Rolex Build Quality v Cronos Baltany & San Martin Who Does It Best?

Rolex, probably the best known Swiss brand, would have you believe their watches are built to an unparalleled standard so my Rolex Submariner should have no problems putting a Cronos, Baltany and San Martin in their place when it comes to finishing and build quality.

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WHY I OFTEN DON'T MENTION OTHER BRANDS IN MY VIDEOS.
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 YouTubes 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 YouTube 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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YouTubes "Fair Use Policy" only applies to certain types of content which does NOT include watch related content therefore all rights reserved. Publication, reproduction or distribution of this film or any part of this film by any means whatsoever - including without limitation electronic transmission via internet or e-mail, or re-uploading existing videos & re-uploading such material on any website anywhere in the world — is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the channel owner. That's me!

DEAR YOUTUBE AND VIEWERS!

The watches in this video are originals or homages. These are not fakes or counterfeit. They are perfectly legal and anyone who reports this channel to YouTube for the promotion or selling of fake or counterfeit products is doing so knowing that this channel is not breaking any of the terms and conditions stipulated by YouTube.

Any music used in this video is owned by YouTube and I am also legally entitled to use it. The pictures are my own or I have obtained legally with permission for commercial use.

I have been careful with my use of any trade marked terms in this video relating to any other watches. None of the watches have other brands trademarked terms displayed on them. I have not breached any trademark laws.

Homage watches are legal as long as they do not carry the name or trademarked terms or names of the original maker which no watches in this video do.

Thank you for your support!

Gary
I Like Watches

[EricZ]

Rolex fanboy here. I agree. I personally own about 7 newer Rolex watches. My most recent purchase is a Pepsi GMT. The hour hand is misaligned. It’s about 6 minutes short the hour. For example, at 12:06 the hour hand sits aligned with the 12 o’clock marker. I have also noticed a rough edge on the inside of the hour hand stem where it has received loom.
If you look for imperfections, you’ll find them for sure.

[shanephillips]

I held a San Martin sub in one hand and a gen rolex expII in the other a year or so ago, the similarity in quality was phenomenal. Rolex simps wouldn't have it though, and accused me of being dumb and not knowing what I was looking at, like telling the quality of a watch was a special secret gift. Videos like this justify my thoughts at the time, thanks Gary.

[Theflyguy]

That San Martin is quite frankly exceptional…

[TheFelicityWildcams]

My favourite type of video. Collecting the tears of the Rolex Fanboys

[sinjinadams]

Great video! The bottom line is, for us budget/affordable watch collectors, there has never been a better time to be in the hobby. If luxury watch collectors think we're stupid and delusional than so be it. I'm having a great time and I love my collection.

[lefroy]

Nice to see sword hands rather than the ubiquitous Mercedes ones on this new SM. I prefer it when homages are less of an exact facsimile of their original counterpart.

[PoweReserv]

Best in depth comparison of fit and finish I've ever seen. Bravo! You don't always get what you pay for. You can get much more for remarkably less!

[michaelchan]

That San Martin is absolutely gorgeous. I need to get myself one pronto. I have a sea dweller but I find myself wearing my Zelos Aurora more.

[rev.waynet.oleary]

There is no doubt, having owned a baltany, that it is best value for money any day...

[adk]

I think at this point, it’s clear that the likes of SM and Cronos have watches that rival the finishing on Rolex. Now that doesn’t mean Rolex aren’t great watches, and that I wouldn’t get one if I had the money. But for me, it just means I get to wear a watch that has similar finishing to that of a luxury Swiss brand whereas even five years ago, it was Seiko or nothing. Thanks as always! Looking forward to the full comparisons!

[kresimirpleic]

Love these videos! Keep them coming!! Maybe one day you'll be able to use your macro lens to make an episode focused entirely on polishing by comparing San Martin, Grand Seiko, Rolex with a few high end independent brands if you can get your hands on them. I think brushing and borders have been figured out and a good portion of the industry will catch up to this level in 5 years or so. But polishing is the tricky bit, and there are certainly levels to that game. It would be so awesome to se the likes of Moritz Grossman, Lang & Heyne, Romain Gauthier, Laurent Ferrier of Greubel Forsey under your macro lens. Very interesting, thanks!

[JasonHery-yr]

Recently more so, I am feeling so fortunate living in a era that I can afford to have many absolutely amazing quality watches without worrying about spending arms and legs, just for fun!

Owning Rolex and Omega was okay I guess, maybe felt special because of their heritage and quality. But now I am finding similar quality and fun aspects in Chinese made watches, and they are incredibly affordable!!!. Just remarkable.

Thanks for wonderful educational videos😊.

[RyanMTisi]

Cool video! Great to see them side by side. My top two favorite watch finishes in my collection are San Martin, and my Citizen promaster

[jay_watch]

Great video again. Love these macro comparisons 👌👌

[trogpo]

Thanks so much, Gary! this is DELICIUOS stuff!

[robligeti]

The San Martin is objectively finished nicer than the Rolex... Crazy... Great vid, thanks!

[deedee]

I found that very interesting. The comparability across wide ranging price points.
Thanks.

[wizzle-]

This is fun. Really glad you included the Rolex for comparison. Thank you and Cheers!

[geneparadiso]

I’m very impressed with the Sam Martin!

[GeordsYouTube]

If you buy for you the opinions of others rarely carry any weight. Not sure why dislike turns into hate, I don’t dislike any watch they are all of equal value to me it’s just some cost more. Only you can decide if something is worth your money