In watch collecting, the realms of...
…are often unaffordable or even just unavailable due to scarcity to most collectors (me, for example)
But with Chinese and especially Chinese vintage watches, every category listed above can still be affordably explored, most of the time at under $100-200 per piece (actually, often still well under $100 CDN) and the available vintage Chinese mechanical watches – beside meeting the above criteria – are cosmetically and mechanically sound, attractive, reliable and capable of excellent, sometimes even chronometer like, accuracy.
Besides all this, of course, many of the current and vintage designs from the Chinese watch factories are just plain cool. :-)
From a historical point of view, in just over 60 years China has gone from putting a half dozen watchmakers in one single room to a situation where just a single one of its many companies now supplies a full one-quarter of the world’s mechanical and automatic movements, on its own.
From a collector’s point of view, or at least “me”, it’s my opinion/impression that prices for vintage Chinese watches on Ebay and on Taobao have gone up by maybe 35% over the time I’ve been collecting, and the supply of a number of pieces is getting scarce. But I still think examples of much of the good stuff are around and available – and well worth having if you’re on a budget but you still want to have historically significant pieces. After all, it’s highly unlikely the Chinese are going to just fade away out of the watch business.
Anyways, just sayin…
And because “a post is worthless without pix”, here’s an example or two from a few categories from the AMCH/PR (except for “in house movements” because many vintage Chinese watches have in house movements…that is: movements built by the manufacturer of the watch itself, and the watches below are no exception):
Shanghai A-581 (Shanghai’s first generally issued watch model, circa 1956—1965). Available to careful purchasers for around $300 CDN…but be careful, hybrid or “franken” pieces are common.
- country or company first issues
- prototypes and trial pieces,
- watch company internal limited promotional or award editions,
- historically issued military pieces,
- high jewel,
- “fully in-house” decorated movements and watches, and especially…
- being able to own a lineage of a historic company’s in-house movements
…are often unaffordable or even just unavailable due to scarcity to most collectors (me, for example)
But with Chinese and especially Chinese vintage watches, every category listed above can still be affordably explored, most of the time at under $100-200 per piece (actually, often still well under $100 CDN) and the available vintage Chinese mechanical watches – beside meeting the above criteria – are cosmetically and mechanically sound, attractive, reliable and capable of excellent, sometimes even chronometer like, accuracy.
Besides all this, of course, many of the current and vintage designs from the Chinese watch factories are just plain cool. :-)
From a historical point of view, in just over 60 years China has gone from putting a half dozen watchmakers in one single room to a situation where just a single one of its many companies now supplies a full one-quarter of the world’s mechanical and automatic movements, on its own.
From a collector’s point of view, or at least “me”, it’s my opinion/impression that prices for vintage Chinese watches on Ebay and on Taobao have gone up by maybe 35% over the time I’ve been collecting, and the supply of a number of pieces is getting scarce. But I still think examples of much of the good stuff are around and available – and well worth having if you’re on a budget but you still want to have historically significant pieces. After all, it’s highly unlikely the Chinese are going to just fade away out of the watch business.
Anyways, just sayin…
And because “a post is worthless without pix”, here’s an example or two from a few categories from the AMCH/PR (except for “in house movements” because many vintage Chinese watches have in house movements…that is: movements built by the manufacturer of the watch itself, and the watches below are no exception):
Shanghai A-581 (Shanghai’s first generally issued watch model, circa 1956—1965). Available to careful purchasers for around $300 CDN…but be careful, hybrid or “franken” pieces are common.
A historically industry milestone:
1960s DongFeng ST5…the very first 100% Chinese designed and built wristwatch (19 jewels, including jewels for the mainspring barrel)…pristine: $180, but excellent only around $40/$50 CDN: (Dongfeng was the second “brand” name for Tianjin—now Sea-Gull—watches)
A very high jewel piece:
1970s Beijing Shuangling 40 zuan SZB-1C (high jewel) — roughly $100 CDN, but not too easy to find.
1970s Beijing Shuangling 40 zuan SZB-1C (high jewel) — roughly $100 CDN, but not too easy to find.
Another high-jewel (and more modern) example:
2005-2006 model Shanghai 35 jewel automatic on stock strap: $60 CDN on Taobao
2005-2006 model Shanghai 35 jewel automatic on stock strap: $60 CDN on Taobao
Prototype/limited issue “shizhi” or “test run” example:
This is a Liaoning test run piece. Such items were generally issued to factory workers for real-world testing, but likely also issued as well to government people for approvals before larger production runs (roughly $65 CDN).
This is a Liaoning test run piece. Such items were generally issued to factory workers for real-world testing, but likely also issued as well to government people for approvals before larger production runs (roughly $65 CDN).
There are still gems out there...
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