Tag: Pilot Watch

Categories
Sea-gull

Sea-gull Pilot Chrono Watch 6156 – a tribut to H-6 bomber aircraft

Sea-gull Pilot Stainless Steel Watch

Sea-gull is the first brand you should think of when going to buy a Chinese watch, they are the most powerful watch manufacturer in China, also one of the few movement manufacturers. I have bought several Sea-gull watches, some are simple casual watches, some are pilot-style models and some are diver’s watches, I like them, not like most other homage watches made in China, these watches have their own designs, some have historical origins with Chinese military watches whose Chinese elements designs really attract me. Today, I want to introduce a new Sea-gull watch, this is s Pilot watch that has chronograph function, the watch is designed mainly to pay tribute to the H-6 bomber aircraft.

Sea-gull Pilot on Box

The watch is made with 316L stainless steel, it has a black bezel but is not made with ceramic, the red color usage on the silver dial enhances the readability of the whole dial, but also brings life to the boring stainless steel black watch. The watch is a little heavy, about 201 grams.

Sea-gull Pilot Chrono Watch

The case has a 44mm diameter and is measured to be 14mm in thickness, for a manual-winding watch, such case thickness is acceptable, the case is brushed, while the edge of the lugs has a smooth and mirror polishing finish that forms a high contrast with the brushed front, this gives the wearer a visual enjoyment. The screw-down crown has a “S” logo in sand finish, the other two buttons locked by screws are used to control the chronograph.

Sea-gull Pilot Fuke
Sea-gull Pilot Hong 6

The dial looks more like silver, with delicate sun-ray finish, two small dials in black just like the two eyes of Panda. Small seconds hand works smoothly on the subdial at 9 o’clock, the subdial at 3 o’clock with a red hand is used as a 30-minute chronograph counter. Besides a polished Sea-Gull logo at 12 o’clock, there is an unique logo at 6 o’clock, above the black letterings “Chronograph”, this logo was firstly used on the Pilot chrono watch 304 that was produced by Tianjin Watch Factory, now this new Sea-Gull watch just paid a tribute to this oldest Pilot chrono watch in Chinese watch-making history. The red number “6” has a special meaning that is related to Hong 6 bomber aircraft.

Sea-gull Pilot Movement

The case back is see-through crystal, the beautiful machine inside is a ST1901 engine from Sea-gull, it is said that the movement is independently developed by Sea-gull itself, but I see it is very similar to another manual winding movement Venus 75. Sea-gull said the movement has a 42-hour power reserve, I have used the watch for 4 days, now it still keeps an accurate timing, will lose 7 seconds each day. I am going to buy an extra nylon band for this watch.

Sea-gull Pilot Wrist Shot
Categories
Beijing Watch

Beijing Pilot Watch Review

Beijing Pilot Chrono Watch
Beijing Pilot Chrono Case Back
Beijing Pilot Chrono Wrist Shot

After seeing my watch bought from Beijing Watch Factory, my friend Rahul showed his interest in Beijing watch, just three weeks ago, he bought one, it is a Beijing watch made with bronze material, the watch looks nice, it is also the pilot watch I like, the watch has a big case that also features large crown and chrono buttons. It has a similar outlook to the design of Zenith Pilot, I like the big 5-pointed star decoration on the band that looks a little old, he told me that the watch uses a Swiss ETA 7750 movement, I can not believe, that’s crazy, but the watch cost is also a little high.

Beijing Pilot Watch Unboxing

His watch is so impressive and I can not hold back my the urge in my heart, so I bought this pilot watch from Beijing, it is a standard pilot watch and does not have chronograph function, the watch has a big case, but it is not as big as my friend’s watch, my watch only has a 41mm case diameter, not including the crown, the case is also much thinner, which is 11mm. The entire case has pvd black coating processed in matt finish. The screw-in crown is big and in pumpkin shape, which somewhat refers to the crown design on Zenith Pilot Type 20, so does the hour hand and minute hand. You can see a five-pointed star logo on the crown and on the band in black, it seems like Sea-gull and Beijing Watch Factory are very like to use the five-pointed star logo on some of their pilot watch and diver’s watches, I do not see there is a necessary association between their watches and Chinese Army.

The dial is not that black like the case, it looks like dark gray more, there is The Tian’Anmen Rostrum in silver at 12 o’clock. There are big Arabic numeral hour markers and big hands that are applied with white lume material, the hour markers and hands are big and wide so that they can be applied with enough lume material, so the lume light can keep strong and long-lasting. By the way, the yellow color usage on 60-minute marker, date window frame and second hand tip enhances the readability of the entire dial. On the top of the second hand, the small yellow airplane tells you what purpose the watch was originally made for.

Beijing Pilot Watch
Beijing Pilot Case
Beijing Pilot Buckle

I did not open the case back yet, so still have not known its engine manufacturer. But from the cost of the watch, I guess it is a Japanese automatic movement. My watch can work about 36 hours without break once I give it a full winding, now it gains 10 seconds every day, I guess it is a movement from Citizen.

Beijing Pilot Lume

The brown leather band features brown stitching and has a black pvd pin buckle, the band has an old and rough face, but still feels soft and comfortable to wear because the leather on the back is smooth. Beijing Watch Factory claims that the watch is 50m water resistant, the watch was shipped in a black and red hard paper box.

Beijing Pilot Wrist Shot
Categories
Heimdallr

Heimdallr Pilot Watch – the combination of simplicity and classic

Heimdallr Pilot Watch Leather Box
Heimdallr Pilot Watch in Box

Pilot watch is my most favorite type, in my watch collection, I am more willing to choose a pilot watch to wear than choosing a diver’s watch, I also often follow several brands I like to see if they are going to unveil new pilot watches, Heimdallr is one of these Chinese brands, for me, this pilot watch from Heimdallr is a charming timepiece, it looks simple but classic, and the watch has some similar designs to the Mark series of IWC.

Heimdallr Pilot Watch on Desk
Heimdallr Pilot Watch Crown

The case is made with 316L stainless steel, it is fully brushed, the case, bezel and lugs, they are all brushed, except the bottom part on the bezel, which is slightly polished and looks nice. The bezel is screwed down into the middle case, both fit each other perfectly, the crown does not have any brand logo engraving on the surface, the sunray finish on the crown is obvious. The four lugs extened from the middle case are naturally bent and make the watch fit your wrist more comfortably. The case back is solid, there are eight holes and brushings finished in circles, the logo engraving on the center is mysterious, it is also one of the elements that attracts me to buy this watch.

Heimdallr Pilot Watch Case

The dial is black, the biggest feature on the dial is its lume, what you can see is applied with luminous material, except the date font and second hand. Those white markers, including hour markers and minute scales, are applied with white luminescence, even the printings of “HEIMDALLR” and arrow logo are luminous. In dark conditions, you will see a strong green lume light coming from the dial. The date is clearly readable, it has a black font in white background. The dial is ok for me, but I do not think it is necessary to apply luminescence on all markers, and the white triangle at 12 o’clock is redundant.

Heimdallr Pilot Watch Case Back
Heimdallr Pilot Watch Stainless Steel Case
Heimdallr Pilot Watch Pin Buckle
Heimdallr Pilot Watch Pin Buckle Back

The brown leather strap looks great on the watch, actually if it is a black leather band, I will also love it. There is nothing on the buckle, just a simple pin buckle, empty engraving. By the way, Heimdallr offers two movement options for this watch, Japanese NH35A automatic and quartz, my watch is automatic. In a word, this is a great pilot watch even there is room for dial improvement in design, I like it and will continuously follow Heimdallr in future.

Heimdallr Pilot Watch Wrist Shot
Heimdallr Pilot Watch Brown Leather Strap
Categories
San Martin

San Martin Bronze Pilot Watch Review

San Martin Pilot Bronzo Watch

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.

San Martin Pilot Vintage Watch

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.

San Martin Bronze Case
San Martin Pilot Crown

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.

San Martin Pilot Brown Leather Strap

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.

San Martin Bronze Watch Under Light
San Martin Bronze Wrist Shot