Author: Bob

Sea-gull Multi-function Rose Gold Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 12, 2022
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I am very glad to share my new watch with you guys, two days ago, it was my birthday, I received this special gift from my wife, it is a really beautiful watch, I love it very much. Actually I was looking for such a watch before with multi functions like month, date and week, I bought a Guanqin watch that also features a lot of functions, but after receiving this watch, I realized that Sea-gull has a much better quality than some other niche brands from China. Sea-gull is a traditional big watch factory in China, it is the most famous Chinese watch brand because of their movement and watch-making technology, Sea-gull is always my first choice when I am considering a watch made in China.

The Sea-gull watch has a black pvd case with a rose gold bezel, it looks nice, I like this color combination, black and gold, it looks better than the one with black case and stainless steel bezel. The case has a big diameter, which is up to 44mm, it is measured to be 13mm in thickness. The crown is black with a “S” logo in sanded finish. The case back has a see-through crystal on the center, the rim features a 12 holes, I do not know what purpose these hole are used for, maybe for a special tool to open the back.

The black dial shows each function clearly, I think you has noticed the window opened at 6 o’clock, it is not a tourbillon device, we can see a working balance wheel inside, the entire is fixed by two blue steel screws on the dial, so that the movement can have a better stability. Each hour marker and all hands on the black dial are in rose gold tone, which is exactly in line with the rose gold bezel. The month is displayed on the small dial at 9 o’clock, the week from MON to SUN is shown on the subdial at 3 o’clock, the date is displayed in two separate windows set at 12 o’clock, with black font in white background, very easy to read.

The movement inside is a ST2625 that is developed by Sea-gull themselves. The movement beats 21,600 times per hour, it has 29 jewels and 45 hours power reserve. About accuracy, still needs to be tested, because I only got this watch two days ago, and it is only about 5 seconds faster. By the way, ST2625 has a hacking mechanism.

About the buttons on the case, each of them has different purpose. The pusher at 10 o’clock is for date adjustment, the pusher at 8 o’clock can be used to adjust month, the button at 4 o’clock is for week adjustment.

Tags Rose Gold, Sea-gull, ST2625

Merkur

Merkur Pilot Manual Winding Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 11, 2022
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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
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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
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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

San Martin

San Martin Explorer Tiffany Blue Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 30, 2022
No Comments on San Martin Explorer Tiffany Blue Homage Review

The watches made by San Martin are selling very well, San Martin has also accumulated a high reputation among watch fans, everybody knows the solid quality of their watches and unique box, it is really a good custom-made brand coming from China. I made a research online and found San Martin is more popular among so many custom-made watch brands, San Martin is one of my most favorite Chinese watches, perhaps it is not as famous as other big traditional Chinese brands like Sea-gull, but the homages from San Martin seem to be more welcomed among watch fans.

The watch is full stainless steel made, it is a homage of the old Rolex Explorer watch, but with a Tiffany blue dial, which looks like the style of modern Oyster Perpetual. Besides the Tiffany blue dial, the watch also has a black dial option.

The case is made with solid 316L stainless steel, its diameter is about 36mm, I think it is a little small for men, while a very suitable size for ladies, the case thickness is 11.3mm, including the crystal. The case is brushed, while the sides and bezel are polished. Seeing from the sides, the case has a beautiful arched shape to make sure it can fit your wrist more comfortably. The crown has “SAN MARTIN” carving inside a hexagon.

The dial is the soul of this watch, many people like the tiffany blue color, the SAN MARTIN shield logo at 12 o’clock is three-dimensional, take a close look at the logo, it is delicately completed in a sanded background. All hour markers, including the numbers 3, 6 and 9, are applied with white luminous material, so are hour hand and minute hand, they will emit a strong blue lume light in dark conditions. The dial has some similarity to that of Rolex Explorer, the 3-6-9 dial design is an iconic feature, the central hands have a solid axis, many women choose this watch due to its Tiffany blue dial, while you can also buy a black dial version for your boyfriend. By the way, the dial is under protection of a domed sapphire crystal.

The watch is powered by a PT5000 automatic movement, I did not hear this movement before, but it is said that PT5000 is cloned from ETA 2824. The movement beats at 28,800VPH, it has 25 jewels and 38-hour power reserve. The movement is manufactured in China, by H.K. Precision Technology. San Martin also offers a SW200 automatic movement option for this watch, yes, I admit that SW200 is better, but the cost is also very higher. By the way, I have had this watch for almost three weeks, the watch is about 18 seconds faster each day, it is ok for me.

Tags PT5000, San Martin, SW200

San Martin

San Martin Bronze Abalone Homage Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 29, 2022
No Comments on San Martin Bronze Abalone Homage Watch Review

San Martin 44mm Diver with Brown Leather Strap

It is a big watch, diver’s watch type, the case is highly recognizable because of its turtle shape, the San Martin is a nice homage of the old Seiko diving watch made in old times, I like collecting diver’s watches, I usually went to the beach and shown my watches in front of my friends, they also like them, some even have bought several pieces, also from San Martin. Perhaps you do not know San Martin too much, they are a very good custom-made Chinese watch brand I like very much, now in the watch market of China, many custom-made brands appeared, but none of them now are as popular as San Martin.

This San Martin watch I am going to review is totally born for the ocean, the color combination of bronze and green, the deep water resistance, super dial lume and rubber band, these elements make the San Martin a perfect diver’s watch for you to dive in the ocean.

The watch is made with solid bronze material, it has a case that looks like the shell of a turtle, the case is about 44mm in diameter, but measuring from the top to the bottom, it is 47mm in height. The bronze case, including the bezel, is brushed, while the case sides are polished like a mirror, the entire case has a certain degree of arc shape so that it will fit your wrist in a better way, the crown is positioned at 4 o’clock, it is big and has unique threads design so that be more convenient to operate. There is a shark icon on the polished face of the crown, it looks fierce.

The dial is green, I like this color, it is a perfect match for the bronze watch. The hour markers are very big, hour hand and minute hand are very wide, they are all filled with Swiss Superlume that looks a little cyan. The dial has a very good readability first because of its green color, second, the green lume is very strong and long-lasting, the red dot on the central second hand is also a finishing touch of the entire dial. If you take a closer look at the dial, you will find this watch manufacturer did a great job on the hands finish, which is brushing on the front face and polishing on beveled sides.

I asked the supplier to change this green rubber band for me because the watch was originally equipped with an old brown leather strap. The green rubber band is a great fit for this watch, the brown leather band is also good, it matches the bronze case, how does this watch look on the brown leather strap? By the way, the watch is equipped with a Japanese NH35A automatic movement, which is stable but perhaps has a bigger inaccuracy than the Miyota, anyway, 40 seconds to 1 minute faster is acceptable to me. The box comes with the watch is my most favorite, it looks so solid and strong, a perfect match fo this robust diver’s watch.

Tags San Martin

Parnis

Parnis Date Casual Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 28, 2022
No Comments on Parnis Date Casual Watch Review

Simpe and practical casual watch in suitable size always attracts me, Parnis has made a lot of such types of watches, their most popular one is the watch with power reserve, which is a homage of IWC Portuguese 7 Days, I also have this watch, it is my most favorite casual watch, IWC Portuguese is my dream watch, but too expensive. It is unnecessary to describe Parnis too much, many people know this brand, it is the first brand in China to create homages of many Swiss watches, at the beginning several years, Parnis was very popular, now, few people will mention this brand, but some watches they make are still very classic.

All watches appeared on my blog are made in China, among them, Parnis has occupied a big market share, many people heard Parnis in watch forums and perhaps it is the first Chinese watch they bought. Many of you guys do not have too much official knowledge about Parnis, but I am telling you Parnis should be your first choice if you do not want to pay more for Sea-gull, Shanghai watch or Beijing watch.

This Parnis watch is stainless steel made, with black dial and black leather strap, this is the most classic combination on a casual watch. The case is made with solid 316L stainless steel, its diameter is 40mm, for a casual watch that looks a bit sporty, this is a very suitable size, and the case is only 11mm in thickness. Please more focus on the case finish, the brushing on the bezel and polishing on case sides and lugs form a high contrast.

Black dial has small grids that look like the ones on Audemars Piguet Royal Oak’s dial. These checkers on the dial look nice, white printings of “PARNIS” is under the big number “12”. All hour markers, including the Arabic numbers of 6, 9 and 12, are applied with white luminous material, so are the hour hand and minute hand, they will emit a strong green lume light at night. There is a date window in square shape positioned at 3 o’clock, it features black font in white background. In a word, the dial not only has a simple but practical design, but is also highly readable.

Through the crystal back, I saw there are engraving information about the movement, which is a Miyota automatic movement from Japan. This is nice, because I trust the quality of Japanese movements, they are more stable. I have had the watch for three weeks, now it is about 30 seconds faster each day, for me, such inaccuracy is acceptable. There are eight models available in different dial styles on Parnis website.

Tags Parnis

Parnis

Parnis Pilot Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 27, 2022
No Comments on Parnis Pilot Watch Review

Parnis Pilot Watch with Brown Leather Strap

Parnis is one of my most favorite homage watch brands, in the initial stage of development, Parnis completely copied designs of other Swiss brands, they made many homages at that time, now, they changed direction and began to use their own designs on the watches. It is Parnis that lets me know homage watch, many people talked this brand before in a lot of forums, now, Parnis seems to be not as popular as some new niche brands like STEELDIVE and San Martin. Anyway, as one of the earliest Chinese brands in homage watch field, the quality of Parnis has been recognized already, I have bought several Parnis watches, I love them all.

Today, the watch I am going to review is a pilot watch from Parnis, I have several pilot watches now, this Parnis pilot watch is very similar to the one I bought from Heimdallr before, but this one has a 24-hour display on the dial. The watch has a black case and brown leather strap, which seems to be a very regular match for a pilot watch.

The case is 44mm in diameter, it is about 12mm in thickness, which is more acceptable to me than those casual watches up to 13mm. The case is made with solid 316L stainless steel and has black pvd coating, the middle case with extended lugs that are naturally curved, the line of each lug is smoothly polished, it feels good by hands, no scratch feeling. Like the case back, the crown is also screwed-in, to ensure a good water resistance.

The dial is black, it is a classic pilot watch’s dial style, with a big triangle mark at 12 o’clock, I saw many pilot watch has this feature. Although there is a small round 24-hour indicator at 9 o’clock, the entire dial still has a symmetric beauty. The inside circle with 1-12 digits is showing hours, the outer numbers from 5 to 60 are minute markers. By the way, those numeral minute markers are applied with superlume material, so are hour hand and minute hand, they will emit a strong green lume light in dark conditions.

From the crystal back, we can see the watch is powered by a Japanese Miyota movement, the specific movement model Parnis claims is a Miyota 8217 automatic. I always trust the quality of Japanese movement, its stability is better than most mechanical movements made in China. In most Parnis watches, the engine is Japanese Miyota movement, so I think this is the main reason why many people still buy from this homage watch brand. Parnis offers three models options for this watch.

Tags Miyota 8217, Parnis

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