I have a Rolex Oyster Datejust and a Seagull 1963. The only advantage of the Rolex is that people will pay crazy prices for the Rolex. Otherwise, the Seagull is pretty much just as accurate and reliable.
I have a Lilienthal-berlin Zeitgeist Automatik, which I purchased second hand from someone who got it as a gift, and is not a watch person. I paid a fraction of the cost, I will put the accuracy of that watch against anything anybody makes, it is impressively accurate.
The ST1901 movement is not as nicely finished, but it's only a tiny fraction of the price of a Swiss movement and it keeps the time accurately. And it's really nice to look at, too, as long as you're not looking at it under a microscope. I'm quite happy with my Seagull 1963. It gets a lot of wrist time. And I do own a bunch of Omegas and other Swiss made watches.
I have more watches than is rational from Chinese to Swiss and, as long as you buy from better brands, the Chinese pieces will go Toe to Toe, with Swiss pieces at 10x the price. Now, the Chinese do need to up their movement game and then it's not even close. A San Martin with a St2130 would beat any Swiss watch under 5k.
As a CZcams that deals a lot with those Chinese watches (my channel was formerly known as My Chinese Watch Collection) I agree with every word you said. The hate, the QC issues, all of it. But there is just so much value in some of the watches coming from China these days, it's a shame to miss out on that market. And my Seagull 1963 is my favorite watch in my collection, Chinese or not. And I got it new for under $150.
My Affordable Watch Collection - True Words. Where I grew up in the '70's , the term 'Jap Crap' was ubiquitous. It referred to all the cheap Japanese imports - from toys to cars. Now 'Made in Japan ' carries some caché. Is China the new Jap Crap'? I think so...
Awesome knowing that your birthday is in June because mine is also (June 30). I have a Seagull watch as well, it's not the model you have though. I love your channel, it's very informative and I get to see a lot of watches with a different perspective. When it comes to watch conversations, I advise people to wear what you love and love what you wear!
Anthony Smith it’s not only in the watch world, either. The budget knife market has exploded in just the past couple of years with tons of high quality stuff coming out of China. It’s really pretty similar to, say, how people are starting to take notice of all the materials and features these Chinese brands can offer at the price and wondering why Seiko still acts as if sapphire is an luxury feature, for example.
im temped to buy something like this www.wish.com/product/5d77884e08b8bc412ef5ed4e?hide_login_modal=true&from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=NL&_force_currency_code=EUR&pid=googleadwords_int&c=%7BcampaignId%7D&ad_cid=5d77884e08b8bc412ef5ed4e&ad_cc=NL&ad_lang=NL&ad_curr=EUR&ad_price=57.00&campaign_id=8704015860&retargeting=true&gclid=CjwKCAjw_-D3BRBIEiwAjVMy7Ipf17pCKTg1pVU2L-aq8IIKaXOMJ-9dFkz0nLXuwTxfEKsd3ft6-BoC2YcQAvD_BwE&share=web but it looks to good for the money important thing is i want the buttons to actually work.
The Seagull ST1901 Movement is an absolute monster when it comes to quality. my 1963 runs with less than 3 sec/day on average. This was the pilot chronograph for the chinese military, and still people think the military would have giveen their pilots garbage watches...
@@vertugallery7099 The movement is still made by the same company Sea-Gull. However, my understanding is that the QC they are applying can vary greatly depending on who they are selling to. Anyway, I believe Blackout's point is that it is a good design.
@@vertugallery7099 Well, the Sea-Gull company (or its legal predecessor) bought the movement from Venus, including the machines which made it. As I understand it, the original 1963 movements were made in China (not Switzerland), with these machines.
I've had a Seagull 1963 for over 6 months and it's great. My friend who's a watch guy, likes it after seeing it and trying it. It's not all about the cost as real watch nut like me knows. I wear the 1963 and then the next day wear the Day-Date. It's fine they're both top notch.
Nicely said Jory . I dont see many people complain about their Chinese made iPhones. Ignorant people . Thank you for the vids informative and good fun . Congratulations on the gains in viewers. :)
I worry when I see the Seagull 1963 recommended. Nothing wrong with the watch mind you but in a few years the cost of repair/servicing is going to be over twice what was paid for the watch. Be warned.
I own the same Seagull 1963 watch. What a watch for $375.00! Yeah I realize the screws are painted blue and not cured, yeah the decoration is not what you would get in a GENUINE Swiss for WAY more money, but look at the movement! Column wheel! works as smooth as butter. And it keeps better time than most of my "Swiss" watches! I own Rolexes, Breitlings, Ulysse Nardin, etc. But this watch is just amazing for the price! Good job Time Teller sticking up for watches that are made well no matter WHERE they come from! If you love watches, you love watches. Not just name brands but watches that are designed and made well with thought behind them no matter where they come from.
If the screws not being heat blued bothers anyone ......remove em one at a time .. after replacing the one u just took out...n heat the screw up with a propane torch until near glowing then.pick it up with pliers n drop it in oil of any kind...you'll have naturally hardened n blued screws... And they will be done the ol fashioned way....lmao...I'm kidding ..don't ever take screws out of your movement...though u can ask your watch maker too do it when servicing the watch...peace
I love my Cadisen with Seiko movement inside. Looses just a few seconds a day and works perfectly fine. Craftsmanship is also on a high level, no flaws or badly placed indexes whatsoever
Firstly, congratulations on almost reaching the 100k mark! I've never owned a Seagull 1963, but it definitely opened me up a whole new genre of wristwatches. I subsequently did buy an Atelier Wen Odyssey Hao (which is absolutely gorgeous), and hopefully will be able to acquire a Ming 17.01 sometime in the future. For those of you that have been conflicted by stigmatized opinions, you may just be missing out on enjoying some really good timepieces.
60% of the components for the swiss watch industry are made in china. The same factory that produced that Chinese chrono watch most likely makes parts for your favorite swiss brand. But they don;t tell you that. They show you the picture of the old swiss watchmaker and most of you are happy :)
Swiss watches are better because they use Swiss engineered movements rather than Chinese knockoff movements. You are using the no true Scottsman fallacy. Here is what I mean. Lets say Tesla uses a steering column made in China. Does that make a China made EV equivalent to a Tesla? Of course not. By the way, China mftrs are not interested in making heirloom quality watches that last a lifetime, so if durability is important to you, buy Swiss or Japanese.
I bought the Seagull 1963 a few weeks ago and payed 215€ for it on Amazon and i love it, Chinese watches have a bad rep yes but Seagull and Fossiel produce pretty good watches and i don't care what other ppl think about it, i love it :P
The additional improvement to tighten regulation is called the swan neck and was introduced in some of the Seagull ST21 and other Seagull movements, that improved more precise regulation of the balance staff.
I literally just bought the Seagull 1963 fifteen minutes before this video came out! I saw the title and got scared that T3 changed his mind on it, but I'm glad he still likes it!
I wasn't looking for validation, I was worried that his ended up having mechanical or quality control issues that caused it to not hold up. I can also value other people's opinions who have more experience than me without blindly following them.
Just as the AliExpress sale was ending, I was deciding between a Seagull 1963 Reissue or a CIGA Design Z. I went with the CIGA Design Z watch. Gotta love that RM style skeleton watch for under 150 USD!
I have Swiss, Japanese and Chinese watches. I just got a Chinese bronze watch that is outstanding. There are some good Chinese Microbrands ;). San Martin, Cronos, Heimdallr and others.
Two months ago I bought a Mido Multifort that fell apart the same day I received it. The entire internal mechanism was broken. Similar experiences have occurred to me with Tissot and Alpina.
Jori, I enjoy all of your videos for several reasons - most of all because of your authenticity! In this particular video, as I'm sure you know, the 1963 Seagul movement is steeped in Swiss heritage! And the Swiss seem to know how to build a movement. Just sayennnnnnn.... Thanks for all your great work!
The 1963 is actually a swiss-made movement by Venus (Venus 175). They bought the rights and added two more jewels and that's about it. It's a Chinese case with a swiss movement.
I have a Guanqin homage of a Longine and it's ticking no problem, keeping time accurately and it was like U$48. There's this other from Pagani Design that has a VK67 movement and it's damn good. It was $51. Both Chinese, and both way better than more expensive counterparts.
I bought an Addiesdive Tuna homage. It has a Seiko Nh35a movement. The loom is outstanding. It gains about 5 seconds a day. Not too shabby and really well made watch
Dude , all your videos are great & I really appreciate. All you've said have been well said & I totally agree with you. Nobody will want to grab your hand while you are walking on the street & see what watch you are wearing. We can only wear whatever pleases us & not others. People out there need to make some good research on Chinese Seagull watches history before making bad critics as honestly aside from owning some Swiss watches, I do also own some very & very good Chinese watches. Needless to say, most of the times, I find myself wearing many of my Chinese watches on a day to day basis & this has been going on for nearly 5 years now. They are damn good watches. After 5 years, till date, all my best Chinese watches are still working fine without any problem. Whatever my hard earned money can buy me is what pleases me & not what others think.
I must say, I own two Japanese watches an Orient Kamasu & The Seiko 5 Sport SNZH60K1. I just bought a chinese watch, The Jinshidun 8718 all Gold champagne dial Automatic 24 hr sun dial watch for under $100 and I absolutely love it. It keeps better time than my Seiko SNZH60. And I must say it's beautiful. Not only that, it's no longer available. So I have a rare watch.
Recently got a 1963 with the swan neck regulator. Out of the box, I am amazed how accurate this watch has kept time being fast only by 4 secs over 24 hours. Honestly had couple of Omegas that were 4 to 5 secs faster in a day. Seems like I got lucky or Seagull really does a good QC job.
You really got me into vintage seiko and other brands I never considered. I just bought a Brew watch, and I hope to buy an Autodromo before the end of the year.
It's quite a coincidence that today I'm wearing my Seagull 1963 chrono!! 😂 It's the 38mm, acrylic dome version. Just like the original from the 60's. This watch has such a rich history... It may be chinese, but has a lot of pedigree.
Christian Rodriguez - I chose the acrylic domed crystal over sapphire even though the cost was the same - for that exact reason; its heritage and to ensure that my watch was as close to the original issue as possible. I'm a bit of a fan of acrylic crystals.
There's not much coverage of Vintage Chinese mechanicals Jorie, and there's a fuck ton of deals there. Tons of great watches from the olden Chinese brands with history like Seagull, Beijing and Shanghai.
Nice video & info. I appreciate your honesty & straight-forwardness. If people don't like what you shared in this episode, then they can swing on the sack, bro! Continued success, my friend!!
Up to the 1970s, Japanese products were considered cheap and nasty. Most were just knock-offs of Western products. I can still remember the Datsun 120Y (old name of Nissan), its body panels were so thin, you could dent it by just pushing it with your finger! And it was so light, it drove like it was floating on the road. However, the Japanese went on a quality drive when they realised quality mattered. Nowadays, most people equate Japanese products as of high quality and reliable (especially for Japanese cars). In fact, I still remember the Japanese bashing that was prevalent in the USA during the 1980s, similar to the Chinese bashing now. China products are at the same stage Japanese products were during the 1970s. They have started to improve their products and still able to sell it cheaper than many Western counterparts. Give them another decade or so, and they will be able to produce high quality products which are reliable and probably still cheaper than their counterparts. In fact, you only have to look at mobile phones and see that the majority are now designed and built in China. Huawei being a prime example. Oh, and Apple products are all made in China.
I’ve recently started my own micro or better yet nano watch brand and I primarily use the Seagull movements. Some miyota and seiko too but the Chinese movements have been great and I can keep my watch price reasonable. And the beauty of some of the Chinese movements I use is they’re direct copies of ETA’s. So if a customer wants genuine Swiss I can easily use my dials and cases. I especially like the st19xx chronograph movements like in your review watch here. Love the channel.
The quality of products out of China vary widely. There are some world-class manufacturers there. Experts like you can help us a lot by sorting out the wheat from the chaff
I bought the cheapest Chinese watch I could find for about $1.20 (including shipping). It's an extremely basic looking watch and the strap as you can imagine is horrible. But you know what, the damn thing keeps the time. It's an accurate quartz movement inside and the second hand is properly aligned with the second markers. Yes, there's an audible tick with each passing second, but it's no louder than any of the more expensive quartz watches on the market and I love the simplicity and non existent branding on the dial. It's also extremely light from being so cheap, so easy to forget that it's even on the wrist. For $1.20 lol
Time teller does the narrative of describing the qualities that these Chinese watches offers, its good to try and experience Chinese timepieces, tried plenty of those, and they still work, their quality is good, and they are repairable as well, when you know to repair them. Replica watches are not fake, since they have permits to make the versions of the originals. As for parnis and some of the "Chinese brands" they are genuine Chinese brands, that makes them special, same thing with qualities when you bought swiss made or Japanese timepieces. Learn to appreciate versions of creativity in many parts of the world, sharing their best products produced. They are not cheap, they are for the "ables" regardless of their economic strata's they are at. Ciao, enjoy quality and quantity in many parts of the world. :)
I love the irony of people commenting on the "crapness" of Chinese-manufactured watches, whilst using their (probably) Chinese-manufactured phone/tablet/computer to do so. Whilst also ignoring the fact that premium, "serious" watch manufacturers like Rolex or Tudor have not been without their own quality control issues. Hell, even my Seamaster 300 isn't that consistent at time keeping, but I know that's a symptom of owning a mechanical watch. Sure, ignorance and perception plays a huge part in some people's comments, but...like, reading and some basic research is a pretty good cure for this, and we're all capable of that, right? Love the video Jory. Thanks.
I'm on my 3rd Chinese watch. The Pagani dropped the ball in the lume department. I have no complaints re: the Sharkey (Heimdallr), and now the Gustav Becker (Sea-Gull). Search the forums, do you research, and buy with confidence.
I just read a artical about Swiss people just end Chronometer comptition they used to hold every year just beacuse Seiko almost winning all the top ten( the first three are swiss made quartz to save some face which means Sekio are the true winner. The Swiss cannot handle this and just stop the comptition ever since. So, swiss made had fallen long time ago.
Japanese watches used to be looked down on. Before that Swiss watches were inferior to English and French watches. Luckily. There are those of us who don't care where it was made but the quality of it.
I love your channel it’s very helpful in my constant vigil for another watch on my wrist. I do have a suggestion. You have a really nice full beard I wish I could have one as full. But why don’t you keep it in trim it would look so much better. When someone first meets you a neat trimmed beard is their first impression of how you feel about yourself. You wouldn’t go out in public with an inside out shirt it’s the same with an untrimmed beard.
Great video, thanks again! I own a Red Star Mechanical Chrono and love it. For under $300 you can't go wrong. BTW the worst part of your video was having to watch a Vencero Watch commercial part way through. Congrats on 95K!!
Always feel Joey takes shots at his critics on the comment section, so Joey how about a new series "Joey reacts to internet trolls" I love watching these type of vids, keep up the good work T3
He doesn't have any REAL trolls. People who disagree aren't trolls. Haters aren't trolls. It's the nasties that never go away and start slandering personally that are trolls. And it's Jory not Joey.
I totally agree. I have mostly Swiss watches but my favorites are my skx007 and a Vostok. I was in the military stationed 6 a few miles from a Soviet union country but so what? My Vostok is super interesting and I am going tomorrow a seagull. Thanks for the great writeup...
Screw what other people think. I have the Seagull 1963 Chrono, I love it, it is not garbage and well made. Yeah there's a lot of bad stuff out there. But some are good, It keeps good time the chrono works find and very easy to read, it's just hand wind. Nor do I think it's the best watch made, but well worth the money I paid. I wanted this watch, bought it at for a few bucks more from Long Island Watch, and it came in two or three days not months, and having Marc the owner standing behind it helps. Not looking for Ali Express Specials.
Absolutely true story: In 1980, I bought a Rolex Daytona. Yes, a watch from the highest, rarefied air of the timepiece hierarchy. In 1982, the minute hand fell off...no reason...just looked at my watch while sitting on the couch and there was the minute hand rattling around. I had it repaired. And it has to be cleaned regularly or it just stops. Plain and simple..it just stops. And do you know how much it costs to clean a Daytona? I just stopped getting it cleaned because I can't afford it anymore. I'm retired and I don't make the money required for the upkeep of luxuries. I still own it and it sits on my night table...dead. So I've been wearing a Casio for 8 years. It never missed a beat. Never stopped once. Never needed a new battery. Yesterday, the strap on the Casio broke so I went on amazon and ordered two more Casios for a total of $28. Do you want to impress people or do you want to tell time? If I'm having my picture taken, I put on my Daytona. If I'm going somewhere and I can't be late, I put on my Casio.
@@Ligisten you DIDN'T HEAR the guy. He's got it fixed AND cleaned regularly but it's STILL a problem. "It should go 10 years". Yeah well he just said IT DOESN'T. Mercedes-Benz ate meant to be great too. Go talk to someone who has owned several of them. And ask them about electrical problems. "They're the best" but they can have electrical problems 3 MONTHS from new. Switches breaking. Stupid stuff. BMW is FAR worse. This is no different to the guy yesterday who was saying he got a BRAND NEW Breitling. With a scuff on the INSIDE of the crystal BRAND NEW. All the CLAP TRAP about high quality.... and there's STILL duds out there.
This is no different to the guy yesterday who was saying he got a BRAND NEW Breitling. With a scuff on the INSIDE of the crystal BRAND NEW. All the CLAP TRAP about high quality.... and there's STILL duds out there.
I have a Disney watch. It’s a seagull. In my eyes it’s a really nice watch, I love being able to see the internals working, the subtle little Mickey Mouse thrown in is not easily noticed so it doesn’t scream Disney. It keeps time, really that’s all that matters.
I have an Amazfit GTR by Zepp Health in Hegel, China. It is a smartwatch with a Li ion battery which stays charged for as long as 20 days. I really like the way it works, looks, and stands up to abuse. I like it much better than my over-complicated Apple Watch Ultra.
I bought a Forsining for 100 AUD. Fabulous dial, reminding me of the Breitling I couldn't afford. Auto, self wind, day and date dials, moon phase. It's not a fake replica and it gives me so much satisfaction, I don't care that it's chinese.
Love your channel Jory. Keep up the great work. Just bought a man cave strap for my seiko Sun019 kinetic. Also could you please do a review on the yema navigraf. Yes it's French not Swiss
I bought the Seagull 1963 and it confirmed everything I thought I knew about Chinese quality control. It arrived broken. What DID surprise me was the relatively fast customer service, and the ease of the return process. Once this issue was sorted out, I've become a very pleased owner of a watch which is FAR more accurate than I expected, reliable, and looks great. Very pleased with the purchase, but it's not altered my opinion of Chinese quality control * or lack of it.
My San Martin marinemaster is legit. I love it and it's made to a high standard. I love my pagani watch as well. China does make some good quality stuff you just need to do some extra research to find the good Chinese brands.
Forget the haters. The thing so many of the Chinese watches represent is sheer value! I have the PD Panda that's a techno marvel; sapphire glass, screwdown crown, pushers and caseback, Seiko Mecha quartz hybrid mvmt all for $65? Beat that! Waiting on a $65 Parnis GMT Coke that I fully expect will be another terrific value Chinese special. Also awaiting a Skmei 1629 $15 smart watch. I'm the laziest turd alive but can't wait to watch this bad boy count my 30 steps a day and communicate them to my Android phone. I've often joked my Fitbit thinks I've been dead for six months.
I’ve had one for years. It looks fantastic on a quality NATO strap. Brilliant movement, open back. Beautiful watch. True story, I went in two expensive watch shops at the weekend, security on the door and you have to be buzzed in expensive. Both remarked on my £300 watch, in one shop they took a photo of it. I didn’t buy anything, just looking. But man did I see a nice Omega Aqua Terra, small seconds. But £6300.00, I can’t bring myself to spend that, and you get 0% finance. I’ll buckle one day though. I crave a nice Omega.
Great summary, well done for not being prejudice....I've bought a few good watches like that by buying without looking at where they are from. Some chineese parts in them like Thomas Earnshaw. Thanks for this video cliff
As a Chinese viewer of yours, I think you made a very fair comment on Chinese watches, people should know what they're getting into, do their research, judge watches based on the watch themselves, don't expect to get $20,000 quality out of a $200 Chinese watch or anywhere else in the world, also if you only have $20, Chinese watch is the only option you could even possibly buy a watch for $20, don't take it for granted. Sea-gull is a very honorable and wellpriced Chinese watch brand, good to know there's people appreciating it from overseas, good work as always
I just got a 1963 in the post yesterday, 40mm sapphire with a gooseneck regulator 3 different NATOS, a mesh strap and bracelet with a milled strap, some watch tools and a load of spare spring bars plus a few gifts including some decent wireless headphones all for 136 pounds delivered with no VAT. In the UK and EU if you make an order from outside the UK and its under 135 pounds you have to pay 20% vat if under 150 euros you have to may 20 to 22% vat but if over 135 or over 150 and they marl it as a product under 15 dollars on customs you won't have to pay any tax. The watch was well regulated, new its going about +3 and stable. It was well made and packaged, comes with a 2 year warrantee from a respected seller. The problem with the 1963 is everyone assumes its made by seagull, seagull always makes the movements and may make alot of the other parts but the company's that make them are seguss, red star and HK something. The original seagull reissue was not made by seagull but sub contracted, seagull is now officially making the 1963 but its over 600 dollars and your getting no extra quality. The brand I got was red star but I'm happy with it as its built well uses a seagull movement that has a swans neck and more decorations than a standard movement and most of all since its a 40mm version the hands go all the way to the ends of the dial, it's not using the 38mm versions hands. The 40mm version is a little thinner than the 38mm. I lived in China for many years and you would be supposed how many Japanese and Swiss brands outsource everything but the movement to China. The Chinese ETA clones are much better than the past but all depends you you buy from and Hangzhous new 5000 series micro rotor 28,800bph of Chinese design is amazing. It's all about qc and what movement is used and the factory, the thing I dislike about seagulls 2824 clones is that apart from the balance they don't lube the jewels but that was only 1 example taken apart and seagull has multiple factory's. It would be nice if they marked the movement so you know what factory made it. I have heard very good thinks about the PT5000 movement.
Thanks for making another informative video! I asked a question during your Saturday live video,I know you get better questions than I asked. You answered my question with this video,thank you!
Interesting. I recently found a SeaGull 1963 for under $90 on Aliexpress. I bought it fully expecting it to be a counterfeit. It's my second 1963, I took them both to my watchmaker. It's not! When I heard this I ordered a good strap from Germany, because the leather that came with it wasn't great. The German watch strap arrived and split within 6hrs!! The Chinese strap and watch - still going strong! ...sorta proves Jory's point about quality control & not judging a product by its country of manufacture.
DanNacht - Thanks for the concern. I use a dedicated Debt card for online transactions - transfer the $ in, hit 'Pay Now' and leave a $2 or $3 balance or PayPal if possible. Re. the ID? Hopefully my VPN helps with that? ...
Not true that Swiss watches have better quality control. Years ago, like more than 10 years ago, I bought an Omega Seamaster. Happy with the purchase, I wore it the next day to work. Colleagues at work asked to see the watch and one spotted that the second hand in the watch has a dent. I thought it was maybe a reflection of light to make it looked like a dent. But on closer inspection, it really was a dent. I brought the watch back to the authorized retailer of Omega watches and after 3 days they returned the watch back to me with a new 'seconds' needle. I thought how did this pass quality check?
I have a Rolex Oyster Datejust and a Seagull 1963. The only advantage of the Rolex is that people will pay crazy prices for the Rolex. Otherwise, the Seagull is pretty much just as accurate and reliable.
I have a Lilienthal-berlin Zeitgeist Automatik, which I purchased second hand from someone who got it as a gift, and is not a watch person. I paid a fraction of the cost, I will put the accuracy of that watch against anything anybody makes, it is impressively accurate.
The ST1901 movement is not as nicely finished, but it's only a tiny fraction of the price of a Swiss movement and it keeps the time accurately. And it's really nice to look at, too, as long as you're not looking at it under a microscope. I'm quite happy with my Seagull 1963. It gets a lot of wrist time. And I do own a bunch of Omegas and other Swiss made watches.
I have more watches than is rational from Chinese to Swiss and, as long as you buy from better brands, the Chinese pieces will go Toe to Toe, with Swiss pieces at 10x the price. Now, the Chinese do need to up their movement game and then it's not even close. A San Martin with a St2130 would beat any Swiss watch under 5k.
As a CZcams that deals a lot with those Chinese watches (my channel was formerly known as My Chinese Watch Collection) I agree with every word you said. The hate, the QC issues, all of it. But there is just so much value in some of the watches coming from China these days, it's a shame to miss out on that market.
And my Seagull 1963 is my favorite watch in my collection, Chinese or not. And I got it new for under $150.
My Affordable Watch Collection 100%!
A tongji automatic that sells for $12 shipped is not a bad watch for the money, because what did you expect for $12?
My Affordable Watch Collection - True Words. Where I grew up in the '70's , the term 'Jap Crap' was ubiquitous. It referred to all the cheap Japanese imports - from toys to cars. Now 'Made in Japan ' carries some caché.
Is China the new Jap Crap'?
I think so...
Awesome knowing that your birthday is in June because mine is also (June 30). I have a Seagull watch as well, it's not the model you have though. I love your channel, it's very informative and I get to see a lot of watches with a different perspective. When it comes to watch conversations, I advise people to wear what you love and love what you wear!
Anthony Smith it’s not only in the watch world, either. The budget knife market has exploded in just the past couple of years with tons of high quality stuff coming out of China. It’s really pretty similar to, say, how people are starting to take notice of all the materials and features these Chinese brands can offer at the price and wondering why Seiko still acts as if sapphire is an luxury feature, for example.
I'm happy and satisfied with my $60 Guanqin dress watch. The longer I have it, the more I'm convinced I didn't waste my money.
John Christian De Guzman where did you buy it? Thanks
Online
@@cuestion-de-tiempo Gearbest.com has hundreds of this any many other brands of Chinese watches. They start a $2.00 a watch and go up.
im temped to buy something like this www.wish.com/product/5d77884e08b8bc412ef5ed4e?hide_login_modal=true&from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=NL&_force_currency_code=EUR&pid=googleadwords_int&c=%7BcampaignId%7D&ad_cid=5d77884e08b8bc412ef5ed4e&ad_cc=NL&ad_lang=NL&ad_curr=EUR&ad_price=57.00&campaign_id=8704015860&retargeting=true&gclid=CjwKCAjw_-D3BRBIEiwAjVMy7Ipf17pCKTg1pVU2L-aq8IIKaXOMJ-9dFkz0nLXuwTxfEKsd3ft6-BoC2YcQAvD_BwE&share=web but it looks to good for the money important thing is i want the buttons to actually work.
@@cliffordbunin3278 Stay away from wish!
The Seagull ST1901 Movement is an absolute monster when it comes to quality. my 1963 runs with less than 3 sec/day on average. This was the pilot chronograph for the chinese military, and still people think the military would have giveen their pilots garbage watches...
It is not the same watch or the same movement. It is a replica of the watch that was used by the Chinese military. Learn.
@@vertugallery7099 The movement is still made by the same company Sea-Gull. However, my understanding is that the QC they are applying can vary greatly depending on who they are selling to. Anyway, I believe Blackout's point is that it is a good design.
@@luke-alex My friend, the movement in the original of this watch was a Swiss Venus movement, used by Breitling etc.
@@vertugallery7099 Well, the Sea-Gull company (or its legal predecessor) bought the movement from Venus, including the machines which made it. As I understand it, the original 1963 movements were made in China (not Switzerland), with these machines.
@@luke-alex The modern movement is not the same quality; it is a totally different movement. Go do some more homework.
Loving my Sea-Gull watches, one genuine, one Parnis, and a Timex diver with a power reserve ..
Timex is an american company(made in China).
I got a seiko tuna for my 14th birthday last November and my dad gave me a Submariner when I was 10 and had no watch knowledge
@@elduderino1329 made in the philippines
I've had a Seagull 1963 for over 6 months and it's great. My friend who's a watch guy, likes it after seeing it and trying it. It's not all about the cost as real watch nut like me knows. I wear the 1963 and then the next day wear the Day-Date. It's fine they're both top notch.
Nicely said Jory . I dont see many people complain about their Chinese made iPhones. Ignorant people . Thank you for the vids informative and good fun . Congratulations on the gains in viewers. :)
Big difference between making a phone that will need changing within a few years and a mechanical watch built to last a hundred years.
Agree to some extent. But they are backed up by IPhone quality and warranty. 10$ chinese quartz watch isn't.
So true. Most of the stuff they own is also made in China.
I worry when I see the Seagull 1963 recommended. Nothing wrong with the watch mind you but in a few years the cost of repair/servicing is going to be over twice what was paid for the watch. Be warned.
@Garnet Newton-Wade I keep seeing Warnings about that movement . I guess it's luck of the draw with that .
I own the same Seagull 1963 watch. What a watch for $375.00! Yeah I realize the screws are painted blue and not cured, yeah the decoration is not what you would get in a GENUINE Swiss for WAY more money, but look at the movement! Column wheel! works as smooth as butter. And it keeps better time than most of my "Swiss" watches! I own Rolexes, Breitlings, Ulysse Nardin, etc. But this watch is just amazing for the price! Good job Time Teller sticking up for watches that are made well no matter WHERE they come from! If you love watches, you love watches. Not just name brands but watches that are designed and made well with thought behind them no matter where they come from.
If the screws not being heat blued bothers anyone ......remove em one at a time .. after replacing the one u just took out...n heat the screw up with a propane torch until near glowing then.pick it up with pliers n drop it in oil of any kind...you'll have naturally hardened n blued screws... And they will be done the ol fashioned way....lmao...I'm kidding ..don't ever take screws out of your movement...though u can ask your watch maker too do it when servicing the watch...peace
*Sees the video.*
*Sees the date.*
*Hears reasonable arguments.*
I'm so confused right now.
Impressed with my Seagull 1963..decent quality, pretty accurate & ridiculously cheap. 👍🏻👍🏻
I got a Orient Maestro greenish blue dial for really cheap and it's the best automatic watch that I wear daily
The accuracy of this was a huge surprise to me. Have the Sugess version under $200
I love my Cadisen with Seiko movement inside. Looses just a few seconds a day and works perfectly fine. Craftsmanship is also on a high level, no flaws or badly placed indexes whatsoever
A "few" seconds a day is 24 min. a year. My old Eterna Matic lost 2 min. a year.🕧
@@bafattvahetere really tho?
Firstly, congratulations on almost reaching the 100k mark!
I've never owned a Seagull 1963, but it definitely opened me up a whole new genre of wristwatches. I subsequently did buy an Atelier Wen Odyssey Hao (which is absolutely gorgeous), and hopefully will be able to acquire a Ming 17.01 sometime in the future. For those of you that have been conflicted by stigmatized opinions, you may just be missing out on enjoying some really good timepieces.
60% of the components for the swiss watch industry are made in china. The same factory that produced that Chinese chrono watch most likely makes parts for your favorite swiss brand. But they don;t tell you that. They show you the picture of the old swiss watchmaker and most of you are happy :)
Swiss watches are better because they use Swiss engineered movements rather than Chinese knockoff movements. You are using the no true Scottsman fallacy. Here is what I mean. Lets say Tesla uses a steering column made in China. Does that make a China made EV equivalent to a Tesla? Of course not.
By the way, China mftrs are not interested in making heirloom quality watches that last a lifetime, so if durability is important to you, buy Swiss or Japanese.
I’ve been eyeing the sea-gull 1963 for a while! Thanks for the vid!
Very nice video! And I’m glad to see something great from my home town 天津. I bought one myself recently, can’t wait till I go back and pick that up.
Ordered my Seagull 1963 two days ago from Aliexpress for $165. It is the 38mm sapphire glass model. Sorry folks, that sale ended at midnight!
You got taste👍
I bought the Seagull 1963 a few weeks ago and payed 215€ for it on Amazon and i love it, Chinese watches have a bad rep yes but Seagull and Fossiel produce pretty good watches and i don't care what other ppl think about it, i love it :P
The additional improvement to tighten regulation is called the swan neck and was introduced in some of the Seagull ST21 and other Seagull movements, that improved more precise regulation of the balance staff.
I'm watching this with a Seagull 1963 on my wrist. Super happy with it.
I literally just bought the Seagull 1963 fifteen minutes before this video came out! I saw the title and got scared that T3 changed his mind on it, but I'm glad he still likes it!
You don't need validation from anyone to like anything
lmao you got scared? insecure much?
Did you go with the sapphire crystal variant?
I wasn't looking for validation, I was worried that his ended up having mechanical or quality control issues that caused it to not hold up. I can also value other people's opinions who have more experience than me without blindly following them.
@@discingaround yeah I decided to get the sapphire variant because I tend to accidentally slam my watches on door ways 😅
Just as the AliExpress sale was ending, I was deciding between a Seagull 1963 Reissue or a CIGA Design Z. I went with the CIGA Design Z watch. Gotta love that RM style skeleton watch for under 150 USD!
I have Cadisen, also a Chinese Watch but has Seiko NH36a movement. Runs perfectly fine. ❤️
I have Swiss, Japanese and Chinese watches. I just got a Chinese bronze watch that is outstanding. There are some good Chinese Microbrands ;). San Martin, Cronos, Heimdallr and others.
Two months ago I bought a Mido Multifort that fell apart the same day I received it. The entire internal mechanism was broken. Similar experiences have occurred to me with Tissot and Alpina.
If a watch is bad or broken, it's bad or broken regardless of country. G-Shocks are made in China and are tougher than 99% of other watches.
China deserves more credit, Starking changed my opinion about them. They do have some decent products from their region.
Do you support Chinese concentration camps too?
MY GOD my seagull 1963 is 12 months old today and as i watch this it is on my wrist and going perfectly 👍♥️👍
Watch & Unwind Happy birthday to your watch!
Just ordered a Seagull 1963 for 90 bucks on Amazon. Been wanting a Seagull for years.
Jori, I enjoy all of your videos for several reasons - most of all because of your authenticity!
In this particular video, as I'm sure you know, the 1963 Seagul movement is steeped in Swiss heritage! And the Swiss seem to know how to build a movement. Just sayennnnnnn....
Thanks for all your great work!
Honestly I always visually liked this chrono dial!
You can get a nice Seagull 1963 with a swanneck regulator for $200. They are very nice, reliable and accurate.
The 1963 is actually a swiss-made movement by Venus (Venus 175). They bought the rights and added two more jewels and that's about it. It's a Chinese case with a swiss movement.
I have a Guanqin homage of a Longine and it's ticking no problem, keeping time accurately and it was like U$48. There's this other from Pagani Design that has a VK67 movement and it's damn good. It was $51. Both Chinese, and both way better than more expensive counterparts.
I bought an Addiesdive Tuna homage. It has a Seiko Nh35a movement. The loom is outstanding. It gains about 5 seconds a day. Not too shabby and really well made watch
Dude , all your videos are great & I really appreciate. All you've said have been well said & I totally agree with you. Nobody will want to grab your hand while you are walking on the street & see what watch you are wearing. We can only wear whatever pleases us & not others. People out there need to make some good research on Chinese Seagull watches history before making bad critics as honestly aside from owning some Swiss watches, I do also own some very & very good Chinese watches. Needless to say, most of the times, I find myself wearing many of my Chinese watches on a day to day basis & this has been going on for nearly 5 years now. They are damn good watches. After 5 years, till date, all my best Chinese watches are still working fine without any problem. Whatever my hard earned money can buy me is what pleases me & not what others think.
I must say, I own two Japanese watches an Orient Kamasu & The Seiko 5 Sport SNZH60K1.
I just bought a chinese watch, The Jinshidun 8718 all Gold champagne dial Automatic 24 hr sun dial watch for under $100 and I absolutely love it.
It keeps better time than my Seiko SNZH60. And I must say it's beautiful. Not only that, it's no longer available. So I have a rare watch.
Recently got a 1963 with the swan neck regulator. Out of the box, I am amazed how accurate this watch has kept time being fast only by 4 secs over 24 hours. Honestly had couple of Omegas that were 4 to 5 secs faster in a day. Seems like I got lucky or Seagull really does a good QC job.
Oh yeah, I also have the 1963 Chinese Air Force Chrono (in sapphire) that is cool as hell (on a nice semi distressed blonde leather strap).
Such a nice video as always. This year I bought three chinese watches, two Pagani Design and one Parnis, and I really enjoy them!!!
You really got me into vintage seiko and other brands I never considered. I just bought a Brew watch, and I hope to buy an Autodromo before the end of the year.
I love all watches. My favorite is my Omega reduced speedmaster. I love all my watches with ETA 2824 movements
It's quite a coincidence that today I'm wearing my Seagull 1963 chrono!! 😂 It's the 38mm, acrylic dome version. Just like the original from the 60's. This watch has such a rich history... It may be chinese, but has a lot of pedigree.
Christian Rodriguez - I chose the acrylic domed crystal over sapphire even though the cost was the same - for that exact reason; its heritage and to ensure that my watch was as close to the original issue as possible.
I'm a bit of a fan of acrylic crystals.
There's not much coverage of Vintage Chinese mechanicals Jorie, and there's a fuck ton of deals there.
Tons of great watches from the olden Chinese brands with history like Seagull, Beijing and Shanghai.
You don’t support a region when you buy a watch.....you support a company.
My best watch is made in Elgin, Illinois USA 101 years ago. Railroad grade pocket watch. It's a lot of fun.
Nice video & info. I appreciate your honesty & straight-forwardness. If people don't like what you shared in this episode, then they can swing on the sack, bro! Continued success, my friend!!
Haters will be haters dude. Thx for this video. Just as you said.....I love watches......and I don't care where they come from
Up to the 1970s, Japanese products were considered cheap and nasty. Most were just knock-offs of Western products. I can still remember the Datsun 120Y (old name of Nissan), its body panels were so thin, you could dent it by just pushing it with your finger! And it was so light, it drove like it was floating on the road. However, the Japanese went on a quality drive when they realised quality mattered. Nowadays, most people equate Japanese products as of high quality and reliable (especially for Japanese cars). In fact, I still remember the Japanese bashing that was prevalent in the USA during the 1980s, similar to the Chinese bashing now.
China products are at the same stage Japanese products were during the 1970s. They have started to improve their products and still able to sell it cheaper than many Western counterparts. Give them another decade or so, and they will be able to produce high quality products which are reliable and probably still cheaper than their counterparts. In fact, you only have to look at mobile phones and see that the majority are now designed and built in China. Huawei being a prime example. Oh, and Apple products are all made in China.
I was looking at the video wearing one of my Chinese watches, the Guanqin. My favorite Chinese watch is for sure the Seagull 1963.
Great info! My Starking was $35 and still works fine after over a year. :-D
I’ve recently started my own micro or better yet nano watch brand and I primarily use the Seagull movements. Some miyota and seiko too but the Chinese movements have been great and I can keep my watch price reasonable. And the beauty of some of the Chinese movements I use is they’re direct copies of ETA’s. So if a customer wants genuine Swiss I can easily use my dials and cases. I especially like the st19xx chronograph movements like in your review watch here.
Love the channel.
Jory, well said. Do your research and choose wisely.
Thank you for cranking out so many videos lately and also such good content! Keeping me going in this “shelter in place” time!
The quality of products out of China vary widely. There are some world-class manufacturers there.
Experts like you can help us a lot by sorting out the wheat from the chaff
I bought the cheapest Chinese watch I could find for about $1.20 (including shipping). It's an extremely basic looking watch and the strap as you can imagine is horrible.
But you know what, the damn thing keeps the time. It's an accurate quartz movement inside and the second hand is properly aligned with the second markers. Yes, there's an audible tick with each passing second, but it's no louder than any of the more expensive quartz watches on the market and I love the simplicity and non existent branding on the dial. It's also extremely light from being so cheap, so easy to forget that it's even on the wrist.
For $1.20 lol
Another great vid Jory. Currently waiting for my Kickstarter Traska summiteer to arrive - conceived in the USA, made in....China.
Time teller does the narrative of describing the qualities that these Chinese watches offers, its good to try and experience Chinese timepieces, tried plenty of those, and they still work, their quality is good, and they are repairable as well, when you know to repair them. Replica watches are not fake, since they have permits to make the versions of the originals. As for parnis and some of the "Chinese brands" they are genuine Chinese brands, that makes them special, same thing with qualities when you bought swiss made or Japanese timepieces. Learn to appreciate versions of creativity in many parts of the world, sharing their best products produced. They are not cheap, they are for the "ables" regardless of their economic strata's they are at. Ciao, enjoy quality and quantity in many parts of the world. :)
👏👏👏👍 if it’s a good watch it’s a good watch regardless of where it’s made. I’m hoping to add the seagull to my collection one day.
I love the irony of people commenting on the "crapness" of Chinese-manufactured watches, whilst using their (probably) Chinese-manufactured phone/tablet/computer to do so. Whilst also ignoring the fact that premium, "serious" watch manufacturers like Rolex or Tudor have not been without their own quality control issues. Hell, even my Seamaster 300 isn't that consistent at time keeping, but I know that's a symptom of owning a mechanical watch. Sure, ignorance and perception plays a huge part in some people's comments, but...like, reading and some basic research is a pretty good cure for this, and we're all capable of that, right?
Love the video Jory. Thanks.
The 1963 Seagull is an absolute legendary watch. I’ll be buying one very soon.
Great video
I'm on my 3rd Chinese watch. The Pagani dropped the ball in the lume department. I have no complaints re: the Sharkey (Heimdallr), and now the Gustav Becker (Sea-Gull). Search the forums, do you research, and buy with confidence.
My Red star 1963 is one of the prides of my collection along with the discontinued seiko sarbs.
Stuck in the US now and missing my Seagull 1963 left in my apartment in Shanghai. Great vid as always!
Good message
I just read a artical about Swiss people just end Chronometer comptition they used to hold every year just beacuse Seiko almost winning all the top ten( the first three are swiss made quartz to save some face which means Sekio are the true winner. The Swiss cannot handle this and just stop the comptition ever since. So, swiss made had fallen long time ago.
They brought it back but the watches had to be made in Europe.
@@RestrictedHades Aisa Watch Matter， lol
Love my Alpha daytona, it's a gorgeous watch with great quality throughout. 100% Chinese and simply excellent.
Love my Seagull Ocean Star, 200 m diver with high beat mvmt. My Swiss Glycine & Squale have nothing on it for 200 or 300 $ more!
I just ordered one.
"Hate ON" ? The "On" is superflueous!
Picked up my seagull 1963 w column wheel and sapphire crystal thru Ali's on sale one day $153.....6 weeks later, it showed up in my mailbox
Japanese watches used to be looked down on. Before that Swiss watches were inferior to English and French watches.
Luckily. There are those of us who don't care where it was made but the quality of it.
I love your channel it’s very helpful in my constant vigil for another watch on my wrist. I do have a suggestion. You have a really nice full beard I wish I could have one as full. But why don’t you keep it in trim it would look so much better. When someone first meets you a neat trimmed beard is their first impression of how you feel about yourself. You wouldn’t go out in public with an inside out shirt it’s the same with an untrimmed beard.
Great video, thanks again! I own a Red Star Mechanical Chrono and love it. For under $300 you can't go wrong. BTW the worst part of your video was having to watch a Vencero Watch commercial part way through. Congrats on 95K!!
seagull 1963 is on my list of must haves.
Always feel Joey takes shots at his critics on the comment section, so Joey how about a new series "Joey reacts to internet trolls" I love watching these type of vids, keep up the good work T3
He doesn't have any REAL trolls. People who disagree aren't trolls. Haters aren't trolls. It's the nasties that never go away and start slandering personally that are trolls. And it's Jory not Joey.
I totally agree. I have mostly Swiss watches but my favorites are my skx007 and a Vostok. I was in the military stationed 6 a few miles from a Soviet union country but so what? My Vostok is super interesting and I am going tomorrow a seagull. Thanks for the great writeup...
Congrats and all the best, T3! Onward to the 200K milestone!
Screw what other people think. I have the Seagull 1963 Chrono, I love it, it is not garbage and well made. Yeah there's a lot of bad stuff out there. But some are good, It keeps good time the chrono works find and very easy to read, it's just hand wind. Nor do I think it's the best watch made, but well worth the money I paid. I wanted this watch, bought it at for a few bucks more from Long Island Watch, and it came in two or three days not months, and having Marc the owner standing behind it helps. Not looking for Ali Express Specials.
Absolutely true story: In 1980, I bought a Rolex Daytona. Yes, a watch from the highest, rarefied air of the timepiece hierarchy. In 1982, the minute hand fell off...no reason...just looked at my watch while sitting on the couch and there was the minute hand rattling around. I had it repaired. And it has to be cleaned regularly or it just stops. Plain and simple..it just stops. And do you know how much it costs to clean a Daytona? I just stopped getting it cleaned because I can't afford it anymore. I'm retired and I don't make the money required for the upkeep of luxuries. I still own it and it sits on my night table...dead.
So I've been wearing a Casio for 8 years. It never missed a beat. Never stopped once. Never needed a new battery. Yesterday, the strap on the Casio broke so I went on amazon and ordered two more Casios for a total of $28.
Do you want to impress people or do you want to tell time? If I'm having my picture taken, I put on my Daytona. If I'm going somewhere and I can't be late, I put on my Casio.
I would use it just as jewelry, and getting it fixed once should make it work 10+ years without a problem
@@Ligisten you DIDN'T HEAR the guy. He's got it fixed AND cleaned regularly but it's STILL a problem. "It should go 10 years". Yeah well he just said IT DOESN'T. Mercedes-Benz ate meant to be great too. Go talk to someone who has owned several of them. And ask them about electrical problems. "They're the best" but they can have electrical problems 3 MONTHS from new. Switches breaking. Stupid stuff. BMW is FAR worse. This is no different to the guy yesterday who was saying he got a BRAND NEW Breitling. With a scuff on the INSIDE of the crystal BRAND NEW. All the CLAP TRAP about high quality.... and there's STILL duds out there.
This is no different to the guy yesterday who was saying he got a BRAND NEW Breitling. With a scuff on the INSIDE of the crystal BRAND NEW. All the CLAP TRAP about high quality.... and there's STILL duds out there.
@@OffGridInvestor Calm down bro, if it doesnt last 10 years they aint fixing the problem while service
I have a Disney watch. It’s a seagull. In my eyes it’s a really nice watch, I love being able to see the internals working, the subtle little Mickey Mouse thrown in is not easily noticed so it doesn’t scream Disney.
It keeps time, really that’s all that matters.
I played this video at half the speed. LOL!
I have an Amazfit GTR by Zepp Health in Hegel, China. It is a smartwatch with a Li ion battery which stays charged for as long as 20 days. I really like the way it works, looks, and stands up to abuse. I like it much better than my over-complicated Apple Watch Ultra.
I bought a Forsining for 100 AUD. Fabulous dial, reminding me of the Breitling I couldn't afford. Auto, self wind, day and date dials, moon phase. It's not a fake replica and it gives me so much satisfaction, I don't care that it's chinese.
I love my Seagull 1963. I own a couple of Rolex and IWC too.
Love your channel Jory. Keep up the great work. Just bought a man cave strap for my seiko Sun019 kinetic. Also could you please do a review on the yema navigraf. Yes it's French not Swiss
I bought the Seagull 1963 and it confirmed everything I thought I knew about Chinese quality control. It arrived broken. What DID surprise me was the relatively fast customer service, and the ease of the return process. Once this issue was sorted out, I've become a very pleased owner of a watch which is FAR more accurate than I expected, reliable, and looks great. Very pleased with the purchase, but it's not altered my opinion of Chinese quality control * or lack of it.
My San Martin marinemaster is legit. I love it and it's made to a high standard. I love my pagani watch as well. China does make some good quality stuff you just need to do some extra research to find the good Chinese brands.
Congrats and I am now a new subscriber. You are a lovable character - I shall be tuning in regularly.
Just bought a Tudor Black Bay from Wish. £10 and its a beauty.
Jory turning and burning the content!! Keeping me sane and from buying my grail watch out of boredom during this quarantine
Forget the haters. The thing so many of the Chinese watches represent is sheer value!
I have the PD Panda that's a techno marvel; sapphire glass, screwdown crown, pushers and caseback, Seiko Mecha quartz hybrid mvmt all for $65? Beat that!
Waiting on a $65 Parnis GMT Coke that I fully expect will be another terrific value Chinese special.
Also awaiting a Skmei 1629 $15 smart watch. I'm the laziest turd alive but can't wait to watch this bad boy count my 30 steps a day and communicate them to my Android phone.
I've often joked my Fitbit thinks I've been dead for six months.
LOL
I just ordered a Seagull with a ST25 movement! I had one like it years ago and loved it.
I’ve had one for years. It looks fantastic on a quality NATO strap. Brilliant movement, open back. Beautiful watch. True story, I went in two expensive watch shops at the weekend, security on the door and you have to be buzzed in expensive. Both remarked on my £300 watch, in one shop they took a photo of it.
I didn’t buy anything, just looking. But man did I see a nice Omega Aqua Terra, small seconds. But £6300.00, I can’t bring myself to spend that, and you get 0% finance. I’ll buckle one day though. I crave a nice Omega.
Casio is a Japanese Company, but their products tend to almost exclusively be made in China. Similar to most other Japanese companies.
If I wanted to buy your first Shanghai watch, where to start? Which chronograph/aviator/racing should I choose first?
Great summary, well done for not being prejudice....I've bought a few good watches like that by buying without looking at where they are from. Some chineese parts in them like Thomas Earnshaw. Thanks for this video cliff
As a Chinese viewer of yours, I think you made a very fair comment on Chinese watches, people should know what they're getting into, do their research, judge watches based on the watch themselves, don't expect to get $20,000 quality out of a $200 Chinese watch or anywhere else in the world, also if you only have $20, Chinese watch is the only option you could even possibly buy a watch for $20, don't take it for granted. Sea-gull is a very honorable and wellpriced Chinese watch brand, good to know there's people appreciating it from overseas, good work as always
There's also HMT watches from India that sell in that same sub-20 USD price bracket, which I would definitely prefer over an equivalent Chinese watch.
I just got a 1963 in the post yesterday, 40mm sapphire with a gooseneck regulator 3 different NATOS, a mesh strap and bracelet with a milled strap, some watch tools and a load of spare spring bars plus a few gifts including some decent wireless headphones all for 136 pounds delivered with no VAT.
In the UK and EU if you make an order from outside the UK and its under 135 pounds you have to pay 20% vat if under 150 euros you have to may 20 to 22% vat but if over 135 or over 150 and they marl it as a product under 15 dollars on customs you won't have to pay any tax.
The watch was well regulated, new its going about +3 and stable. It was well made and packaged, comes with a 2 year warrantee from a respected seller.
The problem with the 1963 is everyone assumes its made by seagull, seagull always makes the movements and may make alot of the other parts but the company's that make them are seguss, red star and HK something.
The original seagull reissue was not made by seagull but sub contracted, seagull is now officially making the 1963 but its over 600 dollars and your getting no extra quality.
The brand I got was red star but I'm happy with it as its built well uses a seagull movement that has a swans neck and more decorations than a standard movement and most of all since its a 40mm version the hands go all the way to the ends of the dial, it's not using the 38mm versions hands.
The 40mm version is a little thinner than the 38mm.
I lived in China for many years and you would be supposed how many Japanese and Swiss brands outsource everything but the movement to China.
The Chinese ETA clones are much better than the past but all depends you you buy from and Hangzhous new 5000 series micro rotor 28,800bph of Chinese design is amazing.
It's all about qc and what movement is used and the factory, the thing I dislike about seagulls 2824 clones is that apart from the balance they don't lube the jewels but that was only 1 example taken apart and seagull has multiple factory's.
It would be nice if they marked the movement so you know what factory made it.
I have heard very good thinks about the PT5000 movement.
Thanks for making another informative video! I asked a question during your Saturday live video,I know you get better questions than I asked. You answered my question with this video,thank you!
Interesting.
I recently found a SeaGull 1963 for under $90 on Aliexpress. I bought it fully expecting it to be a counterfeit. It's my second 1963, I took them both to my watchmaker. It's not!
When I heard this I ordered a good strap from Germany, because the leather that came with it wasn't great.
The German watch strap arrived and split within 6hrs!!
The Chinese strap and watch - still going strong!
...sorta proves Jory's point about quality control & not judging a product by its country of manufacture.
Be careful using those sites. They will steal your credit card information and also your personal also info.
DanNacht - Thanks for the concern.
I use a dedicated Debt card for online transactions - transfer the $ in, hit 'Pay Now' and leave a $2 or $3 balance or PayPal if possible.
Re. the ID? Hopefully my VPN helps with that? ...
Not true that Swiss watches have better quality control. Years ago, like more than 10 years ago, I bought an Omega Seamaster. Happy with the purchase, I wore it the next day to work. Colleagues at work asked to see the watch and one spotted that the second hand in the watch has a dent. I thought it was maybe a reflection of light to make it looked like a dent. But on closer inspection, it really was a dent. I brought the watch back to the authorized retailer of Omega watches and after 3 days they returned the watch back to me with a new 'seconds' needle. I thought how did this pass quality check?