Mechanical Watch: Exploded View

Do you have any recommended resources for buying mechanical watch clones on aliexpress? Im interested in grabbing something but would love to get an idea of where to find the best value before pulling the trigger on one.

There's a long and winding thread called "Best of Ali-Xpress" [sic] on WatchUSeek that has a bunch of ideas. Outside of that I'd recommend searching either by movement name ("NH35", "PT5000") or popular watch model diameter ("40mm" for a Sub, "41mm" for an SMP) and sorting by best selling. From there you can go to the storefronts and see all of their models.

This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Very, very helpful. Thank you!

There are a few brands that have been punching above their price points. For Rolex Submariner homages, you can't really beat Sugess. Other Chinese brands worth considering are San Martin, Cronos, WM, and Seagull. Among the upcoming brands, Watchdives and Tactical Frog are also doing quite well. Though cheaper, Pagani Design is a step below the rest. It's not bad, but their watches are definitely not as polished as the ones from the brands mentioned above. In terms of movements, stick to NH35, NH34, PT5000, SW200, Miyota 90S5, etc. Try to buy from the official stores on Aliexpress, and check your private messages after you add the watches to your cart. They'll often issue coupon codes for said items.

For something slightly more expensive check out NTH (now defunct micro brand but easy to find on eBay) or Squale.

For vintage (ignore their new stuff), Enicar, Eterna, Roamer, Rodania, Cortebert, Wakmann, Mido, Certina, early Girard Perregaux, etc. all can be had cheap. Bunch of excellent brands wiped out in quartz crisis that can be had for next to nothing.

There is a huge community on Reddit for Chinese watches https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseWatches/

I bought a Bauhaus style watch from a brand called Seestern for $65. https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseWatches/comments/1jjkf52/see...

Any good Speedmaster homage recommendations?

That watch is so nice. Can’t believe you got it for <$70. I always assumed automatic watches were much more expensive.

I was surprised to see it loses several seconds per day, do you have to reset the time on a monthly basis?

How serviceable are watches with defunct manufacturers? My understanding is typical mechanical watches require service to replace worn parts every 5 years or so.

Seiko SSC819 is a good Speedmaster homage. And it's solar powered so you never need to open the case.

Most services just include cleaning and relubrication. Parts don’t wear out that quickly.

Most watches from before the quartz crisis (pre ‘70s) used standard off-the-shelf Swiss movements for which spare parts are still readily available. It can get tricky with expensive or rare in-house stuff like Omega and Rolex though.

If you can swing it, I'd go for the Bulova Lunar Pilot or the Seiko Prospex Chronograph SSC819. If you are looking for cheap Chinese, Phylida makes a well-reviewed one.