(Budget) Alternatives to Cartier Santos?

It's not a real alternative, but check out this post from @bevelwerks :

https://www.watchcrunch.com/bevelwerks/posts/santos-de-casio-concept-22799

If that Monarch variant was available, I'd jump at it.

I've seen some real Seiko mods that have a Santos appearance, such as:

https://inarimod.fr/products/seiko-santos-mod-38mm

I can't speak for the quality, so please don't consider that a recommendation, but rather simply a jumping off point for further research.

Best of luck in your search. I picked up a Santos De Cartier WSSA0037 last year and love it - it's a great design.

I think this is the current Casio homage:

A couple to add.

Casio LTP-V007L-7B1

Bit of a Tank/Santos hybrid.  If I remember the size correctly, it wears much more like a Santos.

Citizen stiletto 

Another Tank/Santos hybrid. Have never tried this one but I imagine it's pretty true to the form factor.

Rotary Editions 

Sort of a chunky Santos.  Wears a bit like a cuff but looks the part.

Yeah, that Seiko Santos is a China special... and other than waiting a month and a half for it to arrive, I cant see why someone wouldn't go directly to the source and get it for 1/3 less than others are offering it for. Same watch popped up on Etsy recently. If they made a slimmer ETA version without the Seiko branding, I'd be real tempted.

 That Bevel concept looks good.

Seiko Lucent

7N01-5190

I guess it was build between 1990 to 1999. If you can find it would be the best option I think. 

I know it's not the definition of most about "affordable" but I wanted to introduce anyway the Rado True Square .

Made completly if ceramic. Especially the plasa ceramic looks like high polished gun metal.

With the powermatic 80 movement it costs around 2100 Euro.

The Quartz movement costs araound 1600 Euros.

The fun fact about this watch:

Compared to Santos, the scratch resistance of Rados ceramic materials will make this watch look in 20 years like new bought will the Santos will scratch even only by staring on it on the first day :-)

Michel Herbelin Cap Camerad in the mid tier level for less than 600

Those are more tank than Santos, IMO, but kinda in between.  

I won't argue the point too strongly but the Casio, if you ever get it on wrist, wears much more like a Santos than a Tank.

Hear me out on this one. The Sapphero Retro w/ 35mm case, screw details on bezel, octagonal crown, metal bracelet. And a price ($40) that doesn't take away from my Santos savings fund. 

Rotary Editions 705C Black PVD. These are getting harder to find lately, but they still show up regularly on Ebay and Amazon (one there right now). 

If you're okay with vintage and want a watch Seiko actually made (see original post pic for one they didn't) here is the Seiko 6423-XXXX. They can be had for ~$200

Any love for the #cartier Ronde Octagonal? Check out the vintage selections on that auction site and you may stumble upon a bygone brand like this Quasatron (Armitron). This one had to follow on the heels of the original. Hey, it was the 90's and someone might've gotten sued over it.

The finest rectangular two tone I ever seen... I especially like that the roman numerals not is just painted / printed, as with Cartier... But it was VERY expensive, around 1998 and it's my lousy photo!

@vantechmag.com how would you compare that to the Santos? Looks like it is the size and shape of the Tank? Nice watch btw.

This RW is a rather slim "uni-sex" version and it did look so delicious that I had to take that photo (with my old videocamera) but they did also have a wider "men's" version, with date and the same elegant roman numerals...

And I have not seen any rectangular Cartier with really nice hands... This RW has ok hands.

And some other very good looking rectangulars I found...

The two Rado is very expensive and Chanel about 44000 euro, but the Chinese Oupai cost 55 euro and Jaques LeMans 280 to 400 euro!

I just stumbled upon this:

It's a little more steampunk than classic, but I think it looks cool, and it's supposed to be a proprietary movement they developed for this model.

From the website:

• Item Model：Storm BDA10T-04

• Size：42mm Diameter/14.5mm Thickness/24mm lug width

• Case Material：Titanium

• Glass：Sapphire Crystal

• Movement : BD01(HZ)

• 3-hand Skeleton

• Mechanical automatic,self winding

• Power reserve 72+ hours

• Frequency 28,800 vph

• 21 jewels

• Water Resistant: 10 ATM

• Straps: Fluororubber(FKM)

• Buckle:Spring Folding

• Luminous:Swiss Super-lumiNova BGW9

https://www.boderry.com/en-ca/collections/storm/products/storm-04

Someone finally did it, a #cartier homage. And an impressive set of specs to boot.

Make: BERNY

Model: AM136M

Movement: Miyota 8215

Case Diameter:35mm

Lug to Lug Distance:44.5mm

Case Thickness:10mm

Strap Width:20mm

Wearable Length:200mm

Case material: Stainless Steel

Strap Material: Genuine leather

Lens: AR Coating Sapphire Glass

Water Resistant: 10ATM

Hand light: Super Luminous

Weight:76g

Another budget #cartier #santos homage. This one from AliExpress brand Sinobi.

Mens Charles Hubert Leather Band White Dial Retro 32mm Watch XWA860

can someone find me a link to the sinobi watch

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805690156388.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.254a1802oY5CJN&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

https://herbelin.de/produkt/cap-camarat-1646a14ca/ what abput that one? Also avaiöable in quartz and with metal bracelet

Very solid choice! I like that it comes in mech and quartz. Have you seen one in person? The rubber strap is giving me Nautilus vibes, but could look a lot different on leather.

Unfortunately not - I searched for instagram wristrolls of that model but couldn’t find any. It seems Herbelin is not that popular. I am searching for a budget alternative for „Santos de Cartier“ Medium version (7.600€) with white dial myself currently.