Categories
Sea-gull

Sea-gull M199S Vintage Moon Phase Watch Review

Sea-gull M199S in Box

I like this Sea-gull watch more than any other watches made by Sea-gull, whether it is casual watch or diver’s watches, all of them can not be compared with this one now, because it has become my most favorite watch. I have bought several Sea-gull watches, but none of them look that elegant like this M199S, and this one seems to be a complicated model, which combines functions of hours, minutes, small seconds, date, chronograph and moon phase. In my opinion, this watch from Sea-gull has learned the essence of the design of some Swiss watches, and shows the elegance to the max. Now you can not get this watch from Sea-gull Official website, it is sold out, I got one from my friend, he bought it in China. The watch has a classic combination in color of black and white, it is made with 316L stainless steel and fitted with a black leather band, seeing from its design in case and crown, as well as the elements on the dial, the watch has a bit of vintage style.

Sea-gull M199S Watch

The watch has a large case diameter that is measured to be 41mm, not including the crown and buttons on the right, and the lugs seem to be longer than that of other watches, the whole round case is polished, with a see-through crystal back. The entire case design must refer to the design of some Swiss brand watch, I just do not remember. By the way, the satin-finished “S” on the crown looks very refined. There are several places on the watch that make it look so elegant, the onion-shaped crown is one.

Sea-gull M199S Vintage Watch

The silver white dial also has several elements that make it an elegant watch. First, the rome hour markers, which are in black color and look in high contrast with the white background. The hour hand and minute hand on the center are leaf-shaped and are very slender, this is the second element that looks elegant. Third, there are two different types of patterns on the dial, the pattern on the center looks different from the circles which rome hour markers are on. The usage of different patterns on the dial also creates multi-layered visual enjoyment. The watch has a real chronograph function, the small second hand is at 9 o’clock, the subdial at 3 is for 30-minute chronograph display, because it uses a manual winding Sea-gull movement, I do not suggest you use the chrono buttons too often, or the energy will easily run out. The small dial at 12 o’clock is date display, you can adjust it by pushing the button at 10 o’clock. The arched indicator at 6 o’clock does not show real moon phase, but a display of Day & Night. Any way, I am very pleased with the dial finish and its functions.

Sea-gull M199S Crown

The movement is ST1908, which has 22 jewels, 21,600BPH and about 38 hours of power reserve. I recommend you gently rotate the crown when winding the watch, usually the manual winding movement has more frail parts than those automatic movements. It is fine if you do less than 20 rotations every time when winding.

Sea-gull M199S Movement
Sea-gull ST1908
Sea-gull Moon Phase Wrist Shot
Categories
San Martin

San Martin Sub-style SN0111T Titanium Watch Review

San Martin TC4

Last time, I introduced the background of San Martin, it is absolutely a Chinese watch brand, it seems like such type of homage brands created in China are using the watch parts made by some factories in Dongguan city, however, there are still some things not clear about these watches, I will give you more information about them when reviewing their watches in future. In the past, I reviewed several San Martin watches, one of them is a green Submariner 116610LV homage, which is a hot watch widely discussed in Chinese Watch Forum in reddit. When people opened thread saying want to buy a Submariner homage, many members in reddit will suggest San Martin, I have several San Martin watches, they indeed have higher quality than other Chinese homage watches.

San Martin Black Dial

Today, the San Martin watch I am going to review is another Sub-style homage, but it is not totally a homage of black Submariner, the watch material is different and the watch dial looks slightly different. This San Martin is a custom-made diver’s watch. The case is made with solid Titanium, it is completely brushed, but the edge of the case is well processed with drawing, now many homage watches made in China have this finish but few of them have been done so delicate like San Martin. On the middle of the left case, there is a helium valve, not sure if it has a real function when you take a deep dive. Because of the titanium case, titanium back and titanium bracelet, the watch is only about 105 grams. The black bezel insert is made with ceramic, the lume pearl seems to have a flat top, not domed.

San Martin Black Submariner Homage

The black dial is under the protection of a sapphire crystal face that features anti-reflective coating on the inside, the sapphire crystal is correctly set and it does not have too much exposed above the bezel. I do not like the metal San Martin logo at 12 o’clock, I would rather it have a simple “SAN MARTIN” white printing, the red “TC4”, do you know its meaning? By the way, the hour hand has two types, one is benz hand, the other is sword-shaped hand, and I chose the latter. It seems like San Martin has claimed this watch is 300m waterproof, which has not been proven, but I think you can absolutely wear it in a swimming pool.

San Martin Helium Valve
San Martin Buckle Engraving

The watch is equipped with a PT5000 automatic movement, while San Martin also offers Swiss SW200 option but at a much higher price, PT5000 is good and is very reliable even though it is a Chinese movement. PT5000 is good enough for this homage, if with a SW200, the price is too high and I am afraid not many people will buy the watch. It is said that the PT5000, which was developed by a watch company in Chongqing, has passed the test of The German Offical Chronometer Control, I do not know if this is a fake news.

San Martin Dial Lume
San Martin TC4 Wrist Shot
Categories
Sea-gull

Sea-gull ST5-D Vintage Watch Review

Sea-gull ST5-D

It is another vintage watch from Sea-gull Watch Company, I introduced a lot of Sea-gull watches on my blog, but I found the ones I love most are not these diving-style models, some vintage watches and those models made to pay tribute to old Sea-gull watches are actually more attractive to me. Today, the watch I will show you guys is a vintage Sea-gull watch which now you can not find on the official website of Sea-gull, but some distributors may have it in stock. I love these vintage watches from the big three from China like Sea-gull, Shanghai and Beijing, having been tired of seeing repeated designs on so many modern watches, the designs of these Chinese vintage models sometimes look more classic.

Sea-gull Vintage Watch

The watch has a very unique case shape, which you can hardly see on modern watches, the case is only measured to be 39mm in diameter, but it looks large because of the fat and wide lugs, the whole piece of case has an arched shape that can fit your hand in a more comfortable way, the watch will be suitable for people who usually love to wear the watches whose size is range from 38mm to 41mm. By the way, the case is about 12mm in thickness. The front of the case is polished, while it is brushed on both sides. Both crown and solid case back are screwed down, the back has a big sculpture of Sea-gull bird in polishing on a sanded background.

Sea-gull ST5-D Case

I think this watch will fit people with small wrist size better. The silver dial is a big selling point of the Sea-gull watch, especially the red color usage, which highlights the entire watch. The second hand on the center has a red dot on the top, which echoes with the red font in the date window set at 3 o’clock, this design also enhances the readability of the whole silver dial. The three-dimensional Sea-gull logo has a blue background, this type of logo now can be hardly found on modern Sea-gull watches, and it looks very beautiful.

Sea-gull ST5-D Crown

The Sea-gull watch is equipped with a ST2130 automatic movement, which has 28 jewels, 28800BPH and 42-hour power reserve. The watch comes with a smooth black leather band with black stitching, Sea-gull also offers one stainless steel bracelet for it, both look great on the watch.

Sea-gull ST5-D Case Back