Steinhart Vintage GMT: A Detailed Review

Note: I'll try to add pictures this week!​

After spending days looking at early 1970s Rolex Explorer II’s, I had grown to be very fond of the design and history of the watch. Unfortunately, I realized that obtaining one is many, many years off, being that my current net worth as a college student is about $4, and my annual income is about $2.31.A few days after ogling, I ran across a near-mint Steinhart Vintage GMT. It was listed at $395, and I jumped on it. I had messaged the seller a mere 5 hours after he posted it, and I was informed that the watch had already sold to someone else. I was shocked – 5 hours is an insanely fast sale. So, I started looking at previous Steinhart listings and I began to notice a trend: many Steinhart models sell within just a couple of days of being listed. I was impressed more than anything. The demand for these pieces is so high that they instantly get picked off the shelves whenever they are put on the market, and for a very good reason:Steinhart is a German-based company that produces “Swiss-made” timepieces. They use very well respected Swiss movements from ETA and Valjoux in many of their pieces, as well as production materials commonly found on the higher-end spectrum of watches, such as sapphire crystals, solid end links, 300 meter water resistance, movements with impressive complications (chronographs, 24-hour hands, etc.), and finely engraved casebacks and crowns.After researching the company and the watches they produce, I was hooked. I knew I had to get my hands on this Vintage GMT. Luckily, I found another near-mint one on eBay and got it for $420 – which is, in my opinion, a very good deal.I’m going to make occasional comparisons to Rolex/Omega, simply because I’m trying to put the quality of this watch into perspective.Also, about my grading scale: it is NOT relative to the price of this watch. It is relative to ALL watches. I have handled many different watches, from one end of the spectrum to the other – Timex, Seiko, Citizen, Orient, Steinhart (duh), Tudor, Rolex, Omega, Sinn, etc. – so I feel I can somewhat accurately produce a 1-10 scale. Of course, opinions are always involved, and obviously some of my personal opinions are used in this scale. Please consider that before getting fired up over it! Here is the expanded scale:Absolutely terrible. It may as well be broken.Still very crappy. You know the street vendors that sell $5 fake Rolexes? Yeah, that kind of crappy.Still pretty bad. Not worth throwing away, but bad.Timex quality. This is what you’d expect from a $20-$50 watch.We’re getting up there. It’s not, but it still isn’t very good. The finishing is decent, but you can clearly tell the difference between the finishing/build quality on this piece and a more expensive one. Watches in this range tend to be $75+.It’s a pretty decent watch. The construction, finishing, and timekeeping are slightly above average. It’s just enough to keep the buyer satisfied. Watches in this range tend to be $250+.This is a good watch. The materials used are of high quality. The function, design, and overall appeal are notably above average. Watches in this range tend to be $500+.We’re getting into some pretty serious stuff. This watch/aspects of the watch are noticeably better than the majority of watches out there. Watches in this range tend to be $1,000+.This is a very fine watch. The construction, finish, and capabilities of the piece exceed 95% of all watches by a long shot. This might be an Omega/Rolex/Breitling/etc. Watches in this range tend to be $2,500+.This is nearly unparalleled, and is very difficult to come across. It is definitely in the top 1% amongst all the other competition. A rating this high is very rarely used. Watches with these ratings tend to be $7,500+.Now that all that is out of the way, let’s get onto the actual review.Steinhart watches come in a black, leather (I believe it is genuine leather based on its smell, which is quite impressive) presentation box that is protected by an outer white box with a chrome-laid Steinhart logo. The inside of the leather box has egg crate-type foam that secures the watch in place. The watch is secured around a high-quality watch pillow. The warranty card is hand-signed by an employee at Steinhart, and a generic instruction manual is also included.One small peeve with the inner box: The watch pillow did not easily come out of the box, as part of the cutaway area for the pillow jutted outward, which made removing the pillow difficult. I know the pillow is designed to stay firmly in place, but this seemed like more of a quality control issue, as only one side of the cutout was jutting out too far.: The first thing I looked closely at on this piece was the finishing of the watch. I’ll start with the bezel: the top of the bezel is lightly brushed with a circular brush pattern, creating a highly attractive, satin look. This differs from the 1970s Rolex Explorer II’s, as those had a brushed pattern that followed the straight-line hour indices (you can see the by the pictures provided).The sides of the bezel have a fine polish, creating a nice, sharp contrast between the top and the sides of the bezel.The rehaut (the visible part of the casethe crystal has a similar, light, circular brush pattern, creating a subtle, non-distracting look for the exposed case under the crystal.The front facing side of the lugs and the front facing area of the crown guards have a light, straight, brushed finish.The sides of the case and the area between the lugs are both highly polished. It creates a very nice contrast from the rest of the case, even though it is susceptible to fingerprints and easier/more noticeable scratching.The brushed finishes have a very nice “grain” to them, but not quite as nice as new Omegas and Rolexes. I don’t know how to describe it, but the brushing on those pieces is incredibly fine.Dial, hands, & lume: The dial on this piece is gorgeous. The text is printed finely and precisely. The design is pure and uncluttered, regardless of how busy the dial may appear. The satin/textured black surface of the dial is also very attractive, as it adds simplicity to the dial by reducing reflections (like you would get with a glossy dial), and adds a layer of depth via the subtle texturing. The Super LumiNova is applied evenly on the hour indices and hands. It glows for an appropriate amount of time, but does not hold a bright charge for a long time like an Omega Seamaster. The lume stays perfectly readable in a dark room through an entire night.The second hand sweeps smoothly (though not quite as smoothly as my Omega Planet Ocean) and the hour and minute hands are spot on with the markers. The white hands are also very legible against the black dial.The beautiful GMT hand does not perfectly align with the hour markers. It tends to land on the hour marker spot-on about 1-1.5 minutes before the minute hand reaches 12. This is a minor issue and was only noticed upon very close scrutiny. It is also an easy (and most likely cheap) fix if it is brought into a watchmaker. It is a quality control issue, as this is not present on all Vintage GMT models (to my knowledge).As @CzechMate pointed out, this is a common issue not only in Steinhart watches, but in all of the ETA 2893-2 movements. Being that this is not a Steinhart issue (or at least not entirely), I bumped up the GMT hand rating fro 7/10 to 8/10.The bracelet, less one minor complaint, really shines for the Steinhart Ocean watches. The finishing is nearly identical to the finishing on the watch case with a lightly brushed finish on the front and back of the bracelet. The sides of the links are highly polished to match the sides of the watch case, which creates a very streamlined look.The bracelet came with a ton of links out of the box. I did not measure it, but I would guess it could fit up to a beastly 9” wrist with all links installed. I had to remove 4 full links to reach a comfortable fit.The bracelet is constructed of 316L stainless steel and is extremely solid and heavy. When pulled apart, the links have a very small amount of stretch/give, perhaps about 1/8 of a millimeter. The bracelet give when pressure is applied to the sides is also quite minimal, swaying about ¼ of a millimeter from side to side.The end links are solid and fit to the case perfectly. There is literally no play between the end links and the case, something I am very impressed with. The spring bars are adequate and fit into the end link spring bar holes perfectly with no room for movement.The clasp is perfectly adequate – yes, it is not a Rolex GlideLock clasp, and it isn’t an Omega Seamaster Pro clasp either. It doesn’t have a divers extension or any other fancy adjustment mechanisms, but regardless, it has a firm “click” when locked into place, and the secondary safety clasp closes firmly over the primary clasp. My one peeve: there is a pin that juts out by about 1/8 of a millimeter, and the end of it is slightly rough. If the bracelet was too tight, I could see that causing pain and digging into one’s wrist. Again, this is a quality control issue and could be easily fixed with a replacement pin.I have not done many trials, but so far, the watch is running at about +8 seconds per day. Not bad considering the fact that it is a year old and is not Chronometer certified, nor is it a top-grade ETA movement. Given that, I find +8 seconds to be very acceptable. I would even bet that with a regulation, it could easily sit at about +5 seconds per day.The movement in this piece is a Swiss–made ETA 2893-2. This is a highly regarded movement amongst the watch community and has been used as a base movement for many high-end brands, such as Omega and Breitling. I am not certain of the grade of this movement, but given the +8 seconds/day, I would guess that this is a mid-grade (AKA “Elabore” grade).The crown on this piece was shockingly good. Usually, a crown is a giveaway on whether a watch is worth $500, or if it is worth $5,000. I would say this crown falls right in between those marks. First of all, the crown threads into its locking position very nicely. The oil is smooth and it catches easily. Switching the crown to different positions is accompanied by a crisp “click”, ensuring the user that he is in a different crown position. The crown also has a very detailed and fine finish. The Steinhart logo is cleverly etched into the steel and is polished, while the rest of the crown has a satin finish. This makes the logo stand out, and shows that Steinhart pays very close attention to detail. Finally, the crown has very little play, which is what has me most impressed. When not screwed in, the crown barely moves at all. It undoubtedly feels more solid than my old Aqua Terra, and almost equally as solid as my current Planet Ocean. It definitely has a more solid feel than the Vintage Rolexes and Tudors I have handled.I’ll start to sum this all up with a summary of the features and materials of this piece.· The case and bracelet are constructed from 316L stainless steel· The crystal is thick, domed anti-reflective/anti-scratch, and sapphire· The bracelet has solid end links· The case is water resistant to 300 meters· Quick-change date· Quick-set for the GMT hand· Super LumiNova· ETA 2893-2 movementConclusion: Overall, this is a wonderful piece for the money you’ll be shelling out for it. It unquestionably exceeds its price point by a long shot. In some regards (such as the crown and the materials used in construction), the watch rivals some of the finest watches on the market today. There is not a single aspect of this watch that I was greatly upset with. Steinhart does not have the world’s best quality control, but that is to be expected with watches that are usually less than $700. I can tell you that a pin issue on a new Rolex would drive me up the walls, simply because when you pay $8,000 for a new watch, not a single damn thing had better be wrong with it.Of course, when you buy a very high-end watch, you will have better finishing, exotic materials (sometimes), customized and decorated movements, almost zero quality control issues, and, the biggest one, brand heritage and originality. With Steinhart, you have very little heritage and very little originality.I would say that a perfect example of this watch with no quality control issues would be rated at about an 8.25/10. Given that it’s about a $500 watch, I find that to be nearly unbeatable. This is a piece that easily competes with watches in the $1,500-$2,000 range. Had I rated this watch relative to other watches in the $500 range, it undoubtedly would have received a very near 10/10, as I cannot think of any other watches that could fully live up to this piece – therefore, I cannot do anything but recommend this particular watch and the Steinhart brand in general.Thanks for reading the review!Steinhart sent me a brand new clasp and a pin-changing tool free of charge after contacting them about the pin jutting out on the clasp. They had the clasp in the mail just two days after my initial email to them.