The difference between a $50.00 casio duro and a $10k dive watch is that you will actually dive with the $50.00 casio duro because you won't be afraid to break or lose it.
I got a Duro for the first time after a recommendation and I’m simply blown away about the watch you get for the price. When I got my Breitling Colt back in 2001, I wouldn’t wear it out of the house because I didn’t want to damage it. Now when I’m looking at watches, I focus on the sub $650 price point because there are simply amazing and wonderful watches for that price.
I don’t fall for the marketing. I spent $30,000 on 100 watches instead of just 3. Knowing how these things are made, it’s impossible for me to drop more than a few hundred bucks on a watch.
99% of public don't even look nor care what one is wearing. For the 1% that do, unless they are a snob, also don't care if it's a SM or Rolex. Wear what makes you happy and one that you can afford. That's the best thing about brands like San Martin. It makes watches that look close enough to Rolex more accessible for the general public.
@@Mackster248definitely don’t think everything said here is true anymore. I go as far to say maybe only 50% of people don’t notice what ONE is wearing these days. People do notice but of course nobody will say anything to a stranger.
I've got both of these two watches. I wear the San Martin when I'm at home (80-90% of my life) because that's when my watches tend to get banged up. I wear the Rolex when I go out (meetings, dinner, shopping, etc.). I've never had anyone notice that I'm wearing a Rolex. I just wear it because I like it and I know I can rely on it.
In reality no one cares what you are wearing, 99% of the population will not even be aware of what you're wearing. From about 4 or 5 ft away I can't even tell what someone's wearing anyway unless it's a smartwatch
Check out I Like Watches comparison of 3 Chinese brands and a Rolex Submariner. The finishing on the Chinese watches is visibly better than the Rolex Submariner when viewed under magnification. The high polished surfaces weren't good at all, I'd return a £200 watch for such poor quality nevermind a £10k one.. Was it a poor example? Possibly Not everyone looks thru magnification at their watch. I do like the obviously superior quality of the Rolex movement though. Fine engineering.
A thoughtful, sensible comparison. Thanks. Personally I've split the difference (not literally) by going with a Ginault Ocean Rover II. Controversy aside, it has tremendous fit and finish, sublime bezel action, a bracelet that's as good as the Rolex glide-lock, and astonishing accuracy. For $900 used.
Good move, I am eyeing one at the mo, purely because they are interesting and extremely well made. I have a few of the 'real' thing but hey...Ginault are an interesting alternative!
The Chinese watch game is crazy nowadays. The $200 San Martin gives you 99% of the what the $10,000 Rolex offers. Now you have companies like Steeldive that offer you 99% of what San Martin offers for under $100 😂
definitely not 99% if the bracelet pinches your skin, and the watch is off by minutes after wearing it a month. The biggest difference is that every time you look at the watch, you are reminded that you have something that isn't a Rolex. You'd be better off buying something that is its own identity, like a nice Seiko.
@DonLee1980 well I have Seikos and some other chinese brands and I can guarantee chinese are way better quality. I paid to know for real, very low risk, 70 bucks or so each watch and EVERYTHING was better, for example, all of them have saphire cristals.
My steeldive GMT is +5 seconds a day accurate, amazing for the price, I put on a sliding clasp steel bracelet I got from AliExpress for $12 and that watch is awesome
The production quality always jumps every time I come back to this channel. I like when you do a shot of your outfit you're wearing with the watch :) There was some camera shake at 12:59. I only point this out because I can tell you take a lot of pride in your production value and it definitely shows!
I have 2 San Martin sn004, the 38mm blackbay copies, one in black and one in blue. They are some of my absolute favourite watches. They are quite perfect and they make it hard to wear anything else.
I have the black one. I enjoy it. I have had 2 occasions where it was mistakes for a real black bay and once for a Rolex. Has this happened to you? Despite liking the watch, I hate the feeling I get when this happens.
Fantastic video. Loved it. Truth is, it’s about how the watch makes you feel, my 114060 makes me feel like I accomplished my goal. My Islander makes me feel like a got a deal. Very, very different feelings.
The difference between these two watches is that if you were to lose them at the bottom of the ocean, only one would haunt you for the rest of your life. THERE IS NO COMPARISON.
Buy what makes you happy. The big difference is, people recognise Rolex, and know it’s posh. Most of the time both will do the same job. I own a neo vintage 14060 sub as a daily, and whilst I love it, it’s also kinda ordinary now? Bought the birth year of my son, it’s 20 years old, and like a pair of old shoes, comfortable. Whilst special at the time, they just become the norm. The only difference really is, would you buy a San Martin for a special occasion. Probably not. But I wear a Casio to the beach, I have a longines dress watch, and a speedy for the office. But honestly, I look at my stuff, and 99% is worthless in 10 years time. I have two sons, and beyond cash, the only stuff of mine they want to inherit is my watches.
Wearing a Rolex is beyond ordinary by now. They’ve literally sold hundreds of thousands of Subs at this point. It’s a timeless design but $10K is absurd.
I have both, and I love them both; but my Rolex is also going to last forever and is a great investment -the San Martin is my go to for travel and rough stuff but it will start showing the shortcuts in it’s construction within 3 years ,like the other ones I have.Usually the bezel action craps the bed first but the nh35 is not far off.. I enjoyed the video and you have some good points
You can buy a replacement NH35 for less than $50. Maintenance on a Submariner will set you back 5 - 7x the cost to replace the San Martin. And your Rolex isn't going to last forever unless you get that ~$1,000 (if you don't have to have parts replaced) servicing regularly.
The difference in price is demand, marketing and artificial scarcity....buy the watch that makes you happy, not the one you are supposed to wear....great review.
Not saying that the San Martin isn't a good value but I really hate homage watches. I'd much rather grab a unique looking Seiko before touching an homage piece. If a sub is your grail then you should save up for it and then it will be even more special when you can finally afford it. Otherwise there are plenty of unique designed watches at good prices.
Couldn't agree with this more. I'm actually disappointed that Marc is even selling these. Great business decision of course, along with his own line of watches that are often homages, but I'm now less inclined to buy from LIW
This isn't a homage. It's a knockoff. Homages add their own element to make it distinct. Knockoffs are copies which just change the logo. Im ok with homages but don't like knockoffs.
@@BlightedJosh not sure I get your point. In all aspects of life, new things build upon previous things. There is very little true originality but one can certainly accept that copying is different that building upon. If money was no object would you rather have a real Picasso or a print? The answer is obvious so that means originality has value. How much is up to the person, but it's not zero.
Obviously Rolex is a much better watch, besides the fact that making that caliber 3135 involves a large investment, top-quality materials, finishes, constant research into new components, higher certification than COSC... But the question is: Is Rolex 10,000 times better than San Martin?
I have this SanMartin, I bought it with the option of Milsub sword hands. I think the more surface area on the hands give a slightly different aesthetic. It’s great quality and was very affordable.
Nobody will care about you wearing a Rolex: people not into watches will hardly notice. People into watches will think it’s the most generic luxury watch you can wear and kinda judge your basic taste. Basically; buy what you like for you, not to impress others.
Thanks for sharing this video and CONGRATULATIONS on the new baby! I like your take on this. Marc has a said a few times that he’s started carrying this brand for his customers. The demand is there, but many are skeptical about purchasing from foreign websites. I think your assessment is right on! Thanks again. 🙏🏼
Congrats on the new baby! I bet the wearing experience is another key thing us viewers are missing. I can imagine how the clangy bracelet on the San Martin feels (similar to Seiko)
I’d take the San Martin, they’re amazing, $200 Generic Submariner with a Japanese movement and $9,800+ savings. That’s a watch you could wear anywhere without much worry, a proper tool watch, something Rolex isn’t anymore. I bought a Steeldive Submainer a brand under the same umbrella as San Martin, and it’s seriously amazing, +1 to +2 seconds per day! The quality is phenomenal, and it only set me back $100. I prefer a quartz watch though for the most part so my Casio Edifice EFB-S108 sees a lot of wrist time. 👌🏼
How about paying $80 for an Invicta pro diver with the same movement as a San Martin? I own a vintage Rolex submariner, but don’t like to wear it out so I took a chance on the Invicta. I cannot believe that you can get one of these for $80. I regulated it to within five seconds per day, and wear it swimming and and mountain biking just banging it around. It is holding up great after 2 years, and I even bought one for my son-in-law who loves it also. $80, just think about that.!
With Rolex, you pay for Swiss manufacturing and assembly (Rolex are the most affordable watches manufactured entirely in Switzerland), third party testing (COSC), quality movements with tight tolerances and good shock resistance that will be serviceable for as long as Rolex exists, quality control, servicing logistics, global customer aftersale support logistics, ADs have to be paid, brand name, design, engineering, R&D, marketing, Swiss work force from the cleaner to the CEO, facility development and maintenance and all the other expenses of running a high profile global business. You'll be able to service your Rolex in 30 years. You don't know if San Martin will have rubber gaskets available for this particular model in 10 years let alone 30. With San Martin you don't even know if they are making a profit yet. It is very common for new companies to do business losing money for a good decade or more (take a look at Christopher Ward) before they start turning a profit, and then they bump their prices to where they have to be to stay in business. And also, with Rolex you know for sure everybody who works there in any capacity is getting paid. There's more to a product than just the product itself.
Fair enough but sponsorships for tournaments and paid celebrities and all the marketing make up much more of the prince than all the things you mentioned.
@_Stav_ I don't have access to their books obviously, but I absolutely don't believe they spend more on marketing than everything else. Their marketing is simple. Ads and contracts. The vast majority of the hype is created by the social media free of charge.
@@ThePedroDB I'm not justifying it. It is what it is. Some people wear a Rolex. I wear a Seiko. I'm fine with what I have and have no need to buy what I can't afford.
You get a good idea over watching a video but man theres nothing like holding the watches in your hand to truly get a sense of the feel and above all the materials such as how the metal looks and feels through different lighting let alone the feeling of weight .
It's about the name on the dial. Like the badge on a car, San Martin makes great watches, and although it's a homage to the rolex, it's very well-made watches. We pay £10000 for the name on the dial, and I get that. But I can't afford to get the rolex submariner, so I will settle for the just as nice San martin
Honestly, exceptfor the movement I feel San Martin could improve the clasp, bezel, regulation, other small finishing points, upgrade to 904L steel and still bring the watch to market for under $1000. One detail about the differences between the movements that I think you missed: the Rolex appears to have a higher bph. While it's not important, it does add a little bit to the visual impact.
Let's assume the Rolex lasts for a century, and let's ignore the very expensive routine maintenance that needs to be performed on it. While the San Martin is almost certainly a 20 year+ watch (probably a lot more than that). I can buy 33 San Martins for the cost of one Rolex 33 watches x 20 years = 660 years. As for accuracy, it's 2024. Anyone who requires dead-on accuracy is going with a digital quartz watch. If you still love analogue, and you want a brand/model with some visual panache and some history behind it, the $400 Bulova Lunar Pilot will obliterate anything Rolex makes in terms of accuracy. For that matter, my $90 G-Shock that checks in by radio with the atomic clock in Colorado every midnight will obliterate either of them. Personally, I'll stick with my neigh-indestructible, ISO 6425-compliant, beast-of-a-watch: the Helm Vanuatu.
First, thanks for making such a comparison video. As for the performance and price aspect of the movement, Seiko NH35 movement has an accuracy of -20/+40 seconds per day (60 s/d span), and Rolex 3230 is rated at -2/+2 s/d (4 s/d span). This makes the Rolex cal. 3230 15 times more accurate than Seiko NH35. Additionally, Seiko NH35 has 40 hours of power reserve, while Rolex cal. 3230 has 70 hours of power reserve. This is a factor of 1.75 improvement. When we lienarly add up just these factors, we could say that Rolex movement is 16.75 times better than NH35. This would mean that if NH35 had such performance and capabilites the wholesale price would jump from 30$ to 502.5$. If you take the price of the whole built watch, just based on the performance increase of the movement, the price jumps from 250$ to 4187$. But price actually tends to rise exponentially as the performance is addes. So, it makes sense that the Rolex watch is so much more expensive than San Martin. Objectively speaking, it has so much better performance and capabilities.
I really like fully marked bezel and fewer words on the dial of SM. Have you tested the lume? Swiss brands are usualy quite bad at lume comparisons. Anyway, thank you for very detailed and sober review. I hope once I got Rolex under a macro lens and compare it with other watches I have tested.
Congrats on the new baby announcement! I think some people place too much value on bequeathing stuff to children, or perhaps they justify their purchase using that logic. I think if my Dad bequeathed a watch he loved to me, it would have same value (priceless) to me whether it said Rolex or Timex on the dial. Does the market value of the watch really matter on a priceless sentimental watch you would never sell? Bottom line, buy what you like and if your kids see that watch as meaningful to you, it will likely be meaningful to them when you are gone.
Isn't the minute hand pencil-style? Sword is more like an elongated diamond, isn't it? I liked the little peek into your personal life. Congratulations...you and Mike are BY FAR my favorite watch-content RUclips creators.
I only have two watches. They’re worn pretty evenly in rotation. It would drive me insane if they lost 40 seconds a day. I guess I need to buy more watches 😂
That’s an excellent point. The watch I wear most often is my SKX007. Last March I had it serviced for the first time. The gentlemen that did the servicing told me it would be +\- about 2 seconds a day - which I didn’t believe. To my surprise, he was probably correct. I haven’t had it on a time grapher. But, I really haven’t adjusted it at all since daylight savings and I haven’t noticed any issues with keeping time.
I'm a huge fan of budget watches. But I just can't buy anything that's a direct rip-off. Taking design cues from classic designs or even doing a close homage I can live with, but just ripping off the design / artwork of someone else is bullshit imo. San Martin makes a lot of nice watches with their own designs--get one of those.
Tbqh I lost respect for Mark from Long Island Watch for selling fakes like this. Nothing wrong with many of his Islander designs or many of the other SM designs but a ripoff is a ripoff.
Why you hurt? Rolex not losing their customer, and also marc just doing his bussiness from numbers which is don't lie. You can't judge others and set the standart only by your opinion and your personal taste. Learn a real life lesson. Not everyone lucky enough and would spend a big amount of money for the watch. There's a priority maybe their kids, school,living, food etc. Don't force other "buy casio, seiko, citizen and many microband that has original design bla bla bla! I get it. Just stop. It's not your money. Some people just like the design and that's it! Not for flexing and not to pretend it's rolex! I'm not a fan of homages watch either, but hey grow up!
@@AgungBagus-x7v I like that idea that budget brands could take some of the wind out of Rolex and force them into less ridiculous prices. But fakes are bad for any market. It's why we have intellectual property rights in the United States. Buy from Marc if you like, he's a nice guy, but I just don't believe in supporting fakes. I want a Ferrari, but I can't afford a Ferrari. Boo effing hoo. It's not like if I see someone with a SM fake I'm going to insult them. I wouldn't say a thing. But I still think it's stupid.
@@beanwithbaconmegarocketit’s not a fake. That’s where your argument disintegrates. It would be a fake if it said Rolex on the dial, but it doesn’t. It’s a homage by definition.
Have bought a copy of the bracelet with the clasp having this polished backside from AliExpress just because I was curious. Directly compared it with the original. And yes, it's by far not as good, but especially the polished backside of the clasp is an identical copy including these fine logos or stamps/hallmarks. The rest is really solid. So maybe better than a Rolex bracelet from the 90s, at least regarding the end links. Paid 12€...astonishing. Btw. would go for the on-the-fly adjustment from San Martin. Personally I like the handling better. PS: Hope that was proper English. 🙈 PPS: Don't see a problem of passing my San Martins watches or Sugess, Laco or whatever on to next generations when I'm gone. Just buy a new NH3X movement or ST1901 and exchange it while having some crafting fun. Guess the bigger problem is, the following generations aren't interested in old-fashioned watches...
Congratulations brother on your new child. Blessings to you and your family. Great idea for the new guest room slash studio! Thanks for another interesting video that sparks great discussions. I love your content, been subscribed for a while. I smashed like as soon as you,started talking sir!
I think you mean 904L and yes there are budget brands that use 904L steel as well. It’s not an expensive alloy at all but I’m assuming you though it was since Rolex uses lol
The only people that would notice or be impressed that you're wearing a Submariner are the same people that would notice that you're wearing a fake Rolex. There are plenty of great watches that aren't fakes or "homages". Get a Seiko.
I was ready to buy a rolex sub but was put on a waiting list. Now I'm changing my purchase to Omega seamaster and speedmasters. Maybe I'll get the San Martin to tide my sub fixation until I'm able to get a real one
I own a Black £60 GBP Steeldive Sub homage and the amount of people that comment on it positively (presumably thinking it's a Rolex) is far greater than I would ever have imagined. Even a guy with a genuine Rolex Sub remarked on it one day. I'm quite open about what brand etc. my watch is. I'm not trying to con anyone. The Rolex owner made a direct comparison with his watch and was either being overly kind/generous with his comments or thought it was a decent homage. I'm just not interested in spending £10K+ on a wristwatch...
Love and respect the honesty. A lot of watch snobs will look down on these chinese watches without testing them first. Rolex sells a story and history, thats it. Thats the difference
The Rolex is overall a better made watch with better specs. I'm never going to buy one but I won't fool myself into thinking my Seiko is 'the same' as a Rolex.
I’d be fully on board if San Martin, Steeldive and all the others could slim down their watch cases/case backs. They are too thick. Rolex has a slimmer profile 11-13mm and all the others seem to be 13mm plus. It is noticeable. Slim them down and I’d buy them.
I did a Ginault Ocean Rover prior to jumping in and buying a Submariner date from my AD. It gave me the confirmation that I wanted the sub, and was prepared to go all in. Now the Ginault is getting given to a mate next month as his birthday present.
I have been lucky enough to own a few Rolexes over the years along with other nice brands such as Tudor and Breitling. All very nice they were too. Recently I bought the new San Martin SN0144GX, the very blue dial for just about 290 euros here in France. What struck me the most was how well finished it is and how comfy to wear etc. Then it struck me that these Chinese brands have really bridged the gap between far east crap, which they used to be, and European quality. I also own a super clone fake Rolex Submariner which cost me just 500 US. That watch is truly astonishingly good and it came out of China. San Martin are making some very very good pieces now and well worth buying or at least trying. I have just this afternoon ordered a new SM watch for just 300 euros.
The Rolex Sumariner 14060M perfect bezel click is achieved with a bent piece of high tensile wire and a spring washer. I discovered this whilst drying my dog and accidentally caught the bezel on his bed and knocked it off. I had a devil of a job finding the 10mm piece of wire. So not a very expensive item. I also find that my San Martin has just as good a bezel action. Perhaps another dog drying session will discover how that is achieved. Interesting comparison though.
I have a small luxury watch collection. Every piece has some heritage, history, artisan luxury and certification. My watch collection is very enjoyable because of this. A bunch of fake, homage or replica watches might look them same... but it turns a collection into a box of nothing. Literally nothing.
Yeah, if you take a dispassionate 10,000 ft view, they're both metal mechanical devices that display the time. The only objective difference is that we have decided as a group that only one of them retains and increases in monetary value.
@@impeccablecew Dumb reply...like owning a Rolex is some special experience only for the initiated. Typical of insecure people. By the way the author of the video own one....must be fake right?? People refuse to accept when they obscenely overpay for things and always look for a rational justification LOL. By the way, before you say it, I do not like homages and I would never wear that watch. There are simply so many other more original (or at least less blatantly copied) design out there to choose from.
@@johndoeit139Johnny Come Lately it’s a matter of experience, and it’s one you don’t have. So you are just talking about s*it you know nothing about. Instead of being envious, buy the watch and then we can have a real conversation.
You buy what you can afford, but saying the san martin is rated for diving is a joke, I’ve had 3 flood on me in as many years, I used to think loosing £250 wasn’t such a bad thing but then I came around to realising, if I had needed this watch when it failed my life would have actually been at risk, and yes I wear a second watch when diving and it used to be a san martin but now it’s a sub. I’m a diving instructor and have been for over 35 years. The sub is a tank and it survives everything, the same cannot be said for the san martin.
Just throwing it out there incase anybody else sees this and is looking for an (IMO) even better No Date Sub Homage - check out Chronos option. They have all the same spec as the San Martin, how also a Glidelock clasp (that is a bit firm, but works great) and I found the bezel action to be fantastic ~7.5/10 bezel. My Tudor BB58 is more like a 9/10. SMP300 like a 6/10.
Personally, I buy watches that I think look good, are well made and tell the time. That's it. Couldn't care less about brand perception, heritage, which tennis tournament they sponsor...anything more than a cheap Casio is just man-jewellery after all? My Grail was always the Grand Seiko diver, then San Martin released their version of it so I bought that. After 4 years it still looks like new, is super accurate and now im not bothered about the GS anymore. 🙂
#1 reason I don't buy the SM is that it is a knockoff. After that, comes the cheap labor building cheap knockoffs just doesn't appeal to me. Add to that "you get what you pay for" means that the durability may not be there. Finally, the movement. No thanks.
Surely a considerable difference, but not 40 times difference. After all, nobody cares what you have on your wrist, and in all honesty and with all due respect, 60% of the cost of a Rolex is in the brand equity, not the quality. As for the San Martin, it is a blatant copy, and i would never buy one, but it surely is worth more than 250 in terms of what you get. Very honest review though, well done!
You buy what you can afford, but saying that the san martin is rated for diving is a joke, I’ve had 3 flood on me in as many years, I used to think loosing £250 wasn’t such a bad thing but then I came around to realising, if I had needed this watch when it failed my life would have actually been at risk, and yes I wear a second watch when diving and it used to be a san martin but now it’s a sub. I’m a diving instructor and have been for over 35 years. The sub is a tank and it survives everything, the same cannot be said for the san martin. 904l feels a huge amount different to 316 and the San martin wears cheap because it is cheap. They are different, I’ve had both and I wore them both for a long time. I don;t wear a watch to flex and as it’s been said most people have no idea what watch I’m wearing and they don’t care either, I wear the watch for me.
Understand the attempt to make a "balanced" video. But let's agree, the comfort and the quality is incomparable. To continue to harp on the price point and the success factor is simply not true. Is Rolex the best of all brands? Probably not. But considering Rolex vertical integration and innovation in its manufacturing and components is very different from that of San Martin or others. Let's also see how well the SM performs ten or twenty years from now. Last but not least these type of "hommage" watches is nothing but pure theivery and piggy backing on the original. And seriously, this value for money thing has nothing to do with watch collecting.
After purchase, the “other” watch is worth $0.00, whereas the Rolex will pretty much rise in value. The “other” watch movement and case will last a few months. The Rolex will last a few lifetimes. I’ve never done wrong by buying a better product.
The most striking difference lies in the dial-it's all about the details! Consider the logo, the choice of font, the style and size of that font, the placement of each element, the wording, and even the spacing. This is where Chinese homages/copies fall short compared to the elegance of established brands and unique microbrands. They may have watch faces, but they lack that distinctive charm and character. Just my humble opinion, of course! 😊
Good vid but so over these comparisons. People who buy these extremes are buying watches for different reasons and both are valid. It all comes down to what you think a wristwatch is. Timekeeper vs Jewelery. For me, watches are 100% jewelry.
There's no platinum or white gold in the San Martin either..... I have 4 San Martins and all run slow which is annoying and they should be regulated better than that for $250. My Submariner is a second a day fast, that's worth it and important to me.
Actually, tons of people care if their watch gains or looses 20 seconds per day. For people who don't have a massive collection of watches and wear one watch every day for months on end, 20 seconds a day is 10 minutes a month, which basically makes the watch pointless. I think a lot of watch enthusiast forget that most people aren't watch enthusiast. I made the mistake of buying a seiko turtle for my stepfather for his 60th. He never wears it because the accuracy is trash. I should've gotten him a quartz watch at that price. Watch people don't think about the actual wear scenario of most real people
The first watch in my collection was an invicta pro diver. I had no idea that I was a Rolex copy at the time. I just knew I liked it, so I got it. Now, I can’t stand a homage. They just seem lazy to me. There are plenty of ways to make an affordable watch, while still being original. That being said…that invicta sent me down a rabbit hole, and now I am buying way better watches. Do I believe a homage is a bad watch to buy? Maybe. If you can afford the real thing, then by all means, buy the real thing. But I do believe a homage has its place in the hobby. If it gets people into watches, then so be it. If someone can’t afford the real thing, I would suggest checking out some brands that are more affordable, yet are original in their design. I say all of that to say this…at the end of the day, buy what you like, and don’t go broke to buy a watch. Just enjoy the hobby, and never buy something to impress someone else. Buy the watch that you like, and never give a single thought as to what someone else has to say about it.
The difference between a $50.00 casio duro and a $10k dive watch is that you will actually dive with the $50.00 casio duro because you won't be afraid to break or lose it.
I got a Duro for the first time after a recommendation and I’m simply blown away about the watch you get for the price. When I got my Breitling Colt back in 2001, I wouldn’t wear it out of the house because I didn’t want to damage it. Now when I’m looking at watches, I focus on the sub $650 price point because there are simply amazing and wonderful watches for that price.
I spare a lot of my good stuff to the point that they are almost out of rotation.
I’ve dived in my sub, and also my day date actually
I don’t fall for the marketing. I spent $30,000 on 100 watches instead of just 3. Knowing how these things are made, it’s impossible for me to drop more than a few hundred bucks on a watch.
I love my gshock
99% of public don't even look nor care what one is wearing. For the 1% that do, unless they are a snob, also don't care if it's a SM or Rolex. Wear what makes you happy and one that you can afford. That's the best thing about brands like San Martin. It makes watches that look close enough to Rolex more accessible for the general public.
I have a hard time telling one from the other w/out my readers😂
wear neither and avoid getting robbed
@@diemes5463Carry and protect yourself and loved ones.
@@diemes5463 Depends where you live I suppose. I’m in Los Angeles and haven’t had issue. But YMMV.
@@Mackster248definitely don’t think everything said here is true anymore. I go as far to say maybe only 50% of people don’t notice what ONE is wearing these days. People do notice but of course nobody will say anything to a stranger.
Buying a motorcycle and a San Martin.
😅😅👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I've got both of these two watches. I wear the San Martin when I'm at home (80-90% of my life) because that's when my watches tend to get banged up. I wear the Rolex when I go out (meetings, dinner, shopping, etc.). I've never had anyone notice that I'm wearing a Rolex. I just wear it because I like it and I know I can rely on it.
In reality no one cares what you are wearing, 99% of the population will not even be aware of what you're wearing. From about 4 or 5 ft away I can't even tell what someone's wearing anyway unless it's a smartwatch
A very well balanced , honest and unbiased review , much appreciated. All the best with the guest room and the future addition to your family .
Check out I Like Watches comparison of 3 Chinese brands and a Rolex Submariner. The finishing on the Chinese watches is visibly better than the Rolex Submariner when viewed under magnification. The high polished surfaces weren't good at all, I'd return a £200 watch for such poor quality nevermind a £10k one.. Was it a poor example? Possibly Not everyone looks thru magnification at their watch. I do like the obviously superior quality of the Rolex movement though. Fine engineering.
A thoughtful, sensible comparison. Thanks. Personally I've split the difference (not literally) by going with a Ginault Ocean Rover II. Controversy aside, it has tremendous fit and finish, sublime bezel action, a bracelet that's as good as the Rolex glide-lock, and astonishing accuracy. For $900 used.
Good move, I am eyeing one at the mo, purely because they are interesting and extremely well made. I have a few of the 'real' thing but hey...Ginault are an interesting alternative!
@@southbrit Smart move! I have a Rolex, Breitling, and a few Omegas, but dollar for dollar the Ginault gives me a great deal of joy.
The Chinese watch game is crazy nowadays. The $200 San Martin gives you 99% of the what the $10,000 Rolex offers. Now you have companies like Steeldive that offer you 99% of what San Martin offers for under $100 😂
definitely not 99% if the bracelet pinches your skin, and the watch is off by minutes after wearing it a month. The biggest difference is that every time you look at the watch, you are reminded that you have something that isn't a Rolex. You'd be better off buying something that is its own identity, like a nice Seiko.
@DonLee1980 well I have Seikos and some other chinese brands and I can guarantee chinese are way better quality. I paid to know for real, very low risk, 70 bucks or so each watch and EVERYTHING was better, for example, all of them have saphire cristals.
@@SJA962 you completely missed the most valuable part of your watch, identity.
Yeah I’m on team Steeldive and Addiesdive… insane what you get for $100.
My steeldive GMT is +5 seconds a day accurate, amazing for the price, I put on a sliding clasp steel bracelet I got from AliExpress for $12 and that watch is awesome
The production quality always jumps every time I come back to this channel. I like when you do a shot of your outfit you're wearing with the watch :)
There was some camera shake at 12:59. I only point this out because I can tell you take a lot of pride in your production value and it definitely shows!
I have 2 San Martin sn004, the 38mm blackbay copies, one in black and one in blue. They are some of my absolute favourite watches. They are quite perfect and they make it hard to wear anything else.
I have the black one. I enjoy it. I have had 2 occasions where it was mistakes for a real black bay and once for a Rolex. Has this happened to you? Despite liking the watch, I hate the feeling I get when this happens.
@Simple_Jack82 noone ever commented on it that I recall
I have San Martin watches and I have Rolex watches. Many others in between. I love them both for what they are.
Fantastic video. Loved it. Truth is, it’s about how the watch makes you feel, my 114060 makes me feel like I accomplished my goal. My Islander makes me feel like a got a deal. Very, very different feelings.
The difference between these two watches is that if you were to lose them at the bottom of the ocean, only one would haunt you for the rest of your life. THERE IS NO COMPARISON.
Kind of an insult to the Sub
Enjoyed the review. SAN Martin put out a great product for the money. Sizing,finishing & feel good factor are all there.
Buy what makes you happy. The big difference is, people recognise Rolex, and know it’s posh. Most of the time both will do the same job. I own a neo vintage 14060 sub as a daily, and whilst I love it, it’s also kinda ordinary now? Bought the birth year of my son, it’s 20 years old, and like a pair of old shoes, comfortable. Whilst special at the time, they just become the norm. The only difference really is, would you buy a San Martin for a special occasion. Probably not. But I wear a Casio to the beach, I have a longines dress watch, and a speedy for the office. But honestly, I look at my stuff, and 99% is worthless in 10 years time. I have two sons, and beyond cash, the only stuff of mine they want to inherit is my watches.
Wearing a Rolex is beyond ordinary by now. They’ve literally sold hundreds of thousands of Subs at this point. It’s a timeless design but $10K is absurd.
There's no such thing as neo vintage.
That Submariner is perfection. Crazy you have a watch channel and it took you 3.5yrs to get the call. Unreal.
I have both, and I love them both; but my Rolex is also going to last forever and is a great investment -the San Martin is my go to for travel and rough stuff but it will start showing the shortcuts in it’s construction within 3 years ,like the other ones I have.Usually the bezel action craps the bed first but the nh35 is not far off.. I enjoyed the video and you have some good points
You can buy a replacement NH35 for less than $50. Maintenance on a Submariner will set you back 5 - 7x the cost to replace the San Martin. And your Rolex isn't going to last forever unless you get that ~$1,000 (if you don't have to have parts replaced) servicing regularly.
Your rolex is going to last forever precisely because you're babying it and NOT using it for its intended purpose. Ironic.
The difference in price is demand, marketing and artificial scarcity....buy the watch that makes you happy, not the one you are supposed to wear....great review.
You should do a comparison with the Ginault Ocean Rover 2.5 with your Sub. I'd be interested in that comparison.
I would enjoy that comparison, + the monta oceanking v3!
Not saying that the San Martin isn't a good value but I really hate homage watches. I'd much rather grab a unique looking Seiko before touching an homage piece. If a sub is your grail then you should save up for it and then it will be even more special when you can finally afford it. Otherwise there are plenty of unique designed watches at good prices.
You can always grab a San Martin original design. You can’t find a 250 Seiko that spec-wise is better than a San Martin of the same price.
Couldn't agree with this more. I'm actually disappointed that Marc is even selling these. Great business decision of course, along with his own line of watches that are often homages, but I'm now less inclined to buy from LIW
This isn't a homage. It's a knockoff. Homages add their own element to make it distinct. Knockoffs are copies which just change the logo. Im ok with homages but don't like knockoffs.
@@jerryglassesLiterally every big watch brand has copied some others watches. It is what it is.
@@BlightedJosh not sure I get your point. In all aspects of life, new things build upon previous things. There is very little true originality but one can certainly accept that copying is different that building upon. If money was no object would you rather have a real Picasso or a print? The answer is obvious so that means originality has value. How much is up to the person, but it's not zero.
Obviously Rolex is a much better watch, besides the fact that making that caliber 3135 involves a large investment, top-quality materials, finishes, constant research into new components, higher certification than COSC... But the question is: Is Rolex 10,000 times better than San Martin?
Your maths is terrible
These are nice but the OMEGA Seamaster is better made and is also more affordable than the Rolex
You have great chinese homages for 70 bucks too
I have this SanMartin, I bought it with the option of Milsub sword hands. I think the more surface area on the hands give a slightly different aesthetic. It’s great quality and was very affordable.
This review is great. Honesty is the most important thing to me. Subbed 👍🏼
Appreciate it!
Nobody will care about you wearing a Rolex: people not into watches will hardly notice. People into watches will think it’s the most generic luxury watch you can wear and kinda judge your basic taste.
Basically; buy what you like for you, not to impress others.
Thanks for sharing this video and CONGRATULATIONS on the new baby! I like your take on this. Marc has a said a few times that he’s started carrying this brand for his customers. The demand is there, but many are skeptical about purchasing from foreign websites. I think your assessment is right on! Thanks again. 🙏🏼
The main difference is one is an actual original design, the other a copy.
Submariner is a copy of Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 😂
@@LauDynasty69if it is because it’s a waterproof diving watch??? Yes
But design copy??? No
The only thing copied was it’s purpose
I smell a fanboy...
@@K0MBIAN I love my affordable divers, and I do not own a sub. But anyone with working eyeballs can spot a copy.
@ completely incorrect
What is the exact model name?
Congrats on the new baby! I bet the wearing experience is another key thing us viewers are missing. I can imagine how the clangy bracelet on the San Martin feels (similar to Seiko)
I’d take the San Martin, they’re amazing, $200 Generic Submariner with a Japanese movement and $9,800+ savings. That’s a watch you could wear anywhere without much worry, a proper tool watch, something Rolex isn’t anymore. I bought a Steeldive Submainer a brand under the same umbrella as San Martin, and it’s seriously amazing, +1 to +2 seconds per day! The quality is phenomenal, and it only set me back $100. I prefer a quartz watch though for the most part so my Casio Edifice EFB-S108 sees a lot of wrist time. 👌🏼
I love my casio edifice.
How about paying $80 for an Invicta pro diver with the same movement as a San Martin? I own a vintage Rolex submariner, but don’t like to wear it out so I took a chance on the Invicta. I cannot believe that you can get one of these for $80. I regulated it to within five seconds per day, and wear it swimming and and mountain biking just banging it around. It is holding up great after 2 years, and I even bought one for my son-in-law who loves it also. $80, just think about that.!
LOVED your comment between 5:55 and 6:00... someone needed to say it. Thank you.
Do this exact comparison with the Sugess Seaman, it's an even closer looking Homage.
With Rolex, you pay for Swiss manufacturing and assembly (Rolex are the most affordable watches manufactured entirely in Switzerland), third party testing (COSC), quality movements with tight tolerances and good shock resistance that will be serviceable for as long as Rolex exists, quality control, servicing logistics, global customer aftersale support logistics, ADs have to be paid, brand name, design, engineering, R&D, marketing, Swiss work force from the cleaner to the CEO, facility development and maintenance and all the other expenses of running a high profile global business. You'll be able to service your Rolex in 30 years. You don't know if San Martin will have rubber gaskets available for this particular model in 10 years let alone 30. With San Martin you don't even know if they are making a profit yet. It is very common for new companies to do business losing money for a good decade or more (take a look at Christopher Ward) before they start turning a profit, and then they bump their prices to where they have to be to stay in business. And also, with Rolex you know for sure everybody who works there in any capacity is getting paid. There's more to a product than just the product itself.
Fair enough but sponsorships for tournaments and paid celebrities and all the marketing make up much more of the prince than all the things you mentioned.
@_Stav_ I don't have access to their books obviously, but I absolutely don't believe they spend more on marketing than everything else. Their marketing is simple. Ads and contracts. The vast majority of the hype is created by the social media free of charge.
You can justify it all you want but £10K+ for a watch is obscene. All because of 'clever marketing' and some individuals need for perceived status
@@ThePedroDB I'm not justifying it. It is what it is. Some people wear a Rolex. I wear a Seiko. I'm fine with what I have and have no need to buy what I can't afford.
Why care for caskets after 10 years? Its 250 dollars
excellent video. Also a personal note. My 150$ baltany has a better crystal than my 7000$ rolex air king. A bit of a shock when i noticed.
You get a good idea over watching a video but man theres nothing like holding the watches in your hand to truly get a sense of the feel and above all the materials such as how the metal looks and feels through different lighting let alone the feeling of weight .
It's about the name on the dial. Like the badge on a car, San Martin makes great watches, and although it's a homage to the rolex, it's very well-made watches. We pay £10000 for the name on the dial, and I get that. But I can't afford to get the rolex submariner, so I will settle for the just as nice San martin
both tell time.
the only difference is one will last a few years and one would last a few generations.
Honestly, exceptfor the movement I feel San Martin could improve the clasp, bezel, regulation, other small finishing points, upgrade to 904L steel and still bring the watch to market for under $1000.
One detail about the differences between the movements that I think you missed: the Rolex appears to have a higher bph. While it's not important, it does add a little bit to the visual impact.
Let's assume the Rolex lasts for a century, and let's ignore the very expensive routine maintenance that needs to be performed on it. While the San Martin is almost certainly a 20 year+ watch (probably a lot more than that). I can buy 33 San Martins for the cost of one Rolex 33 watches x 20 years = 660 years. As for accuracy, it's 2024. Anyone who requires dead-on accuracy is going with a digital quartz watch. If you still love analogue, and you want a brand/model with some visual panache and some history behind it, the $400 Bulova Lunar Pilot will obliterate anything Rolex makes in terms of accuracy. For that matter, my $90 G-Shock that checks in by radio with the atomic clock in Colorado every midnight will obliterate either of them. Personally, I'll stick with my neigh-indestructible, ISO 6425-compliant, beast-of-a-watch: the Helm Vanuatu.
The price gap comes from everything you mentioned and also manufacturing and paying someone in Switzerland vs Hong Kong is drastically different.
Very honest review! Thank you!
First, thanks for making such a comparison video. As for the performance and price aspect of the movement, Seiko NH35 movement has an accuracy of -20/+40 seconds per day (60 s/d span), and Rolex 3230 is rated at -2/+2 s/d (4 s/d span). This makes the Rolex cal. 3230 15 times more accurate than Seiko NH35. Additionally, Seiko NH35 has 40 hours of power reserve, while Rolex cal. 3230 has 70 hours of power reserve. This is a factor of 1.75 improvement. When we lienarly add up just these factors, we could say that Rolex movement is 16.75 times better than NH35. This would mean that if NH35 had such performance and capabilites the wholesale price would jump from 30$ to 502.5$. If you take the price of the whole built watch, just based on the performance increase of the movement, the price jumps from 250$ to 4187$. But price actually tends to rise exponentially as the performance is addes. So, it makes sense that the Rolex watch is so much more expensive than San Martin. Objectively speaking, it has so much better performance and capabilities.
I really like fully marked bezel and fewer words on the dial of SM. Have you tested the lume? Swiss brands are usualy quite bad at lume comparisons. Anyway, thank you for very detailed and sober review. I hope once I got Rolex under a macro lens and compare it with other watches I have tested.
Bedroom/studio came out nice.
San martin is an absolute value for money
Congrats on the new baby announcement! I think some people place too much value on bequeathing stuff to children, or perhaps they justify their purchase using that logic. I think if my Dad bequeathed a watch he loved to me, it would have same value (priceless) to me whether it said Rolex or Timex on the dial. Does the market value of the watch really matter on a priceless sentimental watch you would never sell? Bottom line, buy what you like and if your kids see that watch as meaningful to you, it will likely be meaningful to them when you are gone.
Isn't the minute hand pencil-style? Sword is more like an elongated diamond, isn't it? I liked the little peek into your personal life. Congratulations...you and Mike are BY FAR my favorite watch-content RUclips creators.
For the most part, using “sword” is correct…what you’re referring to is “Plongeur style” watch hand.
Dude the Murphy bed is awesome! I definitely need that in my office. I’d probably securely attach some artwork on it to keep it from looking so bland.
Planning on it! just finished it about a week ago
I only have two watches. They’re worn pretty evenly in rotation. It would drive me insane if they lost 40 seconds a day. I guess I need to buy more watches 😂
My nh35 is +1,5 seconds a day, so they can be regulated well but u have to be lucky i guess
That’s an excellent point. The watch I wear most often is my SKX007. Last March I had it serviced for the first time. The gentlemen that did the servicing told me it would be +\- about 2 seconds a day - which I didn’t believe. To my surprise, he was probably correct. I haven’t had it on a time grapher. But, I really haven’t adjusted it at all since daylight savings and I haven’t noticed any issues with keeping time.
My nh35's are +2,+5,+10,and -4 seconds a day accurate.
Studio looks great sir.
Thank you kindly
I'm a huge fan of budget watches. But I just can't buy anything that's a direct rip-off. Taking design cues from classic designs or even doing a close homage I can live with, but just ripping off the design / artwork of someone else is bullshit imo. San Martin makes a lot of nice watches with their own designs--get one of those.
Tbqh I lost respect for Mark from Long Island Watch for selling fakes like this. Nothing wrong with many of his Islander designs or many of the other SM designs but a ripoff is a ripoff.
Why you hurt? Rolex not losing their customer, and also marc just doing his bussiness from numbers which is don't lie. You can't judge others and set the standart only by your opinion and your personal taste. Learn a real life lesson. Not everyone lucky enough and would spend a big amount of money for the watch. There's a priority maybe their kids, school,living, food etc. Don't force other "buy casio, seiko, citizen and many microband that has original design bla bla bla! I get it. Just stop. It's not your money. Some people just like the design and that's it! Not for flexing and not to pretend it's rolex! I'm not a fan of homages watch either, but hey grow up!
@@AgungBagus-x7v I like that idea that budget brands could take some of the wind out of Rolex and force them into less ridiculous prices. But fakes are bad for any market. It's why we have intellectual property rights in the United States. Buy from Marc if you like, he's a nice guy, but I just don't believe in supporting fakes. I want a Ferrari, but I can't afford a Ferrari. Boo effing hoo. It's not like if I see someone with a SM fake I'm going to insult them. I wouldn't say a thing. But I still think it's stupid.
@@beanwithbaconmegarocketit’s not a fake. That’s where your argument disintegrates. It would be a fake if it said Rolex on the dial, but it doesn’t. It’s a homage by definition.
@@mbrackmann8 tomayto tomahto
Have bought a copy of the bracelet with the clasp having this polished backside from AliExpress just because I was curious. Directly compared it with the original. And yes, it's by far not as good, but especially the polished backside of the clasp is an identical copy including these fine logos or stamps/hallmarks. The rest is really solid. So maybe better than a Rolex bracelet from the 90s, at least regarding the end links.
Paid 12€...astonishing.
Btw. would go for the on-the-fly adjustment from San Martin. Personally I like the handling better.
PS: Hope that was proper English. 🙈
PPS: Don't see a problem of passing my San Martins watches or Sugess, Laco or whatever on to next generations when I'm gone. Just buy a new NH3X movement or ST1901 and exchange it while having some crafting fun.
Guess the bigger problem is, the following generations aren't interested in old-fashioned watches...
San Martin actually have another model that looks even more similar - the minute tracks on the bezel on this one is different more of a mill sub.
Any chance you will do a video on the bedroom makeover?
Thank you for an honest review.
Congratulations brother on your new child. Blessings to you and your family. Great idea for the new guest room slash studio! Thanks for another interesting video that sparks great discussions. I love your content, been subscribed for a while. I smashed like as soon as you,started talking sir!
Thank you very much! Appreciate it!
AD uses 316L stainless steel and Rolex uses 904L, arent the same.
I think you mean 904L and yes there are budget brands that use 904L steel as well. It’s not an expensive alloy at all but I’m assuming you though it was since Rolex uses lol
The only people that would notice or be impressed that you're wearing a Submariner are the same people that would notice that you're wearing a fake Rolex. There are plenty of great watches that aren't fakes or "homages". Get a Seiko.
Poor
I was ready to buy a rolex sub but was put on a waiting list. Now I'm changing my purchase to Omega seamaster and speedmasters. Maybe I'll get the San Martin to tide my sub fixation until I'm able to get a real one
so doesnt the basis of replica watches come from brands like san martin. If this replica had a copy sub dial how would we view it.
I own a Black £60 GBP Steeldive Sub homage and the amount of people that comment on it positively (presumably thinking it's a Rolex) is far greater than I would ever have imagined. Even a guy with a genuine Rolex Sub remarked on it one day. I'm quite open about what brand etc. my watch is. I'm not trying to con anyone. The Rolex owner made a direct comparison with his watch and was either being overly kind/generous with his comments or thought it was a decent homage. I'm just not interested in spending £10K+ on a wristwatch...
Love and respect the honesty. A lot of watch snobs will look down on these chinese watches without testing them first. Rolex sells a story and history, thats it. Thats the difference
The Rolex is overall a better made watch with better specs. I'm never going to buy one but I won't fool myself into thinking my Seiko is 'the same' as a Rolex.
This video is so biased lol. He sells these watches yall lol
What do you mean?
I’d be fully on board if San Martin, Steeldive and all the others could slim down their watch cases/case backs. They are too thick.
Rolex has a slimmer profile 11-13mm and all the others seem to be 13mm plus.
It is noticeable.
Slim them down and I’d buy them.
The hands and hour indices of the Sub probably cost more than the San Martin.
Theyre white gold so yeah
Either a paid video or you’re not a credible source for these comparisons. First and last watch, good luck
Great unbias video!
I did a Ginault Ocean Rover prior to jumping in and buying a Submariner date from my AD. It gave me the confirmation that I wanted the sub, and was prepared to go all in. Now the Ginault is getting given to a mate next month as his birthday present.
I have been lucky enough to own a few Rolexes over the years along with other nice brands such as Tudor and Breitling. All very nice they were too. Recently I bought the new San Martin SN0144GX, the very blue dial for just about 290 euros here in France. What struck me the most was how well finished it is and how comfy to wear etc. Then it struck me that these Chinese brands have really bridged the gap between far east crap, which they used to be, and European quality. I also own a super clone fake Rolex Submariner which cost me just 500 US. That watch is truly astonishingly good and it came out of China. San Martin are making some very very good pieces now and well worth buying or at least trying. I have just this afternoon ordered a new SM watch for just 300 euros.
Thank you for exposing the BS behind the luxury watch hype. Great video
I have the San Martin and Cronos and Sugess. Sugess is by far the closest to the original.
The Rolex Sumariner 14060M perfect bezel click is achieved with a bent piece of high tensile wire and a spring washer. I discovered this whilst drying my dog and accidentally caught the bezel on his bed and knocked it off. I had a devil of a job finding the 10mm piece of wire. So not a very expensive item. I also find that my San Martin has just as good a bezel action. Perhaps another dog drying session will discover how that is achieved. Interesting comparison though.
I have a small luxury watch collection. Every piece has some heritage, history, artisan luxury and certification.
My watch collection is very enjoyable because of this.
A bunch of fake, homage or replica watches might look them same... but it turns a collection into a box of nothing. Literally nothing.
Could you share more about the bed project? 🙂
Yeah, if you take a dispassionate 10,000 ft view, they're both metal mechanical devices that display the time. The only objective difference is that we have decided as a group that only one of them retains and increases in monetary value.
I like Harrison. But as a 124060 owner, gosh I’m finding this comparison hard to watch.
Because it shakes your beliefs probably....🙂
@@johndoeit139not one bit. I love my watch just the same as I did before the silly comparison. 😍
@@johndoeit139also you clearly don’t own Rolex.
@@impeccablecew Dumb reply...like owning a Rolex is some special experience only for the initiated. Typical of insecure people. By the way the author of the video own one....must be fake right?? People refuse to accept when they obscenely overpay for things and always look for a rational justification LOL. By the way, before you say it, I do not like homages and I would never wear that watch. There are simply so many other more original (or at least less blatantly copied) design out there to choose from.
@@johndoeit139Johnny Come Lately it’s a matter of experience, and it’s one you don’t have. So you are just talking about s*it you know nothing about. Instead of being envious, buy the watch and then we can have a real conversation.
CF or VSF 114060 is the way to go
If you want a Submariner, but can’t afford it buy a super fake. Same price as the San Martin. Haters can suck it. It’s your money.
I've purchased two really good fakes here in Thailand LOL
You buy what you can afford, but saying the san martin is rated for diving is a joke, I’ve had 3 flood on me in as many years, I used to think loosing £250 wasn’t such a bad thing but then I came around to realising, if I had needed this watch when it failed my life would have actually been at risk, and yes I wear a second watch when diving and it used to be a san martin but now it’s a sub. I’m a diving instructor and have been for over 35 years. The sub is a tank and it survives everything, the same cannot be said for the san martin.
I find it very hard to believe that the finishing and quality are even close
maybe if we sniff some glue we might...
Any finishing that doesn't require 10x magnification to spot the difference is going to be very close.
The Sub is the better deal for those four letters on the dial.
Great vid - thanks
Just throwing it out there incase anybody else sees this and is looking for an (IMO) even better No Date Sub Homage - check out Chronos option. They have all the same spec as the San Martin, how also a Glidelock clasp (that is a bit firm, but works great) and I found the bezel action to be fantastic ~7.5/10 bezel. My Tudor BB58 is more like a 9/10. SMP300 like a 6/10.
Everytime I wore a Rolex which I had spent my hard earned cash on, it would make me feel 'what a mug'!
The sugess seaman is much closer to the loveley Rolex. The clasp is the same like the original👍🏻
San Martin is the way
Currently wearing an Ollech/Wajs C-1000 MkII w/ 1,000M WR.
Of course, that's child's play compared to my Sinn UX S with a depth rating of 5,000M WR.
San Martin is a very nice watch but Cronos would have been a better comparison. It has the same glide lock clasp.
Personally, I buy watches that I think look good, are well made and tell the time. That's it. Couldn't care less about brand perception, heritage, which tennis tournament they sponsor...anything more than a cheap Casio is just man-jewellery after all? My Grail was always the Grand Seiko diver, then San Martin released their version of it so I bought that. After 4 years it still looks like new, is super accurate and now im not bothered about the GS anymore. 🙂
#1 reason I don't buy the SM is that it is a knockoff. After that, comes the cheap labor building cheap knockoffs just doesn't appeal to me. Add to that "you get what you pay for" means that the durability may not be there. Finally, the movement. No thanks.
Surely a considerable difference, but not 40 times difference. After all, nobody cares what you have on your wrist, and in all honesty and with all due respect, 60% of the cost of a Rolex is in the brand equity, not the quality. As for the San Martin, it is a blatant copy, and i would never buy one, but it surely is worth more than 250 in terms of what you get. Very honest review though, well done!
You buy what you can afford, but saying that the san martin is rated for diving is a joke, I’ve had 3 flood on me in as many years, I used to think loosing £250 wasn’t such a bad thing but then I came around to realising, if I had needed this watch when it failed my life would have actually been at risk, and yes I wear a second watch when diving and it used to be a san martin but now it’s a sub. I’m a diving instructor and have been for over 35 years. The sub is a tank and it survives everything, the same cannot be said for the san martin. 904l feels a huge amount different to 316 and the San martin wears cheap because it is cheap. They are different, I’ve had both and I wore them both for a long time. I don;t wear a watch to flex and as it’s been said most people have no idea what watch I’m wearing and they don’t care either, I wear the watch for me.
Understand the attempt to make a "balanced" video. But let's agree, the comfort and the quality is incomparable. To continue to harp on the price point and the success factor is simply not true. Is Rolex the best of all brands? Probably not. But considering Rolex vertical integration and innovation in its manufacturing and components is very different from that of San Martin or others. Let's also see how well the SM performs ten or twenty years from now. Last but not least these type of "hommage" watches is nothing but pure theivery and piggy backing on the original.
And seriously, this value for money thing has nothing to do with watch collecting.
After purchase, the “other” watch is worth $0.00, whereas the Rolex will pretty much rise in value.
The “other” watch movement and case will last a few months. The Rolex will last a few lifetimes.
I’ve never done wrong by buying a better product.
Please stop spreading BS.
The most striking difference lies in the dial-it's all about the details! Consider the logo, the choice of font, the style and size of that font, the placement of each element, the wording, and even the spacing. This is where Chinese homages/copies fall short compared to the elegance of established brands and unique microbrands. They may have watch faces, but they lack that distinctive charm and character. Just my humble opinion, of course! 😊
Not to mention the logo, indices, and hands are all made of gold
Good vid but so over these comparisons. People who buy these extremes are buying watches for different reasons and both are valid. It all comes down to what you think a wristwatch is. Timekeeper vs Jewelery. For me, watches are 100% jewelry.
There's no platinum or white gold in the San Martin either.....
I have 4 San Martins and all run slow which is annoying and they should be regulated better than that for $250. My Submariner is a second a day fast, that's worth it and important to me.
Hitting the copium hard
Actually, tons of people care if their watch gains or looses 20 seconds per day. For people who don't have a massive collection of watches and wear one watch every day for months on end, 20 seconds a day is 10 minutes a month, which basically makes the watch pointless. I think a lot of watch enthusiast forget that most people aren't watch enthusiast. I made the mistake of buying a seiko turtle for my stepfather for his 60th. He never wears it because the accuracy is trash. I should've gotten him a quartz watch at that price. Watch people don't think about the actual wear scenario of most real people
No NH35H I know of has ever had that spread. All of mine come at 5 or less.
The first watch in my collection was an invicta pro diver. I had no idea that I was a Rolex copy at the time. I just knew I liked it, so I got it. Now, I can’t stand a homage. They just seem lazy to me. There are plenty of ways to make an affordable watch, while still being original. That being said…that invicta sent me down a rabbit hole, and now I am buying way better watches. Do I believe a homage is a bad watch to buy? Maybe. If you can afford the real thing, then by all means, buy the real thing. But I do believe a homage has its place in the hobby. If it gets people into watches, then so be it. If someone can’t afford the real thing, I would suggest checking out some brands that are more affordable, yet are original in their design. I say all of that to say this…at the end of the day, buy what you like, and don’t go broke to buy a watch. Just enjoy the hobby, and never buy something to impress someone else. Buy the watch that you like, and never give a single thought as to what someone else has to say about it.
No links to watch at all lol