About Vakuy Rigas, perhaps it is new to many people, but I did some background checks and found its connection with another brand, which is Parnis, both seem to be operated by the same team. Parnis was very hot ten years ago, but today few people talked about this brand, now they created a new brand called Vakuy Rigas but their team is doing the same thing as Parnis did years ago, which manufacture homage watches. Actually I have reviewed several watches from Vakuy Rigas, the one I love most is the Daytona Paul Newman homage from them, and today this watch that looks like Nautilus 5711 is also a great homage.
Parnis team earned a lot of money by selling these homage watches years ago, now the money is almost gone but Parnis is not as hot as before, so their team registered a new brand and want to earn some money again. One thing I am very sure about Vakuy Rigas is that their watches are not the best homages in the market, but their prices are really good and match the quality, which is in middle level.
Nautilus is one of the most popular stainless steel watches and this Vakuy Rigas homage is a good alternative that has so close outlook to Nautilus 5711, I got it at less than $90, that’s a very cheap price with a Japanese automatic movement, especially it has a crystal back. I got the blue dial color, the manufacturer also offers this watch in black dial color. The blue color on the dial of Nautilus is very difficult to clone, even on the most expensive super clone 5711, the blue still has color difference if comparing it with genuine. Anyway, I think Vakuy Rigas has done a good job on the blue dial, it is not pure blue, but unfortunately it looks a little purplish. The finish is acceptable, it will be better if the brushing on the case is delicate. By the way, the four corners of the case are well shaped, they feel a bit sharp. Apart from these, I have no other complains on this watch.
Inside the watch, it is a Miyota 8215 automatic movement from Japan, many homage watches in China have chosen to use this movement because of its high stability with affordable price. Do you know which brand also produces good homage of Nautilus 5711? Please leave your comments below.
This watch looks weird, it has an outlook of AP Royal Oak but immitating the dial design of Hublot Sang Bleu, well, that dial design looks very natural and good in such an octagonal AP Royal Oak case, I must say that Vakuy Rigas has done a good job.
The watch has a big case size that is measured 43mm in diameter and 14mm in thickness, it is made with solid 304 stainless steel and has great polishing and brushing on the case, with a long stainless steel bracelet, the entire watch also feels heavy on your hand.
The frontal face of the bezel has a brushing finish that is completed in the same direction as that on the case and bracelet, the edge and every corner of the case are polished, there is nothing on the crown but only matte finish. The watch has the classic AP Royal Oak bracelet being connected to the case naturally and stably, the bracelet is integrated with the case seamlessly, which looks like an extended part of the case. That’s also the reason why so many people like AP Royal Oak, not only because of its sporty outlook, but also the connection of the case and bracelet makes the watch fit your wrist in a more comfortable way, but the premise is that your wrist is big enough.
The dial shows the time in a creative way, where you can see the most mechanical method to display the time. The working or moving steel frame at the center is traditional second hand, next the steel frame with one corner filled with white luminescence is minute hand, the outermost steel frame is hour hand, which is pointing at the hour number printed on the beveled inner bezel. The sapphire crystal has a very good permeability, you can observe the dial clearly at every angle.
At last, the watch has a Japan 8215 movement that is a standard automatic movement from Miyota. This movement now has been widely used in replica watches and homage watches made in China, it is well known for its high stability. I have the watch for three weeks now, it gains 18 seconds each day now but I still love it very much.
If you are a fan of my blog, you may have noticed that I have introduced a lot of Rolex Submariner homage watches produced in China, I bought most of them, took pictures and made comparison reviews, actually most of them have a good quality, and I more hope these reviews can help you a lot when deciding to buy your first watch in China or picking some homage watches to rich your collection. Today, I will make a summary of the top ten best Submariner hulk homage watches made in China, from this list and by reading my previous reviews, you will easily tell which one is the best.
1.Sugess Seaman SP116610LV
Seeing from its model number, Sugess Seaman is a classic homage watch of Submariner hulk 116610LV. I made some searches about Sugess, and found this is a watch company coming from Shenzhen of China, now they have become one of the most popular homage watch brands. In many watch forums and Reddit, a lot of watch fans have admitted that this is the best homage of Submariner hulk. It has a case measured to be 40mm in diameter and 12.5mm in thickness, which is closest to the case size of the Rolex Submariner 116610LV, the Seaman SP116610LV has a green ceramic bezel, its green color on the bezel and dial looks very close to that on hulk Submariner. By the way, the Sugess Seaman uses a Japanese NH35A automatic movement inside, which is very reliable.
Advantages: correct case shape and size, genuine green ceramic bezel insert, Japanese NH35A movement, correct lume color Shortcoming: high price, almost 190 USD on their official site
2.San Martin SN0017
SN0017 is a famous model from San Martin, it has black and green color options, I introduced the green SN0017 on my blog at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2023/05/31/san-martin-submariner-116610lv-homage-review/, and I also have given a comparison review about the black one between it and the Cronos L6015 as well as the Steeldive SD1953, please check my review at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2023/08/20/black-submariner-homage-review-cronos-l6015-vs-san-martin-sn0017-vs-steeldive-sd1953/. The SN0017 deserves the second position because it really has a very good finish on the case, dial and bracelet like the Sugess. Among all homage watches created in China, the ones made by San Martin all have good finish, their case finish should be among the best. The case of the SN0017 is 40.5mm in diameter and 13mm in thickness, the bezel also uses real green ceramic. The watch is equipped with a Japanese NH35A automatic movement.
Advantages: good case finish, sunburst dial finish, correct bezel engravings, strong and correct blue lume, stable NH35A movement. Shortcoming: Bracelet structure is not as good as the Sugess Seaman, the top of the bezel pearl is not domed, high price, almost 190 USD.
3.Pagani Design 1639
Why does this watch have such a high position in the list? We know Pagani Design is famous for making cheap homage watches, their Speedmaster, Tiffany Blue Rolex and Daytona homage watches are popular in watch industry, it is the hottest Chinese brand that is being discussed in Reddit. After receiving a Pagani Design watch, you will find its quality exceeds your expecation because you only paid tens of US Dollars, that’s the reason why Pagani Design should rank so high in this list. The Pagani Design 1639, I talked about it in a comparison review here at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2023/12/12/hulk-submariner-homage-reviewpart-3-pagani-design-1639-vs-vakuy-rigas-v-003-vs-tevise-t801/.
Advantages: good finish on the case and bezel, bezel pearl looks nice, nice sunburst finish on green dial, very reasonable price. Shortcoming: big case over 43mm, weak lume light on the bezel pearl and dial markers.
4.Cronos L6015
I firstly knew Cronos because it makes a good quality Pepsi GMT-Master homage watch, the L6015 is a Submariner homage model of Cronos, which has black and green color choices. The Cronos L6015 hulk Submariner homage has a correct case size and a green ceramic bezel, the bracelet and clasp are nice and have the similar structure to Submariner. The watch uses a NH35A automatic movement.
Advantages: good finish on the case, green ceramic bezel and Japanese NH35A movement. Bezel pearl is slightly dome-shaped, strong blue lume. Shortcoming: Arabic number markers on the bezel are bit thinner, surburst finish on the dial not obvious, too green on the dial.
5.Heimdallr HMSR01
Heimdallr is also a great homage watch brand that has been in this field for years. I have introduced its background information in the first article review about a Heimdallr diver’s watch at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2022/04/09/heimdallr-divers-200m-black-the-big-monster-in-deep-ocean/. Heimdallr is mainly famous for making these homages of Seiko diver’s watches. This green hulk Submariner homage watch HMSR01 from Heimdallr has a great quality, it deserves the fifth position in this list, I like its sunburst finish on the green dial, which is very close to that of green Submariner 116610LV.
Advantages: green dial with sunburst finish, engraved inner bezel, strong lume, Japanese movement Shortcoming: inner bezel is a little high, wrong lume on the bezel pearl, thin bezel markers
6.STEELDIVE SD1953
STEELDIVE is a Chinese brand that is loved by a lot of people, they do make high quality watches and sell them at reasonable prices, when selecting a homage watch from China, STEELDIVE may become the first choice. Among watches made by STEELDIVE, SD1953 is one of the most popular models. STEELDIVE offers a hard plastic box that gives the watch a full protection, there are some accessories coming with the watch such as card, user manual and screwdriver. As far as I know, STEELDIVE does not make a 40mm Submariner homage, the SD1953 has a 41mm case that is measured to be 14mm in thickness, which is much thicker than other Submariner homage watches I saw. The finish on the case and bracelet is very good. The dial has nice printings. With a low price, the quality of the STEELDIVE SD1953 absolutely meets your expectation.
Advantages: good case finish, very nice dial details, strong lume on the bezel and dial, Japanese movement, cheap price. Shortcomings: no bezel pearl, the green color is a little dark on the dial
7.Hruodland F-015
This brand has a strange name, which is hard to pronounce. I knew Hruodland because the Explorer homage watch really caught my attention. I made a comparison review between it and the Heimdallr, both watches are very nice. The Hruodland has a stainless steel case that is measured to be 40.7mm in diameter and 12.4mm in thickness. The bezel uses genuine green ceramic, there are engravings on the inner bezel, the green dial looks great but sunburst finish is not obvious. The watch uses a PT5000 movement made in China, the brand also offers a SW200 movement option for this watch.
Advantages: good finish, strong lume, real ceramic bezel, PT5000 movement Shortcoming: no bezel pearl, the sunburst finish on the dial not too obvious
8.Mysterious Code Submariner
It is one of my most favorite green Submariner homage watches, now it is hard to find this watch on the aliexpress, maybe because of the “SUBMARINER” printing on the dial, it violates the intellectual property right. Now if you want to buy this watch, perhaps need to search it on Taobao and ask one of your friends in China to buy for you. The Mysterious Code Submariner uses real green ceramic on the bezel insert, the dial color also looks great, you can read the review between this watch and the Lige on my blog at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2023/11/30/hulk-submariner-homage-reviewpart-2-lige-vs-mysterious-code/.
Advantages: ceramic bezel, correct case size, good bezel pearl, correct lume, Miyota 8215 movement Shortcoming: lume not last
9.Lige 6801
About Lige, actually I know little about this watch company, I also do not suggest you buy watches from Lige watch company, because their watches are overpriced in China, while sold at very cheap prices abroad, so I do not think they are trusted. However, this Lige green Submariner homage watch looks nice, especially its green color, better than some watches I mentioned above. I love its tridimensional brand logo on the dial and the see-through design on the back.
Advantages: good finish on the case, good bezel pearl with similar shape to hulk, strong lume, good dial color and details, Shortcoming: wrong lume color, a low-end Chinese movement with short power reserve
10.Vakuy Rigas V-003
There is little information about the background of Vakuy Rigas, actually I know something about this brand, do you know Parnis? It is the earliest homage watch manufacturer in China, now Vakuy Rigas is owned by the same team as Parnis, you can think Vakuy Rigas is a sub-branch of Parnis. The hottest Vakuy Rigas watch being discussed on the internet is the Daytona Paul Newman homage model. This green Submariner homage watch is also in good quality.
Advantages: acceptable quality with very cheap price, good bezel pearl with similar shape to real Submariner, real ceramic bezel(claimed by the dealer), Miyota 8215 movement Shortcoming: the green color on the dial not good, smooth dial without surburst finish
I have written two articles about the comparison between hulk Submariner homages made in China, today, this is the third part of this series, hope these three articles can help you to get one good homage watch of green Submariner. Homage watches occupy a large part of the market here in China, a lot of companies make them, even the big three such as Sea-gull and Shanghai Watch Factory also make the homage watch of the hulk Submariner. Absolutely the quality varies, price also different, some are over 200 USD, some are even under 50 USD, you can choose the right one according to your budget. As a homage watch, they have shortcomings when being compared with the genuine watch, but low price is their big advantage, I have been dong watch reviews for more than 20 years, I only give you guys my most honest opinions on these homages.
Box and Accessories
Both Pagani Design and Tevise come with a black square box, there is a blue cloth inside the box of Pagani Design, while Tevise offers one pair of black leather band for free. About the Vakuy Rigas watch, it comes in an orange plastic box, inside, there is a card, one screw driver and one green nylon strap. In my opinion, the hard plastic box of Vakuy Rigas will give the watch a better protection.
The case diameter of the PaganiThe thickness measurement of the PaganiThe weight of the Pagani DesignCase diameter measurement of the TeviseCase thickness of the TeviseThe weight of the Tevise
Case
Among them, the Pagani Design has the largest case size, which is measured to be 43.3mm in diameter, but its case is not too thick, which is only 12.8mm in thickness. The Tevise watch is also 42.3mm in diameter, while only the Vakuy Rigas watch has a correct case size that is very close to that of Rolex Submariner hulk, which is about 40.8mm. I do not know why Pagani Design adopts such a large size on this green Submariner homage watch, it almost reaches up to the size of the Rolex Sea-Dweller. The Pagani Design and the Vakuy Rigas have a similar case shape and good case finish, while I do not like the case of the Tevise, it is polished to be too bright, especially the bright polishing on the lugs and the bezel teeth, Rolex hulk Submariner does not use this finish. By the way, the middle case of the Tevise looks weird, there is one extra piece of metal on the top, just like the bottom of the bowl.
Bezel
The bezel of the three watches has a color difference with the one on real Rolex hulk Submariner. The finish of the bezel on the Tevise watch is the worst among them, the bezel teeth on the Tevise has a rough finish, they are even a bit scratchy when you touch them by hands. The pearl has a too arched face, I mean the too round face, and these markers on the bezel are not engraved but printed.
Vakuy Rigas claims that they use a real green ceramic bezel insert on this watch, the green color on the bezel of this Vakuy Rigas watch is closest to the green on Rolex 116610LV, the Pagani Design has a darker green, while the green on the bezel of the Tevise watch is too bright, which looks more like the color on the vintage 16610LV.
The Pagani Design watch should have the best quality finish on the bezel, its markers have a deeper engraving than than the Vakuy Rigas, which look more tridimensional. The bezel pearl on both Pagani Design and Vakuy Rigas has a similar shape.
Crystal
The Pagani Design and the Vakuy Rigas use sapphire crystal, the Tevise uses a mineral crystal face. The magnifier on the crystal of the Pagani Design has an obvious magnifying effect, while on the Vakuy Rigas and Tevise, the date font is not obviously enlarged through the magnifier.
Dial
Among the three watches, the Pagani Design has the best green color and dial finish. On the dial of both Pagani Design and Tevise, we can see the sunburst finish, while on the dial of the Vakuy Rigas, its green color is a bit dark, and there is no sunburst effect, just smooth green.
By the way, the round hour markers on the dial of the Tevise watch look weird, they have a too arched face, too round on the top, that’s not correct. The triangular hour marker on the Vakuy Rigas is a little larger than that on the Pagani Design.
The lume of the PaganiThe lume of the TeviseThe lume of the Vakuy Rigas
Lume
Both on the Pagani Design and Vakuy Rigas, the lume of the bezel pearl and dial is blue, but too weak. The Tevise has a stronger green lume light.
The clasp of the PaganiThe clasp of the TeviseThe clasp of the Vakuy Rigas
Bracelet
Both the Pagani Design and Vakuy Rigas have a good finish on the bracelet, which is much better than the finish on the Tevise. The clasp of the Vakuy Rigas has a closer structure than the other two watches.
Tevise movementVakuy Rigas solid case back
Movement
Through the crystal back, we can see it is a NH35A automatic movement inside the Pagani Design. The Tevise watch also has a crystal back, I do not know what movement it is, perhaps the movement is made in China. The Vakuy Rigas has a solid case back, they use a Miyota 8215 automatic movement made in Japan. I have tested the three watches, once being fully winded, the Vakuy Rigas has a longer working time than the other two.
Water Resistance
Both the Pagani Design and Vakuy Rigas are claimed to be 100m water resistant, the Tevise is 30m water resistant, but the crown of the Tevise watch is not screwed down, I do not think its water resistance can be up to 30m.
Conclusion
Among the three watches, I think the Pagani Design 1639 is the best, it has a much better finish on the case and bracelet, and its dial has a great green color, besides, the movement inside the Pagani Design is made in Japan, which is considered to be more reliable than the Chinese movement used in the Tevise. The Pagani Design 1639 should be your first choice among the three, and its price around 80 USD can be also accepted by most people.
The Vakuy Rigas should be the second choice, if they have a better green color on the dial like its bezel, then this watch will be a very good homage of green Submariner. Considering its Japanese Miyota movement and the power reserve I have tested, I still think the Vakuy Rigas is a good watch.
The Tevise watch has the worst finish on the case and bracelet among the three, but considering its price under 30 USD, it is still a good option for those people who have a low budget.
Before I review the two watches, I want to give a brief introduction of Vakuy Rigas first, indeed I reviewed several Vakuy Rigas watches on my blog before, but a lot of people do not know the background of this brand, I doubted its relationship with Parnis and thought that both are created by the same company, I was not sure about this before, but after receiving this Vakuy Rigas Paul Newman homage watch, I am very sure that Parnis and Vakuy Rigas are run by the same company the shipper has the same address and contact phone number. By the way, the box of this Vakuy Rigas watch is the same as the one of the Parnis Pepsi GMT I reviewed two weeks ago. Check the box and accessories coming with this Vakuy Rigas below:
Both watches have the same finish on the case, brushing on the front and polishing on two sides. While the Pagani Design has a larger than case than the Vakuy Rigas, check the pictures below, the case of the Pagani Design is measured to be 39.8mm in diameter, almost 40mm, but the case of the Vakuy Rigas is only 38mm in diameter. About case thickness, if including case back and crystal, the Pagani Design is 13mm, while the Vakuy Rigas is up to 15.4mm in thickness. Why the Vakuy Rigas is much thicker if it has a smaller case? Because the crystal and movement of the Vakuy Rigas watch add the thickness. I have already checked the crystal on the Vakuy Rigas, it is very thick and too high above the bezel. And the mechanical chronograph movement inside also increases the thickness of the entire watch.
Both watches have brand logo on the crown, each chrono pusher has screw to lock, seeing from the pictures, the screw on the chrono pusher of the Pagani Design watch is in unlock status.
The case diameter of the PaganiThe case thickness of the Pagani.The case thickness of the Vakuy.The case thickenss of the Vakuy.
Conclusion:
When I hold the two watches in hand and you will see the Pagani Design is larger. Pagani Design also looks more fashionable, it is a watch that has a more modern case design and modern finish on the bracelet, while with a panda white dial with a little vintage flavor.
The case size and design of the Vakuy Rigas are closer to that of genuine Rolex Daytona Paul Newman, it has a strong vintage flavor emitting from its case, dial and bracelet.
Crystal:
Pagani Design claims that they use a sapphire crystal on the watch, I did not test. This Vakuy Rigas uses a Acrylic face, we can also call it Plexi Plastic Crystal. As far as I know, the old Daytona Paul Newman impossible to use a sapphire crystal, the plexi plastic crystal on the Vakuy Rigas enhances the vintage flavor of the entire watch.
Dial:
Both watches have a cream white dial, the color is correct. The white match-head markers on the small dials are also correct. I have taken a very close look at the dial on both watches, and I found that the small dials on the Vakuy Rigas have more refined CD patterns. The lume markers next to each stainless steel hour marker, Vakuy Rigas makes them correct, in round shape and correct cyan color. Pagani Design makes them in square shape, and they also look too orange. By the way, the dial lume on both watches is weak even after absorbing enough light under the sun. The central second-chronograph hand on the Vakuy Rigas has a white tip, which is the same as genuine Daytona Paul Newman.
Dial lume on the Pagani.
Functions:
Both watches have hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph functions, while the Pagani Design also has a 24-hour display. Because the movement is different, the Pagani Design is powered by a quartz, while the Vakuy Rigas is equipped with a mechanical chronograph movement, the display of the small dials is not the same, their functions are also not the same. The Pagani Design first, you can see the step-by-step moving small second hand on the subdial at 6 o’clock, the 9:00 subdial is a 60-minute chronograph counter, the 3:00 subdial is for 24-hour display. Then let’s see the dial of the Vakuy Rigas, the display of the small dials is the same as that on genuine Rolex Daytona Paul Newman. A smoothly moving small second hand is on the subdial at 9 o’clock, the other two subdials are 30-minute chronograph counter and 12-hour chronograph counter. Both watches have a real chronograph function, you can start, stop and reset the chronograph by pushing the two buttons on the case.
After checking the details and functions displayed on the dial, I must say the Vakuy Rigas is much closer to genuine Daytona Paul Newman.
Bracelet:
Both watches are made with solid stainless steel. The bracelet of the Pagani Design looks more modern because it uses two different finishes, polishing on the middle links and brushing on two sides. The bracelet of the Vakuy Rigas is entirely brushed, just like the bracelet on real Daytona Paul Newman. Well, for a vintage watch, I prefer the bracelet of the Vakuy Rigas.
The case back of the two watches is also different, on the Pagani Design, there is a racing car pattern, while the case back is empty on the Vakuy Rigas.
Movement:
The Pagani Design is powered by a quartz movement. The Vakuy Rigas watch is driven by a Chinese chronograph movement, which is automatic, I can feel the swinging auto rotor inside when I shake the watch slightly, not a manual winding, it is an automatic movement, I am very sure. On the website of Vakuy, they say it is a Dandong 7750 from China.
Videos:
Buying advice:
Both watches have an acceptable quality, especially the Pagani Design, it is unbelievable that the watch is sold at less than $80 but has such a good quality, with a quartz movement, it is also very convenient for the user. If you do not have enough budget, this Pagani Design, which has been added with several modern elements, will be a good choice. However, if you are looking for a very good homage of the Rolex Daytona Paul Newman watch with very strong vintage flavors, then this Vakuy Rigas will be the best one, it looks very close in every detail, as far as I know, there are few homages of Daytona Paul Newman, Vakuy Rigas should be the best one in the market.
Absolutely this is a homage watch, a Rolex Submariner homage, but the dial has a mysterious symbol, I did not see it before, searched it online and found it is a famous dagger from Oman, it has a name called Khanjar, did Rolex publish such a watch in the past? If yes, it must be one of these vintage Rolexs made in old times, which now become the objects of homage brands to copy. Now, I am very sure that Parnis and Vakuy Rigas are the same company, the watches made by them have a great similarity. There are many niche brands appeared in Chinese watch market, many are coming from Guangdong, actually made in the city of Dongguan, because a lot of factories there making watch parts, some of them do custom-made work, including this Vakuy Rigas, you can tell them what letters printed on the dial, but I do not think they can do this customized dial printing for orders abroad.
This vintage Submariner homage is loved by many people who can not find the correct watch in the second hand market. The Vakuy Rigas is made with solid 316L stainless steel, the case is entirely brushed except the two sides that are polished, the crown is screwed down with a clean smooth face, no brand logo on it. Vakuy Rigas said the black bezel is ceramic, but I found it is not, it is alloy made, the case has beautiful lug shape and the bezel tooth has a great similarity to that of Submariner, there is no pearl instead of a more obvious red triangle. The black dial is under the protection of a domed mineral crystal, the hour markers use lume material that looks a bit yellowish, that’s two obvious vintage elements you can find on this watch. The watch is driven by a Miyota 8215 automatic movement, I think you have a full understanding of this movement because many Chinese homage brands and replica watches are using this movement. It is not too accurate but you can trust its stability.
Vakuy Rigas, have you heard of this watch brand before, it is a new homage watch created in China, I saw some watches made by them, most of them are homages of Rolex, Panerai and IWC, like Parnis, it is more like the sub-brand or a brother brand of Parnis. Today, I will share another watch review of Vakuy Rigas, it looks like Panerai, an old model made in the past, but I do not know which PAM it is, the crown has a lock system, which I only saw it on U-Boat before, the watch has a big case that is 44mm in diameter and 18mm in thickness, such big case exactly is in line with the style of Panerai, which is the most famous military watch in Italy. Both Parnis and Vakuy Rigas like to choose these vintage watches or models made in old times to create homage watches. So some people are interested in such type of homage watches just because they can not find these vintage models any more in the market.
The case is polished, and the bezel is brushed, actually I prefer all brushing finish on the watch, it would be more in line with the military watch style. I have checked the brushing finish on the bezel, it does not look that delicate on Pagani Design and Benyar, the Pagani Design has better finish on the case. The bezel is fixed and features metal studs, some studs in the holes are not exactly in the right position, the round hole at 12 o’clock is filled with white lume material, like the round hour markers on the dial.
The dial is unique, I have not seen such grid dial on Panerai watches for a long time, the dial also has an unsymmetrical design because the small-second sundial is set between 10:00 and 11:00, the second hand runs smoothly crossing the small dial, which has fine CD patterns. The small square window at 3 o’clock features white date font in the black background, the magnifier on the mineral crystal face just enlarges the date font to a proper size, not that large on the Submariner.
The watch is powered by a Sea-gull ST25 automatic movement, for such a price less than $80, it is worth to get this watch with such a low price. The watch is equipped with a black rubber strap, while I think a brown leather band made with calfskin will also fits the watch very well.
Buying advice:
This Vakuy Rigas watch perfectly represents the style of a vintage Panerai watch made in the old times. With a Sea-gull movement inside, the watch works stably and usually has very few issues in future use.
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.
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.
