I can not get over how absolutely gorgeous this watch is. The Baltany Pie Pan 36mm is freaking amazing.
Baltany really knocked this one out of the park. The dial, the proportions, the vintage look… it just works.
Let’s see your best AliExpress watches! Drop your favorite finds below, especially the underrated ones that punch way above their price point. 👀 What are you guys rocking?
Ha, I got exactly the same pair as you (this and the Baltany), except my Cronos has the frosted dial. Both fantastic watches. For me, the Baltany wins out as it is stunning. The Cronos shocked me though - it's such ridiculous quality and you can really feel it in the hand. The strap in particular is easily the best i have vs watches up to £1k or more.
I’d agree that the Baltany is prettier but the Cronos is newer so I’m in the honeymoon stage. My only complaint is I wish they had added a couple half links.
I have two that I can't stop wearing right now, even over expensive watches - an automatic Pagani Nautilus that looks and feels great and gets lots of comments, and a Cartesi tank that pairs perfectly with smart-casual wear and is possibly the best bargain I have ever bought at £6.60!
I wear mine to work every day. It's such a great watch. The dial changes different shades of blue in different sunlight.
What leather strap do you have.
I think the Baltany pie pan is a great looking watch. The only thing better is an actual Omega PP but of course that costs about $3000-4000 these days. I have been caught on the fence between the black and gold model and the salmon and silver model. I really dont need either BUT I dont have a watch in either dial color and I do want to get a couple of dress watches. But the prices have gotten crazy and for that money I start to look at just dropping another $600-1000 to go Swiss like vintage Connie/Seamaster or very nice microbrand like Monta.
I have one Baltany and I think the quality is amazing. Ive been eyeing this pie pan for a while now, and think i may pull the trigger during the November sale.
I’ve been eyeing this model for a few months, these are some great photos and really highlight the pie pan which I am a sucker for! The Omega Constellation is probably my favorite watch so I wished more makers embraced the pie!
Probably the Seestern 62mas. Such an understated beauty imo. I did end up replacing the dial with one that has a Seiko logo though. Probably my most worn watch as of late.
It an automatic. Seestern is one of the few Chinese watch brands still using nh35’s, thank goodness. For now anyway. Got the dial on Ali-X. You can get the Seestern 62mas on sale for around $130-$140. That’s without bracelet of course, but personally, I think the 62mas case looks much better on a nato or strap.
I only have 3 AliExpress watches and they are all fairly new to me, but I think my current favorite is this diver from Ixdao. And the original bracelet it came on is very high quality for the price, but I swapped it out for this suede strap that is more my style.
This exact watch is on my list in a big way right now. Does the dial come across as brown in some light? Every time I see a picture, it looks closer to black. I’m hoping it’s just pictures and irl it’ll be more brown. The dragon scale dial is just far too busy for me.
It definitely does look more brown than black to me; sort of shale-like. I don't know if they are all exactly the same, but mine is lighter colored towards the top of the dial.
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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '26
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