Is SAN MARTIN worth its money?

San Martin are on par with many other brands in the sub €500 bracket in terms of build quality. They have begun releasing their own designs over the last couple of years, and while homages still make up the bulk of their offering, they are at least trying to become a true Micro Brand.

Sir Jamie’s valued insight as always 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 thank you so much Jamie🙏🏽

Maybe I should have begun with the fact that I own 2 San Martin watches, and on both of them I have found the build quality to be excellent, with everything aligned as it should be and zero quality control issues. I would say that they are just as good as #phoibos and well woth the money.

I vote yes.

Trust me, I have a YouTube channel.

Thanks for the help mate! I’ll check out your channel for sure 🤩

Oh that’s great!! I’m getting more and more confident to purchase! 😍

Those all use the same movements to make photocopies of each other with San Martin charging far more for marginal fit and finish improvements. They are all trying original designs. The thing to avoid is anything with a native Chinese movement as their QC is far lower than the Japanese. Seiko has really made the Chinese watch market explode in popularity.

Still enjoying my custom design after a few years

Eh, yes, but I prefer Steeldive/Addiesdive options more when/if available.

If you get a SeaGull from SeaGull Official on Aliexpress and not a knockoff from Red Star or one of the other knockoffs they actually run great and SeaGull is a lot more careful with packaging and shipping. They have some really great offerings imho not just the 1963 and their movements are pretty good. That is why companies like Studio Underdog are using them and getting away with a $800+ pricepoint.

Great budget watches.

More info here-

https://www.watchcrunch.com/search?q=san+martin+watches

Regarding the craftsmanship, you will see and feel the difference. San Martin is light-years ahead of Pagani Design. The movement, well, it depends. If you buy a model equipped with a basic Seiko movement, you'll get the same result, regardless of the manufacturer of the watch.

I was going to try to stay away from these watches but I saw the San Martin aventurine dial. I missed out on the Zelos aventurine Blacktip. While it's not a Zelos, it does scratch that itch.

Oh, nice! 😍That is a SAN MARTIN right??

Thanks for the lead man! When I click on the link it takes me to the search page but not the result. Is it a search of (SAN MARTIN watches) just as I can see at the end of the URL?

I felt the same thing! But is the case that with SAN MARTIN if THE watch wasn’t equipped with a basic SEIKO movement it will only get better? I am just trying to know if this is what you meant as I always went to watches with SEIKO movements for safety. So it this is what you meant, it means that it will only get better for me purchasing it instead of another PAGANI DESIGN.

I've had 4/5 San Martin watches and must say I've been impressed with them all. I've never had any of the others mentioned but they compare with watches I've owned that cost considerably more. Especially the bracelets.

When I click it brings me to past posts about San Martin watches.

Just search San martin Watches

San Martin watches are not well build for the money, they are well build, period. I have tried many watches, had many under macro and even micro lens and SM are far better made than most of the watches.

Yes, back when they allowed you to customize the dial

I have 9 watches in my collection and 3 of them are san martin. They are excellent quality, I would advise waiting for a while with a new release as the original price will drop. There are also stock clearance bargains to be had too.

The service cost down the road of a Sea-Gull is north of $300.00 whereas a Chinese/Japanese San Martin will just need a $40.00 new movement. They are priced near the San Martin products.

As nice as Squale or Steinhart for less money in my book.

Great! Thanks for the insight buddy! I believe I will make the right choice then!

That’s what I wanna hear man! Thanks for your input 🙌🏼

I think San Martin is ahead of other AliExpress brands. There is a reason they have built up that reputation. Their build quality and finishing is better than most watches at the price point. So there is some justification to their cost premium over say an Addiesdive or Pagani Design.

What's nice is that they are starting to at least attempt some original designs. I hope they continue this although maybe hire a specific designer to create a design language for them. Original designs are still not their strength, as I found most of their original designs to vary from generic and bland to simply not attractive. So their homages (if you are ok with homages) are still their best watches.

They used to allow for dial customization which I thought was a nice feature but they have moved away from that unfortunately.

But the build quality is there, they provide great value.

I'll gladly pay more for the maintenence of a superior movement. Being able to replace a Seiko movement at $40 to maintain the cheaper watch says it all for me. That's why Seikos have never interested me. Most of their offerings are too expensive considering the movements inside of them. They used to be priced better imho but they got more expensive without offering anything new. This is why they fell off of my to do list. I'm not saying they don't have value but beauty is in the eye if the beholder.