Tag: Moon Phase

New Sea-gull Moon Phase 6170 – a homage watch of the Rolex Cellini?

Post author By Bob
Post date September 24, 2023
No Comments on New Sea-gull Moon Phase 6170 – a homage watch of the Rolex Cellini?

It has been a long time for me not to introduce a new model from Sea-gull watch company, Sea-gull has always been the first choice for many people who are looking for the best Chinese watches. On my blog, the most watches I introduced are Sea-gull watches, the most watches readers asked all about are also Sea-gull watches, so it seems like many people are interested in this Chinese brand, I also own several Sea-gull watches, including dress models and some diver’s models, today, I am going to review another Sea-gull watch which I just received, it is a new watch Sea-gull just published. It is a good watch, but I do not think it is an outstanding homage.

The box of the big three watch companies, including Sea-gull, Shanghai and Beijing, always better and looks more official than that of other watches. This Sea-gull has a blue box that is hard, its inside has layered structure that allows you to put the watch and manual separately, the watch can be put in a place steady. Look at the Sea-gull, which watch it reminds you? Yes, when I first saw this new model on the website of Sea-gull, I remembered one Rolex Cellini watch with a moon phase indicator. I am very sure that Sea-gull refers the design of the Cellini watch on this new model. However, I do not like it very much.

First, I need to say this is a very high quality watch. But there are two parts I do not like, the stainless steel case and black leather band. The bezel and crown are in rose gold, I do not know why Sea-gull did not use rose gold on the case, it will look better if the entire case has a rose gold tone. Actually the black leather band is not a big issue, but a brown leather band will be a better fit for this watch if it has a full rose gold case. By the way, this Sea-gull watch is sold at nearly $470, I think they should use a full rose gold case under this price level.

The watch is sold at a high price because it has a real moon phase function, check the indicator at 6 o’clock on the dial, it shows the phases of the moon in the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere. On the white dial, there is a fork in blued steel that is pointing at current date on the outermost. The moon phase can be adjusted through the button on the case at 8 o’clock. The date can be adjusted through the button on the case at 4 o’clock. The crown, which has a satin-finished “S” logo, can be adjusted for winding and time adjustment. The hour hand, minute hand and those bar-shaped hour markers are all well cut and have perfect chamfer polishing.

The movement displayed through the crystal back is a ST2108 developed by Sea-gull, it has 28 jewels, 28800BPH and 42 hours power reserve. From the movement pictures shown below, we can see a beautiful decoration on the movement plates and auto rotor. It says the watch is 50m water resistant on the stainless steel rim of the case back.

The band is ok, not made with alligator leather, but calfskin leather, with embossed crocodile prints on the surface. There is a “SEA-GULL” engraving in satin on the buckle.

My advice:

If you are not a loyal fan of Sea-gull or just considering Sea-gull as your first Chinese watch, do not buy this moon phase watch because it is too expensive. There are a lot of other Sea-gull watches in casual style you can buy, they are very good, please see my reviews under Sea-gull category. If you are addicted to moon phase watches, then this watch can appear in your purchasing list.

Tags Cellini, Moon Phase, Rolex, Rose Gold, Sea-gull, ST2108

Sea-gull

Sea-gull M199S Vintage Moon Phase Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 5, 2023
No Comments on Sea-gull M199S Vintage Moon Phase Watch Review

I like this Sea-gull watch more than any other watches made by Sea-gull, whether it is casual watch or diver’s watches, all of them can not be compared with this one now, because it has become my most favorite watch. I have bought several Sea-gull watches, but none of them look that elegant like this M199S, and this one seems to be a complicated model, which combines functions of hours, minutes, small seconds, date, chronograph and moon phase. In my opinion, this watch from Sea-gull has learned the essence of the design of some Swiss watches, and shows the elegance to the max. Now you can not get this watch from Sea-gull Official website, it is sold out, I got one from my friend, he bought it in China. The watch has a classic combination in color of black and white, it is made with 316L stainless steel and fitted with a black leather band, seeing from its design in case and crown, as well as the elements on the dial, the watch has a bit of vintage style.

The watch has a large case diameter that is measured to be 41mm, not including the crown and buttons on the right, and the lugs seem to be longer than that of other watches, the whole round case is polished, with a see-through crystal back. The entire case design must refer to the design of some Swiss brand watch, I just do not remember. By the way, the satin-finished “S” on the crown looks very refined. There are several places on the watch that make it look so elegant, the onion-shaped crown is one.

The silver white dial also has several elements that make it an elegant watch. First, the rome hour markers, which are in black color and look in high contrast with the white background. The hour hand and minute hand on the center are leaf-shaped and are very slender, this is the second element that looks elegant. Third, there are two different types of patterns on the dial, the pattern on the center looks different from the circles which rome hour markers are on. The usage of different patterns on the dial also creates multi-layered visual enjoyment. The watch has a real chronograph function, the small second hand is at 9 o’clock, the subdial at 3 is for 30-minute chronograph display, because it uses a manual winding Sea-gull movement, I do not suggest you use the chrono buttons too often, or the energy will easily run out. The small dial at 12 o’clock is date display, you can adjust it by pushing the button at 10 o’clock. The arched indicator at 6 o’clock does not show real moon phase, but a display of Day & Night. Any way, I am very pleased with the dial finish and its functions.

The movement is ST1908, which has 22 jewels, 21,600BPH and about 38 hours of power reserve. I recommend you gently rotate the crown when winding the watch, usually the manual winding movement has more frail parts than those automatic movements. It is fine if you do less than 20 rotations every time when winding.

Tags M199S, Moon Phase, Sea-gull, ST1908

Borman

Borman Moon Phase Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date September 9, 2022
No Comments on Borman Moon Phase Watch Review

Simple and classic watches are always popular, when collecting watches, at the very beginning, you may be attracted by some pilot’s watches or diver’s watches that look unique and have a strong visual impact, but after you have a certain amount of these types of watches and having played with them for a while, my taste now has changed, I am more willing to give a high score to those dress watches that look classic and with a certain complicated feature such as moon phase and tourbillon. I have bought several classic dress watches from Chinese brands Sea-gull, Fiyta, Caluola, etc., they look nice, but none of them is like Borman that has a more authentic Germany-originated design. Today, I want to show you another stylish Borman watch, so far it is my most favorite Chinese dress watch.

I bought this watch because I love its styling, its case design and beautiful dial attracted me, and its name “Borman” and the German words on the dial almost fooled me into thinking it is a watch brand coming from Germany. The styling of its case and the dial design are greatly different from most Chinese watches, Borman looks more like a German watch, that’s an important reason why I choose it.

The case of the watch has a diameter up to 41.5mm and is measured to be 11mm in thickness, that’s a wonderful case thickness to me. The case has a polishing face on the lugs and round bezel, while being brushed on the two concave sides, there are some engravings on the right side telling you its water resistance and reference. By the way, the crown has a very delicate satin finished face with high glossy “BORMAN”. In a word, the finish of the case is superb, much better than some homages I bought.

The dial, all things just look perfect. I chose this coffee dial, its color looks gradient and the dial has a radial finish. Absolutely the most important feature of this watch that attracts me deeply is the moon phase display at 6 o’clock. It is a real moon phase function, unfortunately it is based on a period of 31 days instead of 29.5 days like real. Any way, the animation of the growing and decreasing moon is real on this watch, and it looks superb. The design of the hour hand and minute hand is like a sword with a long handle, both hands are skeletonized in the center.

The movement shown through the crystal back looks beautiful, the golden auto rotor has nice fish-scale decoration, and the movement plates also have unique engravings that only belong to Hangzhou 7M01 automatic movement, I know little about this Chinese movement, Borman said it has a power reserve of 80 hours, I do not think so. The watch so far works accurate, it is about 8 to 12 seconds faster each day, that’s a normal inaccuracy for this China movement.

Tags Borman, Moon Phase

Parnis

Parnis Day & Night Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date July 29, 2022
No Comments on Parnis Day & Night Watch Review

Parnis is still my most favorite Chinese niche brand, also the homage watch I love most. Parnis has produced a lot of good quality homage watches for us, while the most classic one should be the Parnis Power Reserve, I think many of you guys have bought one several years ago, it is also the one that brought me into the world of homage. Parnis was founded in Guangzhou, this brand has made a big contribution to the development of homage watch industry in China, now many niche brands are copying the development route of Parnis. The Parnis watch we will talk today does not look that classic like the power reserve model, but its multiple functions indeed attract a lot attention.

I saw the words “moon phase” in the title when purchasing the watch, absolutely this is not a watch with real moon phase function. The small dial you see at 12 o’clock that features sun and stars images is not for moon phase, it is just a time show in 24-hour format with day and night display. I think a lot of you guys will love such type of watch with so many functions integrated into one, while sold at a very reasonable price. On the white dial, there are also week and date display, which are positioned at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock separately. The case has a diameter of 43.5mm, plus the slim round bezel, the dial has a large space to show every element together in a less crowded way. Central hour hand and minute hand are lancet-shaped, together with the slender sweeping second hand, they are a perfect interpretation of the classic. The window opened at 6 o’clock with two ends fixed on the dial by blue screws is not showing you the tourbillon device, a fasle tourbillon, it is just displaying a golden balance wheel in front of your eyes.

It is very easy to adjust the week and date, there are two buttons up and under the crown. You can press the button at 2 o’clock to adjust week, and press the button at 4 o’clock to adjust date, well, there will be instructions in a manual book shipped with the watch.

The watch is made with 316L stainless steel, it has a black leather band, the weight of the entire watch is only 85 grams. Unfortunately the crystal is not sapphire, just mineral, that’s ok, after all the cost of the watch is less than 100 US Dollars. From the crystal back, we can see a golden movement inside, I do not like the golden color, I think a silver movement will look better on this watch with a see-through back, while Parnis can use a solid back if they choose a golden movement for this watch.

In my opinion, if you are looking for a casual watch to wear in the office and do not want to pay more than 100 US Dollars, then Parnis must be the best choice, they have two perfect models for you, one is with power reserve feature, the other is this watch with miltiple functions. Do not buy other homages at the same price point, they are not as good as Parnis.

Tags Moon Phase, Parnis

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

Binger

Binger “Double Tourbillon” Moon Phase Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date April 6, 2022
No Comments on Binger “Double Tourbillon” Moon Phase Watch Review

Is this watch using double tourbillon? I do not think so.

Binger is not a Swiss watch brand, it is totally a Chinese brand. In their brand story you may read somewhere on the internet, it is said that Binger was founded in 1853 and its headquarter is located at Le Locle of Switzerland, these are not true, they made up the story, actually many watch brands in China like Binger has such a fake backstory, as a Chinese, I feel embarrassed when reading such a fake story because they are cheating customers.

I did some research online and found that Binger was owned by a e-commerce company in China, besides Binger watches, I know they are selling a lot of other luxury goods, don’t be surprised, this is normal for most e-commerce companies in China. Ok, now you have a brief understanding of Binger’s background, let’s see this watch from them. We more care about a watch’s quality.

It is from “Hao Yue” series of Binger, the watch comes with a stainless steel bracelet, while they shipped one extra black leather band to me, many thanks. After wearing the watch for several days, I am satisfied with its quality, the case polishing, bracelet finish and dial design are all good.

The Binger watch is completely made with stainless steel, the polishing on the stainless steel case and bracelet is very good, when I received the package and get the watch in my hand, I said “Wow”, it worth the money I spent. The case has a diameter of 42mm and thickness of 13mm, not very thick for me, it is acceptable for most people.

Besides the top quality finish on case and bracelet, this Binger watch also has a good sapphire crystal face, which is highly scratch resistant, their salesperson said that they did an experiment on the sapphire crystal on every Binger watch, use a knife to scratch on the surface and there won’t be any scratches, well, to prove that, I did not do that on my watch.

The blue dial looks amazing, I know you noticed the double opening windows, but I was attracted by its sun-ray texture on the dial, it looks unique and indeed adds scores to the entire watch. The two opening windows on the dial, one is placed between 4:00 and 5:00, the other is positioned between 7:00 and 8:00, both are not tourbillon devices but are displays of double balance wheel. Each balance wheel has one support fixed on the dial with blue screws, this enhance the stability of the entire movement. Under 12 o’clock, date and moon phase are displayed, the small silver hand is indicating current date, the moon phase rotates once a month.

Now I understand the reason for high price of this watch, the following elements are all necessary:
Top-level case and bracelet finish
Double balance wheel movement
Date and moon phase functions
Highly scratch-resistant sapphire crystal

Binger Double Tourbillon Blue Dial with Black Leather Strap

Overall, this is a good watch, but I think this Chinese watch should’t use “Swiss” to advertise, if watches’ quality is good, everyone will know. By the way, Binger only sell watches on the internet, they do not have stores in any countries.

Tags Binger, Moon Phase, Tourbillon

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