"Mumbai Special" - I Bought An Indian FRANKEN-WATCH On eBay | Refurbished hmt Pilot Watch Review

You can't talk about affordable watches without mentioning those "Franken-Watches" Coming from India - You can find thousands of them on eBay - hmt, Seiko 5, Citizen and even Oris. Are they any good?
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Hi! my name is Aviv, Welcome to My Affordable Watch Collection (formerly known as "My Chinese Watch Collection")!
On this channel I share and review my collection of budget friendly watches, and give you some tips and tricks for taking care of your watches by yourselves.
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#MyChineseWatchCollection #hmt #FrankenWatch

[@violinmke]

I've got one of those HMTs slowing floating over on a boat from India to Canada. Hope it's a Mumbai Special and not a Delhi Disaster.

[@DavidSchwartzjr]

Mike Brown lol “Delhi Disaster” 😂👍

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

It's Schrodinger's watch 😄

[@syndicatedsatellite7288]

Kinda like buying a Wintario ticket.

[@fishman1955]

Keep it up. I bought one of the HMT watches based on your review. I was intruiged by your review. What do you think of the Chines Small TANK watched that come with an automatic movement.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

@@fishman1955 that's nice to hear, how do you like your hmt? I don't know what is the Chinese small tank watch, I tried googeling it but found nothing.

[@stoundingresults]

Got 2 citizen watches off ebay, received 1 and so far I'm 100% satisfied. I Spent $45 on each. Indians have good mechanical skills.

[@peterkarahalios3488]

I had such good luck with Frankenwatches that they seemed to have evolved into a parallel collection to my assortment of GS, Omegas, Tissot and Longines. Those are for the office and boardroom. My Frankies are for the weekend and for when I am feeling whimsical. They are just so darn cute. I have two Seikos and three Oris which I am positive never existed as originals. LOL. But they are awesome! And, like everyone says, at 19 bucks, who cares if they crap out. Plus, when one of my Frankenseikos did crap out, my jeweller was able to replace the mechanism and thus made it a legit performer... They are wonderful and inexpensive accessories!

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

These really are great. So far I bought 5 HMTs and 3 Seikos. One Seiko was DOA, but other than that they are very enjoyable!

[@fattmatt200]

The HMT range are all pretty watches for the price, I got one and I'm pretty impressed by the dial. I stick to the HMT brand as I feel it's more likely to have the proper movement inside. HMT are also are one of the few watch companies to have their own in-house movement still

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts and input, Matt!

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

And thank you for subscribing to my channel as well!

[@CaffeineThrottle]

First Mumbai I have seen,that azure blue is hard to beat. Very readable hands.Thin cases are in ,band compliments.Price is irrelevant if it pleases u! Very nice piece and review.Enlightning ,Bro stay safe.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thank you very much 😊

[@angelvalle6515]

Ss pilot with in house movement for 20 bucks with shipping from India is like getting it for free.

[@DavidSchwartzjr]

Nice find! No hard feelings if something goes wrong at $15 😁👍

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

That's true! Thanks for watching :)

[@nolinchitnis]

I have 2 HMT watches with me both on good condition. One is Kailash. Other one I am not sure but it's handwound.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks for sharing!

[@relojeando4405]

Aviv , Miguel from SoCal Watch Reviews . This is my Spanish channel and I just subbed to your channel. You deserve the 1K subs ASAP!!

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks brother, you sure deserve it too!

[@relojeando4405]

My Chinese Watch Collection 🙏

[@markgrieves1307]

It may have been said but HMT stands for Hindustan Machine Tools. Pandit Nehru sent an envoy of people to Japan to find out about watch making from Citizen. They bought parts and machine tools and took them back to India. So the in house movements are basically an early Citizen hand winding movement. I have several which are working including an automatic. For me the HMTs are the best. My worst experiences have been with Favre Leuba of which I've had three that failed in a short space of time. Also the Citizen and Seiko Franken-watches have been poor. HMT seem to perform the best and it is was said of the company that it kept India running on time. I have the Pilot, the Sona, the Rajat, the Janata (beautiful watch) in varying numbers. The Sona is the most inexpensive and beautiful dress watch with a vintage feel that you are unlikely to get elsewhere or that cheap. You have to remember that wearing one of these is about the aesthetic not to mither about accuracy. If you want to know the exact time look at your phone (or download an atomic watch app). Feel free to put me right or fill in any gaps. Thank you Aviv. 👍🙏🏻

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks for all the info here Mark! I probably have 10 of these by now... They're highly addictive!

[@alfarange4039]

It's not about authenticity it's a reminder of the legendery hm the movement is real tho

[@HonestWatchReviewsHWR]

Great review of a really interesting and surprisingly good looking watch. I might have to check out some of these HMT's myself.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thank you very much 😊

[@blackpig52]

I've got 3,probably franken but they are nice and for $20 max you really can't go wrong

[@somewhereintimewatchreviews]

I actually don't have a problem with these, I mean if you love watches but you're on a very tight budget what better way to Keep an old mechanical watch alive & as long as you go in with your eyes open knowing you could get a piece of junk or a rather nice watch that works ok. & it's never about the price you pay for a watch or the name on the dial it's all about the smiles per $£€¥ so if you enjoy it just wear it!! Great video Aviv. 👍

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

That's my sentiment exactly, thanks for putting it to words better than I did :)

[@somewhereintimewatchreviews]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection 😊

[@subhashchand8185]

I am an Indian and watching the videos on KZbin I got to know that our ई mechanical hand wind hmt watches are still so popular out side India. This was the first Indian wrist watch company established in 1961. It is a matter of pride for any Indian.

[@Robert-zj7dt]

I'm not a collector nor have any great knowledge, but I have a couple of these "Mumbai Specials" as you say. And HMT I fell for knowing nothing about HMT at the time but loved the bright yellow colour and the fact it had arabic or hindu characters,, as well as two tressa and a fortis, purchased at different times, I love them all excellent value I thought even after learning their frankenstein nature, around £15 inclusive of shipping can not be grumbled about. Admittedly one was a dud and arrive over wound, but it's the chance you take

[@violinmke]

The Vintage Vostoks from Ukraine are similar cheap deal . All 4 have worked. One was a stock photo and not quite the watch I got.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

There are loads of Soviet watches on eBay, but again, you can't really know what you pay for untill it's in your hands. I bought a brand new Komandirskie with a 24 hours dial and it's perfect, and a vintage Chaika that doesn't even keep time.

[@violinmke]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection My watch guy wasn't impressed with them. Don't buy those he said being a Swiss vintage high jewels kind of guy. The one I really liked had a baby blue background on white with the tanks and Cyrillic. The actual watch didn't have the baby blue. It works fine so I'm not bitching to him.

[@ChronometerCheck]

Nice pickup. I do agree these Frankenwatches can be hit or miss. Got lucky with a Franken Seiko 5 that I am very happy with, but have also heard some horror stories. I don't have a moral problem with these watches, but my only concern is the lack of transparency about what they are made of and especially when dealers try to push them off as legit watches (IE Oris, etc.). Also the movements are always a big mystery. Overall, I really like the look of the HMT you picked up and the dimensions are spot-on for my preferences. Enjoy it!

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment! I bought 3 of those Seiko 5's, 1 died after 2 minutes and the other 2 are fine. I'm enjoying the hmt much more!

[@ChronometerCheck]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection Shame that they died. Part of the problem is also they're so cheap, it's usually not even cost-efficient to ship them back for a refund. The shipping itself would cost nearly as much as the watch. Anyway, really glad you're enjoying your HMT. Have a good one.

[@shawnz241]

This is an awesome video! I am just learning about these watches and am going to land a few. Like you said - for the money it is a risk worth taking. If I get a dud, I can always take it back to Bombay and get it sorted.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

I already have 4 of them, I really like them!

[@petercarey5857]

HMT was set up in India with initial collaboration with Citizen. After that HMT progressed on its own & made many millions of different models for decades. They were known for accuracy & performance.....!

[@craigwhitehousedetailing5797]

I've bought & sold literally dozens of HMT watches & they represent great value. My only complaint with buying indian refurbished watches are with the winding stems !! Usually on Seiko 5's the stems are too long & the crown hardly ever sits flush to the case. Not really an issue as you can trim the stems down, but it wouldnt hurt to pay a little more attention to detail. The 17j hmt mechanical movement is a little agricultural by design, but very reliable

[@Robosan4000]

any HMT buying tips?

[@briancolyer8483]

Great review brother....did you check what the time variance was?

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks Brian, I haven't checked the time variance but it does keep time very well for me.

[@TedCornish]

I nearly bought one of those but the seller had terrible feedback. Lovely seeing one, it is a pretty watch. Nice review 👍👍

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Most of the time the bad feedback is because people don't know what to expect when buying these watches. They are surprised when they realize it's not functioning like a brand new watch.

[@TedCornish]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection the ones I'd seen the watch was DOA or not sent. But yes that's another valid reason 👍

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

@@TedCornish It's a gamble for sure

[@Walter_Sobchak_43]

Be careful of buying these Mumbai Specials, they are like potato chips...you can't have just one. I've purchased three of these and they all work great and look great once you change out the strap. I wear them on NATO straps. With all that being said, I wouldn't pay for than $30 for one.

[@AvgJoeWatchReviews]

Nice find Aviv. Looks good. Great bargain.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks Joe 😊

[@valerosagroup9698]

Hey decent looking pilot! Good gamble! I'm not scared of the frankenwatch! Lovely color blue on the dial and pattern👍👍👍 I prefer the blue over the silver..... The domed crystal is great nice distortion on the angle view......looks great on the wrist!

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks for watching my friend, glad you liked it. It's a great find for sure, in the worst case you spend $10 for a bad watch.

[@BittersweetMayhem]

I just bought a citizen for £18 and the warranty is for 6 months. I will be interested to know if it survives further than 6 months. The ebay pictures show the issues so my expectations are curtailed. But what a bargain.

[@timescribe1607]

For the price, it's really cool! I would want one with a cleaner case though

[@Alias_Anybody]

What are the shipping costs for these? Ebay may be problematic in my country. Btw. when are you going to make a watchband/watchstrap special? I want to know where this thing is from.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

The shipping was free, but I guess it depends to which country you want to ship. I am planning on making a straps video, but I'm still waiting for some straps to arrive. This specific black one I got with my Seagull 1963.

[@Alias_Anybody]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection I ordered two watches from two different sellers. Let's see. I just realized I never actually asked you which seller you got yours from though. Also, yours didn't have a gasket, right?

[@abhishekbabu843]

How is this watch now, is it working fine . I heard many people saying that buying franken watches is very risky because there is a very high chance of getting cheated . The buyer could also get a faulty watch which would be inconsistent or these watches could even have a damaged movement. Is the watch running consistently.

[@4cooey]

I bought a few of these Indian rebuilds, 3 in total. 2 arrived not working and the third never arrived. Lesson learned.

[@BCallum]

I just looked on ebay...OH MY!!! Think I will buy a couple to play with. Thanks!!! The same model and colour watch in your video is $19.65 Canadian ($14.95 US) shipped.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

I have 4 different ones already 😅

[@AliasEveWatches]

It’s always awesome when you find treasure on ebay 😄 I think you can clean off the dirt with a cotton swab and a drop of polywatch Can you also make a video on tips on how to find the Mumbai Specials and what are the watchouts to look for?

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

I cleaned it already, it looks better now. Thanks for watching and for the video idea :)

[@Alias_Anybody]

Toothpaste is often enough to polish a mineral crystal or even stainless steel.

[@thisoldwatch9944]

I bought an HMT Refurbished and I like it I serviced it after it came and I have had no problems it’s a work horse movement and honestly I bought it because HMT has a history with its purpose in India. Now my watch my not be Original but I bought it for me Not no one eles and I wear it, it keeps very good time after I adjusted it. Great watch in my opinion.

[@bc454irocz89]

What seller did you buy from?

[@retiremephilippines3552]

Hi are your ceramic replacements made in the US I see they are good quaility

[@manishdalamal9007]

nice watch. Can you tell me what is the daily accuracy on this watch? curious to know

[@0907GC]

These cheap £10 seiko 5 watches started my obsession with watches! Still wear a few old Mumbai specials occasionally

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

That's a great place to start! Thanks for sharing :)

[@syndicatedsatellite7288]

It would be interesting to see these watches in "production", if you want to call it that...

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

That's true, I would love to see that. I think there's something magical (and enviroment-friendly) about giving new life to an old watch.

[@syndicatedsatellite7288]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection I like to see things refurbished. Especially when they perform as good as new and have a lower cost.

[@NormanF62]

Not true to the pilot aesthetic in size. Such watches run large. My Citizen Avion is 42 mm then again its scaled down to a more wearable size from the World War II era 55 mm fliegers!

[@SteveFWatches]

Love the sporty dial, and great strap combos. It’s been awhile since I purchased an HMT. Must be pretty common that they have one listing for multiple watches. I remember one seller had same movement picture for all his HMTs.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Yeah, it was clear to me that none of the product pictures were of the one I got. Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment my friend 😊

[@trilok7070]

please show how it will look on a nato starp

[@androz8362]

Hi bought an Oris like yours, they use the same cases and glass. Can you tell me were i can source new front glass as mine has cracked. Thx fir your help.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Hi, thanks for watching. First you need to measure the size of the crystal you need. There are some good videos on KZbin explaining exactly hoe to do that. After you've got the measurement, go on eBay and search for "acrylic watch crystal" and find a domed one that fits your measurement. Good luck!

[@jacobvasa1879]

hey, curious if you had to pay import tax. etc. how long it took for it to arrive. Please message me if you can. Thanks!

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Hi Jacob. I did not pay any tax for it in my country (Israel), and it took a really long time to arrive (more than 2 months).

[@RossWristWatchLove]

Nice 👍🏿 video bro enjoyed it!

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks, I'm glad you did!

[@Wongwongwong10000]

There funny watches. I know I paid too much 30.00 but it’s the Oris 17 Jewels. The same FHF 96 movement it keeps okay time, leather strap is worth more then the watch. It’s interesting because how many of these discontinued movements does India have? I will wear it till the watch craps out but I learned my lesson lol😅. But at 30.00 who cares it wasn’t over hundred like some on Etsy.

[@glenh4971]

I bought two frankenwatches from India. Both were bad watches. One had a bad balance wheel. The other just kept bad time. In less than a day they were off by 3 or 4 minutes. I will never buy another. Whoever is putting these watches together does not care one way or another if they work or not.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

I have bought about 15 of these over the years - it's definitely a gamble, and I'd say that probably 70% of them have some kind of issues. For the price I think they're a lot of fun, but you need to be aware of what you are getting yourself into..

[@glenh4971]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection I have taken this a step further. I know that you are familiar with Citizen caliber 1800? This caliber is the original watch design that made the HMT 0231 possible. I bought a watch in fairly good condition with a 21 jewel caliber 1800 inside. These watches were made from 1962 to 1975. I havent received it yet. But, the movement is a step up from the HMT 0231. This is because it has more parashock protected jewels. I bought a couple of other old Caliber 1802 movements as well which have date dials but the movement itself is identical. I also have several HMT 0231 frankenstein watches which can also be parts donors. So I will be having a good time fairly soon taking these watches apart, finding out what is wrong with them etc. The HMT 0231 is a tiny bit more basic than Citizen but is the same movement. I do not have access to HMT products but I do have access to Citizen vintage watches and they aren't expensive and are not in demand in the US or where I live. Manual wind watches are a luxury item from the past. I just happen to love manual wind watches. I am glad you are helping to keep the tradition of manual wind mechanical watches alive like I am.

[@islandterror5198]

Saw these , glad you received a good one.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks, it could have gone either way

[@atulpatil8753]

Original brand new you will get on hmt website@ 50$

[@aabhasarora]

Hello from India. You can buy original HMT watches from hmtwatches.in. The problem is it can only deliver to India. Anyways I liked your video a lot.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks for the tip! I'm glad you liked the video 😊

[@violinmke]

Look for high 90's rating in an indian seller

[@Patelivision]

Big fan of HMT. They are a bit small for my wrist but o well. I just got one with devanagri script.

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

They're great value for money watches, thanks for watching!

[@atulpatil8753]

That one may be Janata

[@ddsfard]

Damn that's a sharp looking franken watch

[@skipstalforce]

Seriously, I bought 5 of them, 2 have not arrived after three months, one was total crap, one was pretty nice and one was good besides some CA glue around the crystal! The one that was crap literally came with crap on it, I shit you not.

[@angelvalle6515]

Nice dial.

[@naveenopable]

Fake

[@satyanarayana.y]

Proud to be indian. Both my father and my grandfather had one but I lost them in house shifting due to my cousin's.😭😢

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

I traveled to India 10 years ago and spent 3 months there, I love this country! That's a shame about the lost watches...

[@satyanarayana.y]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection Where in india?

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

@@satyanarayana.y Many places! New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Pushkar Gokarna, Maysur, Humpi, Kochin, Munnar, Vata Kanal, Madurai, Bengalor, Chennai... And I'm probably forgetting some places...

[@satyanarayana.y]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection I am from south Andhra Pradesh

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

@@satyanarayana.y You have a beautiful country

[@violinmke]

Looks great.

[@ziggy3259]

unlike chinese copy watches, these hmts last decades if taken care of

[@kapurfilms9178]

Hey man I'm from India you can join some indian hmt groups and there are some decent sellers who sell fantastic watches it's better than buying stuff off ebay

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thanks for the tip!

[@kapurfilms9178]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection be careful but take as many reviews and opinions from present members before going for a purchase, after being Indian I have also almost been fooled so do be careful

[@kapurfilms9178]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection and don't join small groups join the groups with at least a couple thousand members

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

@@kapurfilms9178 any specific one you recommend?

[@kapurfilms9178]

@@MyAffordableWatchCollection there is a group called HMT watches, has 5.8k members, you can find me on it as well, admins name is Mr ganesh if I am not mistaken

[@jamesrlewin]

I think that is a very nice watch!

[@timeintheuk]

Looks great enjoy wearing that Belter

[@DongHoDocLa]

hello my friend, connect to success, big like for you

[@MyAffordableWatchCollection]

Thank you 😊

[@whatsstefon]

It’s a shame that these franken-watches are sold to many none the wiser. The movements inside are filthy. The cases are often generic and horrible. In fact, the next video after this is from My Retro Watches “What’s inside a Mumbai Special Watch?” And the seiko 5 is in the exact same poorly made, horrible quality case.