China Watches Review – Chinese Homage Watches Guide

Prototype Zeta Starmaker Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 29, 2025
No Comments on Prototype Zeta Starmaker Watch Review

I did not know there was such a brand watch before, but many years ago I have learned this word from Panerai because they made outstanding prototype watches in its history. Yesterday, when I did searches about if there are any good homage watches of Tag Heuer Monaco made in China, I found this brand Prototype, on their website, they claimed this is a brand whose headquarters is in Germany, I feel this is a fake claim, just like some brands in China created a false story about their Swiss watch background. Does anyone know the background of Prototype? I found it is just a brand registered by somebody in Guangzhou of China, the watches are also shipped out from Guangzhou.

The watches from Prototype look more high-end than the other homage watches, the quality is at the same level as Farasute, even better than the latter. Most watches from them refer to the design of Rolex, Patek Philippe and Omega, take this watch as an example, its design is similar to that of Omega Speedmaster. I guess Prototype is just a watch brand operated by somebody in a private customization workshop.

The biggest selling point on this watch is its movement, which is a SL4510. This movement was developed by Liaoning Watch Factory, now it is called Peacock, this should be the best chrono movement made in China. Most of you guys may know this movement because it has been popular all over the world because this movement is being widely used in high-end fakes, it has another name, which is Dandong 4130, so you know what I am talking about. Both Farasute and Prototype customize high-end watches, but the movement of Farasute is not as good as the SL4510 used by Prototype. This SL4510 has a power reserve of nearly 60 hours and is extremely stable. However, the movement does not have decoration on the plate and auto rotor, it does not look beautiful, if you care, tell them to use a solid case back when they make the watch for you.

The finish of the watch is super, especially its case and bracelet that have been well polished on the edge, it feels very comfortable to wear, with a working chrono feature, but the watch is not thick, which is only around 12.3mm. By the way, one extra pair of rubber band with buckle will be shipped with the watch.

Tags Prototype, SL4510

Sugess

Sugess S451 Jump Hour Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 22, 2025
No Comments on Sugess S451 Jump Hour Review

Having written reviews about Chinese watches for some time, I have also done their reserches at the same time, now I have a basic analysis about these brands, they can be divided into four groups, one, traditional watch makers that can also develop movements independently, including Sea-gull, Shanghai, Beijing and Peacock. Second, Tianwang, Fiyta, Rossini, Rarone, Lobinni, these brands are usually more liked by young people, and are listed on top ten watches made in China. Third, micro brands, including San Martin, Steeldive, Sugess, Farasute, Baltany, Pagani Design, Octopus, etc., too many, some are high quality, some just position their watches in low-end market, some have walked out the homage field and published watches with their own designs such as San Martin, so in this group, you may see various brands with different quality, if you want to buy a quality one, please follow my guide. The fourth group has very special watches that have integrated traditional Chinese culture into watch designs, currently I found two brands, they are Vager Hauers and Huasuo, such brands will have a bright future.

Today, I will bring you another Sugess watch, I have reviewed several timepieces from them on my blog, I like their quality, among so many homage watches made in China, Sugess should have a quality that can rank top three. And most people think their Submariner hulk homage is the best one. In the past, I did a review on a Day-Date Rolex homage watch made by Sugess, and my opinion about Sugess is that their quality is worth the price.

Is this watch shown below the cheapest one from Sugess, I found it is being sold at less than $90, with a Sea-gull automatic movement, considering the finish that is better than most watches at this price level, it is a very good watch for people who like this type of watch with only one central hand, the watch also has a little vintage flavor. There are three dial colors for this watch, blue, grey and salmon, every color will work perfectly. Besides its design, I am also attracted by its dial finish, especially the finish on the center of the dial, it is a turbine-pattern finishing, which stands in high contrast with the circled brushing around with minute numbers on. Both small seconds hand and central minute hand are made of steel in blue color. Where is the hour hand? It is displayed in the window set under “SUGESS”, it is a Jump Hour design.

The movement inside is a ST1721 from Sea-gull watch company, it beats 21,600 times per hour, the power reserve is about 40 hours, a very basic movement, the accuracy is acceptable. Well, there is a disadvantage on the watch, the case lacks proper chamfering, edges feel sharp and uncomfortable.

Tags Jump Hour, S451, Sugess

Peacock

Hong Qi Vintage Watch

I do not have too much knowledge about these vintage watches made in China, in old times, every watch, whether made by Shanghai, Beijing or Liaoning, there is a specific story behind, some are military-related. Today, I will show you a vintage watch made by Peacock, actually it was called Liaoning Watch Factory at that time, the watch is Hong Qi, which has been discontinued in production for many years, but I found it is being sold on taobao, I do not know if this is a real Hong Qi watch or just re-produced by somebody, if it is a real Hong Qi watch produced at that time, the watch absolutely has a certain collectible value.

When I firstly see the watch, I was attracted by the unique design of its second hand. It is an airplane second hand, there is a story about the second behind the watch. In 1970, the successful launch of the Dongfanghong-1 satellite made China the fifth country in the world capable of independently developing and launching satellites, in the same year, Liaoning Watch Factory published a Hong Qi special edition watch to commemorate this event, the watch has a large-diameter curved seconds hand with an airplane tip that looks distinctive. The design inspiration for the seconds hand comes from the shape of spacecraft, it symbolizes humanity’s exploration and pursuit of the vast universe.

This watch has a cushion-shaped case that is 40mm in diameter, the case is polished, it does not look old, just like a new watch, but the wine red dial will give you a vintage feel, hour markers and hands look old, a better match for this burgundy dial. I can even see the sharp edge on the markers and hands, there is also burr if you check carefully, so I guess the manufacturer just used the old dial that left from that time, and then reproduced a new case for it. The case looks a little weird if being compared with this dial. I do not know what type of movement inside, it is said to be a manual winding movement made in China, on the dial, it saying SZLIA 21600, but I could not find any information about it online.

Tags Hong Qi

Peacock

Peacock PCG0201 1950 Chrono Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 8, 2025
No Comments on Peacock PCG0201 1950 Chrono Watch Review

In my post that introduced the first Peacock watch, I did gave a short introduction of Peacock, which is a very famous watch brand in China, its predecessor is Liaoning Watch Factory that was established in 1957 in Dandong City, Peacock is one of the China’s earliest important watch manufacturers that could research and develop movements by themselves, the other threes are Shanghai, Sea-gull and Beijing. In all Chinese watches, Peacock watches are much more expensive because Peacock only makes high-end mechanical watches, you may know little about Peacock watches, but I guess a lot of watch fans have worn the watches with the movements made by Peacock, you know what I am saying.

This Peacock watch looks similar to one Sea-gull watch I introduced before, it is D304 Pilot watch, both watches’ design has paid a tribute to the Chinese military watches made in the 50s. This Peacock watch comes from the Perfection Classic 1950 series, the official chose the number 1950 because it is a highly significant year in China’s military history, in 1950, The Chinese People’s Volunteers crossed the Yalu River to participate in the “War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea”, so this Peacock watch paid a tribute to this military activity.

There are two models, one has a white dial, the other has a salmon color dial, both watches are powered by Peacock PAX8610 movement, which is a hand-winding mechanical movement.

The watch comes with a green box, which is the most high-end watch box I have ever seen in all China watches. Its watch case is made with 316L stainless steel, it is measured to be only in 38.5mm in diameter, not big, but the thin polished bezel just accentuates the big dial, which is covered by a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.

On the white dial, the Arabic hour markers are engraved, there is a certain depth you can see, very impressive, it is said that each number is hand-engraved by a watch master. All hands are stainless steel and are maintained in the same blue color. There are two sunken small dials, one is at 3 o’clock acting as a 30-minute chronograph counter, the other is at 9 o’clock, which displays the smooth moving of a small second hand. The dial contains two parts, the outermost tachymeter and center white dial.

Through the crystal back, we can see the hand-winding movement, which epitomizes horological artistry in its purest mechanical form. A man should have at least one watch with such a movement in his collection. The movement beats 21,600 times per hous and has a power reserve of 38 hours.

Tags 1950, PAX8610, Peacock, Sea-gull

Giveaway

June free watch giveaway

Rules, still very simple:

1.Please comment at my article https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2024/05/11/farasute-watch-review/ and share this post on two watch forums including Reddit.

2.Tell three of your friends about this giveaway and comment at the article mentioned above.

Prize:

One winner will be chosen, he will get a vintage Kongque watch, please check pictures below.

Time:

This giveaway will end on June 15th.

Sea-gull

Sea-gull Dragon Diver’s Watch

Post author By Bob
Post date June 1, 2025
No Comments on Sea-gull Dragon Diver’s Watch

In China, the dragon is regardes as a mystical and sacred creature, there are many legendary tales surrounding it. And we can see a lot of products like clothes being printed with dragon, some companies are using dragon-related stories to promote their products and usually receive a positive response. Today, I will introduce a dragon-related watch coming from the biggest watch company in China, which is Sea-gull. It is a good-looking watch, the entire design is good, I think it meets most people’s aesthetic preferences, but it won’t be sold well in Chinese market, there are two reasons, first, it is too big for most Chinese persons’ wrist, second, there are no other dragon elements on the watch except the dragon engraving on the case back.

This is a very good-looking diver’s watch, I love it more than the other Sea-gull watches I have. It has a big case, simple dial design and multiple band choices, all these can make it a very classic diver’s watch. There are two color options, black/red and black/blue.

The case is made with 316L stainless steel, the black coating is evenly applied on the case, the black bezel insert is metal made with big white markers, there is also an eye-catching diving scales in red from 0 to 15 minutes. Different from other Sea-gull Ocean Star watches, this one has a cushion-shaped case that features a dragon carving on the back.

On the dial, the markers, hour hand and minute hand are wide and are applied with enough luminous material that could last very long.

Anyway, I want make a conclusion on this watch, the following are about its advantages.

Big-size case with simple dial design, which is also highly readable.
Uniform color usage, classic black and red, the red stitching and red circle perfectly match the red color on the bezel.
ST2130 movement, which is the mostly widely used movement among all Sea-gull movements, its accuracy and stability have been tested for many years.

Tags Dragon, Sea-gull, ST2130

Sea-gull

Sea-gull 1135 Moon Phase Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 25, 2025
No Comments on Sea-gull 1135 Moon Phase Watch Review

It has been a long time since my review on a Sea-gull watch last time, no matter how many homage watches there are in China, how good quality they are, Sea-gull is always the boss in China, it is the first watch I suggest you buy from China. In the past, I introduced several Sea-gull watches on my blog, I know some people have bought them after reading my reviews, some of my friends also have one or two Sea-gull watches in their collection, the development of China watch industry has made a big progress in recent years.

I know everyone wants a moon phase watch, because it looks very sophisticated. The moon phase is a complication of the watch that will show you the status of the moon in one month, like new, waxing and full. A moon phase watch should not be too complicated, the more simple designs it has, the more popular the watch will be, just like the Jaeger LeCoultre Maste Moon Phase, which is a very hot timepiece in the market.

I introduced several pieces of Sea-gull moon phase watches on my blog before, but the Sea-gull I am going to review is the most elegant one among them because it’s somewhat similar to the Jaeger LeCoultre Moon Phase. The watch has a case measured to be 39.5mm in diameter and only 11.5mm in thickness, for a moon phase watch, this case size is perfect, but it will be much better if the case can be thinner. And for such an elegant timepiece, a stainless steel case and a blue leather band is a classic combination.

The dial features sunburst guilloché engraving, creating a dynamic play of light. It is the first time for me to see such a texture on a watch dial, these guilloché engraving are exquisitely finished by Sea-gull, the engraving is more refined and thinner on the center, and gradually becomes obvious and thicker to the outer. And when you swing the watch, you can find sunburst light reflection on these engravings.

At 6 o’clock on the dial, there is a round indicator showing you date on the outside circle and moon phase inside. The small hand on the center is pointing at current date. The moon phase runs a circle per month. The connecting area between the round indicator and the main dial is well processed, no flaws could be found.

Seeing through the crystal back, the movement has very beautiful finishes on the plates, it is a Sea-gull ST1818, which has 24 jewels, 28,800 bph and 42 hours of power reserve. I have had this watch for three days, now it gains 6 seconds each day.

Other two colors available, the blue one looks great.

Tags Moon Phase, ST1818

Vager Hauers

Vager Hauers Clown Tourbillon Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 18, 2025
No Comments on Vager Hauers Clown Tourbillon Watch Review

I like this Chinese watch more and more. Vager Hauers indeed looks amazing and has a brighter future than most other watches from China, especially those homage watches, certainly not including San Martin. When I go deep in China watch industry and wrote reviews on the watches made in China, I found many new watches in 2025, they do not simply copy the designs of Swiss watches, most of them have one common feature, which is integrating traditional Chinese culture into modern watch design, especially for this brand Vager Hauers, I have already introduced its watch in my previous post at https://www.bobswatchstore.com/2025/03/30/vager-hauers-watch-review-yuan-heng-li-zhen-twelve-shichen/, today, I will introduce another watch from them, it is a very interesting watch.

It it a Russian watch? This is the first impression it gave to me, its dial has a little bit Russian style, it reminds me of the Konstantin Chaykin Joker, but totally different. The dial has really impressive designs, it is like the face of a joker. The dial has a vertical brushing finish, the brand logo VAGER HAUERS is tridimensional. The fan-shaped window at 10:00 is a power reserve indicator with a twisted silver hand pointing at remaining energe. On its right side at 2:00, it is a round date indicator with a black dots pointing at current date. The date wheel has dark red, green and white colors, whose color combination is just in line with that of the small triangles around the dial, these small triangles as hour markers and minute scales are like the teeth. The green triangles are used as hour markers. The two eyes of the clown is a fun and playful design. At 6:00 clock, the red lip has a opening mouth that is showing a working tourbillon movement.

The movement inside is a Sea-gull tourbillon calibre, which is ST8001, it has a beating frequency of 21,600 times per hour, the power reserve is 38 hours. This is a manual winding tourbillon movement that has simple polishing on the plate. About inaccuracy, it is about ±15 seconds each day.

Conclusion:

It is an interesting watch with a good Chinese Sea-gull tourbillon movement. Quality should be ok and trusted. Its unique and playful dial design will also make you have some fun by replacing with some leather bands.

Tags Sea-gull, Tourbillon, Vager Hauers

San Martin

San Martin SN0129 GMT Desert Dial Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 11, 2025
No Comments on San Martin SN0129 GMT Desert Dial Review

What do you think of San Martin watch? A cheap homage made in China? Maybe this is the impression which San Martin watch gave to lots of you guys in the past, many people thought that such Chinese brands are cheap quality and always copy the designs of other watches in the development, this is a flawed view, at least not true for this brand, we know every watch brand in China liked to copy the designs in the beginning of their development, including San Martin, but now I see San Martin has their own designs on most watches, this is a great progress for San Martin, also for our Chinese watch industry. There are too many homage watches in China, we should not simply categorize it as an homage anymore, it is a good watch that occupies a higher-tier market position than those homage watches like Steeldive.

This is a watch most men will like, it is fully made with solid 316L stainless steel, the case is 39mm, not including the crown, this is a very proper size for men, not too big but also in line with most men’s need for stainless steel watches – big. I can clearly see two finishes on the case, brushing isare very obvious on the stainless steel bezel that is engraved with black 24-hour numbers, polishing is smooth on the edge of the case, the high-contrast effect can be found on the stainless steel bracelet. “SAN MARTIN” logo is engraved on the crown. For overall finish on the case, San Martin did not make compromise on the finish, which is much better than the homages at the same price level. The black bezel markers have a certain of engraving depth, but not too deep.

I like its dial, it is similar to the patterns of a desert. Does any Swiss watches use this texture on the dial? It will be great if this is an innovation for a Chinese watch. I chose the purple dial, they also have other colors like white, brown and green. Each hour marker and the brand logo are tridimensional, silver hour markers have white lume filling, unfortunately the GMT hand has the same lume color as the hour markers and hands, it will be a better visual effect and increase readability if they use a different lume color on the GMT hand. Those letterings including red “GMT”, white “AUTOMATIC” and “100m=330ft” stand a bit higher above the dial.

The watch can fit my hand perfectly and it has a clasp that offers adjustable space. It is powered by a NH34 automatic movement from Japan, now the watch gains about 12 seconds each day. Well, I like the dial texture and the bracelet is good to wear.