i purchased this and still am waiting for something to break because i feel like theres a catch.i cant believe the quality and how beautiful this is...san martin keep up the great work
Man! That gilt dial is just stunning. I think in even better than the Tudor version and for the price is a watch you could rock with just anything, everyday and anywhere.
Damn. They literally sent you my favorite four San Martin Watches for free. When I grow up, I want to be just like you! Although I think I’m older so I’m screwed. Great review!
Nothing to stop you having a go at this RU-vid game. You do need a lot of kit and trust me its not as easy as it might look. Even for the most simple of review videos these can still take me 5-6 hours to prepare, film and then voiceover and edit. Thing is with SM I dont ask for watches generally they just turn up!
@@mywatchreviewsAppreciate the encouragement, but I barely have time to watch all the reviews. 😉. So I will leave the content making to you fine gentlemen.
I actually bought the black dial GMT with the faux patina but it was a stand in for the 1655 Steinhart homage that I've wanted for ages. Sold it & got the Steinhart in the end. Lovely watch but you can't keep them all.
It’s great to hear a review from a skilled watchmaker such as yourself. I currently own three San Martin watches and I actually wear them more often than my other more expensive Swiss watches. They make great quality, relatively inexpensive watches. Personally, my favourite of these three, is the white one. It’s simply beautiful. Thanks for the review. In it to win it.
Hi Mike Great review. I must say I like all 3. Unlike you, I’m a GMT fan so I appreciate that complication. But the simple design watch really looks well-finished too and would really work well as an everyday wearer. Cheers Mike.
Very great review, thank you! I owned the 36mm Ranger homage because I put my name in for a 36mm Explorer and wanted to make sure it was the right choice. I realized I missed having a date window and pulled my name from the Explorer list. Been thinking about the 2 "GMT"'s as a next watch purchase, very helpful for deciding which one to get.
I recently purchased SN0109 (white version). Have wanted to have this model for some time. Now finally ordered. The case size is perfect. Really wanted a 39mm. I also recently bought the Tudor BB-Pro, so this SN0109 and the SN0121 (blue version that I bought earlier) are good enough for a change.👌🏽
I think every collection should have an Explorer GADA style, but not necessarily a close Rolex homage. I'm think of watches such as the Seiko Dress KX and the Traska Summiteer. Keep 'em coming, Mike!
Hello - I've been enjoying the content on both of your channels - so thanks for that. Just spent 15 mins trying (and failing) to work which of the enamel dials I like best - hopefully you'll make that decision for me :)
Good luck Joe. It’s a tough one. I’m still smitten with the second video in this series the one with the half bezel sort of own design (Rolex Doxa love child) That and this white dial gmt .
I went for the Pepsi gmt black dial 11:11 sale all in £202. I have a tudor bb58 but i like the way these don't have the step between the end link and the lugs. This is the 3rd s.m I've bought and they are very well built for the money.
The only homage I have is the Steeldive 1970, but after watching this, I'm tempted by the SN0109. I'm not sure how I feel about this style of watch, so as you say it would let me try it out. I don't particularly have a timezone I want to follow, but occasionally it is useful, say when something online is going on in a different place, so for me I have a GMT hand set to, er, GMT and then I move the bezel to the appropriate offset to see whatever zone I want. For this reason, having a moveable bidirectional bezel with 24 or 48 clicks is a must. A lot of the cheaper GMTs, including Seiko and Steihart, have a 120 click unidirectional, which makes the San Martin even more attractive.
Great in depth comparison and review 👍. I know what you mean about trying an homage and then saving for the real thing. I've decided not to get involved with luxury watches any more, customer service and servicing costs can sour the experience! I'm not a fan of Tudor style particularly the hands, but I can see why others do. The most interesting thing about the San Martin GMT homage is how they made it nearly 2mm thinner than the nearly 15mm original. Is this a case where the homage is actually nicer to wear than the original? Keep up the good work 👍
Thanks, I actually forgot that these were thinner. I personally have never been into the luxury stuff as I always see them out of reach. I buy what I like, I have two Omega vintage pieces one being 100 years old and will be my next restoration video on my main channel and will make an appearance over here. I have always liked the Black Bay ever since a friend of mine had one and I can see myself eventually owning one but I don't know why! the thought of dropping so much on a watch when for the same money I can by some 10-20 decent watches..
As I've stated, commenting on one of your other videos: The black dial 0109 is my first San Martin and it has hardly left my wrist since I bought it back in late April. There's just something about that thing. It sits on my wrist *really* well, looks and feels less tall than other 13mm tall divers I own and I absolutely love the look of that aluminium bezel insert. The colors and texture on it are great and I love the fact that it's a bi-directional 24 click mechanism. It's also regulated pretty decently IMO - typical deviation is at around -2 to -3 s/day when I'm wearing it. I'd prefer it to run fast, but SM definitely regulate these before shipping them out. As mentioned, mine isn't without flaw, but I don't care too much. I like this thing so much that I *was* willing to pay my watch-maker to reset the hands to get the GMT-hand to line up properly. Alas, he said that re-setting probably wouldn't cure the problem, so I'm just going to live with it. Highly recommended watch!
Pleased you like yours. I have been so surprised by the white one. Actually wore it today. So much right with it! The NH34 is known to have gmt alignment issues but I think it’s also due to the way you should really set them. There is a method that I’ve only done once and that was on my DIY watch club GMT video on my other channel. They were very specific about lining it up at 6 when all other hands are at 12 . On mine I notice if I set it it looks just off but then when I wind on an hour it then seems to line up. You’ve got me going now so I will pull the service technical sheet from seiko and see if they state a procedure !
I don't think they regulate their watches that well TBH. My GMT is +15s per day now it's run in. Annoying! Could be worse, sure but all my steeldives run at +/- 5s per day for a much lower price (in point of fact, very few of my SM watches are within +/- 5s per day).
@@mywatchreviews Thanks for that! Please do let me know if you find out any secret tricks (if there are any :P ) to set the hands on an NH34 - I might yet go back to my watch-maker and have him do the procedure ... if there's a chance it would work, that is. Thing is on mine: It's not consistently off the mark. The GMT-hand is almost always "fast" - but not "reliably" so. When the GMT-hand is pointing at the hour-mark, the minute hand is at around 10 to 4 minutes before the 12oc marker. Meaning 1900 hours according to the GMT-hand is 1850 or so according to the regular handset. Seems that the discrepancy is less pronounced in the top left quadrant of the dial (9oc to 12oc), but I've never seen the GMT hand be spot on - whether it's while I'm manually adjusting the time or while I'm letting the watch run and observe the hands that way.
Not sure what to say here, on the last two videos it clearly looks like they have been plus SM have been pumping out some hype videos of their own on their channel showing all the processes. There was a timegrapher shot. I have handled a lot of SM and other brands with NH movements and they nearly all have beat error and okay'ish rate but knowing what I can achieve on a TG It would not take much to tweak them into a tighter limit. In this video with 3 watches they all had error with the beat that I didn't find acceptable for my standards. I want 0 to 0.1 beat error as max out of the packet new movement.
I bought the gmt and the hands look of different color than the markers it would be great if you could make videos showing how to mod these, also the dial,where we could look for the mod parts where you could recommend
Looking at my watch again :) The white numbers have golden edges which looks great, the lume works great too. Found out how the hack function works, now the watch and the PC run on the same time.. No writing on the backside, so plenty room to get it engraved, by a pro.. Watch has a nice weight to it too. My wrists are too big, trying to get surgery, but their are waiting lists ;) Great watch! And found out how to wind it too :)
I have that Explorer homage that you prefer in the standard matt black with applied indices. I find that a bit too plain so am getting the dark green enamel+gilt. Will see how that goes. If that isn't to my liking then I'll either get the black+gilt or the blue enamel piece. EDIT: Ended up getting the blue enamel It looks black for the most part, which I love. Selling the green+gilt one I also got as the greek is a bit "murky" looking. I like the green+gilt look though.
I bought a black leather strap for my san martin for £39.00, a bit expensive but it totally made the watch look like a million bucks, their leather straps are just as good as the rest of their stuff, quality all the way, attention to detail in every prticular,
I own a TAG Carrera CV 2010-03. I've had it for years. This year, I discovered the lure of Ali Express. I've just ordered the black dial BB GMT Pro, San Martin E1, with applied indices. Picked it up in the Black Friday sale for £134 including taxes. I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be my first San Martin. Started my Ali collection with a Steeldive SD1953 (love it), added a Pagani 1701. Then an Escapement time, Fleiger Type B, 40mm with a PT5000 movement, before adding a Milifortic (D12 homage) 39mm with the ST1701 movement. I am now done. No honestly, I am. No, really I am. 😮
I have considered a Tudor but I then come to the same conclusion. I am not a one watch guy so justifying the cost when I can buy 10 vintage watches for the same price..
Many thanks for this great review! I already own the Ranger Hommage and like the GMT very much. I Intend to regulate my ranger because it is running a bit slow. Can you please recommend an opener to me. I have a ball opener but i would like to have an exact fitting tool. Thank you, Rainer
To be fair I’ve found a ball the best. If it’s inflated well you get good grip. Failing that it’s a Rolex style opener I think 28.5mm but not sure 100% Bergeon will be 100s. You can get AliExpress ones cheaper. I have a cheap set but they are not perfect so stick to the ball.
Great review 👍. Because San Martin uses NH35 (ghost date) instead of NH38 with dateless models, it puts me off, I’m afraid, which is a shame because the Rngr homage is really nice.
I hear you on that but to me its not so much of a deal breaker just a bit more of a pull on the grown and depending on how often you wear it you might not be setting the time that often anyway? It still puzzles me why the NH38 is not used. I have only seen it once and that was in a Phoibos last year.
Interesting. Its a small touch but still the right move. I am guessing with SM they probably get a stellar deal if they buy 1000s in one go so make do with putting them every model.
So is the engine Swiss/Chinese/ETA, or Japanese, reading the ads, there are so many different types.. :) Tudor must be very proud of it's grandchildren :)
These all look great. I like the pilot bezel one the most because it doesn't suffer from my biggest bugbear of the watches these are borrowing design cues from - the sniwflake hands. There's always a portion of the day where they're obscuring the date window, and it irks me. :D
Not sure if they offer it with other hands. Often SM supply so many variants like logo / no logo , Mercedes hands or sword hands. As they are NH based swapping for your own choice of hands would be not too challenging
Monetization is 1000 subs and 4000 hours of watch time (per year) It has taken me 8 months to get there, 1000 subs came quickly from the crossover from my main channel but the 4000 hours is a slog. What I saw on my main channel was that once monetised the channel grew quicker as I think YT then starts to promote the videos more so they and /we benefit from revenue.
I have the white dial in my cart and the one with the split bezel. You know the one that you reviewed. I probably will end up with both of these before the end of the year if something else doesn’t come up. Question on beat error. If the watch is running with acceptable time, does a small beat error cause any detriment to the movement?
Beat error wont hurt you too much but from a watchmaking perspective seeing more than 0.1 is no good. If you don't know what beat error is its the length of the "tick and the tock" so you want both sides to be as near to equal as possible so it keeps time constant. .1 of a millisecond does not sound much but if its beating 18,000 times an hour that's 432,000 beats a day so over time this would add up to some measure. I also see beat error as a sign of health but that would be in a used watch and would be in part a signal that it needs servicing. With the NH35 etc being so cheap and machine made & assembled their factory tolerances are huge which covers up for accuracy. However they can be honed to perform better. Not sure if you watch The Nekkid Watchamaker channel but in Joe's latest video he tackles a modern Seiko Presage and when he takes it apart I see way to much oil everywhere!
I do like the ranger, I mean climbing watch 😂. I have to be very careful on what I say on camera as you can get into all kinds of trouble if you say the wrong thing! This model is really nice and like I said it’s a brilliant all rounder
Personally like the PT5000 some people complain of problems online but you also hear the same for NH movements, PT is an ETA clone and as a result a higher beat rate of 28,000 which gives you a nice smooth tick. Problems I hear of are in the keyless but I’ve seen the same complaints about vintage ETA which suggests it’s more of a design issue than poor Chinese engineering
My PT5000's always feel "gritty" on the wind - such that I prefer to not hand wind them. Prefer an Epsom/Miyota (esp the 9000 series)/Seiko movement to a PT (personal opinion).
Don't bother saving up for a Tudor. I have a Tudor Black Bay and it never gets used since I got my San Martin Tudor homage pieces, and so will sell the Tudor as it's just a waste. Been there done that. Overrrated.
