Author: Bob

Escapement Time Diver’s 300m Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 19, 2023
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In my memory, I heard this brand many years ago, not sure if it is operated by a watch company, but I found it is a brand registered under the name of somebody. I did some searches on google and found most Escapement Time watches are homages of Seiko, and use quartz movement. Today, I want to introduce one diving-style watch from Escapement Time, this is the best-selling watch on their website, from its appearance, is it another homage watch of Seiko?

The watch does not look that big like other diver’s watches, but its case is thick. The watch has a thick case that is measured to be 39mm in diameter, it looks thick, but only 11mm in thickness. The Escapement Time watch is also sold less than $100, the brand offers two options for the strap, a green nylon band and black rubber band.

The watch is 39mm, this is not a popular size, now many watch fans asked for larger sizes such as 40mm, 41mm and 43mm for a diver’s watch. Because the wide design of bezel, there are no extra case parts you can see except the four lugs, the crown is set at 4 o’clock, through it, you can set time and date. The solid case back is screwed down like the crown.

The black dial has the most classic feature which a diver’s watch usually has, that’s the strong dial lume and high readability. Hour markers are big and applied with white lume material, hour hand and minute hand have wide design that can be applied with more lume material, the dial has a very strong green lume light in dark conditions. The date window has a silver frame with black font in white background, anyway, the date window looks a little small.

I like both rubber band and nylon strap on this watch. it comes with a sandblasted pin buckle, by the way, the movement inside is a Miyota 2S60 quartz that has more than 10 years of service life. This is a 1 sec tick movement, not sweeping quartz, it is very accurate and convenient.

Tags Ceramic, Escapement Time, Quartz

Rdunae

Rdunae R6TR Diver’s Watch

Do you know Rdunae? It is my first time to hear this watch, but before I review this diver’s watch, I did a research on google and found many people like Rdunae, especially this diver’s watch, a lot of watch fans have bought it and given good feedback, this Rdunae watch has a similar appearance to a watch from Blancpain, I do not remember which watch now, however, some people said this watch is a homage of tornek-rayville, I never heard about it before. Whatever, this Rdunae watch looks nice, the brand seems to be registered by a company in Guangxi, but the watch is shipped from Dongguan city in Guangdong.

The watch has a fully sandblasted case that is measured in 40mm in diameter and 24mm in thickness, the watch features a wide black bezel and vintage nylon strap, it is sold less than $100, but with a NH35A automatic movement like San Martin and Steeldive, the watch is highly recommended if you are looking for a diver’s watch.

Unfortunately the bezel is not ceramic made, and Rdunae does not offer nylon strap and rubber band at the same time, you can only choose one. This is a very simple diver’s watch, because of its wide bezel, the entire case looks very strong, and the mineral crystal glass is very thick, which stands very high above the bezel, this also enhances the water resistance of the watch, so Rdunae claims this watch is 200m waterproof. The black dial features an unique logo at 6 o’clock, do you know its special meaning? The hour markers and hands have lume material being applied that looks a little yellowish or vintage, in the dark conditions, the green lume light from the dial is very strong.

The case back is interesting, there are instructions engraved to tell you how to lock it, behind it, there is a Japanese automatic movement inside, which is NH35A. I introduced this movement many times, it is the mostly used movement in these Chinese homage watches, cheap and considerable stability are its biggest advantages. Anyway, if there are two homages at the same price, I will absolutely select the one with a Japanese movement with no doubt.

Tags NH35A, Nylon, Rdunae

San Martin

San Martin GMT-Master Sprite Homage Watch

Post author By Bob
Post date July 14, 2023
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I have reviewed some San Martin watches on my blog, there are different styles, including diver’s watches, pilot’s watches, but this is my first time to introduce its GMT-Master homage watch, I have heard that San Martin makes good quality GMT-Master homages watches, including Batman and Pepsi, today, the San Martin watch I am going to review is a great homage of the Rolex Sprite GMT, it has a much higher price than the other watches from San Martin.

I asked a green box for this watch and it perfectly fits. The watch is made with 316L stainless steel, not 904L, the case has a diameter of 40.5mm and measured to be 13.5mm in thickness, the watch has a jubilee style bracelet and features a black/green ceramic bezel that looks fresh, in the darkness, the bezel markers have the same lume light as hour markers and hands.

As far as I know, the Sprite GMT-Master from Rolex is a left-handed watch, however, San Martin still sets the crown on the right side of the case. I like this watch because of two things, first, its high quality finish on the case and bracelet, second, the color of the bezel looks very close to that of Rolex Sprite GMT, while the green GMT hand on the dial exactly in line with this green color of the bezel. The big triangle marker on the bezel is well aligned with the 12-hour marker on the dial. Well, I still do not like the metal San Martin logo at 12 o’clock, I would appreciate a more simple printing. The finish on the bracelet has two processing, brushing on the side links and polishing on the middle narrow links, this finish gives me a great visual enjoyment. By the way, the bezel has a very real click feeling, it is not too smooth, that’s the feel I want to get.

The watch is equipped with Hangzhou 6460 automatic movement, which comes from China. It clones ETA 2836-2 movement, the movement has 25 jewels and 28,800VPH. It offers the watch a correct GMT function, but the power reserve is not too long, you nearly need to wind the watch every day before going to sleep, if wanting to keep a more accurate timing. However, in my opinion, I still suggest you choose such type of homage watch with a Japanese movement like NH34 or NH35, which will be more stable.

Tags GMT, San Martin, Sprite

STEELDIVE

Steeldive Black Datejust Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 13, 2023
No Comments on Steeldive Black Datejust Homage Review

Among these homage watches, Steeldive is the one that has a good finish but also with much more affordable prices. I introduced several Steeldive watches before, some are homages of Seiko, one is a black Submariner homage and one is a pilot watch, today, I will introduce another good quality Steeldive watch, which has a very similar outlook to Rolex Datejust, there are a lot of dial colors available, I chose the black one.

It is a black Datejust homage watch, but the size is different, this Steeldive has a case diameter of 39mm, Rolex Datejust does not have this size, however, 39mm is also a very suitable size for men, 41mm is too big, while more suitable for men than the 36mm ones. The watch is made with solid 316L stainless steel and measured to be 12.3mm in thickness. The entire watch is about 163 grams, a little heavy even it only 39mm. The crown is a little small, it will be more convenient to rotate if has a bigger size.

The black dial has very good finished details, the unique brand logo printing is more acceptable for me than the one piece of metal on the dial of San Martin. The bar-shaped hour markers and numeral minute markers refer to the design of that on Datejust. The central second hand runs smoothly but does not look that slender like it on the 41mm Datejust. Steeldive claims the watch is 200m waterproof, it is hardly believable.

The bracelet is fully brushed, the buckle has Steeldive logo engraving, the satin finish on the bracelet looks very nice, the brand also offers a rubber band option for this watch. By the way, the watch is driven by a Japanese NH35 automatic movement that has 21,600VPH, 24 jewels and 41-hour power reserve, most importantly, this movement has stop seconds feature. Except its elegant dial design, the watch looks like having more features which a diver’s watch should have.

Conclusion:

The quality is solid and movement is very reliable, you won’t have few issues on the movement and the watch can last for more than five years. Please choose the one with stainless steel bracelet, it looks better than the one with rubber strap.

Tags Datejust, NH35, STEELDIVE

Hruodland

Hruodland Adventurer GMT Vintage Watch

Post author By Bob
Post date July 12, 2023
No Comments on Hruodland Adventurer GMT Vintage Watch

Hruodland, a weird name, as a watch brand, does this name have a special meaning? I do not even know how to read this word. The watches made by this custom brand are most homages, just like the watches made by Sugess, San Martin, Proxima and other micro brands from China. I introduced one Hruodland watch on my blog before, it is a TV-shaped quartz watch that looks very nice, on the website of Hruodland, I saw homages of different brands, many of them are Submariner homages and Pilot styles, today, the watch I am going to show you guys is a vintage gmt watch that has some similarity to Rolex Explorer, but check the printings on the dial, there is a word ADVENTURER, you can think this is the series name of the watch.

The watch is made with solid 316L stainless steel, it has a case diameter of 39mm, the thickness is about 11.8mm. The entire watch is brushed, but the edge of the round bezel is polished, which echoes with the drawing finish on the edge of each lug. The bezel has 24 hour markers engraving that are being filled with black oil coating. The crown has an anchor logo, this is one part of reasons to push me to buy this watch although I already have one vintage Pagani Design Explorer Homage watch. By the way, both the crown and case back are screwed down.

The dial is under protection of a domed sapphire crystal, the matte black dial has all hour markers being applied with lume material that looks a little yellow, there is a strong lume light emitting from the dial in dark conditions. The GMT hand has a big arrowhead in bright orange color, even in a weak light condition, it can grab your attention easily. The bubble crystal face, dial color and the design of hour markers, these things make the watch have a strong vintage flavor.

The watch is equipped with a NH34 automatic movement, another good movement from Seiko, like NH35, it is widely used by a lot of homage watches made in China. By the way, this watch also looks very nice on a nylon band, check the last picture below.

Tags Adventurer, GMT, Hruodland, NH34

Lobinni

Lobinni Sun Moon Rose Gold Watch

Post author By Bob
Post date July 11, 2023
No Comments on Lobinni Sun Moon Rose Gold Watch

I introduced one Lobinni watch on my blog before, it is a watch that has several features such as power reserve indicator and day&night indicator, the day&night indicator looks like a moon phase but it is not, like this Lobinni watch I am going to introduce today, there is also an indicator at 6 o’clock that looks like moon phase, but it just shows the sun and moon, and it is also a time display of 24 hours. Actually a watch with real moon phase function is highly welcomed in watch industry, do you know the Jaeger LeCoultre Ultra Thin Moon Phase? I think no people won’t like this watch, however, it is very expensive, and I have not seen any alternatives of this moon phase watch in China, absolutely except the replica.

I like this Lobinni watch, probably because of this sun moon indicator that looks like the moon phase, but most importantly its rose gold color and the brown leather band make the watch look very luxury. The watch has a case measured in 40.5mm in diameter, the thickness is about 11.5mm, the case is polished with a thin round bezel, it is made with stainless steel and has rose gold plated, not solid rose gold, the gold absolutely will fade, but it won’t fade within one year. The logo engraving on the crown is beautifully finished.

The dial is under protection of a sapphire crystal, it has a silver white color, there are black printings of LOBINNI ENGRAVERS at 12 o’clock, not sure why they use the word ‘Engravers’ under the brand name, it does not have a special meaning. Hour markers are bar-shaped, the markers at 3, 6, 9 and 12 have lume material applied on the center. Like I mentioned above, the round indicator at 6 o’clock shows sun and moon, there is also a small second hand inside pointing at current hour time. Actually I do not like the style of these hour markers, the triangle markers like the JL Master seem to be more suitable for such watch.

The brown leather band is not made with genuine alligator leather, but made with calfskin leather and has alligator patterns on the surface, the band feels a bit stiff, but it is perfectly in line with the rose gold tone of the watch.

Tags Lobinni, Rose Gold

Boarrne

Boarrne Tritium H3 Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 10, 2023
No Comments on Boarrne Tritium H3 Watch Review

This is my first time to hear Boarrne, maybe you won’t know this watch if I do not write this article. Boarrne is indeed a new watch brand in Chinese market, I found it when doing searches of “Chinese watches” on some websites. Boarrne is a brand created in Shenzhen of China, I found a very interesting thing, which is the marketing position of Boarrne. This brand seems to have a very clear marketing position, which is only offering watches for the elderly and students who are going to do an examination, however, I found many Boarrne watches are suitable for common people, like this one I am showing below, it has a very attractive design, and the lume system is also unique that different from most other watches, I like this watch from Boarrne.

This stainless steel Boarrne watch is colorful, absolutely not made for the elderly, but I think young people and students will like it. The manufacturer has two color options for the watch, black and white, both look nice, I chose the black one. The watch uses Tritium H3 lume system that makes the watch look a bit diving style, the case has a 43mm case diameter and Boarrne claims it is 100m waterproof, so this is totally a diver’s watch.

The watch comes with a great box, not like other micro brands from China, Boarrne offers a bigger and more high-end box for this watch. Actually I appreciate two points of the watch. First, its dial design. The black dial features a high quality Tritium H3 lume system, the Tritium H3 Tubes as hour markers have different lume colors, there are orange, green and blue. You can check the picture of the dial lume below, it is beautiful. Like the tube hour markers, the design of the hands is also attractive, they are sword-shaped, each hand is also set with Tritium H3 tube and will emit green lume light in dark conditions. Not like regular lume coating, the Tritium H3 is long lasting and can work for years. The different colors usage on the dial also enhances the readability. The second point I like on the watch is its movement, which is a Miyota automatic movement imported from Japan. For this type of watch with sapphire crystal and Miyota movement, the price is more acceptable than other Chinese niche brand watches. Unfortunately, besides this stainless steel bracelet, Boarrne does not offer rubber band or nylon band for this watch.

Tags Boarrne, Tritium

Baltany

Baltany Explorer 39mm Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 7, 2023
No Comments on Baltany Explorer 39mm Homage Review

It is my second Baltany watch, I love it very much, the watch has a super finish on case and bracelet. About Baltany, it seems to be a new homage brand created in 2021, but now their watches are being widely talked on the forums and reddit. I do not know why many people like me just want to collect homage watches, some even own more than ten pieces, this is a big money, which you can use on a Swiss watch. Well, the homage storm in China was brought up by Parnis several years ago, now there are a lot of brands in China manufacturing these watches, I think the main reason why you guys like to buy them is they have cheap prices. For this Baltany, it is an exact homage of the Rolex Explorer, and sold less than $150.

I know this brand comes from Dongguan city in Guangdong of China, the watch has a 39mm case that not include the crown, the watch thickness is less than 13mm, the manufacturer offers two dial options, amber red and black, the movement also has two options, NH38 and SW200, I chose the one with amber red dial and NH38 movement.

I like its finish on the case and bracelet, its dial color and design as well as the movement. The case is brushed, so are the links on both sides of the bracelet, which forms a high contrast outlook with the polished round bezel and middle links of the bracelet. The crystal face is domed sapphire, not only has a high resistance to scratches, but also adds some vintage flavor to this watch, however, I do not like this sapphire crystal, it stands too high above the bezel and increases the thickness of the entire watch. The dial uses amber red color, which is element that makes the watch look a bit vintage. The green lume light emitting from the hour markers and hands is too strong. The movement is NH38 automatic, it is from Japan and most importantly, this movement has the stop seconds feature, the power reserve is also up to 41 hours. For the SW200 option, I think there is no need to pick up a Swiss movement for this homage watch.

Tags Baltany, Explorer, NH38

Sea-gull

Sea-gull 3015 Bronze Pilot Watch

Post author By Bob
Post date July 6, 2023
No Comments on Sea-gull 3015 Bronze Pilot Watch

About the big three, I introduced one bronze pilot watch from Beijing Watch Company before,I did not know Sea-gull has made a bronze watch, now I am going to show you a good-looking pilot watch from Sea-gull,it is made with bronze and has a green dial.Sea-gull is my most favorite China brand, you guys can try one or two Sea-gull watches,they are good and have almost all styles you want,from simple to complicated,some models also have a big attraction to people who love Chinese elements and stories.If I say Sea-gull is the boss in Chinese watch industry,do you agree? The Sea-gull 3015 here is a pilot watch,its design features such as crown and hands as well as lume are very similar to that of Zenith Pilot. The green color looks very nice with the bronze case, and you can also uses a green rubber band on the watch, look at the last picture, it looks very beautiful.

The watch has a big size whose diameter is up to 41mm, the case thickness is about 12mm, almost all pilots watch have the similar size, some even have a 43mm case diameter. The bronze case is brushed with a big crown that is very convenient for the wearer to operate. The case back is not bronze but made with titanium that is in matte finish, there is a small window opened on the center to display the movement. By the way, the bezel uses green sapphire crystal, the markers inside have been applied with lume material, they can emit green lume light in dark conditions.

The green dial has a simple design, its big hour markers, long hands and strong lume all enhance the readability of the dial. In dark conditions, the green lume light on the dial can last for a long time, the lettering “WR 100M” means the watch is 100m water resistant. The second hand has a section on the top that is applied with orange color that just echoes with the orange minute markers.

The watch is equipped with a ST2130 automatic movement that is independently developed by Sea-Gull Watch Company, this movement has a 28,800BPH, 28 jewels and a power reserve more than 42 hours. The black litchi veined leather band is a regular fit for this watch, while I think the green rubber band looks more beautiful on this bronze watch, if changed the hands type, I think it look more like a diver’s watch with this green rubber band.

Tags Bronze, Rubber, Sea-gull, ST2130

Sea-gull

Sea-gull M199S Vintage Moon Phase Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 5, 2023
No Comments on Sea-gull M199S Vintage Moon Phase Watch Review

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tags M199S, Moon Phase, Sea-gull, ST1908

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