I have never been a fan of AliExpress watches. I’ve always found their designs to be a bit… unoriginal, broadly speaking. There are Chinese watches with original designs, like the Sea-Gull 1963 chronograph and Merkur, which, as a brand, has some very nice original designs. I have been tempted by those many times in the past, especially Merkur.
I like the philosophy of the original Chinese designs. Yesterday’s tech at yesterday’s prices. The Sea-Gull chronograph movement can trace it’s roots back to a time when the world was still at war. All the equipment needed to produce that movement is ancient and if it hasn’t paid itself off already, likely won’t cost Sea-Gull too much. The same is true with the Chinese standard movement in most of the Merkur watches. It’s a clone of the Enicar AR1010 and has been produced for ages. These movements, while they may suffer with quality control here and there, are tried and tested and have near infinite aftermarket support with spare parts.
That said, it may surprise you to know that the first Chinese watch I bought was not a Merkur or Sea-Gull. It is an Addiesdive. If there was a list for the best watch brand names, Addiesdive would rank 10 000th. If there was a list for the best watch logos, Addiesdive would be so far down the list, a phallus drawn with excrement on a petrol station bathroom stall would rank a hundred places above it. Perhaps I’m too harsh?
Anyway, the Addiesdive is a blatant “homage” to the Halios Puck. Not a watch as popular as the Rolex Submariner that is so often copied, so I’m surprised it was chosen to be cloned. If one YouTube commenter on some video I watched is to be believed, the Halios was made in Addiesdive’s factory, so one can think of this watch as more of a continuation than a blatant knockoff. Take that with a grain of salt. I personally view it as an homage and little more.
AliExpress watches excel at one thing: value. That’s what draws people to them. I place a lot of value in things like heritage and original design, which is why they never appealed to me much. What I look for in a watch typically doesn’t involve a spec sheet. Yes, I value movement design, dial quality and case finishing, but I don’t chase sapphire this, ceramic that, AR this, water resistance that. I indulged my inner circlejerker and looked at the spec sheet. 1000m claimed water resistance. Few people believe that, but surely the margin of error isn’t so bad that I can’t take it into my swimming pool. A quick skinny dip told me that it is indeed sealed tight enough to withstand urine- and chlorine-filled water. I think it should be sealed more than well enough for anything I can throw at it. Helium escape valve. Great for when you’re inhaling old party balloons or something. I sort of know what a helium escape valve does, but I can’t be bothered to learn more about it, because it doesn’t apply to me; it is a feature I will very likely never use so long as I live. Ceramic bezel insert. This is my first time experiencing anything ceramic. It’s nice. It suits the watch. Don’t know what people rave about with ceramic, as (the old man that I am) I’d prefer bakelite, but that wouldn’t suit this watch. Swiss BGW9 Super-Luminova. I doubt there’s anything Swiss about this watch. Whatever lume it has, it’s nice. They weren’t shy with it either. Typically only two hands are lumed, but this one features a fully lumed seconds hand. The bezel markings are also fully lumed. This watch lights up in the dark and glows really quite well. Signed screw-down crown. This is normally a plus, but with that ugly logo, I’m impartial. “A” for effort, Addiesdive.
The dial is a brilliant sunburst blue that shines better than any watch I own. The date wheel is colour matched… if you have the black dial version. However, the blue is so deep, that I can barely make out that the date disc is black. It doesn’t break the immersion or continuity of the dial design whatsoever. Some have complained that the date is too small, but watch enthusiasts will complain about anything date related. If a watch is only available with a date complication: “WHY ISN’T THERE A NO-DATE OPTION??? THE DATE IS SO UGLY!!!” If a watch is only available without a date: “WHY NO DATE COMPLICATION??? I WANT TO KNOW THE DATE! HOW HARD IS IT TO FIT A DATE DISC???” The date looks fine to me. If it was a bit larger, I wouldn’t mind, but part of me likes it’s unobtrusiveness.
The case is a real whopper, for lack of a better word. 46mm in diameter. That’s about 12mm larger than I normally wear. It really does wear smaller because of the hidden, recessed lugs, but trust me, it will never wear like a 38mm dive watch or even a 40mm dive watch. It’s also as thick as a loaf of bread. It’s a hair under 14.5mm thick, so roughly half as thick as whatever dive watch Tudor has released this week. The bracelet is a nice 5-link design and the individual links feel well-machined. I don’t see why people complain about it. Some say it pulls hairs, but, to come clean, I don’t have much body hair, and whatever body hair I do have usually ends up in the shower drain a few days after it appears. There aren’t many hairs to pull to begin with, and there is a pinch every now and again, but in all honesty it isn’t that bad. If you’re a hairy guy, beware, or just shave your arms; whatever suits you best. The clasp is pressed, but I don’t care about that. I have never owned a watch with a milled clasp and I can think of a solid three hundred things I’d spend my money on before I’d buy an aftermarket milled clasp for this watch. Those are available if you are the sort of person who wants that, but I just don’t see much incentive. The bracelet is 22mm wide and doesn’t taper at all. Sure, that makes it massive, but I think the look suits it. This watch is big and unapologetic. A taper would probably make it look way too top-heavy. The case is ridiculouly weighty. It weighs as much as a small freight train. I can’t wear this to campus, because I would have security tackle me for carrying a weapon. If you are ever getting mugged, wear this as a set of improvised brass knuckles and you can win a gunfight. I don’t know how much it weighs with the bracelet, but it’s definitely a figure that can be measured in kilotonnes. That’s another reason I like the bracelet. A heavy bracelet means the weight is distributed a bit better. If I wore this thing on a NATO, it would bob around and just feel very, very wrong. I might invest in a rubber strap, but honestly, I don’t know if I will. The only other watch I have with 22mm lugs is my Casio Edifice quartz chronograph, which I wore less than ten times these past two years.
The bezel is a 120 click arrangement, which rotates very nicely. It has a small amount of backplay, but it doesn’t bother me. I think I got the better end of the quality control stick with this one.
Behind the AR coated sapphire crystal is the circlejerker’s dream: a Seiko NH35. This movement’s abundant use in AliExpress and microbrand watches touted by annoying, spec-sheet-reading over-enthusiastic YouTube personalities means it has a bad taste in my mouth. This movement stinks of Reddit posts and colourful thumbnails. It’s only the second mechanical watch I own that has hacking. It’s a nice feature, even if it really reveals how inaccurate your watch is. Hand winding is much appreciated though. This movement is a definite improvement over my Seiko 5’s 7S26C dinosaur movement. Hand winding is made easy by means of the massive crown.
So, to answer the most important question to the typical buyers of this sort of watch: the value; how much did it cost? Not a lot. Being me, I bought it used, of course. I got this “Seiko-killer” “spec-monster” “value champion” for the equivalent of 70 USD. It’s very lightly used and still came with the original box, papers and hangtag. For that money, I can’t complain. This is a toy I bought to wear in the pool. This is a toy I bought because buying and selling watches is probably the only thing I still have in my life that actually makes me happy. When everything else goes to the crapper, at least I have my antiquated toys to distract me for a moment. Now I can have that feeling in the pool too.
The pinnacle of first world problems: needing to know the time while I’m standing in a pool, torso dry and arms above water holding a book…
The Escapement Room 
I have an Invicta ProDiver an it has a similar spot in my collection. I have taken it completely apart, including the movement, to get a feel of what $80 will get me.
It’s a solid watch with a slight gaudy design. The gaskets are questionable, and so is the bezel spring. The rest will last a long time.
But you also realize what you are not paying for with a more expensive watch. In the end it is about the design, almost exclusively the design, and possibly the impression of luxury, unless you buy a watch from an artisan, which turns it more into jewelry.
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