Have you learned some Chinese? Because it will be very useful especially when you are buying something from China. Do you know taobao? You can find everything on this shopping platform, and the price is much cheaper than that on other sites, so, learn some Chinese. I often shop on taobao, there are a lot of watches in different styles, some are very cheap, some have attractive designs, I have an idea, if anyone of you guys who want to buy some Chinese watches, please contact me, I can help you buy on taobao, and I know watches, I can do quality check and then ship to you.
Today, I am going to show you another watch I saw on taobao, does any of you guys like this watch? I like this watch and I have been always looking for such type of watches that have a bit military style. I do not see the brand name, there is a five pointed star logo under 12 and “19 ZUAN” printing on the dial, what does “19 Zuan” mean? It is not a brand name, probably means that the movement in that watch has 19 jewels. This watch comes with two types of bands, one is nylon and the other is a leather strap, it looks a bit like one of the Sea-gull watches I introduced before, which is the 21 Zuan Pilot watch and also the best seller, but this watch is using an automatic movement. I like the nylon band, which matches the dial better, while the black leather strap looks more in line with another model in white dial.
Besides its nylon band, my all attention is on the dial. It is not hard to know the function of each small dial, the one at 6 o’clock is for display of small seconds, the power reserve indicator is set between 10 and 11, the small dial at 2 o’clock is date display. Each small hand is blued steel, and the central hour hand and minute hand also have blued steel edge. I like the five pointed star design at 12 o’clock, it is tridimensional with a small red star on the center, the hour markers are also polished very well with smooth edge, you can not find metal burr. The date can be adjusted through the button on the case. When you winding the watch, the small hand on the power reserve indicator will also move.
The watch is powered by a ST1780 movement, which is developed by Sea-gull company, but this movement has a 28 jewels, not 19. This movement owns a stability that has been accepted by a lot of watch fans who love to buy homage watches.
Conclusion:
For watch fans who often buy homage watches made in China, this vintage pilot-style watch is a great choice, it has a bit military style of those Chinese watches made in old times, the Sea-gull machine offers a durable stability. The most important thing is that this watch is on sale under 60 USD at https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256807622682382.html
If you are a fan of my blog, you may have noticed that I have introduced a lot of Rolex Submariner homage watches produced in China, I bought most of them, took pictures and made comparison reviews, actually most of them have a good quality, and I more hope these reviews can help you a lot when deciding to buy your first watch in China or picking some homage watches to rich your collection. Today, I will make a summary of the top ten best Submariner hulk homage watches made in China, from this list and by reading my previous reviews, you will easily tell which one is the best.
1.Sugess Seaman SP116610LV
Seeing from its model number, Sugess Seaman is a classic homage watch of Submariner hulk 116610LV. I made some searches about Sugess, and found this is a watch company coming from Shenzhen of China, now they have become one of the most popular homage watch brands. In many watch forums and Reddit, a lot of watch fans have admitted that this is the best homage of Submariner hulk. It has a case measured to be 40mm in diameter and 12.5mm in thickness, which is closest to the case size of the Rolex Submariner 116610LV, the Seaman SP116610LV has a green ceramic bezel, its green color on the bezel and dial looks very close to that on hulk Submariner. By the way, the Sugess Seaman uses a Japanese NH35A automatic movement inside, which is very reliable.
Advantages: correct case shape and size, genuine green ceramic bezel insert, Japanese NH35A movement, correct lume color Shortcoming: high price, almost 190 USD on their official site
2.San Martin SN0017
SN0017 is a famous model from San Martin, it has black and green color options, I introduced the green SN0017 on my blog at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2023/05/31/san-martin-submariner-116610lv-homage-review/, and I also have given a comparison review about the black one between it and the Cronos L6015 as well as the Steeldive SD1953, please check my review at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2023/08/20/black-submariner-homage-review-cronos-l6015-vs-san-martin-sn0017-vs-steeldive-sd1953/. The SN0017 deserves the second position because it really has a very good finish on the case, dial and bracelet like the Sugess. Among all homage watches created in China, the ones made by San Martin all have good finish, their case finish should be among the best. The case of the SN0017 is 40.5mm in diameter and 13mm in thickness, the bezel also uses real green ceramic. The watch is equipped with a Japanese NH35A automatic movement.
Advantages: good case finish, sunburst dial finish, correct bezel engravings, strong and correct blue lume, stable NH35A movement. Shortcoming: Bracelet structure is not as good as the Sugess Seaman, the top of the bezel pearl is not domed, high price, almost 190 USD.
3.Pagani Design 1639
Why does this watch have such a high position in the list? We know Pagani Design is famous for making cheap homage watches, their Speedmaster, Tiffany Blue Rolex and Daytona homage watches are popular in watch industry, it is the hottest Chinese brand that is being discussed in Reddit. After receiving a Pagani Design watch, you will find its quality exceeds your expecation because you only paid tens of US Dollars, that’s the reason why Pagani Design should rank so high in this list. The Pagani Design 1639, I talked about it in a comparison review here at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2023/12/12/hulk-submariner-homage-reviewpart-3-pagani-design-1639-vs-vakuy-rigas-v-003-vs-tevise-t801/.
Advantages: good finish on the case and bezel, bezel pearl looks nice, nice sunburst finish on green dial, very reasonable price. Shortcoming: big case over 43mm, weak lume light on the bezel pearl and dial markers.
4.Cronos L6015
I firstly knew Cronos because it makes a good quality Pepsi GMT-Master homage watch, the L6015 is a Submariner homage model of Cronos, which has black and green color choices. The Cronos L6015 hulk Submariner homage has a correct case size and a green ceramic bezel, the bracelet and clasp are nice and have the similar structure to Submariner. The watch uses a NH35A automatic movement.
Advantages: good finish on the case, green ceramic bezel and Japanese NH35A movement. Bezel pearl is slightly dome-shaped, strong blue lume. Shortcoming: Arabic number markers on the bezel are bit thinner, surburst finish on the dial not obvious, too green on the dial.
5.Heimdallr HMSR01
Heimdallr is also a great homage watch brand that has been in this field for years. I have introduced its background information in the first article review about a Heimdallr diver’s watch at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2022/04/09/heimdallr-divers-200m-black-the-big-monster-in-deep-ocean/. Heimdallr is mainly famous for making these homages of Seiko diver’s watches. This green hulk Submariner homage watch HMSR01 from Heimdallr has a great quality, it deserves the fifth position in this list, I like its sunburst finish on the green dial, which is very close to that of green Submariner 116610LV.
Advantages: green dial with sunburst finish, engraved inner bezel, strong lume, Japanese movement Shortcoming: inner bezel is a little high, wrong lume on the bezel pearl, thin bezel markers
6.STEELDIVE SD1953
STEELDIVE is a Chinese brand that is loved by a lot of people, they do make high quality watches and sell them at reasonable prices, when selecting a homage watch from China, STEELDIVE may become the first choice. Among watches made by STEELDIVE, SD1953 is one of the most popular models. STEELDIVE offers a hard plastic box that gives the watch a full protection, there are some accessories coming with the watch such as card, user manual and screwdriver. As far as I know, STEELDIVE does not make a 40mm Submariner homage, the SD1953 has a 41mm case that is measured to be 14mm in thickness, which is much thicker than other Submariner homage watches I saw. The finish on the case and bracelet is very good. The dial has nice printings. With a low price, the quality of the STEELDIVE SD1953 absolutely meets your expectation.
Advantages: good case finish, very nice dial details, strong lume on the bezel and dial, Japanese movement, cheap price. Shortcomings: no bezel pearl, the green color is a little dark on the dial
7.Hruodland F-015
This brand has a strange name, which is hard to pronounce. I knew Hruodland because the Explorer homage watch really caught my attention. I made a comparison review between it and the Heimdallr, both watches are very nice. The Hruodland has a stainless steel case that is measured to be 40.7mm in diameter and 12.4mm in thickness. The bezel uses genuine green ceramic, there are engravings on the inner bezel, the green dial looks great but sunburst finish is not obvious. The watch uses a PT5000 movement made in China, the brand also offers a SW200 movement option for this watch.
Advantages: good finish, strong lume, real ceramic bezel, PT5000 movement Shortcoming: no bezel pearl, the sunburst finish on the dial not too obvious
8.Mysterious Code Submariner
It is one of my most favorite green Submariner homage watches, now it is hard to find this watch on the aliexpress, maybe because of the “SUBMARINER” printing on the dial, it violates the intellectual property right. Now if you want to buy this watch, perhaps need to search it on Taobao and ask one of your friends in China to buy for you. The Mysterious Code Submariner uses real green ceramic on the bezel insert, the dial color also looks great, you can read the review between this watch and the Lige on my blog at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2023/11/30/hulk-submariner-homage-reviewpart-2-lige-vs-mysterious-code/.
Advantages: ceramic bezel, correct case size, good bezel pearl, correct lume, Miyota 8215 movement Shortcoming: lume not last
9.Lige 6801
About Lige, actually I know little about this watch company, I also do not suggest you buy watches from Lige watch company, because their watches are overpriced in China, while sold at very cheap prices abroad, so I do not think they are trusted. However, this Lige green Submariner homage watch looks nice, especially its green color, better than some watches I mentioned above. I love its tridimensional brand logo on the dial and the see-through design on the back.
Advantages: good finish on the case, good bezel pearl with similar shape to hulk, strong lume, good dial color and details, Shortcoming: wrong lume color, a low-end Chinese movement with short power reserve
10.Vakuy Rigas V-003
There is little information about the background of Vakuy Rigas, actually I know something about this brand, do you know Parnis? It is the earliest homage watch manufacturer in China, now Vakuy Rigas is owned by the same team as Parnis, you can think Vakuy Rigas is a sub-branch of Parnis. The hottest Vakuy Rigas watch being discussed on the internet is the Daytona Paul Newman homage model. This green Submariner homage watch is also in good quality.
Advantages: acceptable quality with very cheap price, good bezel pearl with similar shape to real Submariner, real ceramic bezel(claimed by the dealer), Miyota 8215 movement Shortcoming: the green color on the dial not good, smooth dial without surburst finish
About Sugess, have you heard this brand? If having checked their watches on aliexpress, you will know they are totally a homage watch brand that was founded in Shenzhen of China. Many watches they are making have the exact models in Swiss watches. I only introduced one Sugess watch before on my blog, but their watches are really sold very well on aliexpress even with a bit high price, I decide to bring reviews on more Sugess watches in future, today, the Sugess watch I am going to share with you looks like a Day-Date model made by Rolex, with an ice blue dial, the watch looks nice, many people like the ice blue Day-Date from Rolex, and this Sugess watch is a great homage of the Day-Date.
The watch comes with a hard plastic box, just like the box of STEELDIVE and Parnis I introduced in reviews before. Inside the black box, there is a watch, a manual book, a screwdriver and a warranty card inside. On the card, the purchasing date, model number and other information are empty. The watch is under a good protection inside the box, we can see from the pictures.
The Sugess is made with 316L stainless steel, its case is measured to be 40.3mm in diameter and 12.2mm in thickness, the entire watch weighs about 123.9 grams, the screw-in crown has a satin-finished “S” logo on the mirror-polished face. The bezel is fluted and fits the middle case head perfectly, the gap between them is not noticeable. The case is finished very well, especially on the edge or corner, which is polished and very comfortable when wearing.
I love the dial, first a lot of people like its ice blue color, second, the finish of the dial is superb. The Sugess logo at 12 o’clock and Rome hour markers are tri-dimensional. All stainless steel hour markers are polished and forms a high-contrast with the sunburst finish of the dial, every marker is well finished and I did not find the burr on the edge. Having checked the black font in the day and date window, it has a very close size to that of Rolex Day-Date watch. By the way, I found there are “SUGESS” engravings on the inner bezel, on other Chinese watches I reviewed before, I did not find this feature. The sunburst finish on the dial looks ok, but not as good as the super clone that is sold at more than 600 USD. Any way, the dial finish of this Sugess is much better than the other watches I bought from China. This is also one of the reasons why this Sugess can be sold at $239.
The bracelet is president style like Day-Date and you can see two obvious finish including polishing on the middle and brushing on the two sides. The clasp can be opened through the “S” buckle, and in the video below, you will hear a crisp clicking sound when open or close the buckle.
The watch is driven by a ST2146 automatic movement from Sea-gull. The movement beats 28,800 times per hour, it has 28 jewels and about 40 hours of power reserve, I found specification of this movement on the internet, not sure if they are correct. Any way, the company shipped the watch out the day before yesterday, the watch still worked very accurate when I received it yesterday.
Conclusion:
The Sugess watch is a bit expensive just because of its better dial finish and Sea-gull movement inside. It is a classic stainless steel watch with date and week functions with good case and dial finish. If you are looking for a perfect homage watch of a Day-Date that is much better than the replicas around 200 USD, then this Sugess is a perfect choice. Besides the ice blue dial, Sugess also offers black, blue and green colors for the watch.
What is Sugess? I never heard this watch before, after checking its website, I know it is another customized watch brand in China, currently I do not know which city this brand is created in, I will write posts to do background survey on these homage watch brands created in China, at that time, I think you guys will have a full understanding of these homage watches. Not like other custom-made watch brands in China, most watches made by Sugess are not diving styles, so I guess this brand is not from the same company as Proxima, San Martin and Steeldive. This Sugess watch I am going to review today has a very similar outlook to the Breitling Top Time, which I knew this watch from its replica, it is very popular, the watch is a big watch, its case diameter is up to 40mm, that does not include the crown and chrono buttons, such size is exactly in line with the trend of big watches. This Sugess watch is made with high grade stainless steel material, it uses sapphire and is equipped with Sea-gull movement, the watch has a working chrono function, so its price is a little higher than the other same type of watches made in China, but still very affordable.
All selling points of the watch lie in its dial and movement. The dial is blue and has two subdials in white color. The two small dials have square design but with round corners, that look different from most other chrono watches, the center of the two subdials is sunken, this design enhances the spacing sense of the dial and makes it look more tridimensional. The dial also has a very high readability, it uses five different colors, that’s the dial with most colors I have seen, but it does not affect readability of the dial at all, even make a very lively dial. The central second-chronograph hand has a lightning shape, which exactly meets the artistic font style of Sugess. Both small dials have different functions that are real, the one with a yellow small hand at 9 o’clock is displaying the seconds, the small dial with an orange hand at 3 o’clock is a 30-minute chronograph counter. The central lightning second hand is usually fixed, once you push the chrono button at 2 o’clock, it will count, you can also let this hand working all the time, but the energy of the watch will last long. About the movement, I am very happy that the Sugess adopts a see-through crystal back, so that I can see the movement clearly, it is a manual winding movement from Sea-gull, the exact movement model is ST1901, from the back, you can see the machine beauty of the movement. By the way, the watch comes with a blue leather band, you can also order one pair of genuine aligator leather straps from China, there are stores in Guangzhou watch market can do this job.
Conclusion:
A fashionable pilot’s watch with highly-readable dial and a very stable Sea-gull movement. The watch has a real chronograph function and features a see-through crystal back that allows you to appreciate the beauty of the working machine inside. A very good-looking pilot’s watch for the young people, and it is very popular watch on the aliexpress, Sugess offers several dial color options and different leather bands for this watch, you can always find your favorite style.
