On the Wrist, from off the Cuff: Ginault - Ocean-Rover, Review Pt.1

On this episode, we review a very controversial timepiece, which has caused quite a few waves on the watch forums as of late. It's the Ginault Ocean Rover, reference# 181070GSLN. There's just so much to say about this watch that I had to break this down into multiple parts. This part being the un-boxing and general overview. I do my best to keep it concise and not get side tracked but I do touch on a few subjects that I'll expand upon in future segments. Let me know you're general thoughts in the comments below, thanks.
ginault.com/oc...

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Thanks for the review. I just ordered one and am looking forward to wearing a beautifully made, gorgeous watch as my daily driver.

[@yankeexpress]

Good review. A couple of issues with this Ocean Rover watch, other than the wishy-washy price (don't pay over $600 for the Ocean Rover). The Red sweep secondhand is all wrong for a MilSub and it should be Sword shaped not lollipop. The bezel is cheap looking, should be etched and lumed. The movement is a total unknown being tuned up from chinese parts of unknown quality. I got the NTH MilSub instead with a better bezel and known Miyota 9015 movement at a cheaper price.

[@AverageBros]

Yeah, it's not a full on Milsub homage, it just happens to use the sword hands vs. Mercedes. It def would've been a safer move to go more towards a traditional milsub style, considering the breakout success of the Steinhart OVM and OWC offerings but I think it was a bold and even inspired choice to try and do something a bit different to put their mark on the segment. I really do like the designs of NTH big crowns but there are just a few doubts I've had with the execution that have kept me from pulling the trigger. That and Chris has been less responsive about a video review than brands I've worked with that have been around for over 100 yrs. So needless to say, he's not a fan of me or my channel. Sucks, because I've told him on multiple occasions that I'm a fan and that I wish him well.

[@yankeexpress]

Agree. As owner of the OVM and OVM-DLC, an OWC 5517 w/Soprod, the NTH Amphion Vintage, a custom Gigandet Milsub, I have the MilSub angle covered well and decided to forego the Ocean Rover as a bridge too far with a risky movement and unwanted red sweep hand.

[@watchrob77]

Excellent video! I'm hoping to get one to review soon as well. Keep up the good work

[@thomaschristopherwhite9043]

1300 for a homage?

[@simoncheung527]

Just see a shadow of Rolex. I can understand a mirco brand to do this with a 3-400 usd watch but not a watch with a price tag 1.3k usd. I would expect more individual identity but not just copycat.

[@ixa7fxi]

Would you say that about a MKII sub homage?

[@paulzz81]

So Simon get the 5513 or 5517 ref. Rolex MilSub and wear it daily. This Ocean Rover watch is simply awesome and Rolex as a company is stupid not to make a reissue on their own.

[@kylestewart4444]

I really don’t think Ginault has gotten a fair shake from a lot of people out there. Many people are quit to write off any company that primarily or solely does “homage” watches and I can understand that mindset to a point but this is so much more than a company ripping off an iconic design in order to line their own pockets. I look at this watch and see a nod or even a love letter to the long and legendary history of Rolex. The guys at Ginault are all huge Rolex fanboys and this is them paying a massive amount of respect to the brand in the best way possible. A greatest hits tribute with remarkable quality and attention to detail. Even if I could afford a Rolex or even a whole box of Rolexes, I would still own an Ocean Rover because beyond the aesthetic resemblance to past and present submariners, it’s still a super high quality watch with a great movement, excellent design and incredible finishing and even the full retail price, I would say, is fair for what you’re getting.

[@KeepTheTime]

Nice red seconds hand. The sword hands are cool too.

[@johnnyjohnny7204]

very nice wealth of off the cuff but additional info. not a fan of this watch, tho the design is superb...the 'hard sell' aspects (made in the usa) are tacky, plus the questionable movement...but i appreciate the discussion of all this that you do, better than most other reviewers. bravo

[@onifrakimarq7663]

is it really USA made? Handbuilt in america means nothing to me! Looks like a commercial channel watch to me,they sell as high end! Nice von tho! Regards Oni

[@kylestewart4444]

They are made in America. Obviously they don't fabricate every single part in-house but what do you expect for $1,000? Clearly some parts are sourced and then altered and finished in-house. This watch is just as American made as most Swiss watches are Swiss made. Ginault states that the parts are "cut, machined, assembled and fine tuned in the United States." There are some parts like hairsprings for example that VERY few companies actually make themselves and Ginault is very open about which parts are sourced and from where they are sourced. By "commercial channel watch" do you mean a watch that you would see advertised during television commercials? Rolex has commercials too. Not sure what you mean by that. They aren't just "sold as high end". If the dial said Tudor instead of Ginault and absolutely nothing else was changed, this watch would cost 3 times the price. It absolutely is a high end watch. It just doesn't have the prestige and the horological heritage that Rolex and Tudor have behind them.

[@donr8245]

Nice review, Mark. I bought one of the first ones and it is an absolutely outstanding watch. I would put it in the same league as the MK II's. Significantly nicer than Steinhart/Armida, etc. If you don't like homages then look elsewhere. The build quality is there in spades. Mine is still running within 1-2 seconds/day.

[@flow2tech]

Don Raymond Is there AR coating on this ?

[@donr8245]

Trevor Bohnsack no AR that I am aware of. I believe they wanted to emulate the vintage Rolex in that regard and preserve clarity of the beautiful enamel dial. They designed it at 3.1mm and without any "direct light reflection points". The sensational crystal is definitely a highlight of the watch.

[@flow2tech]

Don Raymond Thanks! wow just on their website..It's at $1300 for a micro..I'm sure it's beautiful, but I'll be holding off for a few..Just got the Oris diver 65 for not much more!

[@donr8245]

Trevor Bohnsack the quality is pretty close to (maybe on par with) my Oris Aquis. Great choice, BTW. The 42mm Oris is on my hit list. I paid $580 for the Ginault and it was a steal at that price.

[@flow2tech]

Don Raymond Ya I opted for the 40mm ..Wanted the one that was close to the original and love the numbers...I'm sure the Ginault is completely on par with the Oris quality wise..I just mean in terms of the heritage Oris has is along with the quality..$580 is an insane price for that watch..I wouldn't even hesitate if I could pick it up for around that price or a bit more..Nice score

[@ATIWatchReviews]

it looks nice, but it's definitely vintage vibes and i hate lack of ceramic bezel. so for me there are better homages of the modern submariner out there. and this is overpriced imho. and not sure on a straight sub homage or vintage sub homage i like the red seconds hand... dont think it works too great

[@lionary]

Very nice preliminary review. I assume you will discuss presence or absence of ar coating on future video.

[@AverageBros]

Yeah, real Rolex subs don't have an AR coating, so Ginault skipped as well

[@lionary]

Thank you for your response. Wow, who would have thought (I have never owned a Rolex).

[@watchreport]

lionary the crystal is very clear though, the reflection comes from the mirror like enamel dial.

[@lionary]

thank you

[@Heinrich77]

This Ginault Ocean Rover is very similar to the Monta Oceanking which retails for $3,550. The Monta does not have the glidelock bracelet but a deployant clasp. What are your thoughts comparison wise?

[@inspector1973]

Hi Average Bros. Very good review. Is it true that the crown has a second stop for the date feature although there is no date mechanism?

[@HH60gPaveHawk]

I'd say probably, though mine isn't here yet, since the movement is set up to take a date wheel :)

[@TedBarrera]

Is that promo still on? Would love to get one of these.

[@bobbybeta3967]

One is better off getting an ORIS.

[@GarthPaiman]

It would be better that the bezel numbers and indices should be deep engraved like the bezel of Christopher Ward C60 Trident watch. That would be the final finishing touch that uplifts the Ginault ocean rover watch and for me to buy a Ginault ocean rover watch.

[@lonnythompson8131]

This company Ginault appears suspicious. The webpage Blog has postings from a mysterious John McMurtry, which does not have a profile of who this is?. There is no address or phone number with evidence this company is from the US or where this company is based?. The language in description is poor English implying the author is not a native English speaker. These two sentences on Ginaults web page describing Watch, "At Ginault, the craft of precision making is our one true pursue. Almost 30% of hairspring and balance wheel made had been recycled because they could not find their matches." is poor English. Should be "pursuit", not "pursue". It appears they are using hairspring and balance wheels that don't meet specs or fit other watch manufacturers, so they bought them and put into their watches? The Payment is using a generic service with no idea where your money is going? Was the reviewer paid to review this watch?

[@lonnythompson8131]

What major manufacturer watches use the 7275 movement to get an idea on the quality/reliability of this movement. "This is not a luxury movement", then what price point does this movement typically end up in?

[@lonnythompson8131]

Ok, I see from the beginning of video that Ginault 7275 caliber is custom ETA 2824-2 clone and the reviewer received watch for half off if reviewed.

[@StalkerWolf]

Lonny Thompson google Thomas Caddell.

[@kylestewart4444]

I can’t buy watches that use C3 anymore. I think the green tinge that it has in daylight looks awful, particularly with the kinds of watches that I tend to buy. I’m really glad that Ginault decided not to use it.

[@dallasn16]

Have you thought about leaving links in the description to any items you show in the video?

[@AverageBros]

link added

[@TopSecretVid]

Did you say “seeing what everything comes with”? Serious what does that even mean..

[@hentaipawn4175]

your gloves are too big for your hands, but thorough review done well

[@noahnoah9274]

I've had a seiko "land monster" for abouy a month and it was working great, all of a sudden it stopped working. whats the cheapest way of getting a watch fixed?

[@HarryUnchained]

Joseph Huerta warranty?

[@timmcdermott815]

Great review, I'm a big fan and I look forward to seeing their future models. Now, say it with me: Ginault= Jjj'know Homage= Oh'maj You are to smart not to pronounce these words correctly... Still, great work ☺🤓

[@dorningarts]

I do like this a lot, but at this price point it should be ceramic, which is a deal breaker for me. I do realize the original Rolex used aluminum, but I don't care, can't stand bezels that get scratched up :)

[@rhymanoserous]

Beautifully executed watch. Best Rolex milsub homage I've seen. The milsub/vintage subs are my favorite dive watches so I love seeing the micro-brand homages of it, e.g., Steinhart, Squale, Nth, Tourby, MKII, ManchesterWatchWorks, etc.This is definitely my favorite execution so far. Sure it's the price of a couple $600 watches you could get, but I could see this as being my go daily watch everyday as opposed to 2-3 rotating through the week.

[@ChrisMarshall1978007]

Do you still have this piece?

[@AverageBros]

Sure do

[@ChrisMarshall1978007]

Average Bros I just received ocean rover 2 from John at Ginault and I’m impressed I am thinking of buying one. Just wanted to know your opinion

[@AverageBros]

@@ChrisMarshall1978007 nice, they're so well built, you can't go wrong.

[@ChrisMarshall1978007]

Average Bros that’s how I feel so far thank you 😊

[@sifu61]

suppose price is a bit steep but by the same token, squale is overpriced for the quality. like everything else, just a matter of what you like

[@NICKVST]

I would like to see this in a GMT model

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

Me too.

[@liav6024]

Nice video thank you my friend for introducing this fantastic brand I have learned a lot!

[@kylestewart4444]

Do you shave your arms in order to avoid having hairs pulled out by watch bracelets? haha

[@AverageBros]

No, I'm just of Asian decent

[@kylestewart4444]

Average Bros haha right on man

[@EthanShaoDP]

how do you get the discount?

[@EthanShaoDP]

I mean I know you gotta do a review and a comparison, but how would you actually get the discount?

[@watchreport]

Ethan Shao to my knowledge the discount period is over, at least that is what the company told me. I would email and ask them though, worth a shot. Personally I see them having to get closer to that discount price for regular sale as I don't think many will want it at $1299 knowing how discounted it was in January. That is what happened when you discount a watch so drastically.

[@EthanShaoDP]

Alright. Thanks for telling me. Great review as always!

[@ixa7fxi]

Hi Ethan, Ginault is offering 50% and 55% through February. Shoot them an email.

[@johndonnelly5971]

Gin ohhhhhhh

[@HeathenDan]

1300 for a watch that started out as a counterfeit Rolex? No thanks. Google Tsung Chi Ginault.

[@user-zq1tw2rk7s]

If you're willing to get and are into this why not just get a Steinhart for half the price or less? I think it's a scam and way overpriced... For that money you can get an Oris, Sinn, Fortis, heck, even an Omega... etc. Damn, might as well get an invicta as much as I hate them for less than $100. I don't like it at all and think it is an armed robbery.

[@AverageBros]

Simply put, the Steinhart isn't comparable in fit and finish, also the Oceanone's proportions don't work well at the scale it produced at, maybe their upcoming 39mm will be better.

[@user-zq1tw2rk7s]

+Average Bros I think simply put I don't care about the fit and finish of an homage, and seriously doubt you do for that pricepoint. It is just unjustifiable any way you see it. What I think is you are getting a commission for anyone that buys one of those through your link... And that's ok and common practice in You Tube, although I don't personally like that MO and with all due respect can make you lose credibility.

[@AverageBros]

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH, no I do not receive nor have I ever received any type of commission for watch sales. I don't have an Amazon store or pass out special codes, the link in the description is the same one you'd find, through a simple google search and navigated the site on your own. You should be less cynical, it's just a good watch. You might not care about the quality and that's fine but I do and on my channel I share my opinion.

[@stevenuk]

Its a good watch and a good alternative to the $8000 Rolex.

[@TopSecretVid]

Please...the name is French..not pronounced how you are saying it, ug

[@paullowe9222]

This is crap! The movement probably made in China! Get yourself a Steinhart Ocean One Swiss movement dude!