# Steinhart Marine 38 Review and pics



## gigel113 (Jan 14, 2012)

Hello everybody,

For nearly 1 year I drooled over the Steinhart Marine Chronometer II, and all those pics from WUS didn't make my life any easier. But I always faced the same problem, my small wrist size (16 cm, around 6.3 inches). A while I was thinking about getting a Marine watch from Kemmer, but even 42 seemed like too large for my taste (at least for a rather elegant watch). So you can imagine my excitement when I got a newsletter from Steinhart in which they informed me about the launch of the new Marine 38. This was Thursday, Friday and Monday I had a small chat with them about some additional strap options, and the next Thursday my watched already arrived (thanks Fedex).

*The package:*
The watch came protected in a white paper box (sadly, a bit broken) which had the watch box, the invoice and a small flyer with some a brief presentation of the various mechanisms that equip Steinhart watches. The watch box is from a nice material, and inside it has a soft pillow that protects the watch. Even though is not very nicely finished, overall it's decent (my girlfriend really liked it).









*Brief presentation of the watch:*
The design is a tribute to the first marine chronometer made by John Harrison in sex 18, thus it has more of a classic look. Besides the design, which I really like, I was especially attracted by its size: 38 mm diameter, 13 mm height (with 20mm lug width). It may be a bit too thick for a dress watch, but it doesn't wear like a thick watch.









*The strap:*
Not much to say here. It comes with a dark brown leather strap (20 x 18 mm), with an alligator model and a nice satined deployment (with the brand name on it). They say the strap is made from alligator leather, and it would be really nice for this price range. Although, I think it may be from calf leather with an alligator model on top (I don't know much about straps, so it's very possible I am mistaking and it's 100% alligator). What I can tell you is that it wears very comfortably. Near the lugs it's ticker (4.5 mm) and it get slimmer near the ends, so that it fits the watch very good and it helps the fact that it's a rather thick watch.

I've asked about other straps available for this watch, and they've told me that a black strap will be soon available. I would have loved a light brown strap to wear it in the autumn, but I'll search the aftermarket for one.









*The case:*
I like the fact that the case has a very classic line, brushed steel and only the bezel it's polished, just enough to best show the dial. Another nice detail about the case regards the lugs. The lugs don't narrow down near the strap, but they keep exactly the same width of the brushed case from one side to the other, leaving the impression that they end abruptly. 
Regarding the crown, not sure I like the blue stone. I tend to associate this detail with Cartier watches, while I really liked Steinhart's diamond crowns. However, the more I look at it, the more it grows to me and it gives the impression that it has a touch of distinction (my girlfriend really really likes it). 
Perhaps a small minus would be the low WR (maybe 30 or 50 M). Some guys complained about this, I personally don't see myself taking a shower or a dive into the pool with it, but maybe it's just me J.













*The dial :*
Nicely finished, don't know from what's it made, and under sun light it seems like porcelain. I'm not sure if the date window is properly positioned (or cut), but I'll have to get a magnifier to check it out more accurately. It's not something big, it may pass as character J, but I'm more of a perfectionist kind of guy. 
The blue hands are a nice touch. From what I've read on WUS, they use a chemical treatment instead of a thermal treatment for the hands, but they still look nice (I understand it's also a cost issues, so I only hope it will last ok). Depending on how the light changes, they change their colour from dark blue (near black) to a very marine blue. I would have liked the hour markers to be in the same colour (or maybe in roman numbers), but they seem fine as they are right now. 
The crystal is sapphire, with double anti-reflecting coatings on the interior side and slightly domed (1.5 mm higher in the middle of the watch). This is quite a nice detail for a marine watch, as it brings more with the crystal of a pocket marine watch.















*The mechanism:*
Here we have an ETA 2824-2 Elabore with a blue rotor and some blue screws and that's about all. I'm not very skilled about mechanisms, but the finishing touches are not this watch's strong point. However, the fact that it has a good mechanism, a real power horse that proved its worth in time, makes me comfortable with it. 
Personally, I would have loved a couple of more details, some decorated bridges, or even the brand name on the rotor, but can settle with the fact that they've carved the Steinhart crown on the rotor so that I'm overall ok with what I got (taking into consideration that all of these details have a significant impact on the price).







*How it wears / wrist shots:*
It wears great . It sits great on the wrist, and it slides nicely under the cuffs when it's needed. For me, it's exactly what I wanted and expected from it: a discrete presence on the wrist (despite it's height) that suits very well with a dress/ casual outfit.













*Lastly. some "artistic" pics:*















To summarize, I'm really pleased about the watch (geez, dunno why I even mention it as I think it more than shows from the review J), and it seems to be a great bang for a buck (like Steinhart watches seem to be).

Hope you enjoyed my review.
Best regards from Bucharest,
George


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## Riker (Mar 31, 2007)

George congrats, & thanks for the the review. The watch looks superb & does seem to be a perfect fit for you. The strap is an alligator grain meaning the alligator pattern is pressed into a top quality calf leather. They are very well made straps & the alligator pattern is very similar to the soft underside of an alligator. If it were a complete full alligator leather the strap would be worth atleast EUR100 on it's own.

Enjoy it, wear it well & often...;-)


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## gigel113 (Jan 14, 2012)

Riker said:


> The strap is an alligator grain meaning the alligator pattern is pressed into a top quality calf leather. They are very well made straps & the alligator pattern is very similar to the soft underside of an alligator. If it were a complete full alligator leather the strap would be worth atleast EUR100 on it's own.


Thanks for clarifying, this is what I also thought (especially when taking into account the price for a full alligator strap J ). What puzzled me a bit was the fact that they only mentioned "alligator leather brown" on the site, but all is clear now. And it just looks & feels great when wearing it :-!.


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## krstin (Aug 6, 2012)

George thanks for rewiev! I'm waiting for mine to come next week


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## Tony A.H (Aug 2, 2009)

Very Nice George.
fits your Wrist Well. Glad you found your Steinhart.
Congratulations. and Thanks for the Review.


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## good timing (Aug 19, 2012)

Nice review! Thanks for the write up and the pics. Looks great on your wrist!


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## Citizen V (Jun 29, 2011)

Thanks for the review and pics. Any other thoughts k the blue stone in the crown? Is it a matte color like in the pictures or more shiny? 

Sent from my cm_tenderloin


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## google (May 3, 2012)

How small does this watch look? I'm afraid it will look too small on my wrist (6.6'). Normally I wear 40-42mm watches (Ocean 1 for example).


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## pepedog (Jul 19, 2010)

Looks very good. Thanks for the review and pics-my wrist is the same size and I can't tell you how useful that was. Leaning even more towards this one now......



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## gigel113 (Jan 14, 2012)

google said:


> How small does this watch look? I'm afraid it will look too small on my wrist (6.6'). Normally I wear 40-42mm watches (Ocean 1 for example).


Honestly, being 13mm tall it wears a bit bigger than I expected (also due to the nice clean white dial). All in all, it's a dress watch, not a diver 

@*pepedog*: glad I could be of help!


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## whatmeworry (Jul 31, 2009)

Apologies for resurrecting such an old thread, but as someone with a similar size wrist who is considering this watch I wondered how the strap was?
I'm guessing you went for the short option - how does the deployment sit on the wrist? Is it comfortable?
Thanks


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## gigel113 (Jan 14, 2012)

Hi there, to be 100% honest, when I ordered the watch, I was so excited that I totally overlooked this aspect and I went for the regular length strap o| :-d. So I had to go to a local watchmaker to punch another hole in the strap, and it fitted my wrist just fine. It may have looked not quite perfect because the overall strap was a bit too long, but I assume that, if you get the small version, you should be fine considering this aspect.

When it comes to the deployment, I am more of a regular buckle kind of guy, so I didn't get along very well it the deployment. It wasn't bad or anything, just a bit uncomfortable on the wrist, maybe due to my rather small wrist size and it being quite wide. I guess I could have gotten used to it in time, just that it wasn't as smooth as a normal buckle is, that's all.

Hope it help .


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## whatmeworry (Jul 31, 2009)

Thanks, that's useful 

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## zetaplus93 (Jul 22, 2013)

I just wanted to thank George for his in-depth review and excellent photos. I was contemplating this watch, and while I decided that it's not for me (a bit too big for my small 6.5" wrists), it was great to see all this info from George.


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## gigel113 (Jan 14, 2012)

Thank you, I'm really glad I could be of help!


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## google (May 3, 2012)

zetaplus93 said:


> I just wanted to thank George for his in-depth review and excellent photos. I was contemplating this watch, and while I decided that it's not for me (a bit too big for my small 6.5" wrists), it was great to see all this info from George.


The Marine 38 is to big??? Wtf


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## whatmeworry (Jul 31, 2009)

google said:


> The Marine 38 is to big??? Wtf


It's all a matter of taste. I had a 38mm Hamilton that I found too large. The Steinhart is very thick too.

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## gigel113 (Jan 14, 2012)

google said:


> The Marine 38 is to big??? Wtf


When considering the diameter (38), I would suggest to take into account also the height (12-13mm). These 2 put together lead to a rather hefty watch for a dress watch, at least from my perspective due to my small wrist size (15.5 cm). Now, it doesn't mean I always wear watches smaller than 38, my daily wearers are 2 that are 41 (an Omega SMP and a Sinn 103 ST) and I enjoy wearing them a lot, especially the Sinn which is quite hefty at 14mm height. Just that I would prefer a dress watch to be somehow less hefty, a more discrete presence on the wrist. If Marine 38 was at around 8-9mm instead of 13mm in height, I personally would have found it more appealing. To each his own I suppose :-!.


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## vackraord (Jan 28, 2014)

Now that you had the watch for quite some time, do you recommend it? I wan't a little dressier alternative to my ocean and the marine 38 is extremely well priced.

Have you used yours a lot or have you felt that it has been to thick?


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## gigel113 (Jan 14, 2012)

Eventually, I ended up selling the watch after 3 months or so. For my taste, the thickness wasn't what I would like in a dress watch. It's not that it's a bad watch, I just had different expectations from it: I wanted a 100% dress watch, but I find the Marine 38 as neither a true dress due to its thickness, nor a true casual watch due to the elegant dial ... 

I still like the watch, even now my desktop has a picture of it, just that it wasn't a keeper for me.


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## Powder_UK (Apr 23, 2013)

I'll get told off for resurrecting an old thread, but dammit.

Steinhart should be applauded for releasing in 38mm a type of watch which is usually only seen in 42mm or 44mm - bigger, even. And yet, what they have produced is in my view too flawed to merit a purchase. The lack of a sub-second at 6 is unfortunate, given sub-seconds is a feature prevalent on the type. 13mm is far too high for a mid-sized case - 11mm is the limit, perhaps even 10mm. And the blue crown is gimmicky and dare I say it, tacky even, and limits the range of occasions, shirts and suits it will, er, suit. At least the gimmicky (and tacky) blue rotor is hidden away most of the time.

Steinhart would have done much better to produce a 38mm version of their 44mm piece - sub-seconds at 6, traditional onion crown, and beautifully-decorated manual Unitas movement and all:

MARINE CHRONOMETER 44, arabic - Marine Watch - Steinhart Watches

Better still with the silver escape wheel island:

ST. 1 Premium

And my search for such a thing as this goes on for a second year. If Steinhart do this, I'll buy two for me and one for everyone else who posts in this thread (this isn't legally binding, right? Any lawyers in today?).

~

Oh, and while they're at it, they can introduce a smaller version of this piece without the huge growth on the wrong side of the case:

MARINE TIMER stainless steel - Marine Watch - Steinhart Watches

That is a very nice dial which reminds me of a vintage Lemania I nearly bought last year (it got snatched away from me by a quicker buyer) and a Patek Calatrava I can never justify buying. Maybe with a bronze option.......?


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## PG_ (May 12, 2013)

Powder_UK said:


> .


I agree that 38mm is a nice size for a marine watch due to the dial being large relative to the overall diameter, the Kemmner marine auto is 38mm but also has a central seconds hand rather than having a sub dial. If you don't mind Roman numerals you could wait for a used Sewills Carmania to come up.

Have you seen the Steinhart in person? I don't agree that the crown and rotor look tacky, except for in some photos such as the stock photos on the Steinhart website. Then again it doesn't matter to me because I wear the watch on my right hand so neither is visible unless wearing short sleeves, then of course only the crown is visible. I would prefer it to be slimmer but unless viewed from a low enough angle to see the watch from the very bottom it doesn't look too high as the case back is fairly flat. My only real complaint is the lack of water resistance, 50m would have been nice to not have to worry about splashes from taps, rain etc. While I still sometimes think about buying a 'true' marine with a sub seconds dial and hand-wound movement, this one is possibly a keeper too. I will definitely stick to at least 50m WR next time though. I hope you can find what you are looking for.


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## Powder_UK (Apr 23, 2013)

PG_ said:


> I agree that 38mm is a nice size for a marine watch due to the dial being large relative to the overall diameter, the Kemmner marine auto is 38mm but also has a central seconds hand rather than having a sub dial. If you don't mind Roman numerals you could wait for a used Sewills Carmania to come up.
> 
> Have you seen the Steinhart in person? I don't agree that the crown and rotor look tacky, except for in some photos such as the stock photos on the Steinhart website. Then again it doesn't matter to me because I wear the watch on my right hand so neither is visible unless wearing short sleeves, then of course only the crown is visible. I would prefer it to be slimmer but unless viewed from a low enough angle to see the watch from the very bottom it doesn't look too high as the case back is fairly flat. My only real complaint is the lack of water resistance, 50m would have been nice to not have to worry about splashes from taps, rain etc. While I still sometimes think about buying a 'true' marine with a sub seconds dial and hand-wound movement, this one is possibly a keeper too. I will definitely stick to at least 50m WR next time though. I hope you can find what you are looking for.


I've not seen one in person, but the blue jars with me enough in the photos to suggest I wouldn't like it in person. And I don't want another auto. I have a few 38mm watches, a couple of which are 11mm and I know I wouldn't want one higher than that on my wrist, especially when it will mostly be worn with a cuff. 38x10x45 is the sweet spot for a case on my wrist.

I know of Kemmner. Maybe if I send him my list of requirements he can sell me what I'm looking for. I'm extremely fussy about what I want in watches, and given I don't need any of them, I'm happy to wait until I find exactly what I am after. (I took 18 months to choose a quartz beater for general use.) Just a little frustrating that the Steinhart 44 is perfect in every way except it's width.


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## PG_ (May 12, 2013)

Powder_UK said:


> .


I've read of people asking for specific specifications from Mr Kemmner and being successful so that might be worth a try. They are very nice watches, the only thing I don't like about his marine original is the shape of the minute hand. 
Perhaps the larger case diameter is a requirement for the Unitas movement used? If you look at the display back the movement seems to take up a lot of space.


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## Powder_UK (Apr 23, 2013)

PG_ said:


> I've read of people asking for specific specifications from Mr Kemmner and being successful so that might be worth a try. They are very nice watches, the only thing I don't like about his marine original is the shape of the minute hand.
> Perhaps the larger case diameter is a requirement for the Unitas movement used? If you look at the display back the movement seems to take up a lot of space.


Ditto on the minute hand, but I can just about live with that. Would be nice to have this shape though:









And yes, the Unitas movement is 36.5mm I believe. There must be an alternative of similar look and quality ... I hope.


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## gigel113 (Jan 14, 2012)

It's been almost 2 years since I bought a Steinhart Marine 38 and wrote this review, and during these 2 years I got the chance to own several watches besides this one (both dress and sport, both cheaper or more expensive). So now, if I were to write a review for the same Marine 38, I would probably be more critical and be put off by a series of characteristics which once seemed ok back then (38 in size it's ok, although 36 does seem more appealing, but 13mm is indeed far too much for a dress watch). However, at the end of the day, if Steinhart would come up with a Marine 38 with either ETA 2801, or with a caliber from Unitas, and the watch would be 10mm thick or less, then I would probably buy it again :-d.


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## Tkacik (Jun 11, 2012)

I just purchased one of these. Very excited!


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## trebor2 (Aug 13, 2017)

Tkacik said:


> I just purchased one of these. Very excited!


What are your thoughts on this, if you still have it? How is the tolerance? Thinking about buying one.


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## trebor2 (Aug 13, 2017)

Tkacik said:


> I just purchased one of these. Very excited!


What are your thoughts on this, if you still have it? How is the tolerance? Thinking about buying one.


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## kidsmoke (Jun 19, 2018)

I might've posted my new Ocean 38 in the wrong section, so I'm posting it again here. I really like it so far.


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## watson.col.cw (Jun 11, 2018)

This watch with the fish looks like a ocean vintage red ! Not a marine 38


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