It seems that no Shanghai based blog is complete without male accessories, and while I’m not as metro as some of my good friends I do like a nice watch. I’m not really interested in expensive (or fake), mainstream stuff, it’s always the obscure, interesting stuff that interests me (yeah, I’m a cheapskate).

Anyway, I saw talk about these watches on watchuseek and just had to have one (and they’re not easy to track down). It’s made by Seagull (Tianjin Seagull, different from the Shanghai Seagull camera company) and is a reissue of their 1963 chinese airforce watch. It seems that demand is high, I had to wait months to receive it, worth the wait though! My pictures don’t really do it justice (the best I can do in my hotel with a P&S and a desk lamp) but take a look at the watchuseek pics above to get a better idea.

Display back:

The movement is Seagull ST19 (handwound chronograph), the seagull movements are pretty much copies of ETA movements as far as I know, and by all accounts they are a pretty good match in terms of performance. Apparently the text reads “China: Tianjin Watch Factory” although apparently they’re made at the plant in Shenzhen.

My only minor gripe is that I’d prefer something a little bigger for my chunky wrist, at 37mm it’s a little on the small side of what I’d normally wear.

I just need to find a decent strap now, it’s still on the khaki NATO strap it was supplied on, anyone know any decent shops in Shanghai for straps?

EDIT:

Oh, by the way, Seagull watches are stocked at Tourneau in Xintiandi (not this model though), I took a look, their range is certainly premium priced but not really to my taste, they do have a reasonably priced tourbillon though.