Author: Bob

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
No Comments on Review of a Very Classic Sea-gull Tourbillon Watch

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

Guanqin

Guanqin “Perpetual Calendar” Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 15, 2022
No Comments on Guanqin “Perpetual Calendar” Watch Review

From its dial, you may think of perpetual calendar, but this is not a perpetual calendar watch, Guanqin does not have the technology to make a perpetual calendar watch, this is a common Guanqin watch features multiple functions. First, I must say that the watch is very cheap, with so many practical functions, the watch is sold at less than 60 US Dollars, on Guanqin website, they also offer different dial color options for this watch, besides the full stainless steel case, there is also choices of two tone.

I chose this full stainless steel model as my fourth Guanqin watch, with a black dial, it looks very elegant. I love sports, I usually wear my Apple watch, G-shock and Sea-gull Ocean Star diver’s watch, but sometimes I found a dress watch with multi-functions is necessary, so I bought this Guanqin watch three weeks ago and just received it, how about it? It is the same quality finish as my other Guanqin watches, but all of my attention was attracted by its dial, I was wondering if all of these functions are real, I checked every one of them and they all worked.

Let’s see the dial first, besides regular time show, there are also displays of year, month, week and date. The year and month are displayed separately in a box in the circle at 12 o’clock. Week from SUN to SAT is shown on the subdial at 9 o’clock, the small hand on the subdial at 3 o’clock is pointing at current date. Ok, how to adjust these functions? It is easy, there are buttons and pushers on the case for you to operate. The invisible button at 10 o’clock can be pressed to adjust the year, the button at 8 o’clock is for adjustment of week. Please note, the two pushers are not for chronograph operation, the watch does not have chrono function, so one pusher above is used to adjust month display, the pusher below is pressed down to adjust date. The last window at 6 o’clock, it is not a tourbillon device, it is just a opening to show the working balance wheel. The hour hand, minute hand and these white square markers are applied with luminous material, the lume light is green in dark conditions.

To be honest, when I decided to buy this watch, I did not expect too much. Fortunately the finish on case and bracelet is ok, and all functions are real. Guanqin claims 30m waterproof on this watch, I do not believe. At such a low price, I am even afraid of wearing it when washing my hands, not to mention swimming in the pool. But that’s ok, I will test its water resistance one day, hope I am the lucky man who has gotten a perfect one. By the way, Guanqin sent one pair of black leather straps and a bracelet removal tool in the box. Now the watch is about one minute slower each day, I have not worn it, I put it still in the box, too keep it working, I need to wind the watch every day.

Tags Guanqin

Starking

Starking Black Skeleton Watch – the Obsidian under the night sky

Post author By Bob
Post date June 10, 2022
No Comments on Starking Black Skeleton Watch – the Obsidian under the night sky

Starking is a Chinese watch brand which I always want to buy from, perhaps Starking is not as popular as some traditional big brands like Tianwang, Beijing and Sea-gull, but the watches made by Starking have one common feature, which is very affordable, when I need to choose a watch as a gift for my girlfriend, I will consider Starking first, because they really make very beautiful and elegant ladies watches, I think their ladies watches are more popular than mens watches. This black one is the fourth Starking watch I am going to review, it also has a sleleton dial, Starking really like using skeleton dial design on their mens watches, and the skeleton was indeed a trend for a while.

The black Starking watch is fully black, except the gold color you can see through its hollow dial. Do you guys love this black model? If not, there are other three options on the website, stainless steel case with black dial, black case with black leather strap, yellow gold case with brown leather strap. The yellow gold one with brown leather strap also looks nice, each of them is less than 60 US Dollars, very cheap.

I can not imagine what type of an automatic watch we can get at the price of 60 US Dollars. The watch is made with solid 316L stainless steel and then processed with black pvd coating, the case is 42mm in diameter and is only 11.5mm in thickness, you can not judge the quality of the case finish by those photos on their website, actually the actual watch I received looks better than the one shown on Starking’s site, the finish on the case and bracelet, especially the polishing and brushing alternately applied on the bracelet gives the wearer a good visual enjoyment, the watch gives me a great first impression when I opened the gift box.

The dial has a skeleton design, it shows the golden movement parts behind, you can appreciate the mechanical beauty from the front, the beating soul of the entire machine is shown in front of your eyes. The usage of the inner bezel marked with white indexes enhances the three-dimensional effect of the entire dial. I am a bit disappointed because there is no date show on the dial.

From the see-through crystal back, I see the golden movement, Starking did not make too much decoration on the original movement, which is a common automatic calibre made in China, the big snowflake sculpture is like Starking logo, it is attached on the rotor and will turn when the auto rotor swings. Starking also offers one pair of black leather strap for free, the gift box is small, but with Starking brand information, the watch and leather band are secured inside, a very professional job the Starking has done.

Tags Starking

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

STEELDIVE

STEELDIVE Turtle Homage Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 8, 2022
No Comments on STEELDIVE Turtle Homage Review

A Turtle? No, it is just a watch which Seiko published in the past, Turtle is just the nickname of this watch. I have seen many STEELDIVE watches, most of them are diving styles and have similar designs to those Seiko diver’s watches made in the past, you know, these diver’s watches made by Seiko were very popular years ago and now many people are still trying to get them, but they are very rare now in the market, so, the STEELDIVE is a good alternative, with much cheaper prices. I do not know too much about STEELDIVE, but this brand seems to have a high popularity among diver’s watches fans abroad. The STEELDIVE Turtle has three big selling points, strong case, strong superlume and deep water resistance.

The case of the watch looks like the shell of a turtle, the case is made with 316L stainless steel, it is measured to be 43.8mm in diameter and 13.5mm in thickness, the case is fully brushed, it weighs about 90.5 grams without the band. The case is almost 44mm in diameter, almost the same size as Rolex’s Sea-Dweller, but the thickness is acceptable even it looks big. The bezel is uni-directional rotating, it uses a black ceramic insert, bezel markers are applied with superlume material, they will emit a strong blue lume light at night. The case back features a STEELDIVE logo that looks very unique, seeing from the case back, the entire case looks like a turtle’s case more obviously.

Black dial has a high readability, each hour marker and hand are wide, so they can be filled with enough lume material, the superlume on the dial looks a little yellowish, which is slightly different from that on the bezel. The lume light on hour markers and hands is also different, it is green. The dial lume can last for a long time as long as it has absorbed enough light during the day. The second hand has an unique design, there is a round red dot close to its tip, the red dot highlights the entire dial design. By the way, the printings “WATER 200m RESIST” are superfluous, “200m” is enough to show the meaning.

The movement inside is a Japanese NH35 automatic movement, which has 24 jewels, 41-hour power reserve and 21,600bph, the movement also features stop seconds mechanism, this is a very important feature. I always trust the quality of Japanese movement, and most Chinese watches in my collection installed with Japanese movements are more stable than those with Chinese movements. I received the watch three weeks ago, it still keeps time accurate, about two minutes faster each week. Besides the black, STEELDIVE also offers green and blue color options for this watch.

Conclusion:

This is a great homage watch and is the best-selling model on STEELDIVE site. For diver’s watch fans, this is a must-have model in their collection because a diver’s watch with such design means a lot to them. STEELDIVE diver’s watches have two big selling points, stable Japanese movement and strong dial lume, both features can be found on this watch. This STEELDIVE watch is the glory of the old era and never out of date.

Tags NH35, STEELDIVE, Turtle

San Martin

San Martin Bronze Pilot Watch Review

Post author By Bob
Post date June 3, 2022
No Comments on San Martin Bronze Pilot Watch Review

I have always been wanting to get a pilot watch, IWC is my most favorite brand to choose from, but it is too expensive, so I am searching for a pilot watch with all classic designs of IWC Pilot’s but without a brand name on the dial. I checked the websites of all Chinese watches I bought before and found this beautiful timepiece, it is exactly the pilot watch I am looking for. Its bronze material and dial design make it look so unique among various pilot watches, I like it very much.

The San Martin pilot watch is made with bronze, the brown leather band perfectly matches the bronze tone of the case, the entire watch has a very uniform style. The case has a diameter of 39mm, not including the crown, this is a size suitable for both men and women, but considering its bronze case, I think only men will buy this pilot watch. The case thickness(crystal included) is about 12mm, which is acceptable to me, it seems like all pilots watches have such similar case thickness.

The dial has a classic and traditional pilot’s watch design, it also looks simple. The dial is divided into two parts, we can easily know the hours and minutes even at night, because all elements we can see on the dial are applied with C3 Superlume, the green lume light is so strong and long lasting. The second hand is white, which differentiates it from the hour markers and hands around. The arrow-shaped marker at 12 o’clock is an eye-catching design of the dial. In a word, the dial has all necessary designs that make it a classic pilot watch.

The brown leather band has a bronze pin buckle. The brown leather band looks perfectly on this bronze watch, I do not think a band in other color or material will fit this watch. The leather band feels very soft and comfortable to wear. The bronze case will be oxidized as time goes by, but it is easy to renew. By the way, I think San Martin should consider a green dial for this watch, it is also a good match for the bronze case. The watch is not expensive, which is less than 160 USD on San Martin’s website.

Tags Bronze, Pilot Watch, San Martin

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

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories