Here is another San Martin sent in for review. The actual model name is SN0007-G-JS which is a mouthful.
Its a nice looking watch and well made especially for the price of around £300 UK. Its a mechanical chronograph being powered by the lovely Sea-Gull 1901 movement that can be found in many microbrand chronographs. This is the first trick San Martin missed with this watch, a display caseback! This movement is really pretty so to cover it up with a plain caseback in my opinion is a big mistake. I believe with a display caseback this watch would sell in greater numbers.
The watch case is designed on a Seiko 62 MAS skin diver but has been adapted to be used as a chronograph. The dial is a gun metal grey with a steel bezel insert which complements the dial colour. Nice well finished baton index and I love the smaller ones at 2,4,8,10 making the dial more legible.
You can see the sub dials are countersunk into the dial with their marker tracks on the bevel. Hands are very well finished and I really like the capped subdial and chronograph second hand. Fitting these must be a bit more of a challenge but for the benefit of the look. This is something more mainstream brands should do. The more attention to detail shows more thought has been put in with quality in mind.
This is a lovely looking piece, a little on the large size when worn for my tastes but my main gripe is the bracelet although very well made and finished, just weighs the whole thing down. Wearing this watch on a hot day makes my wrist sweat and the bracelet imprint into my skin. I swapped it onto a rubber waffle strap and it made it much more wearable.
The last criticism I have is that this movement is hand winding yet they have fitted the watch with a screw down crown. Wind the watch too much and you will not be able to screw the crown back onto the case until it winds down enough. Crazy but not a deal breaker as if you own this watch you would soon get used to this and manage it correctly.
Overall I am pleased they sent this one to look at, mostly original and a mechanical chronograph has to be good. The unusual mix of a dive bezel and a chronograph function is a bit unusual and I cant see where I would ever need the two but in reality its just all about aesthetics. For the price point this watch has allot to offer from a microbrand that keeps pushing its manufacturing to finer tolerances.
You can pick one up here: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFgdPzH
Watch my YouTube Review here:
