Just saying hi (new here)

[AlbertaTime]

The main focus of my collection is vintage Chinese mechanical watches although I have others (Swiss, Japanese, Russian...)

So, for starters, here's a couple of my most prized pieces:

Early 70s HongQi 17 jewel SZL1A with a pretty peacock face (one of the earliest versions of the Chinese "Standard movement")...





and a 1961 Shanghai A-581. The A-581 is reasonably uncommon in original condition--but the ratio of white A-581 watches to black was roughly 30 white to 1 black. Consequently, to VCM (vintage Chinese mechanical) collectors, an all-original black A-581 is one of the most sought after models. The A-581 was the first generally marketed watch model built by the Shanghai Watch Factory (1958-1963).





...and taken before it got strapped...



Here's a family photo of some of my others (not half of my collection...two are not vintage, but all are Chinese. The Alpha "panda" and the Sea-Gull 1963 Chinese Air Force re-issue are recent)...the rest are prior to about 1995, with most being before 1985.



Anyways, there ya go and here I am. I'd love to hear from others who might collect VCMs.

[kevinc1001]

Welcome very cool collection you got there.

[bullosa]

Hello Albertatime,

Welcome to our forum and that was a great introduction too. Thx for sharing and hope to see more from you.

Cheers!

[Commander]

Welcome to the forum and that is an impressive line of watches........

[bio]

Welcome! You have a great collection there. I never really did think about Chinese mechanical watches before. Can you list some of the better Chinese made watches?

[Wombat]

Nice collection! I'm always a bit envious of collectors that have found a niche to collect. It gives you a great focus for collecting.

[AlbertaTime]

Thanks all for the very kind welcome.

Bio: it depends on whether you're talking vintage or new.

I think when it comes to new Chinese watches in the affordable category, you're probably best to look at Sea-Gull or Perpetual. That changes when you go over, say, $5000.00 but both brands I mention have well-built watches with demonstrably good quality control and customer care starting at $100-200 and going up to the mid-high hundreds depending on complications.

I guess I should mention that as good as the Perpetual watches are, they are from Hong Kong as opposed to PRC and so only loosely fit into what is normally considered the PRC-Chinese horological lineage. However, they are absolutely Chinese and I really like them--but don't own one...yet.

When it comes to vintage, I'd say the Sea-Gull ST5A models and the Zuan Shi (Diamond for export) SM1AK models are the best performers.

Both are fairly straight-ahead but excellent mechanical three-handers, both built by companies with over 50 years of watch-building history and you can find them for around $80 on the Bay when offered (somewhat rarely), and for considerably less $$$ if you learn to navigate Taobao. And both are capable of running under 2-3 seconds a day, but might require servicing and regulating to do so since they're vintage pieces and usually found used.

After that, I'd say the Sea-Gull ST5D auto is the best choice for an affordable. You can find older/vintage ST5Ds on Taobao, almost never on the 'Bay. However, ST5D models *are* are found on the Bay sometimes from honest sellers (although at least the "serve the people" 'Bay version is IMHO most likely a --quite decent but recent-- assembly of NOS parts).

All that said, I also very much like my vintage Zhu Feng (Everest) and Taihang mechqanical watches. They run about 5 seconds out generally but are both very dependable and well-built. Also, keep in mind that, with the exception of the ST5D which is still very good/solid, vintage Chinese mechanicals are generally more robust than the vintage automatics.

(An aside/opinion: I think newer non-Swiss Alphas look great for homages and they're certainly decent enough for the money, but I sure don't think they have the build quality/dependability of Sea-Gull, Perpetual or the vintage models I've mentioned).

Hope that helps

[AlbertaTime]

Nice collection! I'm always a bit envious of collectors that have found a niche to collect. It gives you a great focus for collecting.

Well, there's room for more in this niche

C'mon aboard

[Turbo]

Welcome to WTF, nice collection.

[bio]

@AlbertaTime
Thanks for all the info. I'll definitely have a look at the makes, you suggested :)