San Martin SN0116-G3, The Beach
New to the collection, the San Martin SN0116-G3 GMT LE, Beach colorway!
Naturally known for their homages, this original design timepiece has all the specs I look for in a timepiece. Sapphire box crystal (with pleasant distortion), ceramic bezel insert with crisp bezel action, screw down crown with decent water resistance, smooth polished and brushed surfaces throughout the case and bracelet, drilled lugs, quick adjust bracelet (6 positions!), and BGW9 blue lume!
While I'm typically not a fan of 3hz movement, it's what makes this spec'd out caller's GMT such a bargain, which I can overlook. It's a fun summer watch with bright colors (reminds me a bit of a Super Sea Wolf) that stands out among the rest of my collection. The dial is surprisingly dynamic with an orange copper tone and the beveled date window is nicely matched in color.
The 39.5mm dimension is a bit small on my ~20cm wrist but I don't mind since the colors stand out so much. The watch is also relatively light and well balanced on the wrist. Additionally, the bracelet feels of quality and tapers well from 20mm to 16mm but the beads of rice doesn't look small, really well proportioned with the watch.
The main neg I have with the watch is the length of the clasp. I feel like it could be a bit shorter to be a bit more proportionate with the case. I think 5 micro adjust positions would've been sufficient for this. However, I will give props to the clasp being thinner than others with the same mechanism. Also, some may be turned off by the 24 click bezel (I too would prefer 48) but this is one of the best bezel actions of any watch under $1000 (compromise?).
This does not pretend to be a luxury watch but it is a nice quality piece that I plan on enjoying for quite some time.
Love any and all watch brands but what really gets me going are the dials, looking at you GS!
San Martin now getting good looking originals... May really start moving away from the Ali tag and be seen as a full fledged quality watchmaker. A while to go still, but heading there!
I very nearly got on a few weeks back but got the Tudor explorer homage instead…..I may have to go back for this soon tho
I very nearly got on a few weeks back but got the Tudor explorer homage instead…..I may have to go back for this soon tho
Do it, won't regret it!
This thing dunks on microbrand watches
San Martin now getting good looking originals... May really start moving away from the Ali tag and be seen as a full fledged quality watchmaker. A while to go still, but heading there!
One thing that sucks about this tho is that r/ChineseWatches has been greedy about SM charging over $200 for a watch like this. (Which is very competitive compared to the usual microbrand space)
One thing that sucks about this tho is that r/ChineseWatches has been greedy about SM charging over $200 for a watch like this. (Which is very competitive compared to the usual microbrand space)
A lot of people like to complain that SM primarily uses NH movements or that they are a homage brand and should be staying around the $100 mark. But this doesn't deserve those critiques. It's an affordable GMT, hard to find for under $300, let alone with all the specs and quality displayed here. Unfortunately, the bias is still there because there's is a lot of junk from China (like their president).
Nice watch bro! #sanmartin