I’m not a fan of the vast majority of their stuff, but this one ain’t bad at all.

 

That clasp looks taller than the watch head, but otherwise, yes. Yes.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure how big it is. They made the hardware internal though, no visible screws on the side like the standard part.

 

As mentioned in a previous thread, the dial would look better if they ditched the writing on the bottom of it.

 

Interesting to see them show off their alignment checking as part of their QC testing. Not holding my breath to see Seiko ever post something like that.

 

Looks precisely manufactured. I like the dial.

 

The texture is very cool. I'm not going to buy one of these because I hate visible crystal gaskets, but I get that's the current design du jour, so I understand why they did it. Noble, Sealander, Conquest, Aqua-Terra etc all have that, so if you're going after them, why wouldn't you?

If they do something similar with a dive bezel, without the hideous crystal gasket, that might be tempting.

 

I have two of their watches and think they offer good value for the $$$

Love the teal dial on this one as well as the bracelet, so I might have to add another.....

 

Very nice, now make it in a 42mm and I'm a buyer.

 

^^ This.

Not sure if I should be happy or sad that 39mm is too small for me..

Awesome looking watch and the specs blow most of the competition straight out of the water. Very cool!

 

Meh, maybe looks better in person.

 

The dial texture and the gradient application is superbly done. It has a clinical Citizen or Zelos look. I like the seconds hand and it’s only shortcoming is it’s length.

Is the motif on the caseback the new logo?

 

Impressive. Especially at that price point.

 

I’ve been one of the bunch waiting for “this” watch. Knew it was close. Pretty much totally dislike this version of “this” watch, but I’m sure they’ll get to something I like at this level soon. Will buy.

 

Looks great. Really nice dial and overall look. 👍

 

That Gibson Tobacco Burst looking dial looks quite nice. For some reason I'm not digging the blue, even though I love blue dials.

 

Well done, San Martin. If a Swiss brand name were slapped onto it, people would “oooh and ahhh” over it at 10x its price.

 

It is certainly an improvement and while the color and texture of the dial are interesting, it’s a little too boring, and that is coming from someone who generally enjoys boring watches.

 

I agree, but you know there'll be others, lots of others, and those won't all be boring, but they'll all be made and finished as well as this one. I find the case and bracelet macro shots quite impressive for $300.

 

I'm in the hobby for a long time, but I did not own any Chinese or homage watches until yesterday, when my Rdnae R6 arrived in the mail. $179.90 for a sterile vintage Tornek-Rayville homage with saphire crystall seemed to good to pass for me.

What I'd argue is that the Miyota 9015 is a better movement than the Seiko NH35/38. I'd say they are equal to one another.

As far as I know, San Marin also owns the Tactical Frog brand name. Their Titanium FX diver for slightly less than $200 is extremely close to the Tudor FXD, which costs 20 times as much. It is on my shopping list now. As time moves on, the Chinese have perfected their manufacturing that it comes very close to that of the established Swiss makers. What does that tell us? Well, it tells us that a Tudor FXD should cost around $1K retail, which is still 5 times that of a Tactical Frog. It's justified due to the better movement, and due to the higher cost of production in Switzerland compared to China. But all the other stuff is marketing and gravy, and as the owner of a rather expensive vintage Panerai and a ROO I'm at a point in my life where spending thousands of dollars on a watch of which the majority goes to the brand name makes less and less sense to me.

 

I did not know that Tactical Frog and San Martin were affiliated. I like the Tactical Frog brand, their brand name, and their watches. They make a really nice DOXA style watch.

 

That clasp is friggin huge!

 

When it comes to quality feel / excellent finishing with very affordable price tags, nobody comes even close to San Martin for quite some time now. Good to see them move towards more and more original designs. This one isn't my personal taste, but it's a well designed watch.

 

I don't think this was anything other than expected considering their popularity surge over the past few years. Can't stay wannabe maker forever. This is a good try for something somewhat original and nicer. Still don't think it distances themselves from what they're ultimately known for, but we'll see what the future holds.

 

If they keep this consistent in the serial production, it will rival 2K+ watches on finish to be sincere.

 

Honestly this level of finish isn’t even new for them circa the last year or two. Loading it with a 9 series miyota is the big change that brings the watches squarely into mid level micro contention. The nh35 was the only thing keeping them from stomping Baltic, traska, and now even Hamilton and Tissot.

 

Looks great, love the dial 🥰

 

Islander has their upper brookville with nice texture dial and miyota movements for 400.
I have the coral (pinkish) dial that I got on close out for 200.
good specs at 41mm 100 wr screw down crown and exhibition case back.
Pics later.

 

Islander has their upper brookville with nice texture dial and miyota movements for 400.
I have the coral (pinkish) dial that I got on close out for 200.
good specs at 41mm 100 wr screw down crown and exhibition case back.
Pics later.

Not terrible, but it's a SARB clone with a pretty basic bracelet. Not terribly impressed, honestly.

 

I do not love the dial, but if this were in white or black or anything non-radiant I would set aside my preference for legacy brands and pick one up. I will say one thing though, which is that I had to return a San Martin watch and that is, shall we say, not an easy task. You pay to ship it back, it gets stuck in customs for two months, and then they charge you the original cost of shipping. So, if you order one, be prepared to keep it. In retrospect, I wish I would have held on to mine. It would have been easier to sell it myself.

 

Can't speak for the quality of their watches, I just don't like that logo. Looks cartoonish

 

Agreed completely.

This looks like a nice watch. They should own their heritage, throw a Hànzi character/logo on there, and not be ashamed of who they are. Own it.

 

Pics as promised. This is coral linen dial discontinued. Currently available are birch textured black blue green and ivory. 379 usd.

 

As I said, it's a SARB clone. It looks like a $300 watch. I'm not sure what the point is here? Yes, there are cheap watches with 9015s that exist. That's not what makes this new SM interesting.