Categories
Baltany

Baltany Explorer 39mm Homage Review

Baltany Explorer Homage Watch

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.

Baltany Explorer 39mm

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.

Baltany Bezel
Baltany Crown

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.

Baltany Case Back
Baltany Dial Lume
Baltany Explorer Wrist Shot
Categories
Sea-gull

Sea-gull 3015 Bronze Pilot Watch

Sea-gull Pilot Bronze 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.

Sea-gull Bronze Watch Wrist Shot

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.

Sea-gull Bronze Watch Bracelet

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.

Sea-gull Bronze Case Back

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.

Sea-gull Pilot Lume
Sea-gull Bronze Watch Green Rubber Band
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
Categories
San Martin

The background of San Martin

In one of my previous posts, I said I will write articles about the background of these homage brands on my blog, because there are a lot of homage watches made in China that have the similar outlook, so some of you guys will doubt that they are just made by the same watch company, yes, I admit that some watch company may have more than one brands, for example, Pagani Design and Benya belong to the same company, however, there is no relationship between most other brands. Today, let us see the background of San Martin.

San Martin is a trademark that was registered by Liao jiaming in China in March 3rd of 2016. In March 20th, 2023, Liao jiaming also registered a similar trademark named San Martin Original. Both trademarks have the same registered address, which is Da Zi Ying Cun, Jingan Town, Changli County, Qinhuangdao City in Heibei Province.

Do a deeper research on google, you will find a company under Liao jiaming, the company name is Dongguan San Martin Watch Co. Ltd, which was founded in June, 2017, and the address is in Changping International Innovation Port No. 23, Building 1, Room 1303, Mulun Village, Changping Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. The company is in Dongdong, while the trademark registered address is in Heibei, so I guess the hometown of Liao jiaming is Qinhuangdao of Heibei. Please check the last picture, there are ten different trademarks registered under this company, besides the San Martin, do you know any others of these trademarks?

By the way, San Martin has their own business website, the address is https://www.sanmartinwatches.com. And they have an official website on aliexpress, the address is https://sanmartin.aliexpress.com/store/1101333575.

San Martin Trademarks
Categories
Pagani Design

Pagani Design IWC Portuguese 7 Days Homage Watch Review

Pagani Design Portuguese 7 Days Homage

You guys must know Portuguese 7 Days Power Reserve, it is a very popular watch from IWC, and this watch is even more popular in replica watch field, many guys bought this IWC as their first replica watch, in China, several brands also have made its homage watch, the most famous is the one made by Parnis. Today, I found another homage of Portuguese 7 Days, it is made by Pagani Design, which is a new Chinese homage brand but is the most popular one in Chinese market. Pagani Design is a new rising homage brand created in China, many watch lovers over the world like this brand because they offer quality watches at very reasonable prices. If you have browsed their website, you will know how well their watches are being sold. This Pagani Design watch has a very high similarity to the IWC Portuguese 7 Days Power Reserve, if do not see the shield logo, I thought it is mistakenly.

Pagani Design Portuguese White Dial

The Pagani Design looks very elegant, I liked IWC very much, their Portuguese is my dream watch before, this watch is only sold less than $100, you can hardly buy a quality homage in other places with an automatic movement and such an elegant appearance. The watch is 41mm in case diameter and only 13mm in thickness, a very proper size most people can accept, especially under current trend, big watch is very popular, and this watch exactly copies the case design of IWC Portuguese 7 Days, the thin polished bezel makes the dial looks larger than it should be, which gives the wearer a more comfortable time reading experience. And the blue leather band is in line with the dial style that features blue markers and hands. In a word, the entire watch is a combination of elegance that will push you to buy one even have not seen its price first.

Pagani Design Crystal

The dial is white and has elegant blue color on hands and numeral hour markers. I am a little surprised that Pagani Design will use a tridimensional logo, this really adds extra points for this watch. The small dial at 3 o’clock is a power reserve indicator that shows the remaining energy, once being fully winded, the small blue hand will point at the section of “UP”, when the hand is close to the “DOWN” area, means the watch is running out of erengy, you need to wind the watch now. The small second hand is running on the subdial at 9 o’clock, both small dials have well-finished CD patterns.

Pagani Design Logo on Dial

The watch has a crystal back where you can clearly see the decorated auto rotor with a big Pagani Design logo, I do not know which movement it uses, it is said that it has 21,600 vph and 38-hour power reserve. Usually the inaccuracy within 15 seconds to 30 seconds is normal for such an automatic movement. In a word, the quality of this Pagani Design deserves its price and exceeded my expectation.

Pagani Design Power Reserve
Categories
Merkur

Merkur Alarm Watch Review

Merkur Alarm Watch

I am greatly surprised that I find a Chinese alarm watch, first, it is a watch on mens wrist, but has the alarm function. I have never paid attention to alarm watches before, those big Swiss brands also seldom made alarm watches, I read one or two reviews, but never saw an alarm watch in hand before. Merkur is a Chinese watch brand that doing different things, not like many other Chinese brands that just know how to copy and make homage watches, after seeing a lot Merkur watches, I am in love with it more and more. And an alarm watch coming from a Chinese brand is really a big thing.

Merkur Poljot

This is a very simple alarm watch, its functions are hours, minutes, seconds and alarm, no date. Merkur watches are cheap and usually sold at less than $150, but this alarm watch is a little expensive, more than $300, which is still much cheaper than those Swiss brands. The alarm watch is interesting, set the alarm, and the watch will really make a sound, all functions are shown on the dial that has a bit Bauhaus style, especially the Arabic hour markers of 6 and 12. The central red hand is an alarm hand that can be adjusted through the crown at 2 o’clock, check these red numbers on the outermost, you will know how to set the alarm time, and when the hour hand meets the long red hand and both on the same line, the alarm will immediately make a sound.

Merkur Alarm Watch Case Back

It is said that the watch is powered by a Russian alarm movement, which is Soviet Poljot 2612, I do not know this movement, but I think the watch is produced in limited quantity is just because the company can not get too many Poljot movements. The suede leather band just looks ok, if you do not like this type of band, you can change a new one in easy effort.

Merkur Watch Group
Merkur Alarm Watch Wrist Shot
Categories
Shanghai Watch

Shanghai 6003 Mens Watch Review

Shanghai Watch Box

Do you like this watch? I think many of you guys still like this type of mechanical watches because it has a very classic design that was very popular several years ago, that’s the opening window on the dial. Many people who do not know watches thought the working device in the opening is a tourbillon, some watch companies indeed used the word “tourbillon” in the title of the product, but this is not a tourbillon watch, the window opened at 6 o’clock is showing a working balance wheel of the movement. Today, I still see some websites that are selling watches on Aliexpress do not use the “tourbillon” word correctly. Now, back to our today’s topic, it is a review of another Shanghai watch that has multiple functions, which are very convenient for the wearer to know more time information, I think it should be a necessary model in mens watch collection.

Shanghai 6003 in Box

The watch is made with 316L stainless steel, the round bezel is polished, well, I like the bracelet style, the brushing finish on the middle links also looks obvious, which forms a high contrast with the polishing on other parts of the watch. Shanghai Watch Factory also offers one pair of black leather straps for this watch. Besides the crown, there are also three extra pushers on the case, each can be pushed to adjust the feature on the dial. The dial is the place that combines every function of the watch, let’s talk the opening window design at 6 o’clock first, it not only allows you to appreciate the rhythm beauty of the mechanical movement, but also enhances the stability of the entire movement. There are two small dials on the silver dial, the small dial at 9 o’clock is week display, which can be adjusted through the button at 8 o’clock, the month display is set at 3 o’clock, which can be adjusted through the button at 4 o’clock. The date is displayed in a separated window at 12 o’clock, which can be adjusted through the button at 2 o’clock. All functions are real. And the blued steel hands exactly enhance the elegance of the entire watch.

Shanghai Watch Stainless Steel

The watch is powered by a Shanghai 2L27 automatic movement, which can beat 21,600 times per hour, it has 35 jewels and 40-hour power reserve. I know little about Shanghai movement, I saw some negative reviews about this movement, someone said their watch is 35 seconds slower each day, someone said their watch has a 3-minute inaccuracy each day, fortunately my watch still works accurate til now, it gains 15 seconds but that’s acceptable, the quality of Shanghai watch is trusted, but you need to ask them to test for several days more before shipping.

Shanghai 6003 Movement
Shanghai 6003 Wrist Shot
Categories
Merkur

Pierre Paulin Small Seconds Vintage Watch Review

Pierre Paulin Small Seconds

What is Pierre Paulin? It is the name of a watch brand, I saw this brand on the website of Merkur, which is also a custom-made watch brand created in China, not like other Chinese homage watches, Merkur is more creative in design. I introduced Pierre Paulin watches on my blog before, the most popular model is the one that looks similar to Daytona Panda, many people like this watch and have asked me the price, actually, almost all watches made by Merkur have cheap prices except the ones with tourbillon movement. The Pierre Paulin watch I am going to review today is a basic model of Pierre Paulin with simple design, but with elegant style, the watch also offers a lot of fun on the band because the wearer can change different types of bands and they still look nice on the watch.

Pierre Paulin Silver Dial

The case is not big, which is only 38mm in diameter, but checking the pictures, it looks larger than 38mm. The case is totally brushed, it is a whole piece of metal that is made with stainless steel, the brushing on the case does not look very delicate, but I like this finish that looks a bit rough. Due to the manual winding movement inside, the case is only 12mm thick. The solid case back has the engraving of a lion head. And seeing from the back, the connection between the case and band is also very simple for the wearer to remove and change a new band on.

The dial is silver and has a very high readability. In my memory, I do not know which Swiss watch uses this dial design, or is it just the own design of Pierre Paulin? If yes, that’s amazing. The circle with big Arabic numeral hour markers on has the same brushing finish as the case. The blue color just refreshes the entire silver and gray dial. A small dial positioned at 6 o’clock shows the working small seconds hand, which is sweeping smoothly. The outer track-style minute scales always look classic. The watch is powered by a manual winding mechanical movement, I do not suggest you wind too tight each time, just 20 rotations will be enough. The watch comes with a green leather band, actually this type of full grain leather band fits better than any other bands, absolutely you can try a rubber band. By the way, I will love the watch more if it has a see-through crystal back.

Pierre Paulin Case Back