Author: Bob

Benyar

Benyar Turquoise Tiffany Blue OP Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 23, 2023
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Have you ever heard of Benyar watch? Actually I just knew this watch, it is another great homage brand from China, I saw many positive reviews about Benya on the internet, some people said Benyar and Pagani Design are the same company, perhaps this is true, I found this watch when I browsing the website of Pagani Design, so there must be a connection between Pagani Design and Benyar. Some people also said Benyar is cheaper version of Pagani Design, I think this saying describes their relationship much better. I have introduced a lot of Chinese watches on my blog, including the big brands like Sea-gull and Beijing, but what I love most are these cheap homage watches, especially Parnis and Pagani Design, these two watches are my most favorite, one has a glorious past, ther other is currently the hottest homage brand. Today, I want to introduce a Benyar watch with turquoise dial, also named as Tiffany Blue dial, this dial color is very popular in watch industry, both Rolex and Patek Philippe have published watches with the tiffany blue dial, and the Oyster Perpetual watch with Tiffany Blue dial has become the object of many Chinese homage brands to copy.

Pagani Design also has this Tiffany Blue model, but the price of this Benyar is $38, only half of that Pagani Design, I am a little surprised that a good quality automatic watch is no less than $40, and with good case finish. I compared two of them, and found this Benyar uses a mineral crystal and a Chinese automatic movement, while the Pagani Design uses a sapphire crystal and a Japanese automatic movement, maybe this is the main reason why Pagani Design is expensive than the Benyar.

The case of the watch is 39mm in diameter, Rolex did not make 39mm Oyster Perpetual, well, I do not think this is a mistake on the watch, on the contrary, I like this 39mm size, a very good size for mens casual watch. The case is 11.7mm in thickness, a bit thick I think, but it can not be reduceded because of the Chinese movement inside. The watch features a see-through crystal back, and you can see engravings of brand name BENYAR and logo on the auto rotor, for such a price, I did not expect this.

The advantage of Pagani Design watch lies in its good case finish and good dial, while on this Benyar, the quality on the case and dial finish is not reduced even it has a much lower price. The candom bezel has a very smooth polishing, the turquoise dial has the most authentic blue color I have ever seen. There is a date window that features black font in white background, the date font is a little upper in the window, I do not care about this now, for such a price, with a good case finish and good dial details, as well as a more acceptable crystal back, I should not expect more.

Tags Benyar, Tiffany, Turquoise

Mysterious Code

Mysterious Code Submariner Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 22, 2023
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Mysterious Code Submariner Watch with Cover

Mysterious Code, another Chinese homage brand, there are a lot of such watches if you check Chinese watches section in Reddit, a lot of people share their experience with China watches there, some are positive and some are bad reviews. Besides these big traditional watch companies, there are indeed some homage brands that make high quality watches in China, my most favorite one is Parnis. I never heard Mysterious Code watch before, they are selling watches on Aliexpress, their watches are very cheap but some people bought and said the quality is acceptable. Rolex Submariner is the watch many homage brands want to copy, almost each homage watch brand created in China has the Submariner homage, so, a lot of people are confused and do not know which one to choose when facing such a lot options, in future, I will write an article about the top ten Submariner homage watches made in China.

Mysterious Code Submariner White Dial Black Ceramic Bezel

This is a Submariner watch with a white dial, I never saw such a Submariner Rolex has published, on the white dial, there is lettering of “SUBMARINER”, that’s too crazy, they do not even change the name, I do not know if this name is Rolex patented. The overall finish on the case and bracelet is ok, dial has decent lume, the movement is a Miyota 8215, that’s really nice because it is very stable and has no daily issues. It is amazing that the watch uses a ceramic bezel. For such a low price under $80 I spent, it is definitely worth.

The case is 40mm in diameter and measured to be 14mm in thickness. Both case and bracelet are brushed, the shape of the lugs is ok and can fit your hand perfectly, the edge of each lug is also polished, but not smooth enough, so you will feel a little being scratched on hand. That’s the reason they save cost and did not do a good work on the edge and corner on the watch like some other brands San Martin, Octopus, etc. Well, I like the finish of the markers on the bezel, they have the same engraving depth and thickness, the pearl has lume material filling with the same lume color as the hour markers.

I do not like its dial, not mean the color, the brand offers many colors including the black, but I selected white color, because I have too many Sub styles in black color. I do not like its name “Mysterious Code”, which is too long and the font is not the style I like, it is too casual. If changed to another name and use a good brand logo, I think many people will like this watch after considering its configuration. The case and bracelet finish is not its advantage, but the movement is. I saw many watches made by Mysterious Watch has the same price point, which is under $80, it worth to buy one to try, if you know a place to have the case and bracelet being polished, you can buy more from them.

Mysterious Code Submariner Watch Dial Lume

Tags Ceramic, Miyota 8215, Mysterious Code, Submariner

Pagani Design

Pagani Design Rolex Day-Date Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 19, 2023
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Among so many niche brands appeared in Chinese watch market in recent years, Pageni Design is one of the fast growing watches, they have a lot of watch fans abroad and have accumulated a good reputation, people seem to have recognized this brand even though all watches they made are homages, and Pagani Design seems to walk the same development road of its former Parnis, you know how popular Parnis was at that time, and the downfall makes people almost forget this brand. I am not sure if Pagani Design will have the same result, but completely copying the Swiss watches is not a good idea for Chinese brands, the brands like STEELDIVE, Proxima, Octopus and Pagani Design, their main purpose is to earn money quickly, so they find this way to copy, but if they make innovation in future models, I think they will be finally accepted by us. At current stage, I did a search on reddit and found many positive feedback about watches made by Pagani Design, which is more accepted than other Chinese homage brands.

The new Pagani Design watch I am going to introduce today is a homage of Rolex Day-Date, the watch has a 36mm case diameter and is measured to be 13mm in case thickness. I love Pagani Design mainly because its case and bracelet have a super finish. The polishing on the lugs, the alternative polishing and brushing on the bracelet makes it look more high-end, just like the luxury brand Rolex Day-Date, for a low price level, with such a good finish, I think it is worth to try. The 36mm size is ok for me, but if they make a 40mm version, I want to buy one. The dial is ice blue, except black, it is my most favorite color on such type of dress watches. The dial is finish in a high-end level, even the watch is sold at a low price, but the finish of every element on the dial does not look low, the texture of the ice blue dial has a delicate sunray finish, when you swing the watch slowly, you will find the dial has a strand of reflected light, the stainless steel Rome hour markers and Pagani Design logo are all finished in tridimensional, you know, to save cost, many brands not willing to use a three-dimensional brand logo on the dial. In a word, the finish of the watch too deserves its price. At last, the watch is equipped with a Sea-gull ST16 automatic movement, that’s really nice, sold less than $100, for such good finish on case and dial with a Sea-gull movement, it already has beaten 98% of homage watches created in Chinese market.

Tags Day-Date, Pagani Design, Sea-gull, ST16

Sea-gull

Sea-gull Ocean Star Pro 300m Frozen Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 18, 2023
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Besides Parnis, Sea-gull is my most favorite Chinese watch, I have bought several timepieces from them and want to buy more in future, Sea-gull is also the Chinese brand whose watches’ design have close styles to that of Swiss watches, whether the dress watches or diver’s watches made by Sea-gull, you can always see similar designs that could be found on Swiss watches. I like diver’s watches and I have some from Sea-gull and other Chinese homage brands, but I think the best-looking diver’s watch is from Sea-gull Ocean Star, it has a good name, by the way the watches also look nice, it refers to the design of Swiss diving watches but also add their own features in the watch, that’s one important factor that makes Sea-gull more popular abroad. Today, the watch I am going to review is a new model from Ocean Star made by Sea-gull, it is white and blue color, with a special ice crystal dial, I think it will be a very nice timepiece for you to wear in a snowy weather, or wearing it when going skiing.

I introduced one Ocean Star diver’s watch before, it is a blue model, many people shown their interest and asked me the price. Now this new model is a white snow one, it is a diver’s watch but does not look that tough like other diving-style models, do you like this style? But I like its color and the dial display, as a diver’s watch, it is 300m waterproof, that’s a big depth, well, it you want to make it look more tough and like a diver’s watch for men, you can change a smooth black calf leather band on, the watch still looks nice on a black leather strap.

The case is made with 316L stainless steel, it has a diameter of 44mm and measured to be 13mm in thickness, a little thick I think, but for a diver’s watch it is acceptable. The watch comes with a white box, absolutely it is customized by Sea-gull for this special edition watch, look at the lugs, its arc shape is very nice for the wearer and the finish has brushing on the front and polishing on the edge, this finish not only gives the user a strong visual effect, but also feels more comfortable to wear. The bezel uses a sapphire crystal cover, the blue and orange markers under are not luminous except the big “N”. I like the design of crown guards, they have delicate finish of brushing and polishing, and the crown is totally under the protection of the guards.

The dial is the most unique place of the watch, it has a special texture that looks like the ice crystal, not like other diver’s watches, the lume on this watch not only appears on the hour markers and hands, but also applied on the main dial, the blue lume light looks beautiful in the dark. The dial has a very good readability, not only because of its strong lume light in the dark conditions, but also the blue and orange color usage forms a high contrast with the main white background. The inner minute-scale bezel is a little straight, the entire bezel will look better if it is a little oblique.

The watch is powered by a ST2130 automatic movement, which is independently developed by Sea-gull Watch Company. The movement beats 28800 times per hour, it has 28 jewels and 42-hour power reserve. The watch comes with a white nylon band, but the stainless steel bracelet version is also available. At last, I think the dial lume is a little too strong and too much, this slightly affect reading time from the dial.

Tags Ocean Star, Sea-gull, ST2130

Baltany

Baltany Military-style Quartz Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 16, 2023
No Comments on Baltany Military-style Quartz Watch Review

In recent years, many brands have appeared in Chinese market to do custom-made work, like the brands San Martin, Proxima, Octopus, STEELDIVE I introduced before, all of them seem to come from the same city in China and customize watches according to the designs of Swiss watches or Japanese watches. Many homage watches they created are beautiful with good prices, I have bought several pieces, however, I think too many brands do a repeated work in this field, that’s not good for the development of China watch industry, and sometimes customers also do not know which one to choose when facing too many options with similar designs. But among those custom-made brands, I think Merkur does a better job than others because they have more excellent watches with their own designs, that’s the right development route which every Chinese watch brand should choose.

Never heard of Baltany before, it seems to have some connection to Proxima and San Martin because their watches’ designs are similar, while still not proved. The Baltany watch I am reviewing is a good military style watch powered by a quartz movement, it has several styles that all look really wonderful, I chose the one with black nylon band. The case is made with 316L stainless steel, not titanium even though it looks not like stainless steel because of its darker matte finish. I like the matte finish on the case, I have a lot of stainless steel watches in polished, it is very nice to try another one that has a different finish on the stainless steel case. And the black nylon band also matches well with this matte case and black dial.

The dial has a very good readability, there are four colors on the dial, the black background, red color on the tip of the central second hand, yellow lume color applied on the arrow-shaped markers and hands, white numeral hour markers. It is powered by a Seiko VK61 quartz movement that offers the watch hours, minutes, small seconds and chronograph functions. The subdial at 6 o’clock has a ticking small second, it will keep moving as long as the battery has power. The small dial at 12 o’clock is a 60-minute chronograph counter. At night, the dial will emit two strong lume light, one is blue on these numeral hour markers, the other is green, both are very strong but I have not tested if they will last for a long time. The dial lume is really a big advantage of those custom-made watch brands in China. The watch looks like on this nato band, well, there are too many band choices for such a military watch, a distressed brown leather band or a black calfskin leather band will also look nice, Baltany gives you choices to select your most favorite band because custom-made watch brand is doing such work.

Tags Baltany, Nylon, Quartz, VK61

Sea-gull

Sea-gull Dongfeng 21 Zuan Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 15, 2023
No Comments on Sea-gull Dongfeng 21 Zuan Watch Review

I am always deeply attracted by the history of Chinese watch industry, this pushes me to buy more China brand watches, there are so many amazing mechanical watches from these traditional watch factories in China like Sea-gull, Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing and so on, some not only design nice watches, but also have fascinating history. Compared with their watches, I more love reading the stories behind these traditional watch factories. The main difference between these Chinese traditional watch factories and new rising homage brands is that the former has their own movements, and Sea-gull is one of the biggest movement suppliers in the world, while a few new homage watches still making up stories to pretend as Swiss brands to cheat customers. The Sea-gull watch I am going to review today is a special model made to pay tribute to the first vintage Dongfeng watch in history of Tianjin Watch Factory, the watch looks nice and it is the best-looking casual watches in my collection.

The Sea-gull watch has a small size that is 38mm in case diameter, this is a size I like, with a small crown, it is very comfortable to wear, and the polished case is only 12mm in thickness. It has a solid case back that has the relief of “东风” and waves in polishing finish, in a sanded background. The entire watch is polished and has arch-shaped lugs that naturally extended from the case to fit your hand in a more comfortable way, I choose the watch with a black leather band, but I could not wait to change the nylon strap on, the nylon band looks better on this watch that has a little vintage flavor.

The silver dial is under the protection of a sapphire crystal that has a arched face, the old Dongfeng watch used acrylic face, on the new model, the sapphire crystal can not only prevent scratches, but also is more clear and has a higher transparence to let you read the dial. The arched sapphire crystal face is a distinctive feature of the watch. The silver dial has simple design but it still looks beautiful to me, check the pictures, the radioactive sunray finish is fine and when you shaking the watch slowly, you will find the unique reflected light on the dial, this is really amazing design for such a Chinese watch, I saw few homage watches can do this. There is no date window. On the top of printings “ZhONGGUO TIANJIN”, there is an unique logo.

The watch is equipped with a ST16 automatic movement, which is independently developed by Sea-gull, the movement beats 21,600 times per hour and has a 36 hours power reserve, I have received it for three weeks, now the watch gains about eight seconds each day, I think this accuracy is acceptable to most people.

Tags 21 Zuan, Dongfeng, Sea-gull, ST16

Hruodland

Hruodland TV Dial Quartz Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 12, 2023
No Comments on Hruodland TV Dial Quartz Watch Review

Hruodland, have you ever bought watches from this brand? I just found it and it looks like other brands I reviewed before such as San Martin, Proxima and Heimdallr, Hruodland also makes homage watches like them, many of them are diver’s watches with strong dial lume, absolutely I do respect these homage brands, although they directly copy the designs of Swiss watches, their quality is usually super. My friend in China did some research and found this brand shipped their watches from Dongguan city in Guangdong province of China, some of these brands I mentioned above like San Marin and Heimdallr also make their watches in Dongguan, so some people may think these Chinese homage brands are operated by the same company, sometime I guess so, but I will ask my friend to do more research on their background, after all there are too many such homage watches come from this city, some of them have the connection, but not all of them operated by the same company. I will write an article about them in future. About San Martin, Proxima, Heimdallr, Rdunae and other brands from Dongguan, there is one common ground behind them, I guess they all earned money by selling fake watches before. By the way, there are several websites online selling watches from these homage brands, like WRWatches and WatchDives, they are also not the company of these brands, they are just sales agent.

This Hruodland has a special shape that looks like an old TV, I remembered the first television my dad bought is like the case shape of this watch. I never thought I will buy such a watch in this unique shape, but I was deeply attracted by this beauty when my friend found it on Taobao and sent me, even it is a digital quartz watch, I still decided to buy, the beautiful blue dial, well-finished case and bracelet, practical functions, it is the most distinctive digital watch in my collection. I know it is a homage watch, but I am not sure which watch it copies from.

The watch has a heavy weight even it is only 39mm in diameter, both the case and bracelet are made with solid 316L stainless steel, they have fine brushing, which is in high contrast with the polishing finish on the bezel. The blue dial is the place I like most on the watch, besides, the finish of the stainless steel bracelet can also beat many watches, the edge of each link on the bracelet is polished round and smooth to guarantee a super wearing comfort, and among all my homage watches, the bracelet finish on this Hruodland watch is the best, I think this is one of the reasons why it is sold at a little higher price than other digital watches.

The blue dial is beautiful and has a very reasonable layout design that does not look crowded even it has a lot of elements to arrange. Under different light condition, the blue color looks different, the three small dials have their own roles. Small-second subdial is at 6 o’clock, the other two subdials at 9 and 12 are for chronograph display. Two separated windows at 3 o’clock, one for week display, the other is for displaying of date. “HRUODLAND” lettering is on top of the window. The fixed central second hand will start to move when you push the chronograph button at 2 o’clock, this is a watch with working chronograph, the font of week and date is also aligned exactly in the middle of each window. By the way, the central second hand has two wings that look like a airplane.

The watch is driven by a Citizen 0S00 quartz chronograph movement, it is said to have a serice life of about 3 years. Hruodland does not offer an extra band for this watch, I still have not configured out which other type of bands will fit it well except this steel bracelet.

Tags Chronograph, Citizen 8215, Hruodland, Quartz

Octopus

Octopus Omega Seamaster 007 Homage Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 11, 2023
No Comments on Octopus Omega Seamaster 007 Homage Watch Review

Omega has published several beautiful Seamaster watches for 007 James Bond, they are selling very well, especially their replicas, are very popular. It is my first time to buy a homage watch of Omega Seamaster 007, this Octopus looks like a homage watch of the Seamaster No Time to Die 007 watch, the watch has a stainless steel case not titanium made, also with a very nato band that is very similar to the one on Seamaster No Time to Die, I like this watch, its case shape, the color on the bezel and dial exactly matches that on the nato band. I received the watch in a small Octopus box, which is a cloth box with sponge inside protecting the watch, I think Octopus could design and make a more high-end wooden box. I see many homage watches coming from Octopus have high prices than the watches made by other homage brands, so a better brand wooden box will make your brand more popular.

The case of the watch is made with 316L stainless steel, it has a 42mm diameter and is measured to be 11mm in thickness, while 13.5mm if the crystal included. The case is a classic Seamaster shape of Omega, I can not say it is exactly the same, but you will immediately recognize when see it. I found the tortile lugs have been brushed on the face and polished on the other side, this detailed finish brings the wearer a high contrast visual effect. The bezel uses a black ceramic insert with engraved markers in the same depth, those markers are also applied with lume material like the hour markers and hands.

I love the dial, the lume material used on the hour markers and hands has the same color as the dial lettering “AUTOMATIC” and brand logo. The dial has a good readability under a clear sapphire crystal, each hour marker is big and the central sword-shaped hands are wide, so they can be applied with more lume to guarantee a strong and long-lasting lume light in the dark. The second hand has a red tip and a Octopus logo on the other end. This is a very classic diver’s watch dial, men love diving watches can not refuse its beauty.

The black/gray nylon band, I love this band, and this style of nato band is also used on another Omega 007 watch, that is Seamaster Spectre. Octopus also offers the stainless steel mesh bracelet for this watch, but the nato band looks better on the watch I think. At last, the watch is equipped with a PT5000 automatic movement, this movement has a good reputation in Chinese watch industry, its accuracy and stability are acceptable.

Tags 007, Ceramic, Octopus, PT5000, Seamaster

Parnis

Parnis YachtMaster II 226659 Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 10, 2023
No Comments on Parnis YachtMaster II 226659 Homage Review

Among all homage watches I bought from China, I like Parnis most, it is also the earliest brand that makes homage watches in China, although not many people talk this brand now, but I still choose to buy some to rich my collection. For all Rolex models from Datejust to Submariner, Parnis makes homage for each of them, but have you ever searched Parnis on Google, no websites are selling these copies now, I got mine watches from my Chinese friend. In current Chinese watch industry, there are two main trends, those big brands like Sea-gull, Shanghai and Beijing almost occupy all middle to high end watch market, while those homage brands are trying to gain recognition from abroad, Parnis is not like San Martin, Proxima and STEELDIVE that specilize in manufacturing diver’s watches, Parnis makes a lot of watches in different styles from casual to diving models, it has rich experience in making such kind of homage watches in good quality but also with affordable prices, that’s the reason I like to choose Parnis.

This Parnis is very similar to the new 42mm YachtMaster 226659 Rolex published, it has stainless steel case and a black rubber band, it is very popular but the Rolex YachtMaster has a too high price. This homage watch has a 41mm case, I have to say this is better size to fit me, absolutely the case is not made with 904L stainless steel, but it has smooth polishing face like a mirror, the tooth on the bezel looks a little wide, I am surprised the watch uses a real black ceramic bezel insert at this price, the bezel markers are a little dark, actually Parnis can polish them brighter.

On the black dial, every detail is an accurate copy of the element on YachtMaster 226659, except letterings. The hour markers and benz hand have white lume material being applied, the sweeping central second hand is powered by an automatic movement that is imported from Japan, which is Citizen 8215, this movement is very accurate and has bcome the most widly used movement in high-end replica watches. The date window has a magnifier on the top and features black font that is exactly in the middle of the window. I noticed the dial lume light is not that strong on diver’s watches from STEELDIVE, this is normal for Parnis and also acceptable to me. At last, the Parnis has a black rubber band, I feel soft on my wrist and no dust stained on the strap til now.

Tags 226659, Ceramic, Citizen 8215, Parnis, YachtMaster

Vakuy Rigas

Vakuy Rigas Sweep Quartz Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 9, 2023
No Comments on Vakuy Rigas Sweep Quartz Watch Review

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.

Tags Quartz, Seiko, Vakuy Rigas, VH64

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