Steinhart VS San Martin | In-Depth Review & Comparison

Which Brand makes the better Submariner Homage? Is it San Martin or Steinhart? Both watches bring incredible value to the table - but which one should you choose?

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00:00 - 01:24 = Intro
01:24 - 02:48 = Price
02:49 - 04:17 = Movement
04:18 - 04:50 = Finishing
04:51 - 05:46 = Dial + Hands
05:47 - 07:19 = Crystal
07:20 - 07:59 = Lume
08:00 - 10:29 = Bracelet + Clasp
10:30 - 12:37 = Bezel
12:38 - 14:01 = Brand
14:02 - 16:12 = X-Factor + Outtro

#sanmartin #steinhart #sub

Thanks for watching!

-Michael

[TheTrueSolesurvivor]

I think that the san martin has unbeatable quality. The lugs, the sels, the bracelet as a whole, it´s just insane how amazing they designed and mashined that thing.

[quarters-eye]

One observation:

These two watches cater to different themes.
The Steinhart is going for that Vintage look, while the San Martin is more or less, a modern Rolex Homage.

I would suggest a comparison between two of the same themed watches.

Perhaps even do two separate reviews.
One review comparing a San Martin vintage inspired watch, and a separate review with a modern Diver.

[Chancellor]

Having owned both, (I sold the SM), I can tell you that the Steinhart is a VASTLY superior watch. The San Martin is okay...butlike most Chinese junk, it wears rather quickly. That loose bezel action you like so much only gets sloppier. The Steinhart is phenomenal.

[MyCvid]

Finally, someone has put this comparison together. Bravo!

Based on your review the San Martin would be the winner. A Sellita movement is available on the San Martin (for more money), but still comes in at a lower price than the Steinhart. From your review you rated the build quality higher on SM, better bezel, and better clasp.

Those that want to spend more for the Steinhart name, well, I get that also. Isn’t that a big part of the watch collection mythology? Is the Steinhart worth twice the price of the San Martin? Is the Rolex sub “worth” 60 times the price of the San Martin? Each collector has to make that call for themselves!

[randyreynolds]

The quality and movements in the Steinhart is much better. Also Steinhart treats their employees very well. They are a great company in many ways. All Steinhart are very accurate!

[brianmurphy]

I have both of these and they are both great...two totally different looks that each brand is trying to go after...Having 3 Steinharts and 3 SM's....it's safe to say I enjoy both brands, however getting into a Swiss made at the price point Steinhart does, for me elevates them just a bit more...

[MarkM]

I own both brands. Both are fantastic values for the money. I own the Steinhart Ocean One, Ceramic with black dial and bezel. For San Martin, I own several, but the closest for comparison sake is the Two Tone Water Ghost ceramic bezel.

Both watches have impeccable finishing, but I would have to ding the SM for being a little sharp on the edges of the bracelet. The SM has the SEIKO NH35A movement that beats at 21, 600 bph and the Steinhart has the ETA 2824-2 elaboré high-beat movement which beats at 28, 800 bph and has a smoother sweep. Both movements have been around since Moby Dick was a minnow and both are great workhorse movements. For comfort of wear, I give it to the SM. It feels lighter and has more of curved case and downturned lugs that fit the contour of your wrist. The Steinhart is almost flat. All in all, both are excellent watches. It is hard to beat the SM for bang for the buck. BUT Steinhart is an excellent SWISS MADE watch. Is it worth double the cost? probably. But that is a personal decision. Both of my watches are in my rotation and I like them both.

[MarkoMarkovina]

I bought ocean one 39 and it was ok, bezel was stiff as hell but ok... than I bought ocean 42 and was disappointed... both had realy poor lume and ocean 42 was not regulated well, had some sharp edges, bezel felt like crap and winding was everything but pleasure...felt like something is breaking inside. Than I bought Ironwatch milsub and San Martin sn019g and both are perfect watches. Far better than Steinhart... well regulated, crown action perfect, bezel action great, lume amazing...but people wil pay and ignore everythinh cause it says swiss made at the dial...

[juweikwen]

I have one steinhart diver powered by ETA 2892-A2, 42mm, ceramic bezel & swiss made which less than USD $520. In total, I have 5* Swiss made diver watches including SW200-1, ETA 2824, ETA 7750 and ETA 2893 (date+day). All them work fine. I think Swiss made + Swiss basic movement are still solid in terms of performance & accuracy.

[jazzman]

My Steinhart Ocean 39 Vintage GMT running an ETA 2893-2. My favorite watch and a great daily as well as 300 M diver to boot!

[paulusvberkel]

Agree. I like both watches and I own both watches. The build quality of the SanMartin is really top!!

[TypeSly]

Very good review with nice shots of both watches as well! The only thing that confused me a bit was on a few of your points, where you clearly preferred one and did not even like the other, it was separated by only one point?! Thanks for the upload and in-depth comparison though! 👍

[SaG]

12:00 Not a defense of Steinhart, but almost all my 39mm Steinhart-bezels were pretty hard to turn out of the box. And all of them needed a little to quite a bit of break-in time but then would turn smoothly. Only exception was my Vintage Pepsi GMT Pussy Galore homage which was super smooth from day one. Their 42 O1s have much lighter action out of the box, BTW.
6:50 Totally agree on the OVM's crystal. I've owned my 39-version for nearly 2 years now, and that crystal is probably the reason why I wear other watches (with flat crystals) more. Unless you're in bright sunlight or holding the watch under a bright light-source (like a spot) it really does look "milky" to me. Especially noticeable when outside under an overcast sky. I'm pretty sure it's the crystal, since my O39 Ceramic Green with its flat glass doesn't have that issue.

And I don't quite get why they went with this sort of domed sapphire - a slightly raised boxed crystal would've been more in keeping with the MilSub theme and a flat crystal would give better legibility. Plus: That dome changes the shape of the whole watch and makes it seem a bit bulkier than it actually is.


Another niggle I have is that the hands on the OVM are slightly too large for the watch. The seconds hand almost touches the rehaut while the minute-hand goes too far into the minute track on the dial. Basically, the seconds-hand should be reaching into the first third of the minute markers while the minute-hand should end just short of those markers. It's not a huge deal but I did own both the 42 and 39 versions of the OVM at one point and, side by side, this is pretty noticeable because the 42's hands are proportioned more correctly. It's almost as if they re-used the 42's handset and slapped it on the 39mm version. Interestingly enough, my 39mm Ocean One Ceramic Green's handset fits its dial perfectly.

[LauraKnotek]

I prefer Steinhart for the vintage aesthetic. The domed crystal, lume that resembles old radium, and vintage looking dial are what appeals to me. I also prefer the Swiss movement for its accuracy compared to the Japanese movement.

[Lotus.F]

For branding and movement definitely the Steinhart but I wouldn't pick this particular one though, personal choice.

[happycamper]

Nice video, I wish you had compared SM sub homage to another Steinhart sub homage; or SM vintage to Steinhart vintage. However your video confirmed that the fit and finish, bezel, and bracelet of SM is just as good as a Swiss entry level watch. I don't think the x factor of Steinhart should be a 10, but it deserve more points for higher specification 300 mm vs SM 200 mm.

[petervernelen]

Thanks for the video, I'm on the fence for a San Martin SN019G for a while now however its retailed for $350 now which is still a good bit of cash for an AliExpress homage, let's see if there will be some kind of black Friday deal on it ?

[snacklofter]

THIS IS WHAT WE WANT!!! - THANK YOU! 👍👍👍

[Me-pzby]

I like more modern style than retro, so San Martin for me 🙂

[hootonhoot]

Having a little of both, I connect more with Steinhart- usually worth $200 more than SM.