of these brands I mentioned above like San Marin and Heimdallr also make their watches in Dongguan, so some people may think these Chinese homage brands are operated by the same company, sometime I guess so, but I will ask my friend to do more research on their background, after all there are too many such homage watches come from this city, some of them have the connection, but not all of them operated by the same company. I will write an article about them in future. About San Martin, Proxima, Heimdallr, Rdunae and other brands from Dongguan, there is one common ground behind them, I guess they all earned money by selling fake watches before. By the way, there are several websites online selling watches from these homage brands, like WRWatches and WatchDives, they are also not the company of these brands, they are just sales agent.

This Hruodland has a special shape that looks like an old TV, I remembered the first television my dad bought is like the case shape of this watch. I never thought I will buy such a watch in this unique shape, but I was deeply attracted by this beauty when my friend found it on Taobao and sent me, even it is a digital quartz watch, I still decided to buy, the beautiful blue dial, well-finished case and bracelet, practical functions, it is the most distinctive digital watch in my collection. I know it is a homage watch, but I am not sure which watch it copies from.

The watch has a heavy weight even it is only 39mm in diameter, both the case and bracelet are made with solid 316L stainless steel, they have fine brushing, which is in high contrast with the polishing finish on the bezel. The blue dial is the place I like most on the watch, besides, the finish of the stainless steel bracelet can also beat many watches, the edge of each link on the bracelet is polished round and smooth to guarantee a super wearing comfort, and among all my homage watches, the bracelet finish on this Hruodland watch is the best, I think this is one of the reasons why it is sold at a little higher price than other digital watches.

The blue dial is beautiful and has a very reasonable layout design that does not look crowded even it has a lot of elements to arrange. Under different light condition, the blue color looks different, the three small dials have their own roles. Small-second subdial is at 6 o’clock, the other two subdials at 9 and 12 are for chronograph display. Two separated windows at 3 o’clock, one for week display, the other is for displaying of date. “HRUODLAND” lettering is on top of the window. The fixed central second hand will start to move when you push the chronograph button at 2 o’clock, this is a watch with working chronograph, the font of week and date is also aligned exactly in the middle of each window. By the way, the central second hand has two wings that look like a airplane.

The watch is driven by a Citizen 0S00 quartz chronograph movement, it is said to have a serice life of about 3 years. Hruodland does not offer an extra band for this watch, I still have not configured out which other type of bands will fit it well except this steel bracelet.

Tags Chronograph, Citizen 8215, Hruodland, Quartz

Octopus

Octopus Omega Seamaster 007 Homage Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 11, 2023
No Comments on Octopus Omega Seamaster 007 Homage Watch Review

Omega has published several beautiful Seamaster watches for 007 James Bond, they are selling very well, especially their replicas, are very popular. It is my first time to buy a homage watch of Omega Seamaster 007, this Octopus looks like a homage watch of the Seamaster No Time to Die 007 watch, the watch has a stainless steel case not titanium made, also with a very nato band that is very similar to the one on Seamaster No Time to Die, I like this watch, its case shape, the color on the bezel and dial exactly matches that on the nato band. I received the watch in a small Octopus box, which is a cloth box with sponge inside protecting the watch, I think Octopus could design and make a more high-end wooden box. I see many homage watches coming from Octopus have high prices than the watches made by other homage brands, so a better brand wooden box will make your brand more popular.

The case of the watch is made with 316L stainless steel, it has a 42mm diameter and is measured to be 11mm in thickness, while 13.5mm if the crystal included. The case is a classic Seamaster shape of Omega, I can not say it is exactly the same, but you will immediately recognize when see it. I found the tortile lugs have been brushed on the face and polished on the other side, this detailed finish brings the wearer a high contrast visual effect. The bezel uses a black ceramic insert with engraved markers in the same depth, those markers are also applied with lume material like the hour markers and hands.

I love the dial, the lume material used on the hour markers and hands has the same color as the dial lettering “AUTOMATIC” and brand logo. The dial has a good readability under a clear sapphire crystal, each hour marker is big and the central sword-shaped hands are wide, so they can be applied with more lume to guarantee a strong and long-lasting lume light in the dark. The second hand has a red tip and a Octopus logo on the other end. This is a very classic diver’s watch dial, men love diving watches can not refuse its beauty.

The black/gray nylon band, I love this band, and this style of nato band is also used on another Omega 007 watch, that is Seamaster Spectre. Octopus also offers the stainless steel mesh bracelet for this watch, but the nato band looks better on the watch I think. At last, the watch is equipped with a PT5000 automatic movement, this movement has a good reputation in Chinese watch industry, its accuracy and stability are acceptable.

Tags 007, Ceramic, Octopus, PT5000, Seamaster

Parnis

Parnis YachtMaster II 226659 Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 10, 2023
No Comments on Parnis YachtMaster II 226659 Homage Review

Among all homage watches I bought from China, I like Parnis most, it is also the earliest brand that makes homage watches in China, although not many people talk this brand now, but I still choose to buy some to rich my collection. For all Rolex models from Datejust to Submariner, Parnis makes homage for each of them, but have you ever searched Parnis on Google, no websites are selling these copies now, I got mine watches from my Chinese friend. In current Chinese watch industry, there are two main trends, those big brands like Sea-gull, Shanghai and Beijing almost occupy all middle to high end watch market, while those homage brands are trying to gain recognition from abroad, Parnis is not like San Martin, Proxima and STEELDIVE that specilize in manufacturing diver’s watches, Parnis makes a lot of watches in different styles from casual to diving models, it has rich experience in making such kind of homage watches in good quality but also with affordable prices, that’s the reason I like to choose Parnis.

This Parnis is very similar to the new 42mm YachtMaster 226659 Rolex published, it has stainless steel case and a black rubber band, it is very popular but the Rolex YachtMaster has a too high price. This homage watch has a 41mm case, I have to say this is better size to fit me, absolutely the case is not made with 904L stainless steel, but it has smooth polishing face like a mirror, the tooth on the bezel looks a little wide, I am surprised the watch uses a real black ceramic bezel insert at this price, the bezel markers are a little dark, actually Parnis can polish them brighter.

On the black dial, every detail is an accurate copy of the element on YachtMaster 226659, except letterings. The hour markers and benz hand have white lume material being applied, the sweeping central second hand is powered by an automatic movement that is imported from Japan, which is Citizen 8215, this movement is very accurate and has bcome the most widly used movement in high-end replica watches. The date window has a magnifier on the top and features black font that is exactly in the middle of the window. I noticed the dial lume light is not that strong on diver’s watches from STEELDIVE, this is normal for Parnis and also acceptable to me. At last, the Parnis has a black rubber band, I feel soft on my wrist and no dust stained on the strap til now.

Tags 226659, Ceramic, Citizen 8215, Parnis, YachtMaster

Vakuy Rigas

Vakuy Rigas Sweep Quartz Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 9, 2023
No Comments on Vakuy Rigas Sweep Quartz Watch Review

This is my second Vakuy Rigas watch bought from China, the first one is a vintage Rolex Daytona Paul Newman homage, this one is a quartz watch, but I do not know which brand it copies from, it seems like it has some features of Glashutte. Whatever it looks like, the watch will become one of the dress watches in my big collection that have combined several functions in one piece. I like its polishing case, round smooth bezel and classic dial design, the watch also has a 40mm case, this is a very popular size for all types of watches, it is a trendy watch size, on this Vakuy Rigas, with 40mm case and thin bezel, the dial will look very large, and eveything arranged on the dial will look more comfortable, I think this is a necessary characteristic for all casual watches. I do not like the watch with a too crowded dial, if with so many functions and small dials, it even affects me affect me reading time from the dial. In my collection, for such type of watches, I like Parnis most, because it is a homage brand and most watches made by them have similar designs to those Swiss watches.

I chose the white dial version, the watch is powered by a Seiko VH64 quartz movement, and I noticed that the dial is printed “SWEEP SECOND” “QUARTZ”, I did not know what is the meaning, but I found the central second hand is not ticking but smooth sweeping the dial, so I know what this quartz movement has done, it is a great movement and the watch is exactly what I am looking for. With a quartz engine inside, but doing the things like a mechanical watch. There are two small dials, each with a small hand, one small dial at 3 o’clock is for date display, the other at 9 o’clock is for week display, and the crystal above the white dial is a arc-shaped mineral crystal. The watch comes with a brown leather strap that is made with genuine calfskin leather, it feels very soft and durable to use, not like other cheap watches that come with a band with bad smell, there is no smell on this band, I would like to change this band with a genuine alligator leather band, it will make the watch look more luxury.

Tags Quartz, Seiko, Vakuy Rigas, VH64

Octopus

Octopus Bronze Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 5, 2023
No Comments on Octopus Bronze Watch Review

Bronze watch always looks special and outstanding, I have introduced several pieces of bronze watches on my blog and I love the pilot’s watch made by San Martin most, in my impression, it was Panerai that started the trend of using bronze material to make watches, then many brands followed the lead. You do not need to buy too many bronze watches to rich your watch collection, but need to keep a good one that could be used for a long time, because as time goes by, the bronze watch will change in appearance and will give you a surprise.

Octopus is a niche brand created in China, many watches they make are diving styles, I like them, but I will buy only two or three Octopus watches because I already have too many diver’s watches. So, this bronze watch may be my last Octopus watch. It must be a homage of another Swiss or Japanese brand, but I do not remember which one this watch is copied from. Any way, it is the best bronze watch I have received.

The case, bezel and buckle are all made with bronze material, and the bronze tone is exactly in line with the brown color of the crazy horse leather, the entire watch is totally in one color, except the outstanding green dial, I love this style. The case is made with solid bronze and is completely brushed, the bezel is rotatable and the hole inside the triangle marker at 12 o’clock is filled with lume material, at night, it will emit a strong green light, like the hour markers and hands on the dial. The case back is screw-down and made with titanium, not bronze, there is a big octopus sculpture engraved on the back. The bronze case will be oxidized as time goes by, my friends suggest me deal this with ketchup to renew, but I just like the oxidized appearance.

I like the dial, it is green, it seems like green is the best dial color for every bronze watch. Besides the extremely strong dial lume, I like the color of the lume material applied on the hour markers and hands, it is very close to the tone of the bronze, the end of the central second hand has the brand octopus logo, the grainy green dial looks unique, but I would rather it to be smooth green, the tip of the second hand can be applied with red color to enhance dial readability.

The watch is equipped with a Japanese NH35 automatic movement, many homage watches made in China use this low-end automatic movement, I trust its quality, it is from Japan, and its accuracy is acceptable, now gaining about 8 seconds per day. Besides, I believe all movements from Japan are durable and have a long service life. The smooth crazy horse leather band on the watch can also be changed to a suede band, it depends on which type you prefer.

Tags Bronze, NH35, Octopus

Octopus

Octopus Tudor Pelagos Black Homage Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 4, 2023
No Comments on Octopus Tudor Pelagos Black Homage Watch Review

Have you heard about Octopus watch? I did not know this micro brand before, there are too many niche watch brands in China, some I have tried and are very nice, some I still want to buy even my Chinese homage watches collection is already very huge. The development of Chinese watch industry is rapid, especially these niche brands in recent years, although most of them copied the Swiss watches designs, they do offer many cheap options for us who love watches. The Octopus, like the Steeldive, Proxima and San Martin, makes outstanding diving-style homage watches, perhaps these four brands are operated by one team, one thing I am very sure that they are made and assembled in a city of Guangdong, perhaps in Dongguan, I know there are many factories in Guangdong that make watch parts. The Octopus watch I will review today is a Tudor Pelagos homage, I bought the black one, the watch company also offers blue model.

The watch has a case that is fully brushed, it has a diameter of 39mm, not very thick, only 11.4mm, including the crystal. My friend bought it for me from Taobao.com in China, it is said to be made with Titanium, but I found it seems not Titanium but stainless steel when I received it three days ago, I am a little disappointed. Well, perhaps they offer two versions, I found the Titanium model has a higher price. The bezel has a black insert with white lume markers, the black bezel insert is indeed ceramic made like they said, that’s good, and the lume is very strong, the bezel and dial have the same blue lume light in the dark. The screw-in crown has a Octopus sculpture on the face.

The black dial is completely an immitation of the dial of Tudor Pelagos, the wide hands and big square hour markers are classic designs on Tudor Pelagos, these two elements use wide and big design to enhance readability and also can be applied with enough lume material to offer a stronger lume light in the dark. The middle letter “O” in the word “OCTOPUS” is changed to brand’s logo, while I think the German word “KRAKEN” is no needed. By the way, the white minute markers are on an oblique inner bezel, this enhances the three-dimensional effect of the entire dial.

The Octopus Pelagos homage is equipped with a PT5000 automatic movement, while a better SW200 movement is also offered, I chose the cheaper PT5000, it is enough use for me, I won’t choose a Swiss movement for a Chinese homage watch, not worth it, but I will choose a Swiss movement for a replica Rolex, haha. With this PT5000, now the watch gains 5 seconds per day, well, this accuracy is acceptable til now.

Tags Octopus, Pelagos, PT5000, SW200, Tudor

Parnis

Parnis U-Boat flightdeck Homage Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 3, 2023
No Comments on Parnis U-Boat flightdeck Homage Watch Review

Do you know U-Boat? When I entered the watch field ten years ago, the first watch I was very impressed with its design is the U-Boat, I know this brand from a website that selling fake U-Boat watches at that time. U-Boat is an Italian brand that makes military watches for the Italian Navy, is that right? U-Boat watches were very popular before, but now few people talked it any more. Even in replica watch industry, there are few factories make high quality U-Boat replica watches. This Parnis is a great homage watch of U-Boat, now there are no websites selling Parnis U-Boat homage online, it seems like the sale of some Parnis homage watches is banned, I do not know why, if you want one, ask your friend in China to buy one for you.

I like this big watch, it is a left-handed model, but can still worn on your left hand if you like. The Parnis has a very close appearance to U-Boat, a big stainless steel round case is totally brushed, with a crown and buttons positioned on the left side of the case, the crown has an unique lock system, this is a special design for U-Boat. The case is 50mm in diameter and 16mm in thickness, if crown included, the size is 60mm, it is the biggest watch I have seen. The screw-down case back has a big brand name “PARNIS” being engraved, it is said to have 50m water resistance, perhaps. The case has a full brushing finish but it feels comfortable at the same time when I wear it on my hand. It is too big, I do not suggest people who have a small wrist size buy, if you have a large wrist about 19mm to 21mm, you can try this watch.

Under the mineral crystal, the black dial is beautiful, it has big orange hour markers in Arabic, the orange and yellow color usage enhances the dial readability, there is a small date window set under “PARNIS” at 9 o’clock, this window is small, but it is still very easy to read a correct date because of the white font in black background. By the way, the watch is powered by a Japanese quartz movement, but it has a working chronograph, when you push the button at 8 o’clock, the orange second-chronograph hand on the center will start to tick chronograph, press this button again, the hand will stop, when you press the button at 10 o’clock, the hand will be reset to zero. I am very happy with this watch, not only because of its beautiful and tough design, but also has a correct chrono function, even though I only paid less than $100. The working hand on the subdial at 12 o’clock is a display of small seconds, the small dial at 6 o’clock is a minute-chronograph counter, and I guess the small hand at 3 o’clock is permanently fixed, with no function. At night, the dial will show you a green lume on hour markers and hands.

The watch has a black genuine leather band, it features a brushed pin buckle with empty engraving, for such a huge watch, it will be better if the strap could be wider. By the way, Parnis also has a all black PVD version for this watch, I also love it and want to buy some day.

Tags Flightdeck, Parnis, U-Boat

Vakuy Rigas

Vakuy Rigas Daytona Paul Newman Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 2, 2023
1 Comment on Vakuy Rigas Daytona Paul Newman Homage Review

I like vintage watch, some Rolex watches made in old times attract me, when I do a search of Daytona Paul Newman homage on google, I found this brand, Vakuy Rigas, I did not hear it before, and it is the first time for me to buy from Vakuy Rigas, is this also a Chinese brand? Mostly yes, I read some comments on reddit, they talked this brand in Chinese watch section. Well, Vakuy Rigas maybe created by a small watch company in Guangzhou or Dongguan, or it is just a sub-brand of Parnis, who knows. This Vakuy Rigas I bought uses a quartz movement, it looks similar to a Rolex Daytona Paul Newman watch.

Its black bezel, cream white dial, three small dials and red minute scales indeed remind me one Daytona Paul Newman watch I saw online before, this is also the best-selling replica Daytona Paul Newman in the market. When received it two days ago, I felt like it is a real Daytona Paul Newman, very close appearance. The case is totally brushed, the edge and corner on the case and bracelet links are polished very well, they won’t scrape my hand. Two buttons are slightly different, they have screws around, but on Daytona Paul Newman, they are cap style buttons without no screws to lock. The screw-in crown is a little bigger with front a bit raised. The case is measured to be 38mm in diameter, it is a little thick, which is 15mm, but including the Acrylic glass face.

The dial has a layout that looks exactly the same as Paul Newman Daytona, and the match-head markers on the small dials are also classic element on Paul Newman Daytona, but the subdials have different functions. The watch is driven by a quartz movement, which is VK63A from Citizen, the white small hand ticks around the black subdial at 6 o’clock, the small black dial at 3 o’clock is hour display in 24-hour format, while the small black dial at 9 o’clock is 60-minute chronograph counter, I am very happy that the watch has a real chronograph function, when you push the button at 2 o’clock, the central second-chronograph hand will move. I checked the finish of these three small dials, the CD patterns are finished fine.

The bracelet is made with 316L stainless steel with solid links brushed, it features a deployant clasp without engravings. The bracelet quality exceeds my expectation, I thought the links would be loose but actually there is no much space between each link, that’s really nice. By the way, I do not want to try to wear this watch in a swimming pool even my friend told me it is water resistant.

Buying advice:

There are very few Daytona Paul Newman homage watches in the market, as far as I know, two brands are making it, Pagani Design and Vakuy Rigas. And this one from Vakuy Rigas uses a quartz movement, I think you should buy it as a permanent own because the quartz movement is so durable. After this purchase, you can find a Paul Newman watch with 7750 movement. Now this Vakuy Rigas quartz watch is only sold at less than 65 USD.

Tags Daytona, Paul Newman, Quartz, Vakuy Rigas

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