What is “Fuke” in this title? It is not a series of Beijing Watch, Fuke is not an english word, it is “复刻” in Chinese Pinyin, it has two meanings, but here it means the watches that pay tribute to those vintage models made by Beijing Watch Factory in old times, just like the special edition or limited edition or anniversary edition made by those Swiss brands. I like this Beijing watch more than the dress watches from other Chinese brands, its design features give me enough room to imagine how the first Beijing watch look like. Sea-gull and Beijing Watch are two my favorite Chinese watches, Sea-gull is more international, while Beijing Watch is more Chinese-style.
This Beijing watch is a special edition made to pay tribute to the first watch made in 1958, it has a case diameter of 38mm and a case thickness of 10.5mm, only 38mm in diameter, that’s very normal for a dress watch, and for the watches made in the old times, they usually have a smaller size than modern watches, 37mm, 38mm and 39mm are more common. The case does not look like the one you usually see on modern watches, it looks larger than it should be because more case, lugs and bezel are exposed, not like those modern dress watches that have narrowed down the case and bezel to make the dial look larger, that’s the main difference between those vintage watches and modern watches. Actually I love its case design, it looks more solid and we can appreciate the beauty of the case line. The case, bezel and lugs are all polished, it has a solid case back that features a big “BJ” engraving in satin finish. The crown has a Tian An Men sculpture on the face.
The dial is under the protection of a domed acrylic crystal, this is a classic feature for vintage watches whether from Sea-gull or Beijing, it is a little strange that the watch is stainless steel made, the dial is silver but the hour markers and hands are using golden color. Well, I like this style, the silver dial with golden hour markers and hands, it is first time for me to see such a combination, this is also the uniqueness of the dial designs. The sunray sand brushing finish on the dial is completed very well, there is a golden Tian An Men logo in tridimensional at 12 o’clock.
At last, the watch is equipped with a B16ZR automatic movement, which has 27 jewels and can beat 21,600 times per hour, once being fully winded, it can continue to work 40 hours. The watch comes with a black calfskin leather strap with a stainless steel buckle, well, I think a brown alligator leather band will look better on this watch. By the way, after having had it for two weeks, the watch gains ten seconds each day.
