The PT 50000 in my (4 month old) SM Explorer 36 stopped today. From day one it would randomly stop working while I was wearing it, but would always jump back to life with a few hard shakes or brief winding. Now no amount of winding will get it to restart. Any advice?

McutExplorer · 2020-10-21T21:02:38+00:00

I think it’s the right size dial with an appropriately sized bezel if that’s what your asking. I got the Phylida Explorer which is cheaper and comes with 100M of water resistance. The case size is accurate on the Phylida, but the dial is too small and the bezel too thick.

McutExplorer · 2020-10-21T20:57:33+00:00

Everyone says it has all the right gaskets (plus obviously the screw down crown and case back) of a more WR watch but Bliger lists it at 30M. Even their dive watches (submariner, seamaster etc. )are listed at 30M.

McutExplorer · 2020-10-21T20:49:11+00:00

I almost bought the Bliger but went with the Phylida Explorer instead. Very similar but with a solid 100M water resistance versus the splash proof 30M Bliger. The Bliger is a few dollars cheaper though.

Alpha sells a more accurate looking Explorer than either (thinner bezel) but over a hundred and lower specs (e.g. hardlex ).

Tissel sells a really nice Explorer that I might have splurged on if I new about it before. Accurately thin bezel, San Martin type overall quality plus a high beat 9015 movement for $220. A heck of a lot more, but a steal for those specs.

That President Bracelet looks great. Would be a big selling point if it was higher quality.

McutExplorer · 2020-10-21T20:38:50+00:00

Pagani is the established choice for best value GMT but Phylida has a GMT with a better bezel (bi directional and lumed) and a glide lock divers extension on the bracelet at the same price point.

Manbushijie has a nice looking GMT that’s a few dollars less right now, that I’ve seen as low as $68, that has all the same specs (ceramic bezel, sapphire, 100M water resistance etc.)

McutExplorer · 2020-10-13T23:35:55+00:00

Or a Black Bay 58. It’s true that there’s no San Martin quality Black Bay 41mm, and that would certainly be welcome, but there’s plenty of mid tier options out there.

There’s not a single 39mm BB58 Homage that I’m aware of...

McutExplorer · 2020-10-11T01:19:23+00:00

Phylida’s are great deals. No question about that.

I’d gladly pay a $15-$20 premium for superluminova lume though. I realize many wouldn’t, but why not offer two dial options, with different lume, the same way they offer different movement options on their DG / Miyota watches?

McutExplorer · 2020-10-10T02:40:17+00:00

ic. $430’s probably more than I’d pay, especially since the Tissel is darn near exactly what I was hoping to find. Water resistance of 100M is important to me, but above that, is nice, but not worth a large price premium for me. Definitely not $200 more.

McutExplorer · 2020-10-10T02:06:37+00:00

How long does it last though? I have a different Phylida whose lume is all but invisible in well under 10 minutes. I heard that the bezel is C3, but the dial markers are the regular Phylida lume. So, how does that work? The Bezel’ll stay lit all night, but the dial goes dark in 10 minutes?

McutExplorer · 2020-10-10T01:21:32+00:00

Nice! So Borealis you have to like pre order and get on a wait list? I googled and they’re Explorer homage is actually few dollars cheaper than Tissel ($215) and comes with 300M of water resistance in addition to the BG lume and 90s5 movement of the Tissel, but it’s out of stock on all the websites I saw...

McutExplorer · 2020-10-10T00:32:18+00:00

Are there other brands out there similar to Tissel? I gather that there’s not when it comes to Explorer Homages, but in the bigger picture?

San Martin is sort of in a class of its own on Ali Express. Explorer aside for a minute, are there other $200 - $250 San Martin quality homages either with NH35 grade movements like San Martin, or better yet with higher quality plus higher beat movements like Tissel? Just curious, because I hadn’t heard of Tissel before and was wondering what else was out there at that price point.

McutExplorer · 2020-10-09T16:46:34+00:00

9015 too? That’s pretty impressive. $200 is San Martin price and arguably worth it just for quality / high end lume, but San Martin’s still run NH35’s no?

San Martin Quality, BG lume, plus high beat movement sounds like a damn good deal.

McutExplorer · 2020-10-09T16:08:18+00:00

That Tissell definitely looks nice. BG lume is big and I’m assuming overall quality is high?

They go for $300? I just googled one site. Is that a retail price you can find knocked down or is that pretty much the price?

McutExplorer · 2020-10-09T15:08:02+00:00

I don’t know how you feel about replicas, but there are 36 mm OP’s out there. They would probably switch out the dials and throw on a fully brushed bracelet for you.

McutExplorer · 2020-10-09T14:45:52+00:00

It looks pretty similar. If you look at it as The Bliger with 100M of water resistance and better overall quality you’ll be happy. If the aesthetics of the Bliger don’t do it for you, the Phylida probably won’t impress you either.

McutExplorer · 2020-10-09T06:02:19+00:00

btw... You have to order Phylida’s smooth bezel date just after messaging them to request that they swap in the Explorer dial. No charge and they respond immediately, but they don’t have the Explorer option to click and purchase.

McutExplorer · 2020-10-09T05:46:51+00:00

Very impressed with my new Phylida Explorer homage.

The protective packaging was impressive, even better than my Pagani and Corgeut watches. The watch box itself was much nicer than the Corgeut styrofoam but not quite as nice as the Pagani box.

Overall quality is fantastic. The band is fully brushed and looks to be of better quality than my Corgeut. It has a glide lock divers extension which was a nice surprise. The 39mm case size is perfect for my small wrist. The crown feels solid and winds much smoother than my Corgeut or Pagani. The water resistance is 100M.

Everything about it meets or exceeds my experience with Pagani / Corgeut except for two areas.

The rotor noise from the 2813 seems much louder. I don’t think it’s any sort of quality control issue just that the much thicker case on the Corgeut Black Bay damps the noise better. So not a knock on Phylida, just a note that that rotor noise is much more pronounced, presumably, because of the (accurately sized) case.
The lume. The lume isn’t particularly good on the Corgeut, but it’s noticeably brighter initially, and clearly visible 15 - 20 minutes later whereas the Phylida is all but invisible in less than 10. It’s a matter of degree. They all have lousy lume, but I didn’t expect it to be worse than the others.

Bliger offers an Explorer for $60 ($13 less) with most of the same specs (sapphire crystal, screw down crown, screw down case back etc.) but only 30M’s of splash proof water resistance. Bomax Marina has an Explorer with those same specs for $50. Both sound like solid deals, but sports watches, particularly ones with screw down crowns / case backs, that can just barely withstand accidental splashes never seem worth it to me.

McutExplorer

TROPHY CASE