Shanghai Aug 25th and 27th 2023 with Mr. Zhang Zhenghao (and Shanghai scenes)

 I like Shanghai and started the 2023 AMCHPR China Tour there, heading straight to the place I'd hoped was available (and was): Green Court Residence City Center, once known as the Green Court Serviced Apartments. Extremely comfortable rooms or suites with equipped kitchens, very good bathtub/shower even in economy rooms, comfortable beds and a  great location within walking distance of the Bund, Nanjing Road shopping street, People's Park...and a host of explorable back streets.

I didn't take any photos of the hotel but all the online photos are accurate. It's a nice place, the prices are good for Shanghai and less than I pay for poorer quality in Canada. Clean, comfortable, honest--and comes with a really well stocked breakfast presentation. Here's what I had: a mix of west and east  (because the breakfast offers lots of both): eggs, bacon, watermelon, cucumber, stir-fried noodles and vegetables, and beans. Loved it.

On with the horology...

Mr. Zhang is the Chairman of the Shanghai Collection Association, Clocks and Watches Branch and the third generation of experts in his family of  watch and clock  sellers, repairers and collectors. I believe I'd met him briefly at one of the China Watch and Clock Fairs but I really only started to get to know him better after visiting his shop in 2019 with my friend Eric Heise, the actor (Eric was at the gathering in Shenzhen/2023) who suggested his shop to me.

(Cood call, Eric!)

Mr. Zhang and I have been friendly ever since and when I turned up at his shop without warning on the 25th, it was huge smiles all around.

We spent time together on the 25th and the 27th--and this post reflects both sessions. Mr. Zhang is deeply knowledgeable, and has a much larger and more comprehensive collection than he's showing here.

Mr. Zhang's shop is at 265 FangBang Zhong Road, the #6 shop at the basement level.

As will become very apparent, Mr. Zhang's expertise extends far beyond Chinese watches and clocks, but my as my own interests rest there and because Mr. Zhang was kind enough to show me (and allow me to hold) some of the rarest vintage Chinese watches in existence, we'll start with those.

Some readers may already be familiar with the famous and now quite common Sea-Gull 1963 re-issues, manufactured now in various incarnations by Sea-Gull and by others who use the Sea-Gull ST19 movements manufactured by Sea-Gull--but originals are very rare, and seldom seen.

This example is of an original 304 is from Mr. Zhang's collection.

People familiar with original 304 model Chinese air force chronographs will note that this has the square indices, unlike those found on the common "1963" re-issues, but also the original (not red star) logo, as found on the HKED re-issue versions.

Good examples of the next two watches are exceptionally had to come by, and the first, the He Ping  (Peace) is one of *possibly* two known examples with the bird on the dial in Asia. There are other He Ping (and even those are haltingly rare), but not with that dial. 

The Dong Fang Hong (East is Red) is only marginally more common, making these two watches prime grails in any VCM collection.

Here are the case backs, with the He Ping caseback first.
These were Shanghai's very first output,  pre-dating even the sought after 581 series Shanghai, and were not available for general purchase.

Next up from Mr. Zhang's spectacular collection is a beautiful example of the 1960s Shanghai A-623 "Ministers Watch." another model not available for general purchase. This was Shanghai's first production watch with a date, but it wasn't quick set.

Details on the 623 are available here at MicMicMor Vintage Watch

Next up: Shanghai military models:

1) 29 jewel dive watch

2) a haltingly rare electronic/quartz "shiying dianzi" military diver

Seen here for size comparison with the 304 Air Force chrono

and 3) A 24 jewel Shanghai military watch with a radium dial (both radium and tritium dials were produced).

Mr. Zhang made a point of reminding me of the color difference so i could identify which is which. The golden brown is radium.

Mr. Zhang also displayed a set of Wuyi "51" branded watches--Tianjin watch factory's first general production brand. Both have uncommon dials.

A 1960s Shanghai 611 (Shanghai's first shockproof watch) and a 20 jewel Shanghai

More to come but in the midst of all this, Mr. Zhang treated me to a delicious Shanghai Noodle lunch. Spicy and really filling. Wonderful stuff!

The lettering in black above the restaurant says Old Shanghai Noodle House and below that in yellow Old Shanghai Specialty Snacks.

Back to watches...

Mr. Zhang also brought out some newer but still hard to find (mostly Shanghai) examples...

A rare Diamond stop watch

Mr. Zhang's collection (and shop) extends into pocket watches as well, like this first 1870 example--European but made for the Chinese market

And clocks...

And navigation devices...

Fangbang Zhong Road is part of the YuyuanGarden and market area, and one of the lovelky things about visiting Mr. Zhang's shop is spending hours all around the area, well into the evening...