Parnis GMT Review: The Power of Compromise 

With most watch brands, a sapphire crystal and ceramic bezel are not something you would ever see on a watch costing less than $100. In fact, you would be unlikely to find these features on a watch under $400. Enter Parnis. While many watch brands and kickstarter campaigns boast about cutting out the middleman, it is no secret that many watch companies are manufacturing some or all of their watch components in China. Therefore, one of the most direct ways to purchase a watch is not from one of these so called “middleman eliminators”, but from Aliexpress.

While some of the specs are impressive, the Parnis GMT is not without major drawbacks. Let’s jump into this Parnis review and see what you do and do not get for ~$80.

Classic Watch Dimensions with a Sapphire Crystal

• Case: 40mm
• Lug to Lug: 48mm
• Lug Width: 20mm
• Thickness: 13mm
• Crystal: Flat Sapphire with Cyclops
• Water Resistance: 30m

It is hard to go wrong when the entire design of your watch is completely copied from the Rolex GMT Master II. The 40mm case and 48mm lug to lug is going to wear nicely on the majority of wrists. While it is a tad thicker than its inspiration at 13mm, it doesn’t wear like a tall watch.

The Parnis GMT case features polished sides and a brushed top. There are no bevels or transitions on the case (nor are they present on the Rolex). This watch is designed as a tool, but thanks to the design, it wears incredibly comfortably.

The crystal is sapphire and has a cyclops. A cyclops is a polarizing feature. While I understand why it is considered by some to be an eyesore, I found the magnification of the date an overall positive. The only downside I noticed is that the cyclops is a major smudge and dust magnet.

We have now reached the first major compromise on the Parnis GMT. The water resistance rating is only 30m. So if you are looking for a watch you aren’t afraid to get wet with, this is not it.

Applied indices and a Ceramic Bezel

The dial is a glossy black with applied indices. The unidirectional 120 click bezel is easy to turn with a nice click, but does have quite a bit of backplay. While technically, a GMT bezel should be bi-directional, you see this shortcut taken on other watches all the way into the $1,000+ range.

The overall alignment of the bezel and dial is close, but not perfect. The Parnis GMT ceramic bezel insert is well executed and the numbers pop nicely because they are actually etched into the bezel. The only oddity is that the blue section doesn’t seem to come far enough into the six (pictured).

The hands and applied indices are also surprisingly well finished.

This brings us to the second major compromise of the Parnis GMT: the lume. It isn’t bright, and it doesn’t last. If lume is important to you, the execution of it on this watch is going to disappoint you.

An Okay Bracelet, with a Caveat

The bracelet is a potential compromise, depending on your preference. While it features a milled clasp and solid end links, the two middle jubilee sections of the end links don’t articulate. This ends up adding about 4mm to the overall lug to lug of the watch putting it at about 52mm.

It depends on your personal taste, but for me this makes the lug to lug too long, and it felt sloppy on my 6 and ¾ inch wrist. Also, the clasp is a bit hard to close, but would probably break in over time.

The bracelet uses screwed links for sizing, which, as long as you have a ~1mm screwdriver, makes sizing much easier. Overall, I think the bracelet is decent if you are okay with the articulation caveat described above. I ended up ditching it for a barton elite silicon strap and haven’t looked back.

A Hacking, Handwinding Movement

• Caliber: DG 3804 (GMT, automatic, handwinding, hacking)
• BPH: 21,600

The Parnis GMT is powered by the DG 3804, an ETA 2893 clone. This is my first experience with this movement. The watch is keeping good time (losing ~10 seconds a day) and the date change over is very fast. I only have two minor issues with the movement. The overall operation of the watch via the crown is a bit unrefined. The handwinding feels gritty and the time setting and hacking don’t feel as clean on other movements. The second issue is the rotor of the movement will sometimes audibly free spin.

Overall Thoughts

It is amazing what you can get with a little bit of compromise. If you can accept that this watch is a copy of the Rolex GMT Master II, with only 30m of water resistance and negligible lume, everything else about it is actually really impressive, especially when you consider the price.

The bezel insert, dial and hands are all well executed and it looks sharp on the wrist. I did not anticipate that I would enjoy this watch as much as I do, but it has found a way into my regular rotation. And at about 1/200th of the price of the real thing, it is certainly bringing me more than 1/200th of the satisfaction. And that, my fellow watch nerds, is the power of compromise.