Hi buddy and thank you for the shout out ! Just playing catch up and WATCHING some content rather than producing it. Excellent review. I so nearly went for this over the Seestern as I didn't fancy the San Martin at the time but my subscribers have been at me to get the SM so it is due in for a shoot out shortly!
Thanks, John. It will be good to see the Seesten and the SM together. I've got the Kraken on ebay otherwise I would have sent it to you for further comparison. Your video on the Addisdive 36mm convinced a mate to dip his toe into the Aliexpress waters. Had me buy it for him as he couldn't get his Ali account to work. Made sure to still use your link. 😉
So i guess the Saint Martin is exactly the same on the outside, only the movement changes. Mine is absolutely outstanding. No misalignment, incredible lume and an SH 35. Thanks for the great review !
I’ve had mine ( black version ) for about 6 months now. I absolutely love it. Light as a feather, keeps fantastic time and the lume is incredible….. the name doesn’t bother me at all….. I’ve had a few people comment on it at work and gym. Nice Tudor mate…. I show them and they’re gobsmacked. Double that when I tell them the price.😂
That's another bonus with the lower priced homage watches, you can wear them to the gym without fear of damage as you may have if it was a $4000 watch rather than $300. Glad you're still enjoying it, I sold mine to be able to buy watches for the channel but regretted it and recently bought the San Martin SN0122 GMT thinking it might scratch that snowflake itch but it didn't. Great watch but not as good as the Kraken overall even with the additional GMT complication.
Good review. I'm new to the channel... Like your clear and focused presentation. I just wanted to say that, despite some imperfections in these watches from Ali, I am grateful that we have all these great value for money, quality choices for our little obsession. Thanks for reviewing and sharing.
hey man, just wanted to give you a heads up, the resolution on this video is locked to 360p for some reason. I've refreshed the page a few time and it's not updating. maybe still needs time to process? either way, it looks great! nice review, and i appreciate the shout-out!
It's good. Small detail issues with it, too, like some sharp edges and the bezel insert is a tiny bit too small for the bezel, but overall it's very nicely done. I like the classic pelagos look a bit more than these new ones I think.
@@butapioka yeah it's a bit of a miss... you don't notice it when it's on your wrist, but up close you can see the gap. Mine only has the gap on one side, so if the insert were centered perfectly it might not be noticeable. Doesnt ruin it for me, but I'm not the only one who has the same issue.
I just got this watch a week or so ago. I don’t have the indices misalignment issue. Everything else gets top marks. I really like that it doesn’t have the sunburst bezel/dial. Matte is good! If it had an on-the-fly adjustment on the clasp I’d give it a 10 (so it’s a 9 for the price). PT5000 running at -3 sec/day. Best of the 20 or so watches I’ve bought from Ali in the last couple of years.
There must have been a singular bad batch of dials as I've had a few people say their dials have issues, but most seem to be ok. On the fly, adjustment is always welcome.
I have watches where the marker appears to be off. Sometimes it’s the curve of the glass. I just deal with it as these are not expensive watches. Great review!
Thanks for the video! So far, it’s the only one for this Octopus Kraken. I was looking for one in the black version but yours helped me to appreciate the watch. I would get this over the Seestern, I like the branding better.
Thanks for watching. Unfortunately for Octopus Kraken the San Martin and Seestern eclipsed them this time round. Resale wasn't great either, sold for £180 against a purchase price of £222.
Nice review! Just found your channel, subbed. My only beef is the logo 😂 Also, it’s a Saturday here, and hearing that Teams message just gave me PTSD, I went and checked my laptop 💀
Fine vid! At $400.00 for the Sellita….man, you are smack into Steinhart range which blows all these away. I will give the PT 5000 a shot though. Thanks
Thanks. I used to have a Steinhart Ocean 1 many year ago. It was a really well-made watch but also lacked refinement. What's their quality to cost ratio like now? Maybe I should look into getting I'm a modern iteration.
Sorry, I would, but being a small channel, I regularly have to sell the watches I buy to be able to buy more, and the Kraken was sold not long after the video went up. I can advise that I regret selling it, though. It was a solid watch even with the dial niggles that bothered me.
Nice review! First one I've seen for the Octopus. I chose the Seestern because I liked the look of the dial better. I received it last week. Interesting to see the Octopus doesn't have the gap in the clasp like the Seestern. I don't know how Seestern let that slip by. I was pretty disappointed when I noticed it.
Cheers. I can only assume Seestern hoped that people would let it slide and it would save them a couple of bucks rather than fixing it. They must have noticed it was off. I believe they are offering replacement clasps if you get in touch, so drop them a line if you haven't already.
My Octopus had a misalignment on the 12 o'clock applied indices (which I decided to live with, given the other strengths of the piece). I did, however, need to refer to the 2 year guarantee when the luminous paint applied to the bezel insert began to come away in several places after only 18 months of occasional wear. The seller sent me a replacement bezel FOC although, for a £200+ watch, I did not plan on having QC issues within warranty period!
That's something I unfortunately miss. Due to selling most pieces within a few months, I don't see how they hold up long-term. Thanks for the advisment. Good that they sent a replacement bezel at least.
Really annoying I thought this would the right one out of the 3, the bracelet looks better than the Seestern and I’ve no issue with the PT5000. Problem is I’ve loooked at some other pictures of this watch and although not as clear there is a suspicion that the 3 marker is not straight. I thought it would be nice to have the Titanium for a change but neither theSeestern or the Octopus seem to match the Watchdives San Martin for finish. Perhaps it’s better to wait and see if issues are fixed.
V2's tend to come out quick these days. IX&DAO brought out their V2 within a month. It might be worth waiting if you're like me, and a slight misalignment will constantly draw your eye.
Thank you. If you ordered from Aliexpress, it should be 0 as aliexpress charges import tax at the point of sale. If no tax comes up, it usually means the seller is absorbing the cost. San Martin, do it quite a bit. With other sellers I've found it depends on the cost of the watch.
Good review. Yes, I think I'd go for the black one. I so want a genuine Tudor Pelagos 39, although I have a 7.5 inch wrist which it may not suit. This one might just do me, tempted with the SW200 movement, too. They have these in many Sinn watches and seem very reliable.
I bought it a few month ago after seen the review by Fun with Watches channel. For me it ticks all the boxes of a grailwatch. And now ehat you pointed out i cannot see it on my watch. Theservice was goof, i have big wrists so i asked for extra links and they sent me four sithout an extra cost.
I also got the black version, indices have no alignment issues on mine and PT5000 runs at 0s/day on timegrapher with dial up. +5s/day with crown up/down. Maybe I was lucky, but this one was well worth the price imho.
Please mute your phone or computer notification sounds while recording the audio Thabk you for showing the weight of the watch without the strap. My divers eatch is over 80 grams so that is a big difference. I have a different watch that is 54 grams so i am wearing one on each wrist with nato straps to see how different they feel. Its a lot different That's a shame about the indicrs since the rest of the eatch looks well made
Will do, I had another commenter saying I gave him ptsd. I did have a section where I went through the measurements and weights but had to cut it for time. 50g is so light on the nato you could barely feel on wrist. Thanks for watching.
This does happen with the Chinese groups. I personally don't think it's the case with this one as I find San Martin have a machined sharpness to them that wasn't evident on this watch.
That's the first review of this watch. Great quality but pt5000 it is a no for me,a seiko nh38 would have been better. All Chinese pt5000 i had they had this issue: very hard to hand wind/gritty feel,however i had a geckota diver(i feel sorry that i sold it) the pt5000 was buttery smooth, exactly the same as a sellita sw200 . I do like the crown on this octopus, so nice
Admittedly, all the PT5000's I've handled have been a bit gritty, but to their merit, they have all run well. The boon of the PT5000, of course, is that it's a thinner movement. Thanks for watching.
It's so slight. I was thinking I was just being pedantic for a while, but then I read on the forums and had a few subscribers advise they had the same issue.
Might just be a coincidence but the San Martins that I bought directly from their website had better QC than the ones from AliX. I work in audio and from my experience with chinese mics I can say that missing QC is what makes them so affordable. Buy a german mic and you pay for all the parts that didn't pass the extensive QC. Buy a chinese mic and you get whatever came off the assembly line and didn't look horribly wrong. (or in this case slightly misaligned) It's luck of the draw.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. More and more, I've been thinking that stores that sell other stores watches on Ali are also getting the watches that have QC issues as they tend to be a few pounds cheaper. I think I'm going to start buying from the official stores only now and see how we get on.
I think it's either meant to be an octopus tentacle sucker or a kraken mouth. On the crown, the logo is raised and looks a lot better than the flat logo on the dial.
Hi all the video is still defaulting to 360p but it is available in 1080p if you click the settings gear 🤷♂️⚙️. Cheers.
Hi buddy and thank you for the shout out ! Just playing catch up and WATCHING some content rather than producing it. Excellent review. I so nearly went for this over the Seestern as I didn't fancy the San Martin at the time but my subscribers have been at me to get the SM so it is due in for a shoot out shortly!
Thanks, John. It will be good to see the Seesten and the SM together. I've got the Kraken on ebay otherwise I would have sent it to you for further comparison.
Your video on the Addisdive 36mm convinced a mate to dip his toe into the Aliexpress waters. Had me buy it for him as he couldn't get his Ali account to work. Made sure to still use your link. 😉
@@thewristwatchnewschannel thanks for that!...I now have the Kraken also so doing a 3 way shoot out shortly!
Look forward to it. 👍
So i guess the Saint Martin is exactly the same on the outside, only the movement changes. Mine is absolutely outstanding. No misalignment, incredible lume and an SH 35. Thanks for the great review !
Thanks for watching.
I’ve had mine ( black version ) for about 6 months now. I absolutely love it. Light as a feather, keeps fantastic time and the lume is incredible….. the name doesn’t bother me at all….. I’ve had a few people comment on it at work and gym. Nice Tudor mate…. I show them and they’re gobsmacked. Double that when I tell them the price.😂
That's another bonus with the lower priced homage watches, you can wear them to the gym without fear of damage as you may have if it was a $4000 watch rather than $300. Glad you're still enjoying it, I sold mine to be able to buy watches for the channel but regretted it and recently bought the San Martin SN0122 GMT thinking it might scratch that snowflake itch but it didn't. Great watch but not as good as the Kraken overall even with the additional GMT complication.
yeah, and it's an Octopus.
Nice review....you do have a sharp eye! Appreciate you doing this and the sincerity you show...thank you! I plan to get one when they go on sale..
Thanks for the comment. Are you thinking black or blue?
@@thewristwatchnewschannel I like the black a bit better, but already have a bunch of black watches so will go blue!
Good review. I'm new to the channel... Like your clear and focused presentation. I just wanted to say that, despite some imperfections in these watches from Ali, I am grateful that we have all these great value for money, quality choices for our little obsession. Thanks for reviewing and sharing.
Thanks for your comments. Completely agree.
hey man, just wanted to give you a heads up, the resolution on this video is locked to 360p for some reason. I've refreshed the page a few time and it's not updating. maybe still needs time to process?
either way, it looks great! nice review, and i appreciate the shout-out!
It's still says processing my side. had an issue with music that was copyrighted and tried to change it, and now it's stuck. Any ideas?
You know you want one, Steve! 😂 @EscapeWheel
@@danspanos don't you tempt me, Dan!
@@EscapeWheelwatch dives sent me an extra one accidentally
Still thinking about the Watchdives San Martin
It's good. Small detail issues with it, too, like some sharp edges and the bezel insert is a tiny bit too small for the bezel, but overall it's very nicely done. I like the classic pelagos look a bit more than these new ones I think.
@@rsinger2597 i dont care about the sharpness. I want the bezel insert to fit the bezel! This is very disappointing for san martin
@@butapioka yeah it's a bit of a miss... you don't notice it when it's on your wrist, but up close you can see the gap. Mine only has the gap on one side, so if the insert were centered perfectly it might not be noticeable. Doesnt ruin it for me, but I'm not the only one who has the same issue.
For $200 the San Martin is a steal
Thank you for a great review of the blue variation which is scarce in reviews.
Glad it was helpful!
I just got this watch a week or so ago.
I don’t have the indices misalignment issue.
Everything else gets top marks. I really like that it doesn’t have the sunburst bezel/dial. Matte is good!
If it had an on-the-fly adjustment on the clasp I’d give it a 10 (so it’s a 9 for the price).
PT5000 running at -3 sec/day.
Best of the 20 or so watches I’ve bought from Ali in the last couple of years.
There must have been a singular bad batch of dials as I've had a few people say their dials have issues, but most seem to be ok. On the fly, adjustment is always welcome.
Yours doesn't have the sunburst? Did you get the blue dial or black?
@@nbcuni I chose the blue dial. Very happy. 😀
The San Martin has on the fly 5 way adjustment
Thanks for the video! Great review!
Thank you for watching.
I have watches where the marker appears to be off. Sometimes it’s the curve of the glass. I just deal with it as these are not expensive watches. Great review!
Definitely the curve sometimes. Thanks.
I've been looking for a review of this watch. Good video thanks.
Thanks for watching.
good eye on the indices!!!
Revue the Cronos Explorer please. We don't have many revues about this watch, and is beautifull. Thank you, great job.
I'll make it my next review. 👍
Thanks for the video! So far, it’s the only one for this Octopus Kraken. I was looking for one in the black version but yours helped me to appreciate the watch. I would get this over the Seestern, I like the branding better.
Thanks for watching. Unfortunately for Octopus Kraken the San Martin and Seestern eclipsed them this time round. Resale wasn't great either, sold for £180 against a purchase price of £222.
I like it. It looks closer to the san martin than the seestern being the dial mat. I'll get the san martin just because I prefer steel over titanium.
Nice review! Just found your channel, subbed. My only beef is the logo 😂
Also, it’s a Saturday here, and hearing that Teams message just gave me PTSD, I went and checked my laptop 💀
Apologies for causing harrowing flashbacks from the week. No one needs that on a Saturday.
Fine vid! At $400.00 for the Sellita….man, you are smack into Steinhart range which blows all these away. I will give the PT 5000 a shot though. Thanks
Thanks. I used to have a Steinhart Ocean 1 many year ago. It was a really well-made watch but also lacked refinement. What's their quality to cost ratio like now? Maybe I should look into getting I'm a modern iteration.
I’m rocking my Ocean 39 Vintage GMT (ETA 2893-2 running
Can you do a follow up review about how this has held up with use?
Sorry, I would, but being a small channel, I regularly have to sell the watches I buy to be able to buy more, and the Kraken was sold not long after the video went up.
I can advise that I regret selling it, though. It was a solid watch even with the dial niggles that bothered me.
Nice review! First one I've seen for the Octopus. I chose the Seestern because I liked the look of the dial better. I received it last week. Interesting to see the Octopus doesn't have the gap in the clasp like the Seestern. I don't know how Seestern let that slip by. I was pretty disappointed when I noticed it.
Cheers. I can only assume Seestern hoped that people would let it slide and it would save them a couple of bucks rather than fixing it. They must have noticed it was off.
I believe they are offering replacement clasps if you get in touch, so drop them a line if you haven't already.
Thanks, I'll drop them a line and see what they say.
The new one have the fixed clasp
My Octopus had a misalignment on the 12 o'clock applied indices (which I decided to live with, given the other strengths of the piece). I did, however, need to refer to the 2 year guarantee when the luminous paint applied to the bezel insert began to come away in several places after only 18 months of occasional wear. The seller sent me a replacement bezel FOC although, for a £200+ watch, I did not plan on having QC issues within warranty period!
That's something I unfortunately miss. Due to selling most pieces within a few months, I don't see how they hold up long-term. Thanks for the advisment. Good that they sent a replacement bezel at least.
hmm is tempting. Think i may take the Seestern if they are sorting the clasp.
Really annoying I thought this would the right one out of the 3, the bracelet looks better than the Seestern and I’ve no issue with the PT5000. Problem is I’ve loooked at some other pictures of this watch and although not as clear there is a suspicion that the 3 marker is not straight. I thought it would be nice to have the Titanium for a change but neither theSeestern or the Octopus seem to match the Watchdives San Martin for finish. Perhaps it’s better to wait and see if issues are fixed.
My Octopus came in perfect! Just leave them a note after the sale to have them double check the QC before they send it out. Seemed to work for me!
V2's tend to come out quick these days. IX&DAO brought out their V2 within a month. It might be worth waiting if you're like me, and a slight misalignment will constantly draw your eye.
Great review. I’ve ordered one just waiting on delivery. Can you please give me idea as to how much I’ve gotta give the government on arrival
Thank you. If you ordered from Aliexpress, it should be 0 as aliexpress charges import tax at the point of sale. If no tax comes up, it usually means the seller is absorbing the cost. San Martin, do it quite a bit. With other sellers I've found it depends on the cost of the watch.
@@thewristwatchnewschannel thanks mate. I ordered via eBay from their store so it’s a coin toss
Ah, luck of the draw then. Fingers crossed it arrives unhindered.
@@thewristwatchnewschannel hoping so mate. It’s always a lottery 😂
Ahahaha... great intro background image!😂
Thanks 😅
Good review. Subscribed.
Thanks. Appreciate it.
Good review. Yes, I think I'd go for the black one. I so want a genuine Tudor Pelagos 39, although I have a 7.5 inch wrist which it may not suit. This one might just do me, tempted with the SW200 movement, too. They have these in many Sinn watches and seem very reliable.
Many of the bigger name microbrands use the SW200, such as Christopher ward. Definitely reliable.
Is there a version with date available? Great review.
Thank you. Not currently, only the San Martin offers a date option.
amazing watch. thanks for the review!
Thanks for watching.
Do any of them have an aluminum bezel?
Not that I know of apart the San Martim GMT is aluminium most are ceramic of some kind.
Nice review, subscribed just cause you is Welsh.
Cheers butty.
Unsubbed for the same reason.
Only joking 😂
I bought it a few month ago after seen the review by Fun with Watches channel. For me it ticks all the boxes of a grailwatch. And now ehat you pointed out i cannot see it on my watch. Theservice was goof, i have big wrists so i asked for extra links and they sent me four sithout an extra cost.
That's good customer service. 👍
Shame about the indices, otherwise a very good looking piece at a good value. Thanks for the review.
Thanks for watching. From what I've gathered so far from the comments, it appears to be a small batch of dials with the issue.
I just figured out why the cat was there 😂
Some of the indices are also misaligned on my new octopus palagos homage. Very annoying
Thanks for advising. Did you get the black or the blue?
@@thewristwatchnewschannel I got the black.
I also got the black version, indices have no alignment issues on mine and PT5000 runs at 0s/day on timegrapher with dial up. +5s/day with crown up/down. Maybe I was lucky, but this one was well worth the price imho.
I chose Seestern simply because the lack of ghost date.
what's wrong with ghost date
@@Arman-nl6mgit's scary
@@Arman-nl6mg it's spooky 😂
It’s a shame I do like the octopus watches,looks like you may have got a lemon,hopefully a one off? Good review thanks for sharing.
Cheers. Thanks for watching!
pity there s no date
Been accepting misaligned watches as long as I have been buying Seikos😟
The cat in nestdoors yard looked rather like your thumbnail ...to slow with the camera thankfully .
🤣
Please mute your phone or computer notification sounds while recording the audio
Thabk you for showing the weight of the watch without the strap. My divers eatch is over 80 grams so that is a big difference. I have a different watch that is 54 grams so i am wearing one on each wrist with nato straps to see how different they feel. Its a lot different
That's a shame about the indicrs since the rest of the eatch looks well made
Will do, I had another commenter saying I gave him ptsd.
I did have a section where I went through the measurements and weights but had to cut it for time.
50g is so light on the nato you could barely feel on wrist.
Thanks for watching.
BET its made by San Martin with a different logo/branding only. Same problem on the San Martin so this told the tail
This does happen with the Chinese groups. I personally don't think it's the case with this one as I find San Martin have a machined sharpness to them that wasn't evident on this watch.
That's the first review of this watch. Great quality but pt5000 it is a no for me,a seiko nh38 would have been better.
All Chinese pt5000 i had they had this issue: very hard to hand wind/gritty feel,however i had a geckota diver(i feel sorry that i sold it) the pt5000 was buttery smooth, exactly the same as a sellita sw200 .
I do like the crown on this octopus, so nice
Admittedly, all the PT5000's I've handled have been a bit gritty, but to their merit, they have all run well.
The boon of the PT5000, of course, is that it's a thinner movement. Thanks for watching.
@WNC - The Watch News Channel it is a nice movement if it is properly lubricated and regulated
Mine is not even gritty. I figured they just made improvements to it since the last one I bought 2 years ago.
@Dan Spanos great,enjoy, this is a great watch after all
Those indices look fine to me, however you will be able to see better than us.
It's so slight I almost felt bad mentioning it tbh.
i have the seastern the clasp is very gappy. subscribed for what its worth
Appreciate it.
I’ll take it if you don’t want it
Sold it on ebay sorry Jonny, it took quite a hefty loss as well, which surprised me.
Dude I just don't see the indices being off. And I have real OCD
It's so slight. I was thinking I was just being pedantic for a while, but then I read on the forums and had a few subscribers advise they had the same issue.
Might just be a coincidence but the San Martins that I bought directly from their website had better QC than the ones from AliX.
I work in audio and from my experience with chinese mics I can say that missing QC is what makes them so affordable. Buy a german mic and you pay for all the parts that didn't pass the extensive QC. Buy a chinese mic and you get whatever came off the assembly line and didn't look horribly wrong. (or in this case slightly misaligned) It's luck of the draw.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. More and more, I've been thinking that stores that sell other stores watches on Ali are also getting the watches that have QC issues as they tend to be a few pounds cheaper.
I think I'm going to start buying from the official stores only now and see how we get on.
That Octopus logo - is that legit? Low-class either way.
I think it's either meant to be an octopus tentacle sucker or a kraken mouth.
On the crown, the logo is raised and looks a lot better than the flat logo on the dial.
@@thewristwatchnewschannel I mean the thumbnail, with the cat.
San Martin SN0121 >
lol Octopus!