The San Martin Jian Zhan: Affordable Luxury at Its Best!

A rare watch review here on My Retro Watches. Why? well this watch is so well made and finished that it might just change any preconceived notions of Chinese watches vs quality. This brand has gone from making only homage watches to now producing jaw dropping designs like this. It can't be ignored and for £300 you would not get anything better from more established brands.
Welcome to the San Martin SN0144-GX Jian Zhan!

Chapters
00:00 - 07:31 - Tour around the watch & Price.
07.31 - 11:00 - Watch in Hand - Inspection & Critique
11:00 - 13:42 - Quick Release Clasp Operation
13:43 - 15:30 - Timegrapher Results
15:30 - 16:50 - Movement Under the Microscope
16:50 - 20:05 - Dial Under the Microscope
20:05 - 22:59 - Final Thoughts

My Facebook Group - Retro & Vintage Watches & Restorations. In here you will find a very large friendly community where no question is too silly and you will find no watch snobbery.
Stuck on a WATCH REPAIR? join and get anwers from the watchmaking collective.

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About me:
My name is Mike and I am a hobbyist watchmaker. I am completely self-taught in watch repair and restoration. My channel is all about my journey of hobbyist of watchmaking. I have watch repair tutorials, watch restorations and watch repair videos. Some of my content you can easily follow along to if you are working on the same watch movement. My main focus is to document my journey and inspire more people into this wonderful hobby and demonstrate that this hobby can be very rewarding. I do not profess to be a professional watchmaker and in my videos, I show all my mistakes, mishaps, highs and lows and keep everything as honest as possible. It is easy to edit all the mistakes out and make my videos look perfect but I believe that keeping it real reflects the true reality of this hobby. So what are you waiting for? please check out my watch repair and restoration videos, get inspired and start your own watchmaking journey.

#watchrepair #watchrestoration #watchmaking

[adk]

Thanks for the excellent review. This watch is brilliant. They really are starting to get into territories that should make the big watch manufacturer uncomfortable. Remember that Japanese cars were mocked in the 70’s and 80’s. And I know every channel has its share of trolls, but boy, some of the comments here are “interesting” to say the least. Keep up the great content!

[WristwatchWorkshop]

They've knocked it out of the park with this one! The finish looks great (but I always expect that from your other reviews), the movement is sound, I love the dial and the historical tie-in, the 6 o'clock date works with baton-like indices over numerals, and finally a cool case back! I hope this one sells, because it deserves to. Great stuff, San Martin, and great review as always.

[joemyers]

Fantastic review, very in depth, I ordered the blue option the other day, can't wait to see in the flesh, I have a few SMs, superb build quality and price.

[davidc]

Really cool to see the dial up close. I’m really looking forward to seeing a smaller version of this. It’s a stunner!

[anthonycaryl]

A beautiful looking watch there, nice touch having the dial colour in the date rings, i like all the dial colours, and a great caseback too

[andyfrizzell]

Next level review. One of the few to actual take these budget watches apart

[Userisin]

Hello, Mike! What a detailed review and I am no surprise that you mentioned about the clasp issue. I've been keeping eyes on this watch since several months ago. Since that loose clasp seems to be an structure problem, I think it will tend to be detached more frequently as the times go by. To me, it is a deal breaker. It is a bit disappointing I would say. However, we do see how San martin is capable of and getting more attention in the horology world. That metal polishing is way beyond the "budget watch" standard. I can't wait for another San Martin timepiece. Keep up your great work. Best regards.

[daynevickers]

Great review! I love the fact you disassemble the watch for us, it was interesting seeing that dial without a crystal, never would have suspected it was completely flat. Kudos to San Martin, this one is a winner, however, I'm with you on the hands and the clasp. This watch is begging for some really good hands, and that clasp might very well be bothersome.

[BlazerLS]

That dial looks like it was a multiple step item. Start with brass, spatter a stamp with resist material, dab it onto the face so it leaves the random spots open. Now etch. Remove the resist coating and apply the transparent blue enamel, bake, add more bake, now polish the enamel face smooth. Apply a layer of clear enamel and bake the last time. Polish it and apply the various treatments.
It would be a lot of work but at the labor rates there...

[davidperkins]

Fantastic review, best I've seen in this watch, very impressive.

[henryalvarez]

Fantastic view. Thank you very much. I think the case shape is somewhat plain, but the dial and bracelet are really nice. The theme of the watch makes a nice package.

[АлексейСвистов-цш]

Impressive progress in watch production. The finish of the dial, case, and bracelet is wonderful. The proprietary design of the case, the bracelet (with screw fastening) and the clasp, relying on their own historical traditions, are respected. The next big step should be to develop our own reliable and mass-produced watch movement comparable to the NH35A

[ungarsaurus]

Totally agree, beautiful dial, at first i thought it was inspired by a butterfly wing but it really has captured the look of those ceramics. 6 o'clock date windows give a much better aesthetic and the date wheels matching the dial colour is very nice. I prefer the red but the blue and the orange look good. Really like the polishing on the bracelet but especially on the bezel. You still have that pogue sat in the background.

[yankeexpress]

Very much appreciate your comprehensive review of this high-beat new watch by SM. Saw it as low has $257 USD for all three sizes (36, 39, 42mm) and all three dial colors during the recent sale.

[conzmoleman]

Wish they’d make some 34, 35, or even 36mm watches. They’re almost always 40 or 42. 38 at the absolute smallest. Shame because the quality you get for the price is unbelievable.

[phillipdennis]

Great review. I bought one in the 11.11 sale £151 with all discount codes.

[AG_MCFC]

The hands go perfect with the indices IMHO Continuing the all-round seamless design of the watches that's not to disagree with your very agreeable videos, macro is fire brother

[simonwright]

If I wasn't saving for a hanheart at the moment I would be picking up the red version. Great looking watch!

[wirdy]

I'm blown away by the value & quality of San Martin. I have two, well one with SM on the dial & the other is the Erebus Ascent, reportedly made by SM in the same factory. Both are superb.

[jonlott]

I've got a SNO20-G V2 Explorer. Its hands down the best watch ever from them. I also got a version with tudor hands.