My First And Last From This "Highly Rated" Brand ?
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- I have seen so many glowing reviews of their watches and heard very positive things but this watch left me disappointed and the brand even admitted this isn't their best quality watch.
Patchy lume, a poor bezel action, a dysfunctional clasp and a movement in much need of regulation, it's cheap but perhaps not cheap enough.
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watchdives.com/
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You may have noticed that I often don't mention the original brands that watches I am reviewing pay homage to. This is very intentional and not meant to offend you or the original brands. I lost my first channel in October 2020 which I had spent 9 months growing and invested a significant amount of money in simply because I had mentioned the original brands in some of my videos. There are people who try to use CZcamss lack of understanding when it comes to the difference between homage watches and fake watches to attack other channels and their owners and sadly I fell foul of this in 2020. This channel was also attacked recently and CZcams deleted content simply because I had said 'subby homage' and 'Rolex homage' in two videos despite the watches in the videos being perfectly legal homage watches. Please understand that I can not afford to risk my channel so I will no longer be mentioning other brands when reviewing homage watches.
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Gary
I Like Watches
a fair assessment of the watch, Gary. I have never seen a watch with such varying bezel action...mine is Decent, but not great, I've seen other reviews where the bezel was nearly impossible to turn, others, like yours where it's gritty, and others say it's just fine.
I will back watchdives saying they have higher quality watches..I talk with them fairly frequently and they are testing out component manufacturers currently. they seem to have found a good one finally, so new watches from here on out should be using that manufacturer....but up to this point I think they have used 3 different facilities for their watches.
their early Sub homages are on par with steeldive, but their new sub homage (WD5512) is more on par with san martin, the new sharkmaster V2 is sugess level and should be the norm going forward. only time will tell.
FWIW, those san martin collab watches are watches that watchdives commissioned San martin to make...so watchdives fronts the money, san martin makes the watches to their standards, but the watch is distributed, packaged, and warrantied by Watchdives.
Glad to know! I just ordered the WDxSM Sprit Zulu Time homage and this information helps relieve my concern.
Yeah seen A LOT of Watchdives videos recently ... Seems like they have stepped up their marketing and promotion.
You don't want an aluminium bezel that looks like ceramic, you want a ceramic bezel that looks like aluminium! 😄
I have a couple Watch Dives watches that aren't collaborations with San Martin and while they are decent enough, I get the idea that they are just a tiny tick below Addiesdive and Steeldive. Obviously yours has issues but isn't it kind of amazing that we are currently at a point where we can buy a nearly fully coated titanium watch with domed sapphire with AR coating and decent lume for $150/120 and the main complaint is that the bezel action isn't consistent? I mean, yours does look really poor but an extra link for my used Omega Speedmaster was $120. I don't hold the clasp against the watch as the Milanese bracelet option isn't an extra cost over the NATO strap option. Overall I find it troubling but is this literally the cheapest titanium watch with a rotation bezel that one can buy at this point?
For what I've read from them on Reddit, Watchdives just switched few weeks ago to a new factory for better quality. I just bought their brand new model WD7922, homage to the BB54. On the pictures and paper, it looks great ! The Seiko VH31 they use in this model allow to make it very thin, only 11.4mm. And very affordable. You should try this one. They told me it will be shipped next week, it is currently in production.
So that is my question are they a brand that ACTUALLY makes watches or just throw their logo onto watches from other brands? Collaborate with them?
@@karlsenula9495 yes they do, most of Watchdives watches are their own. Only few are collabs.
@@karlsenula9495 all my answers are deleted, 4 times ! I don't know what to say... even when I'm not mentioning anything specific.
They don't make their own, they contract with different factories. Figuring out exactly who makes which model is a real trick and frequently changes with some of these companies.
@@karlsenula9495 We are making own watches, own parts, don't share with others.
I’ve got the green dial version of that other watchdives + San Martin colab you showed. Well - it is at the post office, and I’ll grab it tomorrow. “Review coming soon”. Sweet!
I have their Speedy homage. WD1861 in white. It is excellent (wish I had bought it on bracelet though as strap was a bit stiff). Looks and feels great. Quality is very good for the money.
It says 100m on the dial.
Helium escape valve... heh.
All for looks i think .
200m WR design, 100m passed tests.
I have seen beautiful Watch Dives watches and generally good reviews. I believe them when they say they have better models.
I would want to see your take in others Gary. Good insight!
Thanks as always
It's great to see you reviewing a watchdives watch. I'm looking forward to seeing if you will review their new release WD7922 BB54 homage watch. I haven't seen any review videos on CZcams yet.
Hi, Gary. Can you put this Watch Dives dive style watch in Herman? Maybe test it with the helium escape valve open.
yes, it can pass over 100m test, helium escape is real working. It's not a decoration.
I appreciate an honest review. And I agree with previous comment, 100 meter WR is a dive style watch, not a dive watch.
Of course, it's a dive watch. It has a helium escape valve.🤣
For what it's worth, I've had a good experience with the one Watchdives watch I have purchased (the maxi case submariner with yellow snowflake hands). The bezel action is actually one of my favourites in my collection, super consistent and perfectly aligned. The tolerances on the oyster bracelet are definitely pretty loose, but that's to be expected for the money.
On the other hand, I've had three Seesterns now that have all had either misaligned bezels with awful springy action, or a poorly working ST19 movement. Quality control seems poor with them overall.
I've got one San Martin and it is absolutely impeccable and the best finished watch in my collection.
What a shame Gary they sent a crap watch to review.
I bought the 79090 model which is a fantastic watch. Homage of the Tudor Sub so has a great vintage feel. The nh35 movement is just excellent .. better regulated than my Seiko Alpinist 1959 and the movement is on par with some of my Swiss watches in terms of accuracy.
Please review more from the brand to give us an idea of how good or bad they are in your opinion. 👍
I have 2 of the San Martin colabs and the SM300 1967. All are really good.
Their Titanium matt Pelegos 39mm with a date and recessed indices is the watch Tudor should have made.
Gary, can you please get the new Cronos Skyline (Zenith/Twelve mashup) in for review? Looks very tasty.
Don’t they copy the CW logo design on the dial…that’s a no no for me
Is a 38mm of this coming out? Some in @escapewheel video on this watch said so and I can't confirm that anywhere.
Watchdives have commented on the Reddit posts asking the same, saying they're about 2-3 months away from pre-release
I thought the difference in quality between the seamaster homage and the SM aqua terra homage you showed briefly was clear just from looking at them. Your new 4k vids dont take many prisoners 🙂.
I agree, no place to hide 😂
i have one of those. i like it. the bezel on all titanium watches is lousy. have them send you another one! not bad for a little over a hundred bucks
I received an Omega SM white dial directly from Omega with some of the letters half applied. I was shocked. Sent it back.
I can't comment on your experience with this watch from Watchdives, however I have a Watchdives Willard. This has a white sandripple dial, blue ceramic fully lumed bezel which has a crisp, precise action. The whole watch is excellent in all respects and I fully intend to get the PVD version of the same watch next. Based on my experience I don't know what has gone wrong here.
For GBP118 what do you expect?
It seems to punch far, far above its weight. I don't like the original, but his homage looks passable enough.
I agree. Titanium and sapphire. Just put it on another strap, and who uses the bezel anyway?
Hi can you review list of mecha-quartz watches? im interested in watches but afraid to wear mechanical😂
The VK63 Seiko movement is very reliable in the 3 watches I have that use this movement. Plus, if you get any future problems, the complete movement is available for £19UK and would be simple to swap out.
The oldest VK63 watch I have is in the Pagani Speedmaster Moon homage and that has been running great for over 3 years in total. No battery change needed and still extremely accurate as you expect from both quartz and Seiko.
I always buy auto mechanical as my preference and these are no problem at all in day to day use. You just need to update the time/date where the watch has not been used for a couple of days. Or you can buy a watch winder case pretty cheaply these days which will keep your automatic watch ready for action and reading the correct time any time you need it.
There is a very definite beauty, elegance and sense of satisfaction you get from mechanical watches that just isn't there with quartz though there are undoubtedly some beautiful watches available with the mecha quartz movements.
I have the same watch. The bezel is pretty bad, and I use the bezel every day I wear it. However, for the price and to make me feel like James Bond, I can tolerate it. My clasp works fine and the bracelet is very pretty - my wife and daughter actually commented on the bracelet.
we are fixing this bezel action. try our best to provide better products to guys.
I bought this exact watch 6 weeks ago. Luckily my clasp works fine. As you figured out it appears your clasp got twisted or bent (at the factory?). The bezel action is poor but it doesn’t bother me too much. You didn’t mention there is a sharp groove on the case back which you don’t feel on the wrist but it can be felt handling the watch. I also found the crown a bit sharp and unpleasant to operate. This watch had a lot of potential but is seems corners were cut with quality control
For such a nice looking watch it's a shame about the Q.C. issues,it surprises me that a company would send out a watch to a youtube reviewer without checking it properly, to me it indicates a lack of care which would then make me consider very carefully a purchase.
To be honest. our warehouse just shipped to Gary, Picked one at random.. to avoid tight rotating , case factory adjust bezel a bit loosen. now we are upgrading our rest stock.
@@WATCHDIVES fair play to you picking one at random, I just thought that a company would select and check the watch first ,looks like a little bit of bad luck .But if your sorting out the issue then good for you
I have one, clasp is fine, but yeah the bezel action sucks. Mine is running well for an NH35, about +10 spd. To be fair the bezel also sucks on the og omega, but not to the same degree lol
I have had a good experience with Watch Dives. I have had a bad experience with Baltany, which you go on about.
Agree with this review. I had to return my 1st purchase of this watch ( albeit the brown version ). I received it with a misaligned date cutout window on the dial, poor bezel alignment and poor clasp operation. I returned the watch and received a replacement with good bezel alignment, proper date window alignment, decent clasp action but that bezel action…… Oh my! It’s the worst bezel action of all my 50 watch collection. It’s gritty, inconsistent feel throughout the rotation, imprecise clicks and sometimes get difficult to turn. It really is “junk” as far as bezels go. On the upside all the matching is well done, the strap is good quality and very comfortable ( for me ) and the whole execution of the “homage” styling is the best I’ve seen for a NTTD. The saving grace was the Summer sale price paid which made it very “cheap” to purchase for titanium watch with those specs. Overall 7/10
This is a bad example of their watches. 100M watches don't get helium escape valves. Dive watches are normally not worn with milanese bracelets. So far the Watchdives watches I've purchased have been amazing values. This model is an aberration imo.
Plenty of dive watches have a Milanese bracelet. Omega NTTD which this is an homage to comes with a Milanese bracelet.
Bit of a shame you got that one to review Gary, I have only one Watchdives the PVD coated Tuna with grey dial, it's pretty decent for the monies and have no complaints, I'm not fighting their corner just saying,
Just get my nttd version of this watch today
My clasp is perfectly fine
But the bezel action isn't good...
Good enough for the money IMO
thanks. we are upgrading this bezel action for rest stock. it will be fixed. thanks
@@WATCHDIVES too late for the early birds saddly...
@@WATCHDIVESif you can put bigger springbars too?
I guess I'll just stick to my Phylida then. Probably one of the better watches in my collection
“Phylida” sounds like an STD. Horrible naming.
Need to see a doctor about that...
Every time I hear that brand my brain says syphilis. @mstevens113
That 4 o'clock induces has spotty lume. Gosh I'd go for hiemdaller. I have a few so I know what I'm getting.
The best about this brand is vat tax breaks for UK folks.oh USA as well.
Buying from aliexpress is is my tax benefit.
Hopefully they send you a non tampered watch, off the shelf stock. Check for.
They call a paid promotion for a reason Gary. Not all are as upright as you!
It’s disappointing how common they are
We shipped free watches for reviews, all bloggers don't ask for money.
I had the quartz mid nineties omega Seamaster 300 and the bezel on the that was crap as well!
They spent as much time designing that clasp as they did coming up with a brand name.
Beautiful dial
There are some nice elements to this watch but overshadowed by some poor elements.
You should see the real thing!! The level of precision with which the whole dial is done is really impressive.
The 3rd dive brother. Steeldive, Addiesdive and now Watchdives.
This is what makes Watchdives watches hard to review:
1) seen a comment that this is a discounted Heimdallr ... With watchdives logo ... How much input did they have in this? Any?
2) San Martins are from San Martin even if they have a wafchdives logo.
3) subbys can range in quality from Steeldive to San Martin to Sugess?
So what i take from this is that Watchdives only market (don't make) watches with their logo on it ... Essentially like an Islander collab with Squale etc.
Therefore the quality of a watch can vary wildly depending on model and even version of a model.
So watchdives are a distributor/middleman ... NOT a brand.
They sell a lot of watch parts. Effectively what they do is Collab with other manufacturers to make one offs only sold through them (their San Martin ltd editions are excellent) and will sell watchdives branded models based on the cases/bracelets made by others. For instance their 79070 is basically a Baltany vintage diver with a better set of hands. They may be a distributor but their 79090 is far superior to the Baltany
We are brand and distributor too. started to make around 100 usd watches on 2022 year, this year we released over 10 models watches, and we will launch higher quality watches.
You can test our WD5512, WD7922,WD1967 V2... it will be very impressed on this brand.
@@WATCHDIVES thank you for the response and clarifying what you do.
LOL; I have a real Omega Seamaster in Stainless steel and gold- the bezel action sucks; very difficult to turn -(it is beautiful but, it is a poor shape for a bezell; it offers no good grip. You are looking at a fake Omega design no wonder it also sucks ( a fake or copy of a poor design).
Seconded. I have a 2000-ish one (blue Brosnan Bond) and a 2022 one (white like the homage in this vid) and there's little to no improvement between them in terms of the bezel action. They're both tinny and a bit thin sounding.
But if you really want a laff, go into a Panerai boutique and try the bezel action on an £8k submersible...
Bezel
@@laurencehogg6010 It is still one of my favorite watches.
@@andrejohnson6731 thanks
@@richardlocke7264 Yep, absolutely, probably is my favourite.
It's only 100M of W.R. as printed on the dial! Not 200M.
You can't trust the dial anyway, regardless of what it says. It's cheaper to sell with the wrong information than remaking the dials.
What part of china?
More seamaster clomage please
I have a cheap quartz Tudor Ranger ripoff from this brand. That one is fine. Sure, there is no bezel that can fail. The bracelet and clasp are great for the price. 🕐⚙️🍸
I have the NTTD version, overall it's great for what I paid. Bezel action isn't terrible, just nowhere near SM/Cronos etc. clasp is true to the Omega design - IE awful.
I have their sub homage which is excellent
It's a shame honestly, I would love to see more quality Omega clomages.
But it is a cheap watch ? If you want top quality buy the San Martin grade 4 titanium, you get what you pay for .
Given that Boeing just admitted to buying fake Chinese titanium, I'm wondering if this watch like my Ti thorn watches are actually aluminium alloy coated with titanium and not full Ti?
Im confused whether this is a San Martin wstch or not?
The Omega-esque watch that is the subject of this video is 100% NOT a San Martin. He just referenced San Martin when discussing the Watch Dives 'brand' as a whole.
It is a rebadged Heimdallr with a a different dial and logo.
@@mmadchef808 two different brands. not enjoying same parts. sorry
I own two Watch Dives watches. The first was a Submariner homage and it is absolutely superb. I could not believe the quality, finishing and lume for watch that I got on sale for $120 US. The second was a "Captain Willard" with a gorgeous textured white face. Again superb quality, lume and finish, however one annoying aspect. I own five "Captain Willard" homages. The best of course is my San Martin. I have large hands and the crown on the Watch Dives is far two small and after winding the watch getting it pushed in enough to thread is horrendous. I almost returned it but after futzing around and inventing new curse words I managed to find the trick. That being said it's a pain in the ass.
If they send a watch surely they should check for errors ,like that strap.
Not a good advert for them .
The watch I have is fine to be fair, seems like you got a really dodgy one but you can only review what's in front of you. My Explorer from them had a poor cyclops so is going back. They don't have a UK warehouse just a 'forwarding agent'. Watch ships from China via standard post rather than FedEx, just a wheeze to avoid paying UK taxes.
looks exactly like the heimdallr sea ghost
Watchdives has been Pagani Design-level up until now. I wonder if commissioning their work to a new factory will actually help.
"This one is crap, but we have better models - seriously we do. Not kidding. Spend more of your money. You won't be disappointed. Please buy more. Pretty please?"
Adisdive ,steel dive and this all seem to be the same
They seem to make them too thick. Even the seamaster
I think this is actually a discounted Heimdallr with a Watch Dive logo
It is different when you compare with them at your hand.
since when is watch dives a highly rated brand. i dun even understand why SM has some watches only listed under them, just cheapen and confuse SM's branding
I bought the Watchdives explorer 2 hommage during the last sale and I have to say it is the first AliExpress watch I’ve bought that I was disappointed with. The first issue I had was that their store coupons wouldn’t work. When I contacted them and asked about it they responded with a link to their store and said it was already a good price. So that was a little disappointing. But I eventually found the same watch in a different store for a decent price so I bought it. I’ve had it for a couple of weeks now and the clasp sometimes doesn’t catch properly and pops open on its own. But the main problem is the threading on the crown…when screwing down the crown it feels extremely rough and takes a good deal of fiddling to get it to screw down. There are a couple of other Watchdives watches I’m interested in but these issues have put me off.
Do NOT order from Boderry. Ordered a watch and they said it was shipped 5/30. Turns out they are still building it. Done with Boderry, I don't deal with liars. Please let everyone know Boderry is not trustworthy.
Hit the clasp up with a good dose of WD40. Could be some crap, I mean grit in it?🤭
If you need to have good and cheap product, you have to buy two
IMHO it is a simple math. You do a flashy dial let them slap your name and you get what you pay for it. Shame WD.
They are only highly rated by people who want a cheap copy.
I just bought the fifty fathoms watch dives homage. The bezel action is better than my Seiko presage…..
I didn't think it was a good looking watch when Omega built it. This is just crap, build quality looks pretty poor can't think of any positives.
I bought the IX&POSE 5303 "homage" and it, as the French original, suffered from movement issues that stopped the watch after ten wears. The case also had a manufacturing defect, creating a razor-edge around the case back. Watchdives readily agreed to repair it. It took 8 months and 2 r/ts to do that, due to incomplete addressing instructions on the first shipment and poor delivery timelines. In tbe interim, a new version of the watch was released at a lower price. I had proposed they send the newer version when released even if I needed to cover the (expected) higher price. For my 40 email exchanges, $50 in shipping, and dozens of hours lost (and mostly in anxiety), they sent a $10 strap in compensation. Watchdives is dedinitely to be avoided.
probably comes out of the same factory as the fakes do, just put a different name on it tbh
Chinese watch not as good as it's being portrayed? Who knew?
NO TIME TO DIE HOMAGE 😮😮😮😮😮😮
I think your being to nice if you can't get it of your wrist it's rubbish and to have warned the manufacturers and they still did nothing that says all you need to no.
I'll never understand why a company would do some QC before sending a watch to a reviewer.
Addie's dives steel dives watch dives, what's the story? Wasn't a great branding to begin with, are they saving money on the stencils?
It’s a fake omega, what you expect?
Maybe Watchdives is just mediocre but overhyped by reddit?
I got their willard and was disappointed. Lume is horrible, like 1/4 of what Pagani does. Barely visible in total dark. Different clasp, but the same poor bracelet as Steeldive but for more money. And regulation I fixed, but +16spd out of the box is very bad.
The first Watch Dives watch I ever bought was their blue Willard homage for a coworker. Lume is FANTASTIC! 100% equal to that of my Steeldive Willard. Literally better than any Pagani I've ever seen. The crown on the Watch Dives Willard would be my biggest complaint about that particular sample.
@@czguy3045 I already had Steeldive Willard so I got black and gold version Watchdives, more like Seiko Land Tortoise.
Maybe they are from different factory. but Steeldive glows stronger hours later than this just charged with UV light.
First
at 100M it's not a dive watch, merely a wannabe
I prefer other more proven Chinese brands 🤔
Omega wannabe 😂🤣
Still better than Pagani design watches.
Chinese clone shite turns out to be shite. Well colour me surprised...
This is exactly why you do not buy watch dives. I would gladly pay the extra money for the San Martin every time.
So don't buy shit watches. It's that simple. This was always going to be garbage.
I had high expectations given how much others have praised this brand.
@@ilikewatches I hear you. I have seen the reviews. All bs. Thank you for the review, I expected as much.
You do a great job.
Honestly, and in my humble opinion, I really have no use for such reviews of these brands. Why bother, for the price it’s a win win for someone who wants that San Martin! But I am sick and tired of hearing OVER and OVER how good people who buy them say they are.. and that’s great! But there is no need to keep reviewing Chinese products for the purpose of demonstrating value.i have no use for it and it does the industry no justice! Sorry Gary, but that is how I feel!
Garbage for poor people.