I wanted a new watch. That’s how it always starts, isn’t it? My watch buying habits typically fall into one of two categories: I identify, research, and stalk a watch obsessively, pulling the trigger when I find the perfect deal or example, or I buy impulsively, usually due to finding a steal of a deal. This felt different - both impulsive and purposeful at the same time. For context, I recently had spine surgery for a herniated disc in my lower back,  and I was just beginnin

If you have been following along with my “Cheap Heat” segments, you may have noticed the majority of the watches that have been reviewed thus far have digital. When I came up with the idea for this review segment, there were two main guiding principles. First, I wanted to find the coolest and cheapest watches that weren’t getting any attention. Second, I was willing to take a gamble on something weird or unusual - but it still had to be something I would consider wearable or

Homages are a divisive topic in the watch community. There are watch collectors that have no problem with brands borrowing or even lifting wholesale design elements from other companies’ watches. After all, good artists copy and great artists steal. There are others who can appreciate when a twist is applied to a classic design, such as my review of the Revelot Hexmariner where I cover its fresh take on the iconic submariner design language. People buy homages of watches they

Within the watch collecting world, people are drawn to watches for a variety of reasons. Some people are fascinated by the engineering that goes into the mechanical movements that power their watches, and build their collection around that. Others are devoted to collecting specific brands or different eras; I myself have a penchant for 2000’s era Seiko dive watches. Some people collect watches with pop culture significance, such as the Hamilton Murph or Coop featured in the m

The idea of a watch being used to commemorate a significant event or milestone is an oft repeated trope in the watch collecting world. A new dress watch for your wedding day, something to celebrate a promotion at work, the birth of a child with the intent to hand it down to them when they become of age. In my instance, I had just graduated from nursing school and wanted something special to mark the occasion. As I mentioned in a previous writeup, in my formative watch collect

Hi all - just getting started on my watch review journey so I wanted to start with this cool San Martin variant - the SN085-G. The watch comes in two color ways - light red/grey and deep red/black. This review is about the light red version. There are a lot of similarities with the rest of its siblings in the lineup AKA the "B" version - but also does a few things differently, and in my opinion, better. Let's start with the measurements - all of the SN085 family case share th

I'm going to start this review by saying that the microbrand space is extremely competitive in 2025 and there are a lot of brands offering quality watches at price points that are very competitive. There are a lot of design and material overlap between brands, and it is a lot harder for a smaller or newer company to stand out from the pack. However, I do believe that one of the biggest ways a brand can cultivate a following and truly elevate the brand experience is through a

San Martin is a Chinese watch company that has a well deserved reputation of making high quality homages and original designs with excellent specs and finishing at a very competitive price point. They do a lot of releases, and sometimes they do something a bit different and it flies under the radar; this is one such watch. It is a SN0115, which in itself nothing unusual, but this limited run color palette flew under the radar and I thought It deserved a bit of attention, Long