Tag: Sea-gull

Sea-gull Green Military Watch Made for Chinese Army

Post author By Bob
Post date July 4, 2022
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Sea-gull must be your first choice if you want to know the background and development history of Chinese watches, for most people, the Chinese brand they are most familiar with is Sea-gull, which is formerly known as Tianjin Watch Factory. Now, Sea-gull has grown to be a very big watch company, they have a very full watch series, and their movements are now being used in watches of many big brands in the world. So, if you are considering a very good quality Chinese watch as a start, I recommend Sea-gull.

I like the military watch made by Sea-gull, some of the elements on these watches look unique, I like the mysterious symbols. This watch is a special edition from Sea-gull, it is made to pay tribute to those military watches produced for the Chinese Army by Tianjin Watch Factory, the watch has a military green color, it comes in a green box, which looks very special. On the case and dial, there are also several elements related to the Chinese Army, each of them has unique meaning, which is attractive to me.

The case is made with solid 316L stainless steel, it has a diameter of 43mm and is measured to be 13mm in thickness. The case is brushed with angular crown guards, on the left case side, there is a piece of metal attached, and it is engraved with “陸軍1號”, which means Army No. 1 in English. Two crown guards look special, they are in ladder-shaped. The case back has special engravings, with a big five star on the center. Looking from the pictures, the screw-in back absolutely adds thickness of the entire case, but it makes the watch look stronger and more reliable.

The dial is green, which is in line with the green color on the nylon band. The dial has every necessary detail that makes the watch become a good military watch. Simple design, big hour markers, wide hands and strong lume. The slender second hand on the center has a red tip and a five star in silver on the end, both hour hand and minute hand are in sword-shaped, they have a wide design so that can be applied with more luminous material on the stem. There is a medal in the shape of a coin at 6 o’clock, I do not know what special meaning it has, the Chinese words under the medal are “五四式”.

The Sea-gull watch is equipped with an in-house automatic movement, which is ST2500. This movement beats at 21,600VPH and has a power reserve of 45h to 48h, the accuracy of ST2500 is ok for me, I have worn it for six weeks, the watch is about 18 seconds faster each day, for a basic automatic movement Sea-gull, such accuracy is normal. By the way, the green army green nylon band also meets the military theme the watch wants to present.

Not only this green, the watch also has black and sand color options on Sea-gull’s website, and the one in sand color looks more interesting.

Tags Sea-gull, ST2500

CIGA Design

CIGA Design – a creative niche-brand watch from China

Post author By Bob
Post date June 21, 2022
No Comments on CIGA Design – a creative niche-brand watch from China

I have introduced several CIGA Design watches on my blog, each of them has their own features, perhaps this is the main selling point of CIGA Design, it is also the feature that differentiates CIGA Design and other Chinese watches. “Creative” is the most proper word to describe CIGA Design, at the same price level, CIGA Design focus more on creating their own designs than copy, this is also the reason why they can win design award from abroad. Several days ago, I received my fifth watch from CIGA Design, it looks so special, actually I did not see such type of watch with a floating square movement before, it surprises me.

CIGA Design Silver Watch with Black Leather Strap

This watch has two options, black and silver, I bought the silver model. Now I regret a little, I found the black model looks better, the black color matches well with its red hands.

The round case looks big, which has a diameter of 44mm, case thickness is 13.6mm, do you think it is a little thick? While the entire watch has a very light weight, which is less than 90 grams, you will feel very comfortable when wearing on your wrist. The case is completely polished, including the round bezel and lugs, through the crystal back, we can see the movement inside. Actually, I do not like the mechanical watch with an ultra-thin case, unless it has a very classic dial design, so, for some people, this watch’s case is a little thick, but for me, it is acceptable and looks very good.

The dial has a breakthrough design, first, it is hollow, almost each CIGA Design’s dial has this feature, second, it is a floating square frame, actually, the dial only shows you the entire movement and hands, there are no other extra elements. We can see that the front of the movement is in square shape, with four corners being fixed. The entire dial looks like a book. Both hour hand and minute hand are skeleton, with red tip, the long second hand is completely in red color, very eye-catching. The outer bezel on the edge of the dial is very narrow, you need to keep your eyes on the dial for seconds to read an accurate time.

The engine inside is an automatic movement, CIGA Design claims the movement is from Sea-gull, but did not tell us which Sea-gull movement it is. Any way, currently most Chinese watches in moderate or high quality are likely to choose Sea-gull movement, which is more popular at home and abroad. I have been wearing the watch for five days, now it is about one minute faster each day, the power reserve can also be up to 35 hours as long as I wear it on my wrist each day.

Tags CIGA Design, Sea-gull

Sea-gull

Sea-gull Moon Phase Power Reserve Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 20, 2022
No Comments on Sea-gull Moon Phase Power Reserve Watch Review

This is my most favorite Sea-gull watch, I have always been wanting a casual watch with multi functions because such type of watch is very popular among office workers, so I also want one. I bought so many Chinese watches before, I like them, not only due to their low cost, but some of them also have classic designs and acceptable quality, especially the Sea-gull, this is my seventh watch I bought from Sea-gull, the watch has functions of hours, minutes, seconds, date, power reserve and moon phase display, if one of any Swiss watches has so many functions, you know, its price must be thousands of dollars, but this Sea-gull only costed me less than 360 US Dollars, very reasonable.

I received the package four days ago, inside the Sea-gull box, there come with the watch, fountain pen, screw driver, sticky planets tape and a cosmonaut doll. These accessories are galaxy exploration themed, I am not sure if there is any relation between galaxy exploration and this watch. This Sea-gull looks similar to one Breguet Classique watch I have seen before, I do not know exact model, but Breguet must have a much higher price, this Sea-gull has beautiful finish with a very reasonable price.

The dial design is outstanding, all functions shown through the dial are real. First, the fan-shaped indicator positioned between 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock shows the remaining the power reserve of the watch, it is a true power reserve indicator, which tells you that the watch has a 42-hour power reserve capacity. The moon phase indicator with blue background is set at 2 o’clock, the small hand on the subdial at 6 o’clock is pointing at current date. All hands on the dial are blued steel, which look classy. The classy dial is a good addition to the first-class case finish, both accomplish this elegant watch together.

Here is an instruction on how to operate the crown. Pull out the crown to the first click position, rotate it clockwise to wind the watch. Pull out the crown to the second click position, the second hand will stop, then you can adjust the time. The button on the case at 2 o’clock can be pushed down to adjust moon phase, while the button at 4 o’clock is used to adjust date.

The watch is equipped with a ST2153 automatic movement, which features 32 jewels and 28,800VPH, to test its power reserve, I gave the watch a full winding and then put it on the desk, the watch worked continuously for 28 hours. The watch is fitted with black leather strap, which features dense texture, I do not like this band, I will buy another alligator leather strap to replace it. By the way, besides this stainless steel model, there is also a golden version of this Sea-gull watch.

Tags Moon Phase, Power Reserve, Sea-gull

Sea-gull

Review of a Very Classic Sea-gull Tourbillon Watch

Post author By Bob
Post date June 17, 2022
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I always wanted to buy a tourbillon watch, for me, the tourbillon device is really beautiful, however, a tourbillon watch is a lot of money, in order to buy one, I already have saved money for two years, but still not able to buy a Swiss brand tourbillon watch, whose price is too high, so I chose a very popular Chinese brand Sea-gull, which is also my most favorite Chinese watch brand. I know Sea-gull a little, it is one of the biggest movement manufacturers in the world, Sea-gull also makes complicated watches like tourbillon, minutes repeater, moon phase, perpetual calendar and chronograph, as an independent watch manufacturer, I think Sea-gull will place more and more important rules in the world’s watch industry. By the way, this is my first tourbillon watch, I love it.

This is a classic Sea-gull tourbillon watch, polished stainless steel case with 41mm diameter, which is a size most people are fond of, the case is also slim, only 13mm in thickness, considering the automatic tourbillon movement inside, the case thickness is acceptable. The entire case, including the round bezel and curved lugs, is totally polished, the case finish feels smooth and has a solid texture. The big crown has flutes with a “S” logo in sanded finish. The watch has a weight of about 99 grams, very light. The sapphire crystal is installed perfectly, it is in a correct position, not too high above the bezel like on some other Chinese watches.

The white dial is a combination of classic and simpleness. All my focus is on the tourbillon device inside the window that is opened at 6 o’clock, it is a real tourbillon, some Chinese brands like Binger opens a window on the dial to show the working balance wheel and claims it is a tourbillon, Sea-gull won’t do like this, Sea-gull is a big brand and it is our proud. The way the tourbillon works is attractive, I can watch it all day, touch the crystal face on your ear and listen the working sound of tourbillon, this makes me excited. The watch has rome hour markers in black that look classic, there is also a small arrow-shaped marker corresponding to each of these rome numbers.

Seeing from the crystal back, the movement inside has beautiful fish-scale patterns decoration on the auto rotor and plates. The movement is ST8002 from Sea-gull, you can see the golden engravings “CAL. ST8002” on the plate. This tourbillon movement has 27 jewels, 42-hour power reserve and 21,600VPH. Sea-gull claims that the inaccuracy of this tourbillon movement is controlled within twenty seconds, I just received the watch two days ago, it works fine, for accuracy and stability of the movement, it still needs time to be tested. I trust Sea-gull’s quality. By the way, I love this pair of black alligator leather straps, the crocodile texture makes the watch look more luxury.

Two models available for this tourbillon watch, one features this Rome hour markers, the other has long stick hour markers that also look very elegant.

Tags Sea-gull, ST8002, Tourbillon

Sea-gull

Sea-gull Tonneau-shaped Skeleton Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 16, 2022
No Comments on Sea-gull Tonneau-shaped Skeleton Watch Review

When people talk about Chinese watches, the first one they usually think of is Sea-gull, it is the pride of our national brand. Sea-gull has produced many watches which almost cover every type, including dress watch, military watch, diver’s watch, tourbillon watch and others, Sea-gull is one of the few Chinese brands that could produce all types of mechanical watches, it is also one of the biggest movement suppliers in the world, which offers movements for many Swiss brands since ETA does not supply movements for them. I have several Sea-gull watches and I am going to buy more.

This Sea-gull watch I am going to review is a new model that was published in 2022. It is a very big watch that meets current watch brand and has a bold design, the watch looks very handsome on my wrist. We can see a great creativity on the design of this Sea-gull watch, it is exactly the spirit which other Chinese watches need during their development.

The new Sea-gull watch has a tonneau-shaped case that is brushed and polished. The case is one piece formed, there is no bezel part, the case back is screwed down into the main case, thanks to this design, the watch has a better water resistant performance. Different finish on different part of the case gives me a strong visual effect. The entire case has a curved design so that it can fit your wrist more comfortably. By the way, the case has a diameter of 44mm and is 11mm thick, the watch weighs about 93 grams, which feels lightweight on the wrist. The crown is onion-shaped , which is more convenient for your finger to rotate, it features a sanded “S” logo on a polished face.

I like the dial, which is totally skeleton, we can see all working parts of the movement through the sapphire crystal. All hour markers, including the big Arabic numbers of 3-6-9-12 and the square markers, are filled with luminous material, so are hour hand and minute hand, at night, you can see a strong green lume light emitting from these places. White minutes markers are on the most outside track-style circle. “CHINA MADE” printings are on the track under big “6”. The skeleton design does not affect dial readability, I can easily read the time because of its big hour markers and long hands. Sea-gull did not add extra decorating plates and there are only movement parts on the dial, so the thickness of the entire case can be controlled to be less than 11mm.

The movement inside ia a Sea-gull ST2502, which consists of more than one hundreds of precise components. The Sea-gull ST25 is a very popular movement among a lot of Chinese watch brands, it has 25 jewels, 45-hour power reserve and 21,600BPH, the power reserve may vary from different batches of movement, but most can be up to 40 hours. At last, the watch is equipped with a brown leather strap, one free pair of nylon straps will be sent with the watch. There are two color options for this Sea-gull watch, stainless steel and pvd black, each has the same price.

Tags Sea-gull, ST2502

CIGA Design

CIGA Design MY Series by Michael Young – the black pearl on your wrist

Post author By Bob
Post date June 9, 2022
No Comments on CIGA Design MY Series by Michael Young – the black pearl on your wrist

CIGA Design is the first Chinese watch brand I have ever seen that has so much creativity in design, every watch created by CIGA Design is a combination of industrial design and mechanical sense. It is different from most Chinese watches, CIGA Design looks more in line with the aesthetics of young people, it breaks through the traditional rules of mechanical watches, follow their industrial design concept, CIGA Design has created many amazing timepieces that have won important prizes from abroad. This watch I bought from CIGA Design is a skeleton model from MY series, it is totally black with a skeleton dial, the watch also has a silver option.

The watch is full black and features a very creative dial, it will look like a black pearl on your wrist, I like the watch very much. On CIGA Design website, many people have bought this watch and given positive reviews. The watch is made with 316L stainless steel, it is fully plated with pvd black coating, including the case, bezel, crown and bracelet. The entire case has an unique construction, check it from the back, the small lugs that connect the bracelet through lock-tite spring bar are hidden on the back, you also can not see the end of the bracelet, such design makes all your focus on the big dial once you see this watch.

The black dial is skeletonized, but it is not completely hollow, some movement components are shown through the skeleton dial, there are also supports and holes on the dial, they form a special pattern on the dial. There are printings of brand name “CIGA Design”and designer name “Michael Young” in white. The dial has a certain slope to bring better visual effect, the design of hour markers and minute markers is like radioactive rays, not hard to read the time from this full black dial because hands are silver, and longer hour markers are easy for you to locate current hour time.

CIGA Design claims that they are using a Sea-gull automatic movement in this watch, I am not sure if this is real because they do not tell us which Sea-gull movement is used in the watch, I doubt and more believe this is just a common Chinese automatic movement, whatever as long as it works accurate. I received the watch five days ago, now it is about one minutes faster. By the way, CIGA Design sends one pair of black leather straps and one screw driver in the book-shaped gift box.

Tags CIGA Design, Sea-gull

Sea-gull

Sea-gull 21 Zuan D304 Pilot Chrono Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 2, 2022
No Comments on Sea-gull 21 Zuan D304 Pilot Chrono Watch Review

This watch is a retro pilot watch made in China, it is a great timepiece produced by Sea-gull to pay tribute to those old Chinese pilot watches made by Tianjin Watch factory before. We know the predecessor of Sea-gull is Tianjin Watch Factory, which has made a great contribution to Chinese watch industry. On this watch, I do not see the brand name Sea-gull but only Chinese words “中国” and “天津手表厂”, so I am sure this watch is an anniversary edition which Sea-gull unveiled to show respect to Tianjin Watch Factory. This is completely a vintage pilot watch with retro designs which you only see on some Chinese pilot watches made in old times, I like the mysterious letterings and symbol on the dial, they drive my interest to learn those military watches which Tianjin Watch Factory made for Chinese Army.

The Sea-gull watch is made with 316L stainless steel, the case is polished and has a diameter of 38mm, it is measured to be 13mm in thickness. The crown is screw-down, it tightly fits the case, both pushers can be pressed to operate the chronograph function. The lugs are naturally curved and bent well with the main case, they allow the case to fit your wrist more comfortably. On the case back, on the sunken center, there is a sculpture that consists of one 5-pointed star, one plane in the middle of one pair of wings and “中国.1963”, the sculpture is polished in a sanded background. On the outer edge, the reference of the watch “819.17.1963” is engraved.

The dial is the soul of the entire watch, it is white, but not that pure white, this white dial looks a bit old. The color usage highlights the watch, especially its red second-chronograph hand and the blue color on other hands. There are two small dials, which are positioned at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock separately, both dials have their own purpose and are in blue color, the small dial at 9 o’clock is small seconds display, the subdial at 3 o’clock is a 30-minute chronograph counter. All hour markers are in yellow gold, the five-pointed star at 12 o’clock also has a yellow gold frame, but has red filling. The printings “21 ZUAN” under the five-pointed star means “21 Jewels” of the movement. Any way, there are too many things worth talking about the dial, the color usage also greatly enhances the dial readability.

The movement inside is ST1901 that is independently developed by Sea-gull, it is a very famous manual winding movement that features 21 jewesl, 45-hour power reserve and 21,600bph. The watch comes with a black leather band, I was lucky, because Sea-gull sent me a military green nato band for free. The watch is not cheap, which is almost 700 USD on their store, but if you are really interested in a watch that was specially offered for the Chinese Air Force, this Sea-gull will be a good start. By the way, I found many brands are copying the designs of this Sea-gull pilot watch, but none of them can recover the flavor of this Sea-gull.

Tags 21 Zuan, Nato, Sea-gull, ST1901

Merkur

Merkur 304 China Pilot Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 31, 2022
No Comments on Merkur 304 China Pilot Watch Review

Merkur offers a lot of watches with novel designs, different from other watch brands coming from China, Merkur is more willing to use the elements of some old Chinese army watches on the design of their products. Sometimes, I was more attracted by the mysterious symbols and novel designs on a watch, rather than its quality, I know the quality of each brand watch is very close within a certain price range, so whether a watch has an innovative design will be the main factor in my decision to buy. As a new designer watch brand in China, Merkur is the first one to use a lot of elements which you could only find on old Chinese army watches, that’s the main reason why I have bought three watches from them.

This 304 pilot is my third watch bought from Merkur. It is a manual winding watch that sets a vintage dial in a modern case frame. On this watch, there are four design elements I like very much, the red star, “航空”, “304” and blue color. Merkur offers three bracelet options for the watch, stainless steel bracelet, black leather strap and khaki nylon strap, I choose the nylon band on their website.

The dial is most attractive, the sunken digit “304” is in dark black, which is still clearly readable on this black dial. Central hour hand and minute hand are in track style with blue frames. the hour hand is special, it has an exteneded tip, so the entire hand looks like having the same length of the minute hand. All Arabic hour markers and two hands are applied with retro yellow luminescence, they will emit a green lume light in dark conditions. The small subdial at 6 o’clock also looks beautiful, it is a display of small seconds with a small blue hand. There is a very small red star ★ above the Chinese words 航空”, which means Pilot, so I think the design inspiration of this watch must come from those old Chinese pilot watches.

The case is brushed, which forms a high contrast with the polished round bezel. The case has a diameter of 38mm, not including the crown, it is measured to be 12mm in thickness and 45mm in length(including the lugs). The crystal face is arched, it is not sapphire but made with acrylic. The solid case back has brand’s name engravings in Chinese.

Inside the case, Merkur claims that they use a Sea-gull TY2901 movement, which is manual winding. This movement has inherited some features of Swiss Venus175. The khaki nylon strap is a perfect fit for this vintage pilot watch, you can also replace it with a brown leather band, it is very easy to do this, tool not needed. In a word, the Merkur 304 is a very good China Pilot watch full of retro flavor.

Tags Merkur, Nylon, Sea-gull

Sea-gull

Sea-gull Ocean Star 200m Blue Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 23, 2022
No Comments on Sea-gull Ocean Star 200m Blue Watch Review

I will introduce more Sea-gull watches on my blog in future, Sea-gull is a brand we Chinese are very proud of, it not only has produced many classic watches, but is also one of the biggest movement manufacturers in the world. Among all Chinese watch brands you can find online, the first I recommend is Sea-gull, certainly, Sea-gull can make watches with high-end watch-making technologies, on some Sea-gull watches, you can even find Chinese elements, that’s one of the reasons why I like Sea-gull so much. Today, I want to share a reivew on a Sea-gull diver’s watch, which comes from Ocean Star series of Sea-gull, it is beautiful.

I choose the blue one, it seems to be a more popular color on the choice of a diver’s watch, the blue also reflects the ocean theme which the Sea-gull watch wants to present. The Sea-gull Ocean Star is made of 316L stainless steel, the case has a diameter up to 44mm, which is a very big-size watch, even bigger than the Submariner from Rolex, it does not matter, many fans of diving watches like big watches, the case is also thick, which is almost 13mm. The case is brushed, the arched lugs have polished edge, the side of the case has a different finish from other watches, which is also brushed. On the crown face, there is a delicate Sea-gull logo. The blue bezel is metallic, not ceramic, it is uni-directional rotating with a triangle mark that is filled with luminous material at 12 o’clock. I think I will like it more if the watch has used a blue ceramic bezel insert.

The dial has a blue color that is like the deep blue in the sea. You can see printings of Sea-gull logo and “SEA-GULL”, there is a three-dimensional five-pointed star at 6 o’clock. The blue dial has a very good readability, first, hands and hour markers are applied with luminous coating, the strong green lume light will help you read the time in dark conditions, second, the central second hand has a red tip, which is beautiful and also enhances the dial readability, third, the date window at 3 o’clock has a 2.5x magnifier, you will see the date clearly just at a glance. In a word, this is a classic dial design for diver’s watch.

Sea-gull installs a ST2130 automatic movement in the watch, the movement has a 42-hour power reserve, 28 jewels and 28,800 bph, ST2130 is a very mature movement of Sea-gull, it is very accurate, I received the watch about ten days ago, the watch still keeps a great time and only one minute faster, that’s ok for me, I usually do not adjust it as long as there are no big errors, it is not good to open the case back so often. By the way, Sea-gull sent me a blue nylon strap and one screw driver for free. The watch also available in black and green color.

Buying advice:

A top quality diver’s watch, not like other homage watches, this one made by Sea-gull has their own designs. As the biggest watch brand in China, as it says 200m water resistant, I think it can do that.

Tags Ocean Star, Sea-gull, ST2130

Merkur

Merkur Pierre Paulin Panda Style Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date May 13, 2022
No Comments on Merkur Pierre Paulin Panda Style Watch Review

Merkur, which is a young Chinese watch brand, now has owned a great reputation abroad. I usually visited their website and found that many people bought their watches, at the same time they left good feedback. About their sales store on aliexpress, they have an almost ninety-eight percent of positive feedback, a lot of other Chinese brands can not achieve such a high rate. Each watch Merkur has produced has their own features that make them different from other Chinese watches, I like them so much, I want to choose one at least from each of their series, now this Pierre Paulin is the second watch I bought from Merkur.

Merkur Pierre Paulin Stainless Steel Case

The watch I bought from Merkur watch company is a sub-brand, which has a name “Pierre Paulin”. I like this watch because it shows the elegance to the maximum, but keeps a little sporty feature and retro flavor. The watch is a chronograph model, the chronograph function works, it uses a Sea-gull TY2901 movement that offers a working chrono. You can push the two buttons on the case to operate the chronograph, when the button at 2 o’clock is pressed down, the central silver second hand will move, if you want to stop the second, press down this button again. When the button at 4 o’clock is pushed, the central second-chronograph hand will be reset to zero, which is precisely at 12 o’clock on the big dial.

I like its white dial, the two black small dials like the two eyes of a Panda, I remember Rolex also has the Panda Daytona, just like this design. Two small dials, one is for small seconds display at 9 o’clock, the 30-minute chronograph counter is positioned at 3 o’clock. The dial has a high readability because it only uses white and black color, all hands and hour markers are in silver tone. The printings of “PIERRE PAULIN” indicates the designer name of the watch. The panda dial has white tachymetre scales on the outermost circle in black.

The Merkur Pierre Paulin is equipped with a Sea-gull TY2901 movement, it is hand-winding and looks like a copy of the Venus 75 movement. Usually this movement is used by most Chinese brand watches that has a chrono feature but with very reasonable prices. The movement has 21 rubines and a frequency of 21,600 times per hour. The Sea-gull TY2901 is a perfect match for this retro-style Pierre Paulin Panda watch. Besides the manual winding movement and panda dial, the third retro element on the watch is shown through its arched acrylic face.

The watch has a black leather band that features fabric textures and white stitching. For this white panda dial version, Merkur also offers one stainless steel bracelet option.

Tags Merkur, Pierre Paullin, Sea-gull, TY2901

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