Straight up: this watch is in the upper tier of Chinese made watches and its amazing value for money. No matter what I say after this, if this is your first watch you'll be very pleased.
So, as is my 'want' I've removed the (very nice but not my preference) black two part strap and fitted one of my well worn (comfortable) leather straps.
Classic style, stainless steel body, Seiko NH36 movment, screw down crown, sapphire crystal, for US$150 its a lot of watch for a little price.
The specs from the Baltany site (I'm not sponsored nor supported by them, so go look that up if you're keen) suggest:
Myself the combination of 2 years warranty and the simplicity of buying it through Baltany made the AliExpress possible saving barely worth it. So I bought direct.
The watch alone (no spring bars either) came to 71.6g on my scale, however with the straps I'm sure that's right (cos I checked).
While handling the watch without straps I noted that (not uncommonly) the watch feels sharp. Meaning the edges feel like they are not finished (for human contact), but are just deburred and cleaned up after machining the (around) 90degree edges of the case. To show you what I mean, lets compare to my Seestern (thoughts on that hereand in that also a link to my earlier "review" of it) on the left.
The macro shots tell the difference between "hard and unfinished" edges on the Baltany (right hand side) and the rounding of corners on Seestern (left). This is most evident in the lugs, but its everywhere.
Comparison
Since its hard to look at something in isolation (we're always comparing things in our mind unconsciously) why not make it explicit and compare this to the Seestern (a similar price point) which as you can see I also have. That they're both similar in size and are both "nod's" to another watch it makes sense to me.
Both are very similar at first glance and both whare a lot of commonality in specs (like weight) so lets look at that. I guess firstly I'll say that I prefer the nicer subtle crown guards of this version (over the homage of later model by Addiesdive (review)), and the actual crown does not protrude from the case as far as the Addiesdive does.
So the Seestern has the same movement but has a custom date wheel that is lumed. Movement: Seiko NH35A Automatic with custom made date wheel (lumed) Of course the Baltany is homaging a watch which has no date, so that's neither here nor there, but it does speak to the commitment that Seestern has put into the quality of this watch. Lug to Lug: 46.20 mm, 47.5mm Height: 13.5 mm, 13.8mm
So since this about the Baltany I'll couch everything in comparative terms to that. Both watches feel very similar on and I can't fault the Baltany or score more to the Seestern there, I do prefer the operation of the Baltany and the face (dial) of Baltany is easier to read than the Seestern because of its "dot dot dash" design language and much more clearly identifiable and easy to see hands.
The lack of bling on the dial of the Baltany makes it appealing, but somehow feels less "dimensional" to me than the Seestern. The matte black of the Baltany is indeed deep and helps the contrast but the applied markers and the nice anthracite sheen of the Seestern is worth mentioning.
Both watch cases are slightly smaller than the bezel, which makes grasping and turning the bezel easier
The Baltanys bezel is like a flat coin with the edge slightly protruding from the case side, while the Seestern (upper image) is more like a cylinder that fits within the case that has a machined bit that protrudes past it.
Myself I prefer the design of the Seestern but the operation feel of the Baltany ... dunno ... hard call.
Baltany has opted to go with "genuine" in the case back opening style, its Rolex. If you're doing to do any servicing (or even just regulating) the watch then the usual case back opener won't work on the Baltany.
The Lume
However the lume on the Baltany sucks because they decided to make it look like an aged vintage watch (with no other signs of wear and tear). Fellas this is for wankers. Perhaps the original when it was new had yellowed lume (I doubt it)
Its hard to represent with the camera what the eye sees, but I'll do my best to present the differences, please note that the Seestern was not running time
basically the lume became almost invisible to the camera by about an hour but I could still see both its just that the Baltany was a lot dimmer.
This reflects what I know with the Seestern; that by 4am its still clearly visible while the Baltany isn't.
So if you you buy the Baltany its not a watch that has good lume (even though they propably spent a pretty penny on that).
A quick video tour to cap off this review....
Seeing something in a picture is not the same as holding it in your hand; but hopefully this video of the Baltany Submariner Homage helps.
These days I buy a watch to see if its how it seems. Its a beautiful watch, great value for money and met my expectations; its just I'm not sure if I like it or not.
The Box
OMG ... the box ... I can't forget the box. I have little doubt there are some out there someone has their favourite lubricant in hand waiting to hear about the box it came in ... I'd hate to disappoint.
So the box is actually a very nice presentation and provides over and above the box itsself a very nice little faux leather case for the watch (one can't just put it in the sock drawer, and of course one must pack it in this for flights to Jamacia (where naturally you'd be hoping to see a lovely Ursula Andress jogging along the beach towards you).
As well as this (and the usual paperwork and colour matched plastic card contained in that envelope) it also ships with a nice pair of tools. The usual spring bar tool (high quality with red 'safety' end covers) and a small jewellers screw driver (which perplexes me somewhat).
Conclusions
Well its odd, for while I prefer the feel of the bezel, the nice black of anodised aluminium over the shiny annoying reflection inducing polished ceramic bezel of the Seestern I've not yet taken to this watch. I lean towards the Seestern for its nicer appearance, better lume better finishing and little touches (like the crown and the caseback).
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