My Journey Part 4: The AliExpress Conundrum
At some point during every watch collecting journey, you will hear the words “AliExpress watch.” It may be while discovering a new brand on Instagram or TikTok, or watching a review on YouTube—you might even stumble across the AliExpress site. It’s inevitable you will come across it, and you’ll love it or you’ll hate it.
“AliExpress watch” is a phrase that instantly divides opinions within the watch community.
On one side, it’s just mass-produced factory watches from China, cheap homage versions of luxury watch designs, or even clones of unique microbrands.
And on the other, it’s factory-produced watches from China that provide great value for money, packing high specifications and quality finishing into affordable price points.
Let’s first unpack what AliExpress is: AliExpress is a massive international marketplace that connects customers directly to Chinese manufacturers and wholesalers, offering an enormous variety of products at extremely low prices with longer shipping times.
Within its vast catalogue of stuff is a dedicated selection of watches—many factory-based brands producing watches of all styles, movements, case shapes, quality levels, and price points. This is where both arguments stand true: a quick search for men’s watches and you’ll find £20 fake Orient watches or £6 poor-quality fashion watches, alongside the high-spec, low-cost, good-quality watches from brands like Addiesdive, Watchdives, WM, and Pagani Design, to name a few.
This for me was the biggest draw as a new watch collector. From the limited knowledge I had amassed around specs, I could pick up a bunch of watches for really low prices.
And take it from me, some of these brands produce some genuinely impressive timepieces—watches that represented real value for money, strong spec sheets, solid finishing, and attractive dials and designs for, in some cases, the same price as an affordable Casio.
Having picked up a few AliEx watches during my time as a collector, I would confidently recommend a few brands—Addiesdive, Cadisen, WM, and Watchdives. They offer great entry-level pieces that punch well above their price point.
But here’s where things get interesting… and why over time my feelings on AliExpress and the watches have changed as I’ve grown my collection and expanded my knowledge.
As a collector, when I first discovered AliExpress, it felt like discovering a goldmine. YouTube reviewers constantly highlighted hidden gems or showcased a new AliEx brand or watch. I was hooked. Suddenly, I could buy watches that looked fantastic, performed well, and were widely praised, without having to spend hundreds of pounds in the process.
Over the space of a few months, I bought around 7 or 8 watches. I was all in on AliEx.
Of the watches that arrived, some of them genuinely impressed me, backing up their quality and value for money; some became part of my regular rotations or were the perfect holiday watch. But others? I knew almost immediately they weren’t for me, and they were sold on quickly—usually at a loss!
And that’s the turning point when I look back now. These watches were great when I first purchased them, but once the initial buyer’s high wore off, they dropped out of my regular watch box. I stopped reaching for them, I lost interest in them, and then inevitably moved them on.
As my tastes developed, I gravitated toward other microbrand or mainstream watches. The pieces I kept tended to be the ones that offered something a little different—two Watchdives Elementum models that were a first foray into stone dials. They still felt unique within my collection, but eventually suffered the same fate. In fact, over the past 12–15 months I’ve purchased 13 watches from AliExpress… how many still remain in my collection? 0. I have sold them all on.
However, as I said before, AliExpress is the Marmite of the watch world, and despite renouncing it and not purchasing a watch from there since late 2025, I’m always drawn back to it. It still remains a part of the watch community; reviewers still regularly review new watches; some of the brands (looking at you, Watchdives!) are highly active on social media; and I have recently considered picking up some great-looking Addiesdive watches, but still haven’t pulled the trigger. I still wonder if the same thing will happen: the watch arrives, I love it, but eventually fall out of said love and move it on.
It’s important to also mention that AliExpress isn’t just cheap/affordable watches—they do also have some more premium, higher-end brands such as Cronos and San Martin. These are brands that offer higher specs and excellent quality watches around the £200 to £400 price points. Now, I will honestly admit I personally have never bought one, so I cannot comment on whether the quality matches the price point, but I can say why I’ve never bought one: that’s the uncertainty of buying a mass-produced factory brand. We’ve seen all the horror stories of quality control issues in watches. For microbrands, it’s usually a simple email to the brand or a DM to the owners, and any issues are quickly resolved. Mainstream brands like Citizen or Seiko have long-term warranties or guarantees. A quick Google search will show that it’s harder in these cases to get a resolution on AliEx.
So I find myself hesitating at that price point, sticking instead to tried-and-tested brands like Seiko, Citizen, or a microbrand like Monro or Vario.
For me, AliExpress found its place in my journey—not as a destination, but as a testing ground.
It allowed me to explore styles, experiment with different designs, and figure out what I actually enjoy wearing… all without breaking the bank.
And while all of those early purchases have left my collection, I still occasionally consider revisiting and maybe picking up another watch.
It’s like the holiday destination that you booked last minute for a cheap break—the one that turned out to be great while you were there, but wouldn’t make your top 10 list of holiday destinations. However, if you ever needed another quick break, you’d consider paying it another visit.
And of course, they still produce some great-looking watches.
Just check out the latest offerings from Watchdives (WDC0001, WD1954) or Addiesdive (AD2547, AD2555, or AD2259), and even a few older models like Proxima’s PX1740… and maybe the WM206, too.
